Lara Henderson talks about her brand, her babies and life at the beach

Kahu de Beer talks to powerhouse mama, Lara Henderson about her brand, her babies, and life by the beach.  

Words Kahu de Beer
Photography Alice Veysey 

Dreaming big was never a problem for Tauranga based mum of two, Lara Henderson. Lara, 34, founded her pregnancy skincare brand, Pure Mama four years ago, not long after having her first child, and now her and her team of four other mamas are taking on the world, with their products expanding into the global market. Their curated, natural range currently includes Belly Oil, Magnesium Body Rub, Nipple Butter, and Bump Scrub. With her background of over 12 years in the corporate world, Lara always had a huge vision for Pure Mama and is now seeing it come to fruition.

The idea for Pure Mama first came about when Lara was pregnant with her son, Levi (now four). "I couldn't find what I was looking for and found the pregnancy skincare category really underwhelming – the brands seemed so out of touch with the modern mother" says Lara. When Levi was about six months old, she bought the domain name for Pure Mama which was her first step toward starting her business.

"While I was pregnant I'd started planning it out in my mind, then I wrote up a business plan and mapped out how I was going to do it all" says Lara. In a lot of ways it was a natural progression to start her own business, having grown up with entrepreneurial parents who both owned their own businesses, and having worked for a number of large international companies herself for over a decade. "It was a world I already knew a lot about and I was able to bring that wealth of knowledge to Pure Mama."

Lara and her husband Rich, 33, moved to Papamoa from Auckland when their son Levi was 18 months old and her business was newly established. Lara says that the main reasons for the move were to give the kids more of an outdoor focussed childhood and to be closer to family. "When you're running your own business, and have two small children in tow, having that family support is huge". Having a home with a backyard and living close to the beach has also been a dream fulfilled for Lara and Rich. "The kids get a lot of time outdoors, that was the kind of childhood we envisioned for them" she says. With motherhood at the heart of both her business and her personal life Lara shares that one of her greatest joys is watching her kids grow. "I often look back on videos of when my kids were just learning to walk or to say their first words and it makes me realise how much I need to savour those moments, it goes so quickly! It's easy to wish away the days when things are intense but these years are so special" she says.

Lara shares that her business has been her outlet and something that has been a focus for her outside of parenting. "It has given me a sense of equilibrium and I've learnt that I can be a mum but still have other things that define me. I'm so proud of what we've created with Pure Mama" she says. One of the major drivers for Lara in her business is knowing that through it she can make a positive impact. "I'm realising that we can do something bigger than I ever thought possible, we can do good with our brand in terms of connecting with women about a personal topic in an honest way". Because Pure Mama is its own business and not under a corporate umbrella, Lara finds that there's more freedom. "We can be who we want to be because we're not owned by a bigger company. Our business is run by a team of women who get what it's like to be pregnant" she says.

Lara's sister, Yasmin has recently come onboard the business full time as their Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operations Officer and co-owner. Lara says that she always envisioned working alongside her sister but it took time to get her across as Pure Mama had to be at a point where they could offer her something that would be able to compete with her previous role. "It's so good having her on the team, we're the complete opposites in our professional abilities, so we compliment each other perfectly. I'm more of the creative, optimistic, and enthusiastic one. My sister looks at things more analytically and logistically, but we are both very strategic and have very similar values and morals which is so important" says Lara.

Lara credits much of the business's success to the core values they have. "One thing I often say is 'Don't let perfectionism get in the way of progress'. We try not to sweat the small stuff, we just keep moving forwards. We've come a long way in our two years of being in the market, we're always looking at what's next, but to get there there's a lot of grind, a lot of hard work. Our philosophy is 'You either win or you learn', sometimes things just don't work out how we planned and instead of seeing it as a failure we look at what we can take away from it and how we could do it better next time".

Like all mothers, Lara is all too familiar with the pressures that we face daily in our modern world. "Comparison is probably the biggest problem I see, it robs us of joy, and it's so easy to compare. Everyone needs to find their own rhythm and set their own measure of what joy and success looks like for them" she says. Lara says that the intention behind Pure Mama is more than just about providing women with skincare, it's to encourage mums to take some time for themselves and to connect with their bodies during their pregnancy journey. "It's about refocussing our attention away from comparing ourselves to being present and grateful for our bodies and the privilege it is to be a mother" says Lara.

When asked about one piece of advice she thinks women need to hear, Lara says: "That there's no such thing as a work-life balance. It's just a rollercoaster of ebbs and flows, balance is such a complex thing". Instead she describes finding her rhythm in the mix of home life and work. "I feel calm and relaxed at work, I'm working towards something bigger, I'm ticking things off my list. Being a mum is chaotic, messy, and exhausting, but it's also beautiful and it's rich. I find that with this combination of both I feel most fulfilled. Having a perfect 'balance' is often not realistic" she says.

The future is looking bright for Pure Mama, having recently gotten into cult Australian beauty store MECCA, and with plans in place to expand further globally. "We're the first ever pregnancy skincare brand to sign with the major beauty retailer. This puts us alongside some major brands" says Lara. With their focus on expanding further into the Australian market as well as entering the US market and beyond, Lara says they're excited about what's to come. They've also just launched their not-for-profit Pure Mama Wellness Studio in Papamoa which is a space for pregnant women and new mamas to connect. "We're going to be running yoga, pilates, and antenatal classes. We've also got a physiotherapist and will be having experts come in to run workshops. Our vision is to support and connect women in their season of motherhood" says Lara.

Check out puremama.com and @puremama_skincare on Instagram.