A lot of entrepreneurs who sell amazing products don’t always start in business. Sometimes, they come up with an idea for a product (that often doesn’t exist in the marketplace) and then make a business out of that idea. That’s exactly the story of our guests Ann Guerrera and Áine Kappel.

Anne and Áine are the best friend and founder duo behind Alchemists Laboratories, a skincare brand dedicated to producing all-natural products to help women look as young and healthy as they feel. These friends were previously research chemists and met when they were working as chemistry teachers.

After 20 years of friendship and multiple lunchtime conversations, they started talking about their aging skin. This conversation led them to start research and test product development in 2019 for a product that’s effective and without all of the hard-to-pronounce ingredients.

“Why wouldn't you ingest the nutrients that are needed for healthy skin where it's able to work on the cellular level from the inside out?” - Áine Kappel

Key points discussed in this episode are:

Balancing being best friends and business partners
Starting their business doing everything themselves
The shift and changes when taking the next step in their business

“Every time we’d do something we had to learn it ourselves. We'd like to take the next step where we can hire people who are specialists.” - Ann Guerrera

Now their focus has shifted from getting their product formulas right to being ready to take a large step forward in their business growth.

This duo recently won HAYVN Hatch, and they’ve been amazed at all of the help people have been willing to give them. They realized that this doesn’t have to be a lonely journey, and people are willing to help them as they bring their business to the next level.

Connect with Alchemists Laboratories:

Connect with Nancy:

Episode 226: Cathal Quinn – From Rooftops to Resilience: Data Centers, Mental Health & Irish Grit