Women With GRITT: Habitual Beauty Founder, Keira Rumble, On The Diagnosis That Changed Her Life And Her Holistic Approach To Health, Beauty And Fitness
“Being diagnosed as pre-diabetic was a massive turning point in my life. I credit a lot of my passion for holistic health to that moment. At the time it was really challenging but looking back I am so grateful for that moment in getting me to where I am today. I just had to trust that there was a purpose behind it.”
Welcome to Women with GRITT: a series where we interview the resilient, hardworking women who have kicked in the glass ceiling and inspire us to do the same.
The challenges that life throws our way can shake us in one of two ways. We can either retreat to self-pity and a ‘why us’ attitude or we can use it to fuel change. Keira Rumble, founder of Habitual Beauty, took the latter approach when she was diagnosed as pre-diabetic (insulin resistant) in her early 20s and has never looked back.
Using her diagnosis as a motivator to change her lifestyle, Rumble created her first business, Krumbled Foods with the hopes that she would be able to help people everywhere understand their bodies better. With the brand’s first functional snack, the Beauty Bites, flying off the shelves almost immediately, it seems that Rumble’s business knack was no accident.
Launching her skincare brand, Habitual Beauty, in 2021, Rumble is now taking her philosophy for healthy living from inside to outside. A clinically proven and clean ingestible and topical beauty brand, the products already have a cult-following for one very good reason: they work.
In this interview, Rumble speaks to Gritty Pretty about her holistic approach to health and beauty, why she feels so connected to her customer base and how a positive attitude is your best asset.
Hi Keira! Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us today. Before we jump into your business prowess, we would love to learn a little bit more about the moment that inspired your entrepreneurial journey?
I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic in my early 20s and it was quite a challenging thing to wrap my head around. The way I had been living my life and eating for the 20-something years prior to my diagnosis all of a sudden wasn’t viable. So, it led me to a complete lifestyle overhaul and what I found most interesting was the link between excessive sugar intake and poor physical and mental health. But then I’d go to the supermarket to find healthy snacks and see that most foods marketed as ‘healthy’ or ‘low sugar’ were in fact filled with hidden sugars and filler ingredients. That was the turning point that led me to Krumbled Foods, because I was so shocked at how little was out there.
You did an amazing job of turning a difficult situation into a positive outcome. How important is maintaining a positive attitude to you?
Incredibly important. Life is full of challenges and bumps in the road and if you let them, they can really knock you down. It sounds trivial but keeping your head up and staying positive will transform the way you live. Even when things seem unfair or like they shouldn’t be happening to you, I always try to take a step back and really consider how I can put a positive spin on it.
That positive attitude has certainly gotten you far as not only are your Beauty Bites one of the best-selling snacks on the market right now but you’ve also recently launched your beauty brand, Habitual Beauty. Why did beauty seem like the right next step for you?
It was definitely a case of one business feeding the need for the other. As an entrepreneur I had spent years living a fast-paced life that was filled with travel and responsibility and stress and it was wreaking havoc on my skin. I was dealing with hormonal breakouts constantly and the fatigue of it all was making my skin appear lacklustre. But when I went to find products, I realised I couldn’t use the majority of what was on the market. Synthetic ingredients and harsh chemicals have always irritated my skin and I was disappointed that the natural alternatives weren’t giving me the results I wanted. It was a real catch-22 and, much like Krumbled Foods, I created a brand to slot into that gap.
The products are absolutely beautiful and are also formulated with clean ingredients. What can you tell us about the product and brand development process?
My biggest priority when I decided to start Habitual Beauty was to find a team of experts who were the best in their fields. I don’t do anything half-heartedly, so it was really important for me to have the best people on my team so that I could create the best possible products for my customers. With these people behind me, I began to explore the world of science based nutraceutical formulations and results-led skincare products. It was important for me to have both the ingestible and topical products as so much of our skin health stems from the gut. Caring for the gut microbiome while simultaneously putting high quality ingredients on the skin is really the key to success.
Your products are also considered to fall under the ‘clean beauty’ umbrella. What does that mean to your business and why was it a non-negotiable?
There is so much mystery in the beauty industry which is what can make it so confusing and overwhelming. So, for me, being a clean business with transparency around our ingredients was so important as it gives our customers the peace of mind that I could never find. Our formulas are clean, low-tox and utilise the incredible benefits of Australian botanicals while also being free of sulphates SLS and SLES, phthalates, parabens and mineral oil. This was also a passion of mine because of my own journey with IVF. There were certain ingredients I couldn’t use and I think just becoming more conscious of what I was putting in and on my body during that time made me much more passionate about being a clean brand.
You also launched into Sephora Australia which is an incredible feat. What was that feeling like?
