WoW Woman in Women's Health I Katy Cottam, CEO and Founder of Luna Daily
Katy Cottam the is CEO and Founder of Luna Daily, the body care brand for all skin, even intimate, on a mission to connect women of all ages and stages to themselves and each other.
After a successful career in the beauty industry, at L’Oreal and most recently Global Head of Brand at Charlotte Tilbury, Katy gave up her ‘dream job’ in the pandemic to set up Luna Daily. Inspired by her own experiences as a teenager, after an intense course of antibiotics impacted her gut and skin microbiome and caused her to have thrush. Unable to use traditional body care products, she was forced to use so-called ‘feminine hygiene’ products which created lasting feelings of shame and embarrassment. 15 years later, working at the heart of the beauty industry, Katy could see no progress had been made. She knew something had to change, so with the help of expert dermatologists and gynaecologists (the Collective), Luna Daily was born.
The brand was recently awarded a ‘Highly Commended' in the 'British Award for Body' at the prestigious Marie Claire's Prix D'Excellence for its (No)Soap™ bar. Luna Daily was also recently recognised in Mintel's report 'Explore New Ways to Redefine Intimate Care' looking at how the Intimate Care category can be elevated by going beyond basic hygiene to elevate experiences and bring more visibility to women's health and body concerns. Luna Daily are also very proud to be a founding partner of GenM Official, leading a positive menopause revolution and highlighting the importance of the collective to educate and make a positive change.
Luna Daily's mission is to connect women of all ages and stages to themselves and each other. Luna Daily products are powered by the brand’s unique complex [THERMA-BIOME+™] to strengthen, nourish, and protect the skin’s microbiome. All Luna Daily products are pH perfect, natural and vegan, free from soap, allergens, sulphates, and parabens, sustainable, and thoughtfully designed. They have three ranges to cater to all ages & stages.
Tell us a bit about your background and your projects so far.
I’ve spent most of my career in the beauty wellness space, starting out my career at L’Oreal, first in the category and then in the brand team for Maybelline, and most recently I was at Charlotte Tilbury as Global Head of Brand. But Luna Daily has been an idea I’ve had since I was a teenager - after an intense course of antibiotics impacted my gut and skin microbiome causing me to have thrush. From that point on I wasn’t able to use traditional body care products, and was forced to use so-called ‘feminine hygiene’ products with all the ‘what’s wrong with her’ associations.
It was a decade later, telling my close friend Lizzie about my long-standing frustration, that the true lightbulb moment happened. Lizzie stopped in her tracks and dragged me upstairs, opening the cupboard door in the bathroom that we were sharing to show me a hidden intimate wash. Very sadly, Lizzie was using it after her second miscarriage operation, wanting to care for her body. Two very different experiences, at different stages of Womanhood, but both are deeply connected by the same feelings of shame and embarrassment.
It got us thinking…“Why are we so ashamed to talk about a part of our body that’s so important to us? Why should the vulva even need separate products from the rest of our bodies?! And how many other women are hiding products in their cupboards because they feel this way?”
It turns out, too many.
I knew something had to change, so with the help of expert dermatologists and gynaecologists (the Collective), Luna Daily was born. No more having to keep harsh body products away from intimate skin and no more hiding products in the cupboard. Head, vulva, knees and toes, Luna Daily is microbiome-balancing body care for all skin, even the most intimate, and is designed for women and people with vulvas across all life stages from puberty, through motherhood, to menopause.
So, in the midst of the pandemic, I gave up the ‘dream job’ to set up Luna Daily. On a mission to connect women and their entire bodies, I want to eradicate shame around ‘intimate’ care, create a platform to educate women about their bodies and give them a real choice about how they care for them.
We’ve just celebrated Luna Daily’s first birthday, having closed a £3m investment round and launching into North America as the first exclusive UK intimate care brand to launch at Sephora across 260+ stores. That’s following our launch onto Harrods.com and into Harrods Beauty as the first intimate care brand of its kind at the beginning of this year.
How did you get into this industry? Has it been an easy industry to get into or have you had many challenges?
