NEWSROOM
The student venture developing sun protection shampoo
13 March 2024
For newly-minted entrepreneur Ella Gibb, the best adventures happen outdoors – and if the sun’s shining, even better. “There’s nothing I enjoy more than ‘getting out there’, whether that be for a surf, for beach days or for sports,” she enthuses. “I am always looking for ways to enhance this experience and protect myself while doing so.”
It’s unsurprising, then, that her first entrepreneurial venture is one that speaks to this passion for fun in the sun: the young outdoor enthusiast has founded a company called “Sun & Set”, which she describes as “a lifestyle brand for anyone who feels most inspired in the sun.” Given the average Kiwi’s love of the outdoors, this will be a brand with broad appeal.
The first Sun & Set product to hit the market is Sun Powder, a dry shampoo with a difference: it contains 10 per cent zinc, adding sun protection to the cleansing properties of a standard dry shampoo. “I started my business as a way to solve a problem I was having, which was being vulnerable to scalp sunburn and wanting to use a product with a more sustainable focus,” explains Ella. Watch this space, she adds: “Future products centred around the beachy lifestyle are in the works.”
Launching a start-up could be seen as a slightly unusual segue from Ella’s undergraduate degree – a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Screen Production and Communications. However, her studies equipped her with “a good foundational skill set of problem-solving and critical thinking,” she explains. “This allowed me to approach solving this problem with resilience and ‘out of the box’ thinking.”
But what became particularly pivotal to Ella’s entrepreneurial journey was her participation in the Velocity $100k Challenge start-up planning competition delivered through the Business School’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE). It’s an experience she describes as a crash course in business administration and entrepreneurship. “Velocity taught me so many practical skills that I apply to my business today across business administration, strategy and building a brand,” she reflects. “However, I think the most important outcome from Velocity was joining the amazing start-up community we have here at the University of Auckland. Taking part in Velocity allowed me to expand my network and learn from some of the best mentors and leaders in the entrepreneurial space, and I am so grateful for that experience.”
The exceptional support offered by this start-up community has been invaluable as she navigates the highs and lows of building her brand and releasing her first product. It has been quite the learning curve, she observes. “The biggest lesson I’ve learned is to be very detail-oriented. I actually had to get my bottles relabelled as I had mistakenly put an old list of ingredients on them. So, learning not to be too hasty and excited, and to slow down and take my time, has definitely been an important lesson.”
Ella certainly had to take her time with the research and development phase; this process alone took “a whopping two years”, she reveals, and the transition from research and development to product launch has not been easy. “The biggest challenge I have faced so far is jumping from the research and development phase to being on the market, and all the operational challenges that come with that,” she says. “I am certainly still figuring it out!”
And she’s comfortable with that. But she concedes that at the start of her journey, it would have been helpful to know just how much support was available for people in her position. “I wish I had known how much people are willing to help out, whether that be in the form of mentoring or advice or referrals,” she says. This, then, is a key piece of advice she is eager to share with students or budding entrepreneurs: “In my opinion, the best thing to do is to be open-minded and gather as much knowledge as possible from those who have ‘been there and done that’.”
Ella’s still learning, too – and loving it. Growing her knowledge has been one of the most enjoyable aspects of the entrepreneurial experience. “I’m excited about exploring how to best market my product to tell my brand’s story and engage with my target audience. It’s been a blast so far learning the ropes of digital marketing, and I’m super-excited for future campaigns.” It’s very much a sunny outlook for Sun & Set, she believes. “I’ve had a very positive response from the start-up community so far, and I’m so excited for things to come.”
13 March 2024
For newly-minted entrepreneur Ella Gibb, the best adventures happen outdoors – and if the sun’s shining, even better. “There’s nothing I enjoy more than ‘getting out there’, whether that be for a surf, for beach days or for sports,” she enthuses. “I am always looking for ways to enhance this experience and protect myself while doing so.”
It’s unsurprising, then, that her first entrepreneurial venture is one that speaks to this passion for fun in the sun: the young outdoor enthusiast has founded a company called “Sun & Set”, which she describes as “a lifestyle brand for anyone who feels most inspired in the sun.” Given the average Kiwi’s love of the outdoors, this will be a brand with broad appeal.
The first Sun & Set product to hit the market is Sun Powder, a dry shampoo with a difference: it contains 10 per cent zinc, adding sun protection to the cleansing properties of a standard dry shampoo. “I started my business as a way to solve a problem I was having, which was being vulnerable to scalp sunburn and wanting to use a product with a more sustainable focus,” explains Ella. Watch this space, she adds: “Future products centred around the beachy lifestyle are in the works.”
Launching a start-up could be seen as a slightly unusual segue from Ella’s undergraduate degree – a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Screen Production and Communications. However, her studies equipped her with “a good foundational skill set of problem-solving and critical thinking,” she explains. “This allowed me to approach solving this problem with resilience and ‘out of the box’ thinking.”
But what became particularly pivotal to Ella’s entrepreneurial journey was her participation in the Velocity $100k Challenge start-up planning competition delivered through the Business School’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE). It’s an experience she describes as a crash course in business administration and entrepreneurship. “Velocity taught me so many practical skills that I apply to my business today across business administration, strategy and building a brand,” she reflects. “However, I think the most important outcome from Velocity was joining the amazing start-up community we have here at the University of Auckland. Taking part in Velocity allowed me to expand my network and learn from some of the best mentors and leaders in the entrepreneurial space, and I am so grateful for that experience.”
The exceptional support offered by this start-up community has been invaluable as she navigates the highs and lows of building her brand and releasing her first product. It has been quite the learning curve, she observes. “The biggest lesson I’ve learned is to be very detail-oriented. I actually had to get my bottles relabelled as I had mistakenly put an old list of ingredients on them. So, learning not to be too hasty and excited, and to slow down and take my time, has definitely been an important lesson.”
Ella certainly had to take her time with the research and development phase; this process alone took “a whopping two years”, she reveals, and the transition from research and development to product launch has not been easy. “The biggest challenge I have faced so far is jumping from the research and development phase to being on the market, and all the operational challenges that come with that,” she says. “I am certainly still figuring it out!”
And she’s comfortable with that. But she concedes that at the start of her journey, it would have been helpful to know just how much support was available for people in her position. “I wish I had known how much people are willing to help out, whether that be in the form of mentoring or advice or referrals,” she says. This, then, is a key piece of advice she is eager to share with students or budding entrepreneurs: “In my opinion, the best thing to do is to be open-minded and gather as much knowledge as possible from those who have ‘been there and done that’.”
Ella’s still learning, too – and loving it. Growing her knowledge has been one of the most enjoyable aspects of the entrepreneurial experience. “I’m excited about exploring how to best market my product to tell my brand’s story and engage with my target audience. It’s been a blast so far learning the ropes of digital marketing, and I’m super-excited for future campaigns.” It’s very much a sunny outlook for Sun & Set, she believes. “I’ve had a very positive response from the start-up community so far, and I’m so excited for things to come.”
EMAIL
CIE@AUCKLAND.AC.NZ
POSTAL ADDRESS
THE UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND BUSINESS SCHOOL
PRIVATE BAG 92019, AUCKLAND
