A passion for problem solving

Emma Lewisham feels her science-led natural skincare company is just getting started. Since forming in 2019, her eponymous brand, Emma Lewisham, has grown to become a significant player in the global beauty industry.

Last year it achieved 50 per cent growth in sales and it is on track to achieve similar growth this year — driven by the sales growth seen in Australia, the UK and USA.

Emma (née Crossett) came to Otago in 2003, after completing high school at Nelson Girls’ College and spent her first year at Studholme College.

“It was lots of fun; I really enjoyed my time there and I made friends from all over the country who I still keep in touch with today.

“Those years were a defining chapter in my life, shaping who I am and laying the foundation for lasting friendships and connections that continue to be an important part of who I am.”

Originally studying science and business, she soon found that business was her true passion when she was invited into the marketing honours programme. She credits the Department of Marketing’s, Dr Mathew Parackal, with recognising her passion for solving problems for businesses.

She says former Otago Law Professor, Mark Henaghan, stood out during her early studies as did Associate Professor of Marketing Leah Watkins.

“I really loved the culture, the lecturers and the overall energy there. It is such a supportive and inspiring environment.”

Another major feature of Emma’s studies was travelling to Barcelona to study at ESADE Business School on an exchange — one of Europe’s top business schools — which she says was a “phenomenal experience”.

During her honour’s year, Emma worked with several Dunedin businesses.

“In nearly every business they knew that they had some problems to solve, but often it wasn’t the problem they thought, that was holding them back.

“I wasn’t the top of my class, but I had a strong work ethic and a passion to solve the hard problems.”

Enjoying her time in the city, she stayed on for a year after finishing her studies to work with Dunedin fashion companies, “to help them succeed”.

“I really loved Dunedin; it’s something special.”

Emma then moved to Wellington where she spent several years working for the Business Roundtable under the leadership of Catherine Judd.

She says this role gave her exposure to many of the country’s top thinkers and CEOs and a greater understanding of how business operates in Aotearoa.

Emma next spent eight years at multinational Japanese electronics and electrical equipment company Brother International, where she rapidly rose through the ranks and says she was on track to be the first female country CEO at the company globally.

She says while at Brother International she traveled to Japan, Singapore, the UK and the USA.

At this time she made the major decision to co-found the company that bears her name along with close friend Kimberley Morrison (whom she had worked with at Brother International) and her husband Andrew Lewisham, who was working in-house as a lawyer.

Emma’s journey into skincare was deeply personal. She had lost her mother at a young age to cancer and says she, “became quite in tune and aware with the way the way that I lived and what I consumed.”

She became acutely aware of how lifestyle choices, especially what we put on our skin—impact our health. Despite using luxury beauty products, nothing fitted with her values or needs.

This disconnect sparked a “light bulb moment” where she was inspired to build a beauty brand which used all natural ingredients but still delivered results and was a pleasure to use.

Emma says her vision didn’t stop there. She set out to challenge industry norms and transform the beauty industry. Building a business that wasn’t just “creating products; but solving real problems with a genuinely revolutionary approach”.

Rejecting the traditional ingredient-led approach, Emma’s formulations centre on the skin’s physiology. She says this method ensures that each formulation works in harmony with the skin's complex cellular pathways and processes, delivering superior results.

The business is also pioneering in the sustainability space, in 2021 becoming the first skincare brand globally to offer refillable, circular-designed and Climate Positive certified skincare across the complete range – an achievement that garnered a personal endorsement by ethologist and United Nations Messenger of Peace Dr Jane Goodall.

Emma Lewisham employs several Otago science graduates including physiologist, Erin Barlow.

“We do world-leading in vivo (clinical) and in vitro (laboratory) independent testing on all of our products in labs globally and have shown that nature is the world’s most powerful bioengineer and natural ingredients can deliver exceptional performance and have real science behind them.”

Emma Lewisham now has manufacturing facilities in New Zealand and Australia. As part of its range must be produced at a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approved facility, the closest of which is across the Tasman.

Emma Lewisham has grown strongly in Australia in MECCA where it is one of their top performing skincare brands and in the UK it sells products in SpaceNK, Selfridges, Liberty (one of their products is in their Beauty Hall of Fame) and Harrods stores and in retailers like Goop  — Gwyneth Paltrow’s stores in the USA.

And how does Emma feel about being named this year’s Kiwibank Innovator of the Year?

“Yes — it’s surreal, I never set out to receive accolades. I just set out to solve problems and create brilliant and exceptional products. I think if you put that at the centre of what you do it leads to awards, but this is genuinely a team award, which wouldn’t have been achieved without Kim, Andrew and the rest of our team.”

Kōrero by Kerry Dohig, Communications Adviser, Development and Alumni Relations