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Summary

Helloooo friends! On today’s show, Australian underwear brand Nala gives us a lesson in responding to customer criticism. We speak about the influence of social media on brand relevancy and whether it’s possible to build an in-demand health brand in 2025 without social media. And then we answer a question from the community “I’m an online health practitioner using Instagram to market my business…how important is it for me to have a website”.

Follow the podcast on Instagram and YouTube.

Join our Facebook Community Group here.

Time Stamps

4:00: How @wear_nala recently responded to customer criticism
12:53: How health brands should approach responding to criticism online
14:44: The difference between constructive and destructive criticism
20:24: The influence of social media on brand relevancy
24:55: Navigating social media trends
24:43: Is building an in-demand health brand without social media possible?
29:11: How @fazitbeauty transformed their brand by getting their product in front of influential people
31:42: How @dietitianedition reestablished her personal brand after taking some time off online
33:26: The importance of having a website for healthcare practitioners

Guest Information

Anita Siek is a speaker, podcaster, brand, and copy strategist and the founder of Wordfetti: a leading copywriting house that teaches businesses, copywriters, and marketers how to zig when others zag and make sales through psychology and words.

Her work has been featured on the likes of Forbes, Smart Company, Mumbrella, and James Wedmore and some of her clients have included The Calile Hotel, IAG (Australia’s largest insurer brand), Mia Freedman and more.

Website:

www.wordfettigroup.com

www.anitasiek.com

Instagram:

@anitasiek 

@wordfetti

Episode Transcript

Rachel (00:00)
Hello and welcome to Pour It Out, the marketing podcast for health brands who refuse to be bland. I’m your host, Rachel Hawkins, and today I am joined by my co-host, Anita Siek. Hey, Anita.

Anita (00:13)
Hello, excited to be here.

Rachel (00:15)
I’m so excited to have you on today’s show, Australian underwear brand Nala give us a lesson in responding to brand criticism. We speak about the influence of social media on brand relevancy and whether it’s possible to build an in-demand health brand in 2025 without social media. And then we answer a question from the community. I’m an online health practitioner using Instagram to market my business, but how important is it for me to have a website? But first Anita.

Welcome, welcome to Pour It Out.

Anita (00:48)
Thank you. Thank you. feel like I’m like walking into this virtual room and taking a warm seat. Let’s do it. Let’s do it.

Rachel (00:54)
I love it.

Now for those who aren’t familiar with yourself, you are a speaker, a podcaster, a brand and copy strategist and the founder of Word Fetty, which is a leading copywriting house that teaches businesses, copywriters and marketers how to zig when others zag and make sales through psychology and words. You’re also a new mum to beautiful Charlie.

Anita (01:18)
I I am. She’s four months old. my goodness. yeah, like it’s, been, it’s been such a cool ride. We were just chatting about this before we recording. Like it’s, this is like a really fun stage for me.

Rachel (01:32)
I’m so glad to hear that. And you’re in Paris, we need to mention as well.

Anita (01:36)
yes, I, I’m in Paris. decided to take my newborn all the way to the other side of the world. It’s been so much fun. It’s been, I’m so glad I did it honestly. look, the first few days were not a vibe, but, the last few days have been awesome. We went to the Eiffel tower yesterday and walked like 10 kilometers. it’s been fun.

Rachel (01:53)
Look at you go. Oh my gosh. What are you over there for? Are we holidaying? Are we working?

Anita (01:57)
Yeah, well, the first part of the trip, I saw

I had a few of my clients in London, but the second half of the trip is just fun and exploration. yeah, like we’re going to grab a car this weekend and we’re going to go for a drive around France. So yeah.

Rachel (02:12)
that’s amazing. that’s wonderful.

Well, you are joining us at, I think you said at six or 6.30 AM or something ridiculous.

Anita (02:20)
Yeah, but your girl has been waking up at like 5am anyway, so…

Rachel (02:24)
You’re used to the early mornings. It’s about three, 34 o’clock in the afternoon here. Always a bit of a sketchy time for me because my brain tends to switch off after three o’clock, but shall we, shall we do this thing?

This is a flavor of the week, the segment where we discuss a trending brand or marketing topic and pull out some practical lessons for you. And I have been bloody itching to talk about Nala on this podcast. And I knew it was only going to be a matter of time until they popped into the headline somewhere. Are you familiar with Nala Anita?

