An Australian mother who started making her own deodorant in her kitchen after fearing toxins in popular brands would poison her newborn is now making a fortune.
Tegiye Mimi-Ozalp, from Melbourne, started making a 100 percent natural deodorant by experimenting with ingredients at home.
She soon realized that other mothers were looking for a similar product and decided to start selling it.
But since she had given up her job as an accountant when she had children, she feared investing the family’s savings in a new business was too risky.
Tegiye Mimi-Ozalp, from Melbourne, started making a 100 percent natural deodorant, experimenting with ingredients in her home kitchen
Instead, she saved $5 every time she went shopping or bought a coffee.
Within four months, she had saved $1,500 and decided to start her business, Saf Organics.
Now she turns over about $60,000 a month and says other moms are constantly asking for more products.
“It all started when I became a mother,” Tegiye told Daily Mail Australia.
“I just bought a deodorant spray. And then picked up my newborn baby to breastfeed.
Now a mommy-og-four, Tegiye makes about $60,000 a month and says other moms are constantly asking for more products (pictured with her kids)
And I thought, “oh my god, this kid is choking” (on the fumes).
So that’s when my search for a good deodorant began. A natural deodorant without fumes, with a low toxicity effect… and that didn’t exist nine years ago.’
Despite her husband being confident in the company and telling Tegiye to “be cool” and use their savings, she was worried about their mortgage and car payments.
“I literally started saving $5 bills. Every coffee, every supermarket trip,’ she said.
‘Then I started selling things I no longer needed.
“Within four months I had saved $1,500 in $5 bills alone.”
Tegiye then decided to start making her product by buying ingredients and setting up a website.
“On the first night we launched, we sold out everything we had.”
Within the first month, they made $10,000 in profit.
Four years later, Tegiye and her husband, and her two children and her dog decided to sell their house in Melbourne and travel the country, where they discovered the ‘magic of Australia’s botanicals’.
She then launched her facial care range, inspired by the medicines of the Outback and the native bush.
Tegiye, who now lives in rural Queensland, and her husband, who has resigned, sell about 600 to 700 products a month.
The range includes a cleanser, moisturizer, vitamin C serum, sleeping mask and eye cream.
‘We arrived in outback Australia and on an Indigenous tour we realized that everything we see as weeds is actually shrub medicine and has so many healing properties,’ explains Tegiye.
The mother of four said there are “so many” vitamin C serums in Australia that use imported ingredients, and there are “much better” ingredients that are native to Australia.
Despite her husband being confident in the company and telling Tegiye to “don’t be silly” and use their savings, she was concerned about their “mortgage and car payments,” so she saved her money in cash. Tegiye is depicted with her children
The new range includes a cleanser, moisturizer, vitamin C serum, sleeping mask and eye cream (pictured)
She added that oranges and other citrus fruits — which are commonly used in vitamin C serums — contain 14 grams of vitamin C per unit, while kakadu plums, which are native to Australia, contain more than 7,000 grams per unit.
“We haven’t even been able to collect the data to use in marketing yet because the feedback has been insane,” Tegiye added.
‘Everyone says that in two days you noticed the difference in using the vitamin C serum.
“In terms of color, texture, your skin looks great. It’s really high quality, so we decided to take all our tribal knowledge we’ve gained along the way and put it in a bottle.’