When Libby Boxall started losing her hair by the clump-full after the birth of her first child, the only supplement that worked was collagen. Of course, her nutritionist training​ told her the artificial flavouring wasn’t great… nor was the plastic-packaging and eye-watering price tag...

And so she launched Dose&Co., offering consumers an affordable collagen supplements with a planet-friendly ethos and great taste. Then one of the world’s most-popular influencers fell in love with her formula (and her shiny new hair and super-strong nails) and the rest, as they say, is history. Libby has learned a lot along the way… and hasn’t done so badly for someone whose imposter syndrome almost got the better of her. Here, she shares her most valuable lessons and what she has found it takes to build a global wellness brand. 

Dose & Co founder Libby Boxall

A lot of aspiring entrepreneurs will have an idea, but they won't move forward because they see too much competition in the market. You founded Dose & Co in 2019 with your brother, Ryan Matthews. And given there was already quite a lot of collagen products​ in the market, why do you think your brand got traction in such a short time?

The gap we saw was with pricing. After having my daughter four years ago, I had really bad postpartum hair loss and the only supplement that worked for me was collagen. However, like so many collagen powders on the market, the options were all expensive and full of artificial flavours, artificial sugars, and packaged in plastic. That's when I was like, I can create a collagen range and do it differently. I wanted to create a range that everyone could afford and reap the benefits. And so I think that's why Dose & Co did so well at the beginning because it was such a good price point.

Was any part of your range a first-to-market?

We were the first brand to have a collagen creamer in New Zealand. I got the idea because I live in America and Americans love adding creamer to everything, except the ones here are full of ingredients that aren’t great. Still, I loved the idea of being able to add something to your coffee to give it a hint of vanilla or caramel. And once we launched, we found people just loved being able collagen to their coffee every single morning.

I want to take you back a little bit further​ because you experienced health elements that inspired your journey towards a career in health?

When I was 17, I moved to Melbourne and absolutely loved living there. It was my first time living out of home. I was going out to pubs and bars and I wasn't eating the best food, and it took a toll on my health. I had really bad eczema, acne, and anxiety, and I was always going to the doctor. I kept saying, ‘there's something wrong with me. I always feel exhausted. Why am I so tired all the time? I have no energy. I just wake up and I feel like I haven't even slept.’ And the doctors would do more blood tests and say everything seems fine.

Did you take matters into your own hands?

That's when I decided to study nutrition. I moved back to New Zealand and I studied nutrition, and then naturopathy and I completely turned my health around by eating whole foods, cutting out alcohol, drinking water and exercising.

Tell me about getting the business off the ground. How long did that take and were there challenges you encountered when you first started out?

It probably took seven or eight months to get off the ground. And I think the hardest part was finding plastic-free tubs and scoops, because everything is plastic these days. Now, more brands are using those materials, but at the time it was hard. But we stuck to it and I’m so happy to have a brand that's 100 percent plastic-free. It just didn't feel right to have these beautiful formulations with really high-quality ingredients, in plastic. Formulating a good-tasting formula also took a lot of back and forth, but we definitely nailed it.

It's so great that you took that stance on the plastic. We can only hope that all businesses going forward have the same mandate. From the beginning, what set Dose & Co apart? You mentioned the price point, but what role did your content background play?

 One of the things that set the brand apart was being plastic-free range, because no other collagen brands or protein brands in New Zealand were doing that. And so many people automatically switched to our brand because of that. They just loved what we were doing. And we also started out using a diverse range of influencers and models, which brands just weren't doing at the time. I wanted women of all ages, colours or sizes promoting our brand. I think people found that so refreshing. 

Your social following continues to grow. What role did social media play in building the brand?

 Social media has just been incredible for our growth. For the first six months of Dose & Co, we didn't actually spend any money on marketing. People would post their reviews and before and afters. After the first two weeks of launching, we had people messaging us saying, ‘oh my gosh, my nails haven't grown in years and now they're long and strong,’ or ‘my skin is completely cleared up,’ or ‘my hair's growing.’ We just posted everyone's feedback on our Instagram and the brand started to grow.

I want to ask about your why for Dose & Co, because I know it was inspired by a personal experience. What was that?

When I had my daughter, I had the worst postpartum hair loss. Every time I washed my hair, clumps would come out. I tried everything to help my hair grow back or at least stop it from falling out. I tried every single supplement and nothing worked. And then someone said you should try collagen. And it was the one supplement that not only helped my hair, but also my skin, nails and joints. And so after that, I was like, everyone should be taking this supplement. It's incredible.

Did that dovetail with your background in nutrition?

I've just always wanted to help people with their health. And when I was at university, I did want to create a range of supplements that helped people. But it wasn’t until I experienced the benefits of collagen that I thought, I need to create a range of collagen products that everyone can take. And now every day we're getting messages from our amazing customers and it's so heartwarming.

I know Khloe Kardashian had a similar personal experience to that, which drew her to Dose & Co. How was she introduced to the brand?

The Dose & Co team just absolutely loved Khloe and we knew she had taken collagen. And so we sent her the range thinking we wouldn't hear anything, and she reached out to us saying she absolutely loved the range. She loved how the products were high-dosed, and plastic-free and from New Zealand. And she had postpartum hair loss after having her daughter True, and noticed a difference after taking Dose & Co, so that was how the relationship started.

It’s a marketing dream. Were you nervous meeting her?

We met her in LA before COVID when we could travel and yeah, I was extremely nervous. But she’s just incredibly nice and really smart and so kind. Even now I can't believe we met her and that we’re working with her. 