Anita (02:59)
Mmm.

I be honest, like I only start to see the brand a bit more probably in the last few weeks, probably because, and then I know we were talking about it on today’s episode. So I did a bit more digging. I probably first came across it more so through their viral type of content that they usually create, not knowing that it is Nala, the brand, you know what I mean? So like I’ve come across it, I’ve seen it, but I’ve never done.

Rachel (03:30)
Yes.

Anita (03:39)
deep digging into the brand. but very interesting as to what’s the recent, I guess we’re about to talk about it now, but like just recently, what has been making the headlines from this brand.

Rachel (03:53)
Totally. Okay. So for those who are unacquainted, unfamiliar with the Nala brand, let’s sort of fill everyone in. They are an Australian underwear brand. launched in 2022 and the company was founded by a couple, Chloe and Phil De Winter. And fun fact, Chloe is actually a physiotherapist and the founder of GoChlo Pilates, which is an online Pilates platform. If anyone listened to my old podcast, I actually interviewed Chloe on that.

Anita (04:01)
Hmm.

Rachel (04:21)
So she’s since launched this new brand and Nala have grown to be, I would say one of Australia’s most talked about intimates brands. As you say, they’re really well known for all of their content, but best known for making size and gender inclusive underwear. So they’ve went really heavily into social platforms like Instagram and TikTok to really build their brand and showcase their styles on people of different

Anita (04:32)
Mmm.

Rachel (04:51)
bodies and ages. And they’ve really been praised for for that. So I would say that’s a really important part of of this conversation. So the news headline that we want to talk about came out a couple of weeks ago I think it was around early to mid January. Nala partnered with Tammy Hembrow which for those overseas listeners, she’s a really popular Australian influencer.

And they partnered with her to create a video for social media. I’m not sure if it was one or a series of videos. I can only see one up there at the moment. And the one that’s up there, she’s in a set of their underwear it’s blue she looks amazing video goes for about 10 seconds she doesn’t talk it’s just sort of her moving around in the underwear with some great music playing Interestingly though, or maybe not interestingly, their audience really didn’t receive this collaboration well

and in fact, I’d go as far to say that they were pretty outraged they hated it They absolutely hated it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And you know what? They did not hold back in expressing their opinion on it. I’ve actually got a few quotes down here of comments that were left. Okay. One user wrote, you don’t need an underwire when you have fake tits. Another wrote,

Anita (05:51)
Yeah, they freaking hated it.

Let’s do it.

Hmm.

yeah, read them, read them.

Rachel (06:13)
You need to advertise with someone who has natural breasts, no implants. This is so unrealistic. And then another suggested that Nala was misleading people to gather sales by partnering with Tammy because she is someone who has breast implants. So as you say, the overall opinion of the community was not hate it. This isn’t in alignment with your brand. You’re meant to be really inclusive. This is what we love about you. And here you are partnering with Tammy.

Anita (06:34)
Mmm.

Rachel (06:42)
All right, a couple of days pass right? And Nala respond to this backlash on Instagram and I’m going to read their full statement I think it’s important in the context of this conversation. It reads, recently we shared a series of content featuring the iconic Tammy Hembrough wearing Nala. After posting, we received a barrage of negative comments accusing us of promoting unrealistic bodies.

Anita (06:42)
Ugh, yeah.

Rachel (07:09)
and criticizing our partnership with someone who has quote unquote, fake boobs. Since day one of starting Nala, we’ve always believed that everybody deserves to be represented. The reality is we’re all different. We make different choices about our bodies and we aren’t here to judge. Instead, we want to showcase the beauty of diversity. Being in an industry that has got it wrong for so long, we’re bloody proud of the work we’re doing in this space and we’ll continue pushing the industry forward. To put it bluntly,

We’re done with bringing each other down. Judging and criticizing others is uncool. We’d much rather celebrate all the incredible people we work with, fake boobs or not. So we won’t apologize and we won’t stop showing our products on a range of different bodies. If you don’t like it, that’s okay. We understand if you’d rather shop somewhere else. Nala. What do you think of this response?

Anita (08:00)
Hmm.

this is such a delicate topic Rach right? Because it’s from the one hand, we’ve got Nala who, you know, as you mentioned, they stand for the element of diversity and they have such a

big range too, in all their sizing, which I absolutely love about what Nala is doing. The one bit that I

Rachel (08:22)
Mm.

