Embarking on a new career passion and leaving another behind is in equal parts terrifying and exhilarating.
Having lived, loved, married and given birth to two of my three children in Stockholm, Sweden, I returned with my newly formed family to New Zealand in 2010, settling in Grey Lynn, Auckland. In my heart, I thought my connection with Scandinavia would by now be a tenuous one.
However, this all changed in early 2018 when I was offered a unique opportunity to represent a cosmetic skincare brand, Makethemake, exclusively in New Zealand and Australia with Scandinavia’s largest online professional skincare business. Soon afterwards, I quit my career in corporate Human Resources (it was that dramatic), boarded a plane to Sweden to discover more and find my purpose.
That’s when I founded The Skin Wardrobe in late 2018.
I am on a mission to give my customers the joy of our beautiful, effective skin products that streamline their skincare regime and deliver superior results – the beauty of Scandi minimalism.
At The Skin Wardrobe you will build the perfect capsule ‘skin’ wardrobe, achieving your skin goals and eliminate that familiar feeling of being overwhelmed, over consuming and over spending. We are passionate about curating Scandinavian brands which are backed by science (not wooed by trends), that speak the truth about beauty, and are dedicated to their strong environmental and socially conscientious practices.
I believe we can learn so much from Scandinavian businesses that are not afraid to challenge the status quo, to take risks and to invest in the short term for our long term environmental gain.
Some people may think the business of skincare is superficial but I believe in giving you skin confidence so you are prepared for success in whatever you choose to do.
By removing my daily work commute and basing my business from Grey Lynn, I have carved out more time to give back. I am now a proud trained volunteer at Dress For Success in Auckland, an inspiring organisation which aims to economically empower women across the globe. As well as dressing women for job interview success, I can revisit my passion in human resources, coaching and counselling our clients. I love that what I offer to this pragmatic organisation can make a difference to people’s lives in a single session. Nothing beats that feeling!
Catherine Tong is the owner and founder of The Skin Wardrobe and now the author of her first article.
To learn more about Dress For Success and what you can do to support this amazing organisation, visit www.dressforsuccess.org/get-involved or contact me catherine@theskinwardrobe.com, www.theskinwardrobe.com