Mum of two reveals how she started a multimillion-dollar skincare business

Evette Hess spent her twenties cutting her hair to hide her bad skin – using a big block-out fringe to hide the acne scattered across her forehead.

Now, at 36, she owns Esmi, a multi-million dollar skin and hair care company that focuses on getting to the root of problem skin.

Speaking to FEMAIL, the Gold Coast mother-of-two explained how she launched her first brand Poni, which she later incorporated into Esmi, to help fix women’s complexions.

It all started in 2015 with a foundation which included skincare and provided great coverage without blocking pores and causing more problems.

Now the entrepreneurial mum has developed a hair range – which works using the same principals the skincare is now renowned for – fixing the problem at the cause instead of simply masking the symptoms.

‘I really believe in being kind to our skin, when you have an angry, inflamed person you don’t fix the problem by throwing acid on them, the same should be true for our skin,’ she said.

‘I wanted to make something that didn’t dry out the skin in the process of clearing it up.’

The busy mum gambled everything she had to build her business – but it worked out and she is now kept busy filling hundreds of orders per day

Evette spent years as a beautician specialising in skin health and knew she had to come up with a product that could help women with skin concerns

The Esmi products include vitamins, minerals and probiotics to help restore balance to the skin. 

Evette was on maternity leave when she started the business – her daughter was six months old and has grown up alongside the beauty brand.

‘I had worked in the beauty industry for years, at a specialist skin clinic, and my customers would always come in and complain about makeup clogging up their skin,’ she said.

‘They would come in and we would be getting on top of their skin concerns, but then they would be caught in the cycle once they went home.

‘And I couldn’t blame them for that, anyone would do the same thing, bad skin can have a huge impact on our confidence so it is natural to want to cover it up.’ 

Evette and her husband had put money down on a block of land and were going to build their dream home when ‘the deal just didn’t settle’.

So instead of pouring the money into another home, Evette decided to back her dreams and use it to start her business.

‘I was working on formulas and the business in general for 18 months before we had any sales,’ she said.

‘There were definitely times when I wondered if I had done the right thing.’ 

‘I was working on formulas and the business in general for 18 months before we had any sales,’ she said

Evette’s daughter was six-months old when she decided to start her first company Poni, which has evolved into Esmi – the youngster has grown up ‘at work’

Evette was working as a contractor at a clinic by day and building her empire at night.

Seven years on and she has the number one selling serum at Sephora and a loyal fan base eager to snap up the newest products on every launch.

She says her stretch into haircare seemed like a natural progression from skincare.

‘Hair and skin are made of the same stuff. So we decided to make a range that focused on scalp health which leads to healthy hair.’

But the 36-year-old is far from done; her team is working on a range of hair treatments and oils which will compliment the shampoo and conditioners and mirror the items available in the skin range.

Her team now consists of 40 full-time staff and about 40 contractors and is ‘solid’, meaning she better able to establish work-life boundaries.

The business has gone from strength to strength and now boasts the number one selling serum at Sophora

They have recently launched a haircare line – which uses the same principals as the skin care products – tackling the cause not the symptoms

‘I haven’t quite figured out the balance yet,’ she said.

‘But I know when I need to take more family time that my team have got it.’

Evette’s daughter loves coming to work with her, which she says is a blessing  because she’s with her in the warehouse and office often.

Her husband worked in the business for the first four years ‘for free’ and then continued in a paid capacity for a few more.

But as the business has grown, he has been able to leave Evette’s team to pick up some of ‘his jobs’ and now works in a private equity firm.

‘I couldn’t have built Esmi without him, we are opposite in many ways which helps us balance out, Evette said.

‘I am creative and he is analytical and logical; so I come up with the crazy ideas and then we go through them together to see what works,’ she said.

All of the Esmi products are made and packaged on the Gold Coast – minutes from where Evette and her family lives.