Anita (08:28)
feel like is a little bit tricky is the statement of just simply we’re not going to apologize Now, I don’t think I think Nala’s response was actually quite intentional and gracious and respectful. But I think also as a brand, we all hold a responsibility in how we respond or even reply to certain statements, criticisms or opinions.

As soon as you put something out there, people are going to judge. So it’s almost like even if you have the best of intentions, people are going to have different varying opinions. Now, obviously as a business or as a brand, it’s not your role to literally change your business every single time someone has

a bad thing to say or criticism. you should charge less or you should do this. Like that’s not what I’m saying, but I do feel like we do all.

Rachel (09:18)
Mm.

Anita (09:22)
have a responsibility in listening and learning and maybe being curious to see why and where and how the response in which this campaign

has triggered this response. Like how did this happen? You know what I mean? So I wouldn’t say like the statement was bad. I actually think it was written to the most part actually quite well was empathetic and it led with

Rachel (09:38)
Mm.

Anita (09:49)
really speaking to the values and what Nala is all about, which I love. And I think that’s important. But I do think the element of instead of saying we’re not going to apologize, I think a curiosity of, so, whoa, like, why is it the fact that there’s a big chunk of our audience that took this completely the wrong way? Like, saw that side of the story when so much of what we’re about is X, but you guys saw why, like talk.

us. What is it about this? Is it the fact that we’re not clear enough in terms of what we stand for, et cetera? So I think the only little bit of the statement that I’m just like, ooh, is this feeling

I wouldn’t say it’s like a non-willingness to listen but it’s like this idea of this is it full stop instead of just like an open curiosity of being like, okay, yo, what was it about this campaign that really

ruffle some feathers, you know, and being curious as to what they could potentially do, as well to really speak to the fact that diversity in what they’re creating, and in all their collections is not just for those who, I don’t know, have natural boobs, you know what I mean? Like that is the stance that they want to take.

Rachel (10:45)
Mmm.

I see what you’re saying. Yeah, absolutely. I personally sit on the side of I really like this response and I actually don’t have any issue with the fact that they said we won’t apologize. We won’t stop showing our products on a range of different bodies because I do feel like that aligns with one of their core values, which is a brand for everyone. But I do see what you’re saying here. I think that curiosity is important and I think if

I think about Nala’s social feed. They do share a lot of content on, you know, a range of bodies, older bodies of different genders, different ages, itty bitty titties, big titties. You know what? I wonder whether the response is more reflective of the fact that they actually haven’t represented someone of Tammy’s body.

Anita (11:43)
Yeah.

Totally. Yeah.

Mmmmm

Rachel (12:01)
shape or her

aesthetic yet.

Anita (12:04)
And potentially, and that’s the thing, like when you look at Nala’s gram or social media, like you’re right. Like, and I saw that too. Like they do showcase a very diverse range, which is why, when I like hear about this type of criticism, I’m just like, well, hang on a second. Whoa.

why the backlash? Why the criticism? Like, is it.

Is it because of how it might’ve been portrayed?

how did this, I guess, campaign get taken the completely different wrong, like just the wrong way, you know?

Rachel (12:37)
Well, that’s right. answers to that curiosity provide fantastic insights in, provide clues in terms of future direction for the brand. I feel like this really raises or opens up a question of how do health brands approach responding to criticism that they may receive online? Because I feel like criticism is a part of business. I’ve not spoken to any business owner who has not received

Anita (13:02)
Mmm.

Rachel (13:07)
criticism in some way as it relates to their business. Do you have any practical tips for how someone can approach responding to criticism when they receive it?

Anita (13:18)
to echo in what you said, Rach, it’s true. Like as soon as you put yourself out there, in a way you’ve got a target on your back. You could have the best of intentions of putting something out there, but you’re going to be opening up a potential kind of worms of judgment. Like, and it’s, the biggest reason why I feel like so many businesses in definitely in health as well.

Do not put themselves out there because they are scared of getting it wrong. They’re scared of the backlash. They’re scared of getting canceled. They’re scared of saying the wrong thing. And of course in health is opera as well. Like, so it’s like, there’s so many different hazard cones to putting what you want to put out there, um, that people don’t end up putting it out there at all. I think, think, you know, the first part of that is, acknowledging the fact that as soon as you put things out there, you can’t control the judgment.

Rachel (13:51)
Mm.

That’s right, yeah.