My first proper job was driving around a Red Bull mini at University as a ‘Wiiings’ team member. It was also my first introduction to brand & marketing (I studied Geography), and what a place to begin. I adored my time at Red Bull and moved to London with a full-time role at Red Bull HQ after university. It was then that I got offered a place on the coveted L’Oreal graduate scheme and my boss at the time, Doug, ( ironically his first job had been working for a big tampon brand) said I had to take it, that there was no better training ground (promising to one day poach me back!). He was right…and it was also Doug who encouraged me to take the job at plant-based food brand BOL foods, where I then spent four years heading up brand, marketing and innovation. I was the fifth founding member, the first non-innocent member and it was really where I learned ‘how to run a business’. I owe so much to that experience and would encourage everyone to spend some proper time in the start-up world if they are thinking about setting up a business. Finally, one of my first bosses’ from L’Oreal recruited me into Charlotte Tilbury (Sarah Watt, now Luna Daily’s Board Director), where I became the Global Head of Brand.
I wouldn’t say it's been ‘easy’, and it certainly wasn’t a fully planned out career, but it does now feel quite serendipitous / that it was always meant to have happened to lead me back to that teenage experience. I have to say, being in the female wellness and start-up space is an absolute joy. I feel surrounded by people who cheer us on, are so generous with their time and give me such belief in our vision.
How long did it take you to be where you are now? What was the biggest obstacle?
As I said, I set up Luna Daily after leaving my job during the pandemic and the brand launched in March 2022, just a year ago. We ended up closing the full round, rather serendipitously given the stats against startups failing in their first year, on our 1st birthday - 1st March 2023. But it was an idea bubbling in my mind since my teenage years.
The main obstacle to date, like many start-ups, has been the fundraising process.
We began when we’d been in the market for just over a month with positive early traction and phenomenal response from customers and retailers, the biggest of which being Sephora.
However we kept being told that we were too early, or people thought the category wasn’t going to be big enough (despite the fact we’re straddling body care which is $236bn and intimate care which is estimated to be $1Bn globally…and in theory speaking to 50% of the population with a vulva)
It was getting increasingly difficult to raise capital, and in November 2022, I was eight months into the fundraising journey and people were encouraging me to close. I’d hit our initial minimum target and the economy was in freefall. Lots of investors were sitting on their hands. It was a challenging time for me personally, I was burned out, and the company needed an injection of cash.
Then Sephora increased their commitment to us three times, so I went back to Redrice, who I had wanted to partner with since the day I founded Luna and convinced them that this was an inflection point. Thankfully, they agreed, signing up on Christmas Eve 2022.
What are the challenges of being in the industry you are in?
At Luna Daily we’re trying to eradicate a whole category, ‘feminine hygiene’ whilst also unpicking decades of low awareness, poor education and shame surrounding women’s wellbeing. It’s a big challenge.
For so many women, their intimate skin is an afterthought, only prioritised when there is a ‘problem' and research we commissioned shows the scale of the problem.
There’s a devastating lack of awareness and education - Every 0.6 seconds someone searches ‘how do I wash my vagina’, 91% of women were not taught about intimate care at school and for 43% of women, their washing routines were causing them to have a gynae issue.
The good news is that the tide is turning. The proof of this is our listing in Sephora. To have a global retail giant backing the growth of sexual well-being is an enormous step forward. For them, Luna Daily is an inclusive bridge between body care and intimate care and they like the fact we are directly supporting women across different life stages and they back our innovation.
We’re tackling these challenges head-on and are doing so in a way that is inclusive, accessible and ultimately, delights our customers.
What are your biggest achievements to date?
Without a question, landing our latest round of funding in the economic climate and with the stats against female founders (just 1.8% of funding goes to women) has to be one of my proudest moments.
Doing this and maintaining over 70% ownership and a 70% female senior leadership team also makes me super proud. I'm passionately committed to helping close the gender gap in the workplace. As a female founder and CEO creating a brand for women, I feel I have a responsibility to inspire our workforce and community to be inspired by myself as a leader with the confidence to have a voice, especially on topics that have for so long been shameful and embarrassing. As well as being the face of the brand and using my platforms to campaign for positive change (such as to Meta to stop the censorship of words like 'vulva' in social media) and our #PublicCervixCampaign (galvanising over 30 brands including Soho House, Allbright and Thursday dating to raise awareness and internal policies around cervical screenings).
