About The Base Collective: The Base Collective is a Magnesium Skincare brand, suited for the whole family made using natural ingredients.

Can you please tell me about yourselves:

Carly and I (Cassie) are both mums to multiple children which is how we met. Our eldest children started kinder together and were firm friends from day one, which led to us getting to know each other quite well.

Carly works in Banking and I'm a Pharmacist. Both of us over the years have dabbled into the world of entrepreneurship with various projects and to be honest I think that has been one of the keys to our success.

What was the driving force for creating The Base Collective:

We launched The Base Collective 2 years ago in April 2016 with The Hand Wash and The Hand Milk. The idea came from a gap we had identified in the market for hand wash that looked good but that was actually good – we wanted to be a genuine no nasty brand but design focused.

From there we launched our Magnesium range which took our business to the next level and seemed to really resonate with our customers, and has since taken over the direction of the company.

Given one of the biggest struggles in running a business is juggling work and life balance, how do you achieve this?

It’s a constant juggling act! I know Carly often works late at night where I prefer to get up at 5am and smash out some work before my boys gets up.

We try really hard to stay off the emails over the weekend (unless it’s something really exciting!), and as the business has grown we now are the queens of outsourcing! So we don’t have any full time staff but we do have a PR Company, Graphic Designer, Marketing Company, 3PL and a Virtual Assistant, which allows us to focus our efforts on growing the business and not the day to day running.

What has been one of your biggest learnings during your business journey?

To just keep going and not to compare yourself to others. Take risks and don’t sweat the small stuff – one thing Carly and I often say to each other is ‘It is what it is’, meaning we can’t do anything about it so lets move our focus to something that we can influence.

Which is one of your favourite products from the range and why?

I have two, one being the Magnesium Oil as it is now an everyday staple that helps me get through my busy days and the other is our Little Wash – it smells divine, foams beautifully and I use it on all of the family (myself included) as a Shampoo (yes I use it as my Shampoo) and body wash.

If you were sent to a deserted island for 3 days and could only take 5 items with you, what would they be?

Ok so this is a hard one – I will just preface this by saying with all the technology these days I’m sure someone would find me so I will look at is as a mini break haha!!

So keeping that in mind:

A hat – sunburn isn’t fun and it’s your number one protection against wrinkles and sun spots.
My Dyson Hairdryer – I am a little obsessed and use it everyday. This reminds me of a time about 15 years ago (pre my husband and kids) when my parents house was under threat from the bush fires. They were away in QLD and I had to pack up all their precious belongings into my little Holden Barina and get out of there – I still managed to find room for my GHD hair straightener – a girl needs good hair.
A generator so I can power my hair dryer.
My paint set to keep me occupied – I’m totally tragic at painting but I find it super relaxing and it’s an escape for me.
A case of Veuve Clicquot (my husband always has a case for me on hand) as if they don’t find me I may as well drown my sorrows!

The Base Collective

Carly & Cassie will be joining me at the Melbourne Workshop on 5th May

Full details & tickets can be found here!