Anita (14:08)
I’m sorry, but you can’t control people’s people having opinions. You’re not here to literally create a business to satisfy every single person. That’s completely unrealistic. I think when it comes to criticism, I see it. There’s two types of criticism. there is constructive criticism and then there is destructive criticism, completely different. And even though they both.

Rachel (14:31)
Mm.

Anita (14:36)
May come across as you know not the best feedback not like my god you’re amazing but like just a bit of the okay how do we respond to this the difference between constructive and destructive is in its in a way the intention. Constructive criticism is all about wanting to I guess help support educate empower.

brand or business and to gently graciously intentionally raise something to the brand be like, Hey, Hey, like just letting you know, or just wanting to give you some feedback on ABC. Whereas destructive, the intent behind that, that underpins that is to bring people down. The destructive feedback intent is literally to destroy and to eliminate, to cancel, to

Rachel (15:19)
Yes.

Anita (15:29)
bring you the head down and to make sure you suffer. And there’s a very different type of energy with these, even when I’m just talking about it, right?

I’ve seen it on both ends where there’s definitely people out there that is definitely trying to just bring people and businesses down and to make sure that they suffer and that they get completely canceled out of the interwebs.

I obviously think it’s important for us to call brands out and important for brands to really stand by what they say they do and their promise and be open. Like I said, be open and be curious to how certain things may be misconstrued. Like I said, with Nala even, how certain things may be misconstrued, have a way in which we can re-educate the audience as well as redo the flag on the ground message that we’ve got.

but when it comes to destructive criticism, that’s a whole different ballgame. Like that is literally usually a collective of people just trying to tear a business down. that’s hard. That’s

I am always of the view that if you are ever on the receiving end of destructive criticism that.

first of all, think just personally and emotionally that you do take some time to not respond straight away. Usually when it comes to destructive, criticism, it’s, it’s designed to literally bring you down. think not responding to it, not responding to it automatically quickly when you’re on the height of emotions is important, but also, you know, responding in a way I’m always.

Rachel (17:00)
Mm.

Anita (17:19)
Of the fact that you should lead with empathy, but responding in a way that’s with empathy, graciousness, even though it’s so fricking hard. Um, especially when someone is just trying to cancel you and trying to bring you down. But,

Rachel (17:26)
Hahaha!

Anita (17:31)
I’m always of the view that even in those moments, people are still watching and looking. And I think responding in a much more retaliated energy is not going to save the brand either, but approaching it from a space of no.

Rachel (17:43)
It doesn’t help anyone, does it?

Anita (17:46)
Yeah. But it’s like secretly you want to do that though, because you’re just like, why like, yeah, you can do that offline, but online people are still tuning into the conversation. And some people are probably like getting the popcorn ready. So I mean, approaching it from space of grace, intention and empathy and just being like, Hey,

Rachel (17:50)
yeah, you do that offline.

Anita (18:06)
We feel as though like there’s definitely been a number of people that are wanting X, Y, and Z. Here’s where we stand with it. Here’s how we feel. And here is what we’re about. So I think remaining true to your values, making sure you’re not responding in the peak of emotions, and really continuously leaning back to why you’re doing what you’re doing instead of responding with, like, I guess in the height of emotion. Does that make sense? So it’s like.

Rachel (18:31)
Yes,

it absolutely does. Yeah. And I’m glad that you pointed out the difference in criticism as well, because I think context is really important in this conversation. To add to your points there, I completely agree with everything that you’ve said. When formulating a response to constructive criticism, let’s say, I think a really important big one is addressing whatever the issue at hand is, right? Because you need to

Anita (18:37)
Mmm. Yeah.

Absolutely,

Rachel (18:59)
articulate and show that you understand their point of view, what the issue is here and then offer an appropriate response to that. That response could be defending your stance as Nala did. It could be offering an apology and also offering a solution to whatever the issue is here. And as you say, I think that the biggest takeaway for our listeners here is really speaking and acting in a way that aligns with your brand and your brand values. And to your point,

Anita (19:25)
Yes, yep.

Rachel (19:29)
when we respond in the height of emotion, we risk, suppose, being a little bit more defensive, maybe speaking in an unprofessional tone, making excuses for what’s happened instead of, you know, taking ownership of a mistake if that is appropriate to do so. So I think there’s lots of good tips for everyone here.

Anita (19:35)
Yes.

Yeah.