We were recently awarded the Hyer Top 50 impact award, which assesses thousands of companies and interviewed 10k+ employees to recognise 50 companies creating a workplace environment where all employees feel they are making a genuine impact on an important cause. We’ve spent a lot of time focusing on our internal policies, both to support women throughout Womanhood (everything from endometriosis to menopause), as well as to foster positive brain health (startup life is notoriously gruelling and I’m so passionate we can create a business which is a force for good). We’re by no means perfect, but to be awarded alongside a host of incredible brands including Patagonia, Tony's Chocolonely and Headspace, feels very special.
What are the projects you are currently working on?
My focus is achieving sustainable, profitable Global growth, which will enable us to deliver on our mission to lead the creation of a new Womanhood category, supporting women of all ages and stages.
Our core product framework is ‘microbiome balancing body care for all skin, even your most intimate”, so you’ll continue to see high performing, multi-functional, beautiful (to use and to shelfie) products - with the ultimate USP and proof point - that they’re gentle enough for intimate skin.
All our ranges will continue to hold the highest credentials; natural, vegan, and Clean at Sephora, with clinical and/or user testing on all women of all ages, stages and skin types.
I also want Luna Daily to help normalise conversations around the vulva, and change education so that it’s included in the curriculum and parents have the resources they need. Doubling down on our commitment to educate and support through information and campaigning will be a big focus. Ultimately, I want every woman to feel equipped to make the right choice for her body and to have access to the resources she needs to live the happiest, healthiest life.
Is the #WomenInTech movement important to you and if yes, why?
As a female founder, the #WomenInTech movement is incredibly important to me. It represents a collective effort to address the imbalance that exists within the industry, and its mission aligns with my own goals of empowering women. I am passionate about continually innovating and creating products and services that cater to the needs of all women and people with vulvas, from their teen years, through motherhood, and into menopause. By advocating for greater gender diversity and inclusion in tech, the movement is working to break down barriers and create more opportunities for women to succeed.
What will be the key trends in your industry in the next five years and where do you see them heading?
What we’d like to see is continued growth in the space of women’s health and wellbeing, accompanied by greater education and innovation to support women throughout their life stages.
The beauty industry has an incredibly important role to play here in eradicating shame and improving the lives of all women.
I’d expect to see more omnichannel brands, and brands that incorporate digital platforms, content and wellbeing support, which is something we’re interested in at Luna Daily.
What is the most important piece of advice you could give to anyone who wants to start a career in this industry?
Build the most incredible group of people around you. I sat with a piece of paper and thought about the most brilliant minds I’d met through my career, and set out getting them to join Luna Daily in their respective fields. We established an advisory board of beauty wellness industry heavyweights including Sarah Watt (Director) (formerly CMO Charlotte Tilbury, Ex L’Oreal); Karen Raghavan (formerly VP/GM at Benefit Cosmetics, Biossance); Ian Hardie (Global VP of Learning and Dev Sephora, LVMH); Vic Feebury (formerly Boots); James Houston (formerly Charlotte Tilbury, Dr Sturm, Pat McGrath, L'Oreal); Johnny Heilbron (Redrice, formerly Thomas Pink, LVMH).
Find out what your values are (the things that give you energy, drive, and purpose in life). It's so easy for startup life to become all-consuming, and so important to have things outside of work that bring you joy. For me, its gigs (I’ve now been to see Coldplay an embarrassing amount of times), a ridiculously intense workout, Mexican with my best pal, or a long dog walk. No surprise that all these activities don’t involve a phone/email being nearby!
Who are three inspirational women in your respective industry you admire?
Demetra Pinsent, CEO of Charlotte Tilbury. Demetra is the most intelligent, calm and humble woman I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with.
Michelle Kennedy, founder of Peanut. The support system she’s built for millions of women to feel less alone…let alone being an inspiration balancing mum + work life.
Melanie Perkins, founder of Canva. It was reading her fundraising story (of being turned down by 100 VCs before she landed investment) at a time when I was in the midst of ours which helped me keep going. Oh, and Canva is now the World’s most valuable startup founded and led by a woman.
Find out more about Luna Daily on their website.
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This interview was conducted by Marija Butkovic, Digital Marketing and PR strategist, founder, and CEO of Women of Wearables. She regularly writes and speaks on topics of wearable tech, fashion tech, IoT, entrepreneurship, and diversity. Follow Marija on Twitter @MarijaButkovic and read her stories for Forbes here.