Meet The Board players: Danielle Close, founder of My Skin Feels
The Board, powered by giffgaff, is a new six-part YouTube series where entrepreneurs roll the die to see if they’ve got what it takes to take their business to the next level. Here, we meet the players and learn more about their business.
“We know what fast fashion is, but fast beauty is a real thing.” After fifteen years working in the beauty industry, Danielle Close wanted to prove there was a different way to do business — one that prioritises purpose over profit. “I saw first-hand just how unsustainable the industry is as a whole,” she says. “It is actually a joke.”
So she launched My Skin Feels, a skincare brand made from rescued food. Its formulas use factory byproducts from Italian organic food manufacturing, such as tomato skins, oat stalks and crushed olives, which are then fermented to release active ingredients such as vitamin C, amino acids and antioxidants. Even the water in the formulas is recycled.
It took three years of product development alongside a scientist to launch. The product line is deliberately stripped back — a moisturiser (their bestseller) and a face wash — to counter overconsumption and waste. “I wanted to prove less is more, simple is better, natural is better,” explains Danielle. “Instead of getting 12-step skincare routines, people are buying two and it's having more of an effect.”
Her proudest moments are interacting with customers and hearing how much impact the products are having. “Beauty brands want to change how you look. I just want to change how you feel,” she says. For Danielle, nothing beats selling in person at markets, pop-ups, and events.
Now, she’s ready to take the business to the next level, hoping to become a household name in beauty with a little help from The Board.
Danielle has long been inspired by mission-led businesses. She believes it's our collective responsibility to create and support ethical businesses. “One way to get consumers to understand that is with a tool they use every day: their skincare,” she says, adding: “We're not doing this to make money. We're doing it to prove a point.”
While her dream is to become a household name in the beauty industry, she’s cautious of rapid expansion or investment that may compromise her values. She wants to remain true to her original mission and make real change in the industry. “We’re more about slow growth versus fast growth… one of the challenges is sticking to our guns on that.”
Why we’ve created The Board
At giffgaff, we support people to make their next move. Starting your own business means making big calls, often with no one around to talk them through. The Board puts those decisions on the table so players (and everyone watching) can clearly see the choices and trade-offs it takes to run a successful business.
During each episode, an entrepreneur maps out the future of their business on a physical board game, completing challenges and answering questions that probe every corner of their strategy. If they win, they get to choose between a giffgaff grant or mentorship.
Watching from another room are the Game Changers: Patricia Bright, entrepreneur, award-winning content creator and founder of The Break, a financial education and lifestyle platform; and Jordan Schwarzenberger, co-founder of Arcade, the entertainment company behind huge creator brands, including The Sidemen and Generation Football. Together, they will follow the players' progress on The Board and decide whether they’ve got what it takes to succeed in business.
If successful, players will be invited to an interview with the Game Changers, who will dig deeper into the business before offering a choice between a £5,000 giffgaff grant or Fair Play mentorship. If players aren’t lucky enough to make it through to the final interview, they will receive £1,000 to spend on their business.
Danielle doesn't hesitate when asked to describe how full-on her role can be. “My job in the business as [the] founder is EVERYTHING," she stresses during the episode.
She still works another job one day a week, but the business takes up “every second”. “It’s all-encompassing,” she says, adding that running a business is “a constant roller coaster of burnout”. It was only when she became ill and had to step back that she realised self-care needed to be taken seriously.
As the business grows, Danielle recognises the need to refocus her energy where it matters most, on product development and sales, and let go of the areas she naturally gravitates towards, such as marketing. “I need to learn how to relinquish control because that’s very hard,” she says.
This tension is common for founders growing their business, but for the Game Changers, the challenge around compromise goes beyond the day-to-day.
Will the Game Changers have advice on scaling a mission-led business without compromising its values? Watch the full episode on YouTube to find out.
The first episode of The Board is available on YouTube now and episodes will be released every two weeks.