Yeah, I’m really glad you mentioned actually just re-emphasizing the fact that I hear you that you’re X, Y, and Z, actually readdressing the fact that people are feeling this way. If there’s nothing worse than when you just feel crap about your experience or an experience in a business. I don’t know, like how many times have you and I probably been on like the call to like an internet provider being like, they’re like.

I’m sorry, we can’t help you. It’s just like, just, just let me feel seen and heard, please. And at the end of the day, that’s what people want. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Just acknowledge please. But at the end of the day, that is what it is. Like, like business 101, like people just want to feel seen and heard. So I love the fact that you mentioned that.

Rachel (20:14)
Yeah.

Yeah, acknowledge my issue.

Let’s talk about the influence of social media on

brand relevancy. This is a topic that I proposed to you last week. It’s definitely something that’s been in the forefront of my mind lately. And I’m going to blame TikTok for this because I recently joined. Yeah, they have to and TikTok is taking fire today. I’ve recently joined the platform. Of course, I’m getting lost in their algorithms and all of the content, et cetera. And I’ll tell you what, I’ve been seeing a lot of content.

Anita (20:45)
Someone has to be blamed, yes.

Rachel (21:00)
Beauty content promoting Pantene, the haircare brand, you Pantene? Yeah, Pantene’s like the old school brand. My mom used to buy Pantene shampoo and conditioner for the family growing up. I’m pretty sure I stopped using it because a hairdresser told me it was bad for my hair. But anyway, that’s a side of the point. The point is, is that this is a really old school brand, supermarket brand. And on TikTok at the moment, there are all of these creators talking about

Anita (21:05)
yeah? Okay, yeah?

Yeah, yeah, yeah!

Rachel (21:29)
Pantene and this particular range and in a good way. Yeah, like this miracles So, you know really great everyone’s trying it the hair’s really healthy shiny, etc. Anyway, there’s been this massive revival of Pantene thanks to tik tok I assume Instagram social media, you know in general and that’s what got me thinking about the power of social media for brands What is your relationship like with social media?

Anita (21:32)
Like in a good way? okay, okay, okay.

Mmm, yep.

I freaking love social media. It’s like this free fricking tool we all have to, it’s like a megaphone to your audience. it’s this free tool we all have to connect and converse and literally continue a conversation with our audience. And I think to your point, like that’s probably why there’s this re like CPR version of, Pantene that’s come back out where it’s, it’s, it’s a conversation that’s been reignited. That’s exactly what, what’s happened.

Rachel (22:00)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Totally, yeah. I think there’s so many benefits for brands that are on social media. And the biggest one that is in the forefront of my mind is brand relevancy. So staying top of mind to people by having an active presence on social media. And as you say, it is a fantastic platform for connecting with people. And as you know, I’m a huge advocate for brands being on social media and being online in general, because it just allows you to connect with

people that otherwise you would never cross paths with in day-to-day life and who otherwise would never know about your brand. Are there any other benefits to brands being on social media that you see?

Anita (23:08)
Yeah, just as you were talking, the humanization of it, like when, whether it’s TikTok, Instagram, whatever platform, I feel like it has opened up this really cool portal for us to create this element of conversation, connection, community as well. And we definitely see this on TikTok a lot where you see this concept of even a dance that’s put up, which is like the

Rachel (23:11)
Yeah.

Anita (23:35)
how TikTok really boomed in the middle of COVID, like this element of community where a dance is put up and then so many people are doing their own reiterations or there is a sound that’s put up and then everyone’s doing their own reiterations. There’s this element of connection and community that is created and it doesn’t even matter where you are in the

such a really

just cool opportunity for brands, health brands, but also any business really. definitely see a lot of e-commerce businesses doing just tremendously well through TikTok. definitely feel like the more what’s interesting about TikTok, I don’t know whether you found this rage, but the more, the more controversial, the more like unexpected, like it’s a completely different vibe between TikTok and Instagram reels. Like the more like

Rachel (24:09)
Mmm.

Mm.

Anita (24:28)
just unexpected and random and hidden secret. The more it goes nuts on TikTok.

Rachel (24:35)
Yes,

I am noticing that quickly. feel like Instagram is my safe little community that I have strong relationships with everyone. And then it’s like rogue on TikTok.

Anita (24:40)
Yeah!

TikTok is like the wild like house party, whereas Instagram still has some rules. There’s like a curfew.