It was an incredible feeling, seeing our products sitting alongside some of the most successful skincare brands in the world. And I just felt so proud that my mission–to make products that everyone could understand and use–was coming to fruition. We love our partnership with Sephora so much.
You also gave birth to your gorgeous son Hunter around the same time that you launched Habitual Beauty last year. How did you go about managing early motherhood and the early days of a new business simultaneously?
It was certainly challenging but it was obviously such a happy time on both fronts that I was just so excited. My team were incredible with taking things off my plate if my emails escaped me and we were still in lockdown so it was great to have that time spent at home with no pressure to socialise or go out and about. Of course, there are some sacrifices to be made on both fronts but I think if you are kind to yourself and allow yourself the space to be with your little one and get back to the emails when you can, you’re doing a great job.
That is such incredible advice. Thank you so much for speaking with us today Keira!
Hi Keira! Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us today. Before we jump into your business prowess, we would love to learn a little bit more about the moment that inspired your entrepreneurial journey?
I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic in my early 20s and it was quite a challenging thing to wrap my head around. The way I had been living my life and eating for the 20-something years prior to my diagnosis all of a sudden wasn’t viable. So, it led me to a complete lifestyle overhaul and what I found most interesting was the link between excessive sugar intake and poor physical and mental health. But then I’d go to the supermarket to find healthy snacks and see that most foods marketed as ‘healthy’ or ‘low sugar’ were in fact filled with hidden sugars and filler ingredients. That was the turning point that led me to Krumbled Foods, because I was so shocked at how little was out there.
You did an amazing job of turning a difficult situation into a positive outcome. How important is maintaining a positive attitude to you?
Incredibly important. Life is full of challenges and bumps in the road and if you let them, they can really knock you down. It sounds trivial but keeping your head up and staying positive will transform the way you live. Even when things seem unfair or like they shouldn’t be happening to you, I always try to take a step back and really consider how I can put a positive spin on it.
That positive attitude has certainly gotten you far as not only are your Beauty Bites one of the best-selling snacks on the market right now but you’ve also recently launched your beauty brand, Habitual Beauty. Why did beauty seem like the right next step for you?
It was definitely a case of one business feeding the need for the other. As an entrepreneur I had spent years living a fast-paced life that was filled with travel and responsibility and stress and it was wreaking havoc on my skin. I was dealing with hormonal breakouts constantly and the fatigue of it all was making my skin appear lacklustre. But when I went to find products, I realised I couldn’t use the majority of what was on the market. Synthetic ingredients and harsh chemicals have always irritated my skin and I was disappointed that the natural alternatives weren’t giving me the results I wanted. It was a real catch-22 and, much like Krumbled Foods, I created a brand to slot into that gap.
The products are absolutely beautiful and are also formulated with clean ingredients. What can you tell us about the product and brand development process?
My biggest priority when I decided to start Habitual Beauty was to find a team of experts who were the best in their fields. I don’t do anything half-heartedly, so it was really important for me to have the best people on my team so that I could create the best possible products for my customers. With these people behind me, I began to explore the world of science based nutraceutical formulations and results-led skincare products. It was important for me to have both the ingestible and topical products as so much of our skin health stems from the gut. Caring for the gut microbiome while simultaneously putting high quality ingredients on the skin is really the key to success.
Your products are also considered to fall under the ‘clean beauty’ umbrella. What does that mean to your business and why was it a non-negotiable?
There is so much mystery in the beauty industry which is what can make it so confusing and overwhelming. So, for me, being a clean business with transparency around our ingredients was so important as it gives our customers the peace of mind that I could never find. Our formulas are clean, low-tox and utilise the incredible benefits of Australian botanicals while also being free of sulphates SLS and SLES, phthalates, parabens and mineral oil. This was also a passion of mine because of my own journey with IVF. There were certain ingredients I couldn’t use and I think just becoming more conscious of what I was putting in and on my body during that time made me much more passionate about being a clean brand.
You also launched into Sephora Australia which is an incredible feat. What was that feeling like?
It was an incredible feeling, seeing our products sitting alongside some of the most successful skincare brands in the world. And I just felt so proud that my mission–to make products that everyone could understand and use–was coming to fruition. We love our partnership with Sephora so much.
You also gave birth to your gorgeous son Hunter around the same time that you launched Habitual Beauty last year. How did you go about managing early motherhood and the early days of a new business simultaneously?
It was certainly challenging but it was obviously such a happy time on both fronts that I was just so excited. My team were incredible with taking things off my plate if my emails escaped me and we were still in lockdown so it was great to have that time spent at home with no pressure to socialise or go out and about. Of course, there are some sacrifices to be made on both fronts but I think if you are kind to yourself and allow yourself the space to be with your little one and get back to the emails when you can, you’re doing a great job.
That is such incredible advice. Thank you so much for speaking with us today Keira!
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