#117: Innovating with Integrity with Danielle Close: A Visionary in the Beauty Industry

My guest this week is Danielle Close - founder of My Skin Feels - a skincare brand using rescued food. Danielle discusses early lessons about hard work from her entrepreneurial father and teacher mother, struggling in an academic school as a dyslexic student, and finding her way into beauty through makeup training and an early role as Charlotte Tilbury’s PA, where she learned “never take no for an answer.” After years in beauty and burnout, she moved toward natural and ethical wellness, ultimately founding My Skin Feels - initially inspired by her own anxiety and self-care journey and later defined by making skincare from rescued food byproducts. She explains reverse-engineering formulas to meet performance goals, customer education challenges, and the surprising benefits for skin conditions driven by her rescued food ingredients. We get into the detail of bootstrapping the business, building sales through relentless market stalls, turning down a Dragon’s Den deal for a better investment deal and her parallel life as a trained fifth-generation psychic medium whose intuition influences her decisions. This is a fascinating whirlwind! Find My Skin Feels on Instagram hereFind the My Skin Feels website hereFind Danielle's own website here Don't forget to join the conversation with me on Instagram here ----------This episode is sponsored by Ivy.Ivy makes organic cotton essentials - t-shirts, sweatshirts, Breton stripes and more - designed for women who are done compromising on quality.Founded by Sally, a former fashion buyer, Ivy exists because she couldn't find what she needed: sustainably made, great quality basics that actually fit real women living real lives. So she built them herself.Every piece is made from GOTS-certified organic cotton, produced by a Portuguese factory running on solar power with zero waste to landfill. Good ethics and exceptional quality, in the same place.The fabric is soft, the fit is considered, and the pieces wash and wear beautifully. Which is why Ivy has one of the highest returning customer rates in its category.Use code TWC20 for 20% off your first order and shop Ivy here.