Rachel (24:48)
Yeah.

Yeah,

that’s right. It’s funny. I never thought of leaning into trends as a source for connection, but you’re right. It does. On the topic of trends, how important do you feel it is for brands to stay up to date on trends and what’s happening online?

Anita (24:54)
Hmm

I think it is important for brands to have their finger on the pulse on what’s happening and the trends and all that but that should not be your sole strategy okay like that should not be a sole strategy where you’re every single piece of your content is literally just piggybacking off a trend or just trying to do trend trend trend I think more important than ever I think is you can tap into that as a way to.

Rachel (25:15)
Hmm.

Yeah.

Anita (25:34)
know, continue the conversation through that. But like, I think it is still important for you as the business and as the brand to really create content from a space of what’s going to be in most alignment to you. One of the things I always say is like, what does your audience want to see, feel, know, and actually read? Like it’s not just about jumping on all these trends. Like I think it, it’s one way in which you can contribute to the conversation, but it should not be the only way.

Rachel (25:45)
Hmm.

Yes.

That’s such a great point. And I think as well, you know, there is a difference between staying up to date and then making that choice to jump on or utilize that trend. And like, I know when I spend a couple of months off Instagram, right? I come back and I have no idea what’s happening. Like, my gosh, like there’s all these updates, there’s all these things have changed, right? So I do think it is important for businesses to keep on top of what’s going on. But as you say,

Anita (26:18)
ESA.

Rachel (26:27)
picking and choosing what trends they lean into and certainly not making it, you know, their sole strategy, that’s for sure. I would burn out in a week.

Anita (26:33)
be so exhausting. you imagine? Like literally trying to keep up with like,

like just trying to suss out what what the current like trend is today and creating content literally like that. would be exhausting.

Rachel (26:44)
Oh yeah, no thanks. I’m tired. I don’t need to do that. All right. I’ve got a question for you. It’s a bit of a doozy. I’m not sure if there’s a definitive answer to it. Do you think that it’s possible for someone to build an in-demand health brand in 2025 without social media?

Anita (26:47)
You

That is that’s a tricky

I think you still can but it’s going to take a lot more effort and energy in your other types of content platforms and when I say other types of content platforms obviously without social media like social media is just one type of content platform

Right? Like it’s a rented content platform we’re renting space like at any given time it can be taken away from you Just like TikTok could have been taken away a couple of weeks ago. Right? there are a lot of other content platforms that you can lean on like owned platforms, like blogs to podcasts to, even email lists. Hello. Like there is paid ads, Google ads, meta ads, there’s earned PR. So, you know,

Rachel (27:27)
Mm.

Anita (27:52)
Could you build an in-demand health brand without social media? I still think you can, but I think if you had the whole omni-channel presence of all of these different content channels

fueling your message I think that’s your message and what you do in your marketing can be amplified. I just think that you will need to double down on a lot of the other areas and get really, I don’t know, maybe even guerrilla.

With it, so that you can really maybe tap into the PR of, of, know, what you’re doing. more so than just leaning on social media. Yeah. So yeah, I still think you could, but it’s just, yeah, you just gotta pull more energy into your other content platforms.

Rachel (28:20)
Mmm.

Great response.

Yeah, I think that that is the key there. I think using social media will help you build that in demand brand a hell of a lot faster likely than if you didn’t have those channels. But as you say, is it possible? Anything’s possible. It’s just probably a more considered path. More strategy would certainly have to go into and time into those other channels for sure.

Anita (28:42)
Yeah.

money

potentially because social media for the bulk of it, let’s be honest, it’s free. It’s free to be on these random platforms,

Rachel (29:05)
Yes.

This is toast-worthy brands, the segment where we shout out the brands that are doing pretty epic things online. Who do you have for us today Anita?

Anita (29:24)
my gosh. So I hope I’m pronouncing it right, but it’s called face it F A Z I T. Have you heard of it? my gosh. It’s so they’re they’re brand evolution has been pretty cool. So long story cut, I’m trying to, I’ll give you guys the 60 second spiel of it.

Rachel (29:32)
No.

Anita (29:43)
so they started off as a skincare brand, but what they started to do, I think it was in Coachella last year, 2024, they launched a sparkle freckle patch, like a beauty

Like just glitter type of freckles if you google it you’ll know what I mean so they kind of move towards yeah move towards makeup. Set as a beauty dot com in case you wondering but they moved from skincare to more makeup and now they have built. Like I think last time I checked it was like millions and millions and millions like literally within like a space of like a month.

