Melvory is a global brand with over 100,000 loyal customers and over 400 stockists world-wide. Its impressive growth journey started with a Mum’s heart to solve a child’s need, which led to the formulation of a quality product.
The phrase never despise meager beginnings rings true!
Depending on when you have joined us along the Melvory journey, it is easy to forget that growth is not always linear nor all glamorous.
Today we chat with Elaine our founder about what the behind-the-scene growth for Melvory looks like.
Elaine, you’ve probably been asked this many times before but can you share with us how Melvory started?
I love sharing this story!
When my two girls were babies, they suffered from itchy, dry and rashy skin. I tried various brands of store-bought creams without success because their skin would often react to the ingredients.
After many months of crying and sleepless nights, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I am a Pharmacist by trade, so I used my pharmaceutical knowledge to create natural and effective products to help manage my babies’ flare-ups.
It was such a relief to me and to the whole family when their skin started to improve. Soon they were cleared of the red, itchy rashes that had caused so much of our angst.
I then thought, I’d like to share this with other families who are also struggling to manage their babies’ eczema.
With $80 in hand, I started up my home business while on maternity leave. I began sharing my product with friends, braving local markets with a breastfeeding baby and toddler at my hip! I battled melting products in the heat, with 12-hour days. My goal was to share my products and to sell enough to cover the cost of my market stall!
Did you move onto the online world shortly after that?
Yes, in the second year of business, I realised that markets were not sustainable nor compatible with family life (especially with very young children!)
I decided to move my business online and started an Instagram page with 10 loyal followers: my Mum, Dad, Sister and best friends.
I then tackled building my first website. There were many technical issues and tears along the way, but I celebrated launching Melvory products to the world!
What was your next growth step?
My third year of business was all about the products, which is one of my favourite parts of what I do! I developed more quality products, moving from baby products to skincare for the whole family. I grew the Melvory product range from 5 to 25 products, always looking to address common skincare needs and concerns with innovation.
I also grew my marketing game that year, dabbling with Meta (called Facebook back then!) and Google marketing, which helped to take the business to a whole new level.
Another milestone was that we transitioned from packing and sending orders on our kitchen bench, and moved into our first mini warehouse!
Were there any road bumps along the way?
Yes! In Melvory’s fourth year, Covid struck.
The pandemic created massive supply chain issues, as well as manpower issues when it came to packing and shipping orders.
I fell pregnant with my third child, experiencing a high risk and complicated pregnancy which required lots of bedrest. I suffered a lot of anxiety during this time. My husband resigned from his corporate job to help me.
We also decided to rebrand Melvory at this time. It was a mammoth task considering we had over 50 products in the range! But it was something that we felt was important to do to align with our values … the goal was to move towards recyclable and sustainable packaging options.
Did things pan out after that?
Yes. In year 5 Melvory outgrew the mini warehouse we had been in and moved to a larger warehouse. The team grew from 4 to 11.
Word of mouth amongst parents and mothers’ groups took off, and we experienced exponential growth! (which was a welcomed relief after the pandemic year!)
In Year 6, we focussed on expanding internationally. Melvory started shipping to New Zealand, Hong Kong, Korea and Singapore.
I visited Hong Kong, scaled my production amounts, hired more team members and packed thousands of orders!
Growth for us was not only about numbers, but also the happiness in knowing that more people get to experience and use our products.
To date we have helped fed over 1,000,000 children in Kenya who would otherwise be scavenging the streets for food.
So what’s next for Melvory?
The 7th year of Melvory is shaping up to be the most exciting year yet!
Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine I would win AusMumpreneur of The Year 2024 - Silver Award! As the CEO and founder of Melvory, we also won: 
GOLD - Global Business Award 
GOLD - Beauty Business Award 
and GOLD - Sustainability Business Award.
It was such an honour to be included amongst so many beautiful businesses, and to be accepting the award in front of so many inspirational women.
It was a real pinch me moment! (I had to keep reminding myself that this is my reality). I am incredibly grateful to my family and the loyal community that made this possible.
The other big news for this year is that Melvory is moving into our first permanent home!
After experiencing some real estate struggles, where I wasn’t taken seriously as a female buyer, I am now building not one, but TWO, state of the art warehouses! Each warehouse is uniquely designed for Melvory’s manufacturing needs.
It’s expected to be ready in December 2024.
We can’t wait to see what happens next!
I hope you will continue to join us as we embark on the next stage of the Melvory journey!
