A little more about this episode…

When Charlotte was at school she ended up spending a day at the BBC, filming for a children's TV programme. Whilst there she bumped into British athlete Kriss Akabusi in the canteen, with whom she shared a conversation about her future as a journalist. A few years later she started work experience at a fashion PR agency, which she later rejoined after a stint at university.

But she ended up hating her job as it really affected her mental health. After going through counselling Charlotte decided that she wanted to work in counselling herself. She qualified as a psychotherapist and began seeing patients both in private practice and the NHS. This resulted in long working hours and she wasn't taking good care of herself, causing issues with her skin. She decided to do something about it.

Charlotte's experience in psychotherapy taught her that actually looking at the root cause of skin problems could help find a better solution than what was on the market already. Her journey initially began as a means to cure her own issues but she wasn't alone. She discovered many of the women she was working with who experienced trauma, stress and anxiety were also suffering from skin or hair loss issues. So she made it her mission to create products that worked.

She initially started blending products in her kitchen but after finding some of the products really worked she wanted to get them out there. Charlotte thought to herself if she found a product that worked she would use it forever, she would be a disciple of the brand, and that's where the name came from. She set up an Instagram and built a website and Disciple was born.

At this point, it was still just a side hustle, but after a conversation with her husband, she decided to take a leap of faith and message a buyer from Cult Beauty, who agreed to stock her products. After this, she got a £150,000 seed investment to grow the business. It's now stocked in John Lewis, Boots, Holland & Barrett and Planet Organic too.

At this point, it was still just a side hustle, but after a conversation with her husband, she decided to take a leap of faith and message a buyer from Cult Beauty, who agreed to stock her products. After this, she got a £150,000 seed investment to grow the business. It's now stocked in John Lewis, Boots, Holland & Barrett and Planet Organic too.

COVID threw a spanner in the works when her three members of staff decided to go home to isolate but being a small and agile business allowed her to move operations back to her house fairly swiftly. The business quickly became busy with people spending money on self-care and products to relieve their anxieties.

What's in store for the future? They're fundraising at the moment for their next growth spurt, working on a launch into the rest of Europe and planning more sustainable packaging.