Rachel (30:02)
looking at it right now, yeah.

Anita (30:25)
They handed these like freckle sparkles to people, influencers, micro influences at Coachella and in BluWAP, Sabrina Carpenter started to use it, Taylor Swift started to use it. So of course you can see where this is going. Everyone wanted a slice of it. It completely made this business completely boom out of this very simple idea of sparkly freckles. yeah, they’ve now, I think I’m on their website now, they’ve moved more towards

Rachel (30:36)
Wow. Yes.

Shaking

Anita (30:52)
of freckles more so than their skincare like their entire website now is dedicated to that and this was all born from a very simple idea of sparkly freckles at Coachella.

Rachel (31:06)
think there’s a great lesson there in terms of getting your brand or your product in front of influential people, the right people and how transformative that can be. I love that. I’ve never seen them and I’m looking at their website now and you’re right, glitter freckles everywhere.

Anita (31:11)
Yeah. yeah. yeah.

Their growth has been incredible.

their growth has been incredible. And I think one thing that is really kudos to them is they’ve also seen obviously, because they started off as skincare brand, like I said, but they’ve now moved into more makeup. And, you know, they obviously saw this gap there were, you know, previously we had to put just spark sparkly things on our faces just like that. But they’ve created this very simple, applicable sparkly freckle.

Rachel (31:33)
Mmm.

Anita (31:49)
but you can literally apply as a patch and bam, like it is a fricking hit. It’s like a, I think it’s like 10, $15 million now, like worth their business. Yeah. It’s crazy. Also T-Swift effect. So pretty much.

Rachel (31:50)
Very, very cool.

Wow, so that’s epic. my gosh. I know anything she touches turns to gold. Alrighty,

well, I’m going to shout out my friend Millie actually, her handle is Dietitian Edition online. The reason I want to give Millie a shout out is because she’s a dietitian who’s built a really successful brand and business, notably by partnering with a lot of really well-known food nutrition wellness brands within Australia.

partnering with them in various capacities to showcase her expertise. And late last year, she had her first little bubba, Lenny, who’s absolutely gorgeous. And she’s recently started getting back into work and has begun to share really beautiful content that’s working to strengthen her personal brand. And I know that you, you’re a new mom as well. When I speak to a lot of my friends who are new moms, they tell me that they almost become like a new version.

of themselves when they have children. And I think Millie’s page is a really good example of how you could approach reestablishing your personal brand after having a bit of a break from work, whether it be because you’ve had a baby or, for other reasons. And I know that she started to receive a lot of work opportunities as of late, which I think speaks to the power of personal brands. So if you’re in need of some inspo.

Anita (32:58)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Mwah!

Absolutely.

Rachel (33:23)
to support yourself in getting back online after taking that break from work, check out her page guys.

Anita (33:28)
I love it. I’m gonna give her a follow, Millie.

Rachel (33:30)
Yeah she’s awesome.

Actually she recently did a partnership with Nala.

This is Straight Shot, the segment where we answer a question from the Pour It Out community. And today’s question reads, I’m an online health practitioner that uses an online booking system. She doesn’t say which one, I assume a Clinico or a Practice

they market their business using Instagram only.

how important is it to have a website?

Anita (34:05)
I feel like it is important. feel like I might have a very bias looking to this. feel like it’s important for a business to have a website, even if it’s a one pager, like even if it’s a one pager, it doesn’t need to be like an extravagant website with like a gazillion pages, but just one page. And I’ll tell you why three reasons. One Instagram is great. And we’ve talked about this throughout this whole episode as well, but it’s a rented platform. So.

At any given time, you’re at the mercy of Instagram and the algorithm gods placing you in front of people. whereas a website, there’s a lot of different ways in which you can still treat it as your digital home. So if you see Instagram, see other platforms as driving traffic towards his main home, digital home. I feel like there’s a better, like if Instagram was down tomorrow, how are you going to get the booking link out? You know what I mean? I think that’s one reason. think the second element is.

Rachel (34:52)
Mm. So true.

