Hidden away in rural Wales is not the obvious location for the base of a multi-million-pound hair care brand. Pembrokeshire is home to one of the most viral TikTok brands on the platform. Lucie Macleod, the founder of HairSyrup, began her brand’s journey in 2020 within her home county, where it has continued to thrive.
Being from Pembrokeshire myself, it’s hard to imagine it as the headquarters for one of the most popular products online, in a county which is fuelled by agriculture and tourism. But at the same time, I feel a huge sense of pride that Lucie and her team are putting our rural West Wales County on the map.
It’s not only the rural economy that women like Lucie are making an impact. According to the Rose Review Progress Report in 2022, the number of female-led businesses had doubled from the first publication of the report in 2018. However, Simply Business revealed that 1 in 5 women entrepreneurs don't feel they are taken seriously as business owners. We should be celebrating that the numbers of women entrepreneurs are increasing, but it’s often hard to forget that even when these achievements are met, sexism will try its best to tear this down as if they’re still not valued the same as men.
But what does it take to build a global beauty brand from rural west Wales? And what is it like running this as a woman business owner?
I thought it was best to ask Lucie herself. So over a zoom call we sat down and chatted about all things hair oil, rural life, and annoying men. Starting with the most obvious question;
What is it like running a global business from Pembrokeshire?
‘People don’t understand how difficult it is running a business like this from rural areas like Pembrokeshire. Being physically so far from anywhere is a huge challenge as I go abroad a lot for work and spend a lot of time in Manchester and London and trains are expensive! In terms of starting up the business, it was difficult for me to do in Pembrokeshire as there were no units for me to lease, like commercial premises for my company’
What was the reaction from those within the community?
‘The council hasn't been helpful, it would have been nice to have a bit more support. I am a large employer within the area with 23 members of staff but I felt like I was being treated like a nuisance.’
It was this comment that left me with a sinking feeling in my gut. I thought this could be an opportunity to show Pembrokeshire as a small county supporting young women like Lucie to succeed, but this really wasn’t the case.
I’m quite shocked you’ve not had the most positive experience considering your brand is so popular!
‘You see I’m not asking to be treated differently; I’m just asking to be treated like every other business owner in the county. I strongly believe it is because I am a young girl selling beauty products on TikTok. If I was selling something more ‘sophisticated’, like tech… maybe people would treat it with more credibility.’
In 2023, the beauty and personal care industry made a contribution to the UK economy of £13.5 billion, an industry which according to the National Hair & Beauty Industry, its workforce is run by women of 87%. When I reflected these statistics to Lucie’s experience as a woman business leader, it pointed a spotlight on how the feminised nature of hair and beauty still causes it to not be as valued as other business sectors. It’s as if misogyny will always attempt to take away women’s success.
Do you feel it has a link for you as a young woman owning your own business?
‘It’s 100% because of me being a young woman. I am telling you now if I was a man in his 50s looking for a business unit, I don’t think I would have had the same problems. I think there was a lot of scepticism around me. I had to prove my credentials to ask for help.’
‘We have had problems with delivery drivers who are men being rude, which has become a concern as most of my staff are women. I’ve had to be very forceful about it and I know if I was an older man who was sticking up for their staff, it would have probably just been dealt with there and then but with me they’re arguing over it. You have to work so much harder to get respect and credibility from anyone.’
Do you feel like you have been a role model figure for girls in the area? Like going into schools and talking to them about your work?
‘I’ve never even been asked! But I remember when I was in school and having lots of men come in with motivational speeches, often around sport. A man that had done the Ironman came into the school once and I just distinctly remember thinking ‘this isn’t relatable to me as a teenage girl not interested in sport’. I’ve not been asked by the schools to come in - you would think they would really lap it up! Shouting it out from the rooftops and showing younger girls from Pembrokeshire; look what you can do too. Also, many young people are on TikTok, it’s relatable for them.’
Thinking back to when I was 16 in Pembrokeshire, I know that having someone like Lucie and her team come into school would have been something that would have really excited me. In a rural county where there is a very limited glimpse into creative industries, this would be an incredible opportunity for young girls growing up in rural state schools.
What about the rest of the county? Do you feel you have impacted a change to how rural business is perceived?
‘I feel if people and the county had embraced us more, it would have been a great incentive for change. Yes I know we are further away and the transport links aren’t great. But if a lot of us got involved and pushed our ideas, we could make our own commerce hub here. We have great links with Ireland.’
‘There are so many talented people in these areas, but because they are so worried about how they’ll be perceived and going against the grain they shy away within these rural communities. Not doing the traditional jobs like working in hospitality, construction or farming.’
What’s been the reaction from the wider world?
‘We’ve had an amazing reaction! I’ve had the national press talking about us and wider afield. At the beginning, we began getting spotted and people started writing about us. We have a PR agency now who also deals with a lot of press things. We had 967% growth in one year in revenue - sounds amazing, and is amazing, but my god that took it out of me!’
If you had to give advice to someone watching you and going ‘yeah I want to do that’, what would you say to them?
‘I am always pragmatic in my advice. People think I’m negative but I’m not trying to be. I love that I am able to inspire, but I want to be realistic with people. Don’t ever look at my socials and hair syrups and think, ‘oh wow, they’re having the best time and I want to go on tiktok and make a beauty brand’. Just this week I have had the worst week, and yet you look on my Instagram page (the girls post them), and you see a photo of me smiling ear to ear, pointing out loads of achievements! You look at it and just see the glamour. You’re seeing 0.1% of my life and HairSyrup with that. It’s not the reality of running a beauty business. I like to give people realistic advice.’
‘As a young woman in business and a founder, you will run into problems that others may not face, and I like to manage expectations when I provide advice for people.’
Having a chance to sit down and talk to Lucie really was such a lovely opportunity. It’s really heart warming to see a young woman who has grown up in Pembrokeshire like myself, build such a viral business which has allowed her to create an incredible career as well as job opportunities for Pembrokeshire locals. Social media has allowed small businesses like HairSyrup to take their work from rural Welsh towns to global platforms. Lucie and her team are doing some incredible work and really waving the flag for Pembrokeshire women.
After we did our interview, Lucie appeared on Dragons Den, presenting Hair Syrup to the Dragons in hopes to receive an investment which could support her business. Although she walked away without a deal, this did not define the brand, and the team have gone on to achieve some incredible things all on their own, without the help of the Dragons! Since filming the episode, Hair Syrup has now gone on to be stocked in Boots stores up and down the UK, Lucie won Young Business Person of the Year, and many more! This is a journey which has been full of highlights but also challenges, stemming from logistical problems of running HairSyrup far from cities, to sexism towards a young woman entrepreneur. Misogyny continues to try and tear away women’s success, but Lucie and her team refuse to allow this to step in their way, taking HairSyrup from strength to strength.
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