When Fiona Theodoropoulos was growing up, Turkish exfoliating mitts were the norm. It was only when she was an adult that she realised that most of the world didn’t know about the power of deep exfoliation, and she set out to change this.
Tell us about Mitten.
Mitten is a Australian health and beauty brand that manufacture, retail and distribute the Turkish Bath Exfoliation Mitts. Our products are inspired by the Deep Exfoliation cloths used in the ancient Turkish Bath Houses also known as Hammam’s. Having a love and respect for this 1000-year old ritual, our mission has become about reincarnating this amazing ritual into modern day homes and transforming skin renewal with a refreshing and natural approach – which works in synergy with body’s own renewal structure.
At Mitten, exfoliation is an obsession for us and we believe the ritual is key to living a connected life in wellness. We know that the traditional Turkish bath rituals can’t be replicated outside of the hammam’s, but we truly believe that Mitten is the next best thing to experiencing this amazing ritual at home. Our products have been crafted with purpose to ensure they provide real results and are used to create cultural diversity and connect people through timeless skincare rituals.
What inspired you to start Mitten?
My Story with Mitten started 2 years ago, when I failed to find a quality Turkish Bath Exfoliating Mitt which could be used in the shower and provide the same deep exfoliation results achieved in the famous Turkish Baths and hammams. Having a Turkish background, using Turkish Bath exfoliating mitts as a weekly skin renewal treatment were the norm growing up, however as an adult I struggled to find a soft quality deep exfoliating mitt which could be used in the shower.
Initially I couldn’t understand why a 1000-year-old skin renewal skin treatment was not so well known in Australia or across the world. It’s then that I decided that I wanted the men and women in Australia and the world, to know about this amazing ritual so they too could use it as a means maintain healthy skin and body. After 2 years of comprehensive testing and evaluation, I have launched Mitten to the market.
Prior to starting Mitten, my initial thoughts were to find a brand that we could become distributors for in Australia, however after trialling countless mitts with disappointing results, I ventured out to craft my very our collection of perfect Deep Exfoliating Turkish Bath Mitts which was quite scary. But at the time I read a quote from George Bernard Shaw “Some people see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not?”. This quote really resonated with me and encouraged me to start Mitten, the quote still remains on my desk till today.
Today my purpose has become to inspire people to use Deep Exfoliating cloths and educate them on the health benefits of their use.
Tell us about your career and background.
I have been working as long as I can remember. My parents came to Australia as migrants and both have very strong work ethics till this day. As a child working in farms on summer holidays was norm.
My first paid job as teenager was working for Venture at 15 years of age and then I worked for Woolworths for 5 years while studying at Swinburne University. Since then I have worked with multiple companies in corporate ranging from various senior leadership roles in Operations Management, Sales Leadership and then lastly as Specialist in Learning and Development. The majority of my work places were in Telco and Energy. However, I always knew I wanted to start my own business. I’ve always been intrigued with the entrepreneurial spirit. I believe if it weren’t for entrepreneurs continuously innovating we wouldn’t have access to certain luxury items or brands that we use today. It’s the strong resilience I seen in entrepreneurs that has inspired me to also start my own business.
Describe a typical work day for you.
Being a start-up it’s really hard to have a typical day. A day typical day could look like anything from spending a whole day on a photo-shoot, writing a blog, marketing our products, attending a training session, meeting up with buyers or being in back to back meetings. It’s really hard to say, things all always creep up, whether it’s quality control issues, attending to customer queries, fulfilling stock orders on peak periods or just trying to find time to respond to emails. Either way every day is about trying to get through a long list of action items. I try set a schedule for my day the night before just to keep on top of things, but it doesn’t always pan out that way. I also like to spend a lot of time on planning and strategy – I feel that in the long run it helps to maintain a clear purpose.
Twice a week I also take my daughter to a after school program and then come back home to cook, which is my stress relief and hobby. I have a real passion for food and most nights I like to cook up a quick feast for the family. In the evenings if I don’t have any business events to attend to then it’s back on the computer to work till about 1am most nights.
What advice do you have for those wanting to start a business?
The first thing I would recommend is to start small. The long list of items can become very overwhelming, and it’s important to ensure you maintain your energy levels and keep your drive.
I would recommend that you have enough cashflow and a back-up plan for financing. Also speak to a business consultant, mentor or a professional before starting and equip yourself with as much knowledge as possible. Do your research on the cost to start a business. Most people don’t know that there are so many government grants available for small business and have a plan or strategy. It’s nice to have a great idea but without a plan is like having a ship without a rudder. Accept that there will be a lot of mistakes along the way and don’t be hard on yourself. I feel it’s through these lessons that we experience that we learn and grow. There is no one solution for business, it’s a constant battle of learning, pro-to typing and changing and growing.
What’s next for you, and Mitten?
We plan to take our brand offshore to the US Market and Asia. Through research, we have seen that deep exfoliation is not a commonly known in the beauty and health sector and hope to be the purpose in creating this awareness. Furthermore, in the new year we plan to have a few more product lines created to compliment our mission in connecting people through health and beauty.
To find out more about Mitten, please visit https://mittenbody.com.