Anita (34:56)
Yes, it’s great for you to just focus on Instagram and tell your story there and share what you do there. But again, having a one page website, even where you clearly communicate like who you are, what you do, maybe different service offerings and why what you do is different is giving them again, like a very quick sharp shoot of, know, what it is and people are going to look. And this is not to say that Instagram in and of itself is not.

enough. I think it can be one key source that you can actually get bookings in, but I think having a website in and of itself, I feel, like people sometimes just want to actually flick through the menu of what services do you have? Like, how do I work with you? I can’t just trawl through your Instagram grid and find that information, you know, whereas on a website, if it’s strategically kind of written out, like you can be like, okay, click here. Okay. Yep.

I can, I know exactly what you offer. You know what I mean? I think the third, the third and final reason I think is at the end of the day, like I said, even on this episode, through all of our conversations, Rach, like Instagram, social media is just one content platform. think if we start to treat the fact that something that we own, be it a website is the ultimate, like if you imagine an octopus, stay with me here.

Rachel (35:56)
I do, yeah.

Anita (36:19)
That’s the head of the octopus. Okay. Then you’ve got all these different tentacles that are driving traffic to this home that you own. Instagram, could be TikTok. It could be ads that all come up to this head of the octopus. That is what I feel like is going to really future-proof the brand in terms of the marketing, brand messaging, all of that, instead of feeling the sphere of if Instagram was down tomorrow, so is my business.

Rachel (36:20)
You

Yeah,

can I just say only you would pull the analogy of an octopus and its tentacles.

Anita (36:55)
Look, that was the first image that came to mind. Hopefully it sticks because it’s so random.

Rachel (36:59)
It worked, but I think you make some really good points there. It really is safeguarding your business, isn’t it? And I think it is really important, particularly if this practitioner is an online practitioner, they don’t have any physical clinic space that they are inviting their clients to. I do think that having a website for this person is really important and should be on the priority list. And I think if anything else, a website really is a good marker of credibility.

Anita (37:16)
Yeah, good point. Yep.

Rachel (37:28)
and professionalism, it shows, I’m a legit business here. And as you say, even if it’s just a one pager to get started, I think that one page is better than nothing at all.

Anita (37:35)
Yep.

Totally. Just as you were saying that, I couldn’t help but smile because I’m just like, yeah, I’m not just giving you a link to just pay me. I’m a legit business, okay? But it’s true. I agree.

Rachel (37:45)
Yes!

Yeah.

Well, I, there was an American health practitioner who she had like hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram. She did not have a website on. I searched her online. I tried to find any other trace of her. She was only existed on Instagram. Yeah. Her booking was through Instagram gave me anxiety. And then I went back to go find that person.

Anita (38:02)
Yeah, well.

just a link to pay her.

Rachel (38:17)
a couple of weeks later because I was telling someone about this story. I’m like, my God, I can’t believe she doesn’t have a website or you know, any no lead magnet, no nothing. And her account was gone. So I don’t know whether it got deleted or hacked or whether maybe she shut it down. But imagine if that was your business and Instagram disappeared tomorrow and you lose contact with your community and don’t have any information or no way to track who who’s engaging with your brand. So scary.

Anita (38:31)
damn.

Yeah. Well, that’s it. That’s scary. That’s scary. And that’s the other thing.

That’s the other thing. Like it’s literally, it’s, you want to drive people offline of, of, this platform into something you own, you know? So, yeah, that’s scary.

Rachel (38:50)
Yes. Yeah.

Exactly right. All right. Well, I feel like this is a good place to wrap up today’s poddy. Thank you so much. This has been fun.

Anita (39:02)
thank you. Thank you for having me, Rach.

Rachel (39:05)
Of course.

Thank you for coming on and for joining us so early again. I’m going to link all of your online channels in the show notes, but where’s the best place, the best channel that people can find you.

Anita (39:17)
Yes. Find me on Instagram. We’ve been talking about Instagram so much. me on Instagram. Yeah, have. On Instagram at Anita Siek. And the team over at WordFetti.

Rachel (39:20)
Yeah, we really have.

Wonderful. Well, thank you to you and a big thank you to our listeners for tuning into today’s episode. If you liked what you heard, keen to hear a little bit more hit follow in your podcasting app, Spotify, Apple podcasts, whatever it is that’ll make sure that you are notified every week when new episodes drop. And I don’t mean to tune my own horn, but we have some pretty cool episodes lined up. So you don’t want to miss them. All right. I’m going a little bit delulu. So that is it for me. Bye Anita.

Anita (39:55)
Bye Rach.

Rachel (40:00)
Bye everyone!