‘I was trying to save my son’ — how British-Nigerian woman started skincare company

Shalom Lloyd, founder of Naturally Tiwa Skincare, says she started the company after discovering a remedy for her son’s severe eczema.

In 2014, the British-Nigerian woman gave birth to twins — Joshua and Amara. However, the former had an acute skin inflammation.

In an interview with BBC, Lloyd said she did not want to be administering steroids to the child so she began exploring alternatives.

“I was a desperate mum who had just been given this precious gift and was trying to find a way to take my son’s pain away — it’s really that simple,” the 51-year-old entrepreneur said.

Leveraging on her background as a pharmacist, Lloyd used raw shea butter and other ingredients to create a recipe.

She applied it on her son and after a few days, the skin condition significantly subsided.

“Josh’s skin started to drastically change and improve and eventually became what it should have been from birth,” she said.

Afterwards, Lloyd took some bold decisions — she quit her lucrative job, refinanced her Milton Keynes home, and started her own business.

Six years later, the skincare company won a national award for sustainability.

Lloyd said the business began on her kitchen table.

Registered in June 2016, the company started trading in March 2018, and is now situated in Stony Stratford, UK.

The enterprise is largely run by women. She has about 70 women at two shea processing plants in Nigeria.

After processing the raw materials, they  are exported to the UK for production, quality control, and packaging.

“It is not philanthropy, it is not aid, it is trade. Yes, I am empowering women but they’re working for their living,” she said.

“Starting my business was a fluke — I would love to say it was all part of my master plan but I had an incredible job in the pharma industry,” she said.

“I had a six-figure salary, I had my children in private school, holidays every year, and I left it. I gave that up because I believe in what I am doing.

“Having a business that is founded by women, made by women, led by women, but used by all is a special thing.

“Sometimes people say to me: Is it difficult being a black female business owner?’

“I went to university in Ukraine in the 80s, you could count the black people with half your finger, I don’t care.

“I just want to go out there and do what I need to do — do the right thing — make the world a better place and make money doing it. Simple.

“We have found our niche and we are staying in our niche and that is for people with skin conditions or cancer patients who are going through chemotherapy, radiotherapy or menopausal women, we’re positioning ourselves as a solutions-driven organisation.

“We are small but mighty.”

The company won the sustainable business category at the Enterprise Vision Awards (EVAs).

The juries said the company’s “dedication to sustainability is unwavering”.