Sontse, your sunny sidekick, is a skin-loving, sunless tanning solution developed to break the stigma around sunless tanning and empower Australians with powerful, life-saving sun-safety tips so they can finally feel better about how they choose to glow.
Created by Australian woman and beauty enthusiast Jayde Houndalas, the range was mindfully formulated in response to her own journey of understanding and education on the importance of sun safety.
In addition, like many, Jayde’s life has been affected by cancer, having family members, past and present who have been diagnosed.
Skin cancer is often the ‘forgotten’ cancer, which is one of the reasons why Jayde is so passionate about bringing the effects of skin cancer to light and offering a solution that reduces sun exposure, while still being able to have a beautiful glow.
“How you choose to glow”™ spreads such a powerful message amongst friends, peers, and across all age groups.
10 cents from every product purchased is donated back to a skin cancer foundation. Our marketing communications are anchored in messages around sun safety to encourage and inspire our customers to protect their skin.
Today, Jayde is a self-professed sunLESS tan lover who believes together, we can do more.
For more details, visit their website here.
Here we sit down with Jayde, to know a bit more about her journey as an entrepreneur.
What inspired you to become an entrepreneur?
Jayde: Having entered the world of media and advertising at 18 years old and spending my entire career in this space, I have always strived for success for my clients and to continually challenge myself and push my own boundaries in personal and professional growth.
The leaders that I worked for and looked up to, all had forged paths of their own, which was always so inspiring to me. Seeing what some of these entrepreneurs had built, inspired me to go chase my dreams.
Also, my Dad has always encouraged me to chase my dreams, if you can see it, think it, feel it, and believe it, you can bring it to fruition.
With the belive life is supposed to be lived, not from a place of fear but empowerment I took a leap on something I had wanted to do for a very long time and Sontse was born.
How did you get started?
Jayde: I was on maternity leave and had just made the decision to not return to my full-time role in media, which I loved, I just felt it was time to take a break and see what unfolds for me.
I had no plans and was unsure of what my next step would be.
The saying “when one door closes, another opens” couldn’t have been more true for me.
A couple of months after I made this decision, my husband encouraged me to explore creating my own range of sunless tanning products and build my own brand.
I started researching ingredients, and products, thinking deeply about what I hadn’t liked in brands I used, how could I improve it, and who I aligned with to create these products. Once I started researching the ingredients and labs, it all snowballed from there!
What was your biggest startup challenge? What steps did you take to overcome it? What did you learn?
Jayde: It’s funny, one of the biggest challenges was around self-worth and self-belief.
Starting any business, and running any business is challenging. No two days are the same, and most days there is a situation to tackle or overcome. When you have won, you often don’t allow yourself to appreciate and sit in these moments long enough, because you are so busy juggling different roles.
The challenge for me was mindset, learning to always be solutions-focused and looking at everything as an opportunity for growth or learning.
And don’t get me wrong, I am far from perfect, have so many lessons to learn, and have days where I find this incredibly challenging, however, I am conscious of this and working daily to sit in a place of gratitude and with an open heart and mind.
What is the most memorable thing you’ve done since you started your business?
Jayde: The most memorable moment in business for me has been around our deeper mission on sun safety.
We ran our first annual campaign called “Undress.”
This campaign ran on social media and was all around undressing the vulnerable and difficult conversation around skin cancer to drive awareness and donations.
We collaborated with talent who were passionate about our cause and/or had their own personal experience with skin cancer and sun safety.
We raised awareness to thousands of people and were able to connect with so many people on a more personal and intimate level. Some of the women I connected with through this time I still talk to today to discuss how we can raise more awareness in this space.
It also allowed us to raise funds to donate to a skin cancer foundation who are doing such fantastic work in the early detection space.
This is the most rewarding part of the entire business and we hope we can continue to do more in this space to drive awareness and change.
What is one book you recommend, and why?
Jayde: The subtle art of not giving a f*ck by Mark Manson.
Have read this a few times and taken different lessons every time… understand what is truly important to you and what your values are.
Increase awareness of your personal values and lead a life in alignment with them.
Just be you, unapologetically, and stop worrying about things that in the grand scheme of things… really don’t matter.
What are your top 3 favourite online apps, tools or resources and what do you love about them?
Jayde: Plann for all my social media planning, it’s simple, easy to use, and works for me.
Canva is just incredible. A must-have for any business, unlimited ideas and formats at your fingertips
Capcut for quick edits needed for motion content on social media. Easy to use and elevates your video content immediately.. the best part about all of the above is that anyone can jump on and learn to use these tools
In terms of legacy, what is the mark you’d like to leave on the world?
Jayde: Our sun safety mission is central to all we are doing, we don’t want to be just another beauty brand in the market.
We are creating a community of like-minded women who care for their skin, the brands that they invest in, and their sun safety.
With every purchase 10 cents is donated to a skin cancer foundation so that our community knows they are contributing to supporting awareness and real change in this space.
If we can make one person think about their behavior in the sun and choose a safer way to glow, then we are taking steps in the right direction toward a more conscious way of living and ultimately a better world we live in.
In one sentence, what’s the best advice you’d give to someone just starting out on their entrepreneurial journey?
Jayde: Getting started is the hardest part.
To keep up to date with Jayde and her journey, connect with her on Instagram.