What does working with Khloe look like week-to-week? I imagine, especially in COVID, this is something quite unusual.

Khloe is super involved in the brand, and we work really closely with her on content development, creative direction, and new products. She's played a huge part in the growth of Dose & Co, and we're extremely lucky to have her on our team.

The Dose & Co range

I'm going to ask you the nitty gritty now, because I want to know for myself. What's your personal routine with the Dose & Co products. How do you use them?​

The caramel, dairy-free collagen creamer is my favourite. I add that every single morning to my coffee. And then if I do a workout or at lunch time, I have the collagen protein powder. I'll add it to my smoothie or add it to a smoothie bowl. And then in the evenings, if I'm having a herbal tea, I'll add the pure collagen. So it's safe to say I have a lot of collagen, but I love it.

And what markets are you focusing significantly on and why?

We're currently in New Zealand, Australia, the UK and the US, and this year we're launching into China, Canada, and hopefully some countries in Europe. So right now, all our energy is going into the China and the Canada launch. 

Do all the markets need to be treated differently?

Yes. We just launched into the UK and weren't sure how it was going to go because there's just not a big collagen market there, but it was one of our best launches. And of course the US is such a saturated market when it comes to collagen. So each market is different and requires a different approach.

Taking collagen for many people is about well-being and self-preservation. How do you define self-care? What does it look like for you?

I think of self-care as the things we do to look after our mental, emotional and physical health. And I think good self-care is key to improving mood and reducing anxiety. It's also key to our relationships with everyone around us. And it’s so important. Since launching Dose & Co, I've had to put a lot of effort into my self-care because when you're busy, you kind of forget about it. But for me, I absolutely love exercising. It helps me with my mood, stress levels, with sleep. If I've exercised, I'm a better person to be around. I’m in a much better mood, so that definitely helps my self-care.

Can you share a little bit about how Dose & Co is challenging beauty industry norms? You touched earlier on how it was really important from the outset for you to have diversity in your marketing. Can you tell me a little bit about that?

One thing that set us apart from other collagen brands was our diversity in the influencers and models we use. When you look at brands like Victoria's Secret, there was a lot of criticism because there was no diversity and they didn't do anything about it. And then a brand like Rihanna's Fenty comes along and it's just so diverse and absolutely huge. I think it's because people want to see women of all shapes and sizes in the beauty industry. Our customers value body positivity and inclusion and it’s part of what sets us apart.

You were also transparent with your ingredients...

Yes, you can look at the ingredients lists and know every single ingredient on it. Especially with COVID, people are more of an interest in the products that they're using and the ingredients that they're putting into their body. And I think brands that have a really transparent ingredients list push the beauty norms. There are some brands that share ingredients and can't even pronounce half of these things. It’s like, what am I putting in my body? 

Customer feedback can sting when you've poured your heart and soul into a business. So how have you dealt with any negative feedback over the years and how do you listen without taking it personally?

We've definitely had negative feedback. I was doing the customer service up until a little while ago, and even now I'm still monitoring it on Instagram. In the beginning I didn't take it well. I would be upset and think, I can't believe they said that. We’ve had people who haven't got their order or it's arrived damaged and they will send you an angry email or post about it. But if you act straight away and send them a nice message and fix the problem, you turn the customer around. And I think that is so important. So as hard as it is getting negative feedback, it can also be a positive because you can see something that you can change within your company and make it better.

And so that leads me to​ the next question, which is, can you talk me through the pros and cons of direct-to-consumer versus retail and what advice would you give to other new wellness brands in that sphere?

We first launched on E-comm for about about eight months. The good thing about that is you can see the customer's behaviour; you can see what they're buying, how often they're buying, if they're buying on subscription, and if they're using discount codes. In retail, you can't gauge any of that so you just don't get to know your customer's behaviour. But then in retail, the great thing is you have mass distribution and a customer can drive to the supermarket and go pick up a collagen powder if they've run-out. So there are pros and cons to both. My advice would be to start with a small core range of products online. Too many products can be overwhelming and confuse a customer. Then as soon as you've got a good customer base, start adding new products to the range. So I think starting with a really small range is great. That and starting on E-comm, and hiring influencers, is the best thing that we did for our brand.

I want to ask you about motherhood because I know that is what prompted your journey with Dose & Co. How ​has it changed the way ​you approach your career?

I think motherhood has made me work a lot harder because I want to be an inspiration to my children. I want to set a good example. I think also I value time so much more. There's no more long lunches or going out for brunch or sleeping in because time is just so valuable. So I think that has definitely changed. And now I just can't procrastinate. I have to really plan my day. When I was pregnant with my son, who’s now nine months old, I spent so much of my pregnancy working until midnight because I was like, I have to get all my work done before I have the baby. So you put the kids down to sleep and then you just work super late and you just have to do it.

Who are the women in your life who inspire you the most?

I have a close group of girlfriends in New Zealand that I've been friends with since I was young and they inspire me so much. They're so creative and they've got amazing careers, and so I'm super lucky to have three really close girlfriends that I can just reach out to if I want advice or if I need help with anything. They're definitely the women that inspire me the most.

To finish, what's the best career advice you've ever been given?

You need to take risks. Before I started Dose & Co, I was so hesitant. I was like, what if it doesn't do well? No one's going to buy it! No one's going to like it! What if I create a brand and it's a flop? You're never going to know unless you take a risk and launch it. And I'm so glad I didn't listen to that voice in my head telling me not to do it, because now I have Dose & Co, and it's a great brand. You just have to do it and see if it works. And if it doesn't, then at least you tried.