Storm Menzies - ByStorm Beauty

00:06 S1

This is studio one on Vision Australia radio.

00:11 S2

Oh, yeah. What's the weather like there right now? Oh, you're going to hate me because it's so nice. Yeah. What's it like 15 here?

00:18 S3

Yeah, it's a lot.

00:19 S2

That's rough. Yeah, I think it's 32 degrees here today, so it's like. It's really nice. I'm sweet. There you are.

00:26 S3

Oh, dear.

00:32 S4

Hello.

00:32 S5

I'm Sam and I'm Lizzie.

00:34 S4

And this is Studio one, your weekly look at life from a low vision and blind point of view. Here on Vision Australia Radio.

00:39 S5

On this week's show, we catch up with Storm Menzies, creator of By Storm Beauty.

00:45 S4

As we always say at this point, please do get in touch with the show. Whether you have experience of any of the issues covered on this week's episode of Studio One, or if you think there's something we should be talking about, you never know. Your story and insight may help somebody else who is dealing with something similar.

00:59 S5

You can contact us via email at studio One at org. That's studio number one at the Australian. Or of course, you can find us by going to the station's Facebook page at facebook.com, Slash Radio Network.

01:14 S4

Good attempt there. I can tell you're struggling.

01:17 S5

Thanks.

01:20 S4

Alright. Coming to us all the way from Bali, of all places is Storm Menzies. How are you today?

01:27 S2

I'm great, thank you. Yeah. Really good.

01:30 S4

You would have to be great in Bali. Uh, also joining me, of course, is, um, sounds like Renee Geyer at the moment, but it's actually Lizzie Eastham. Hello, Lizzie.

01:38 S6

Hey, how are we going today?

01:41 S4

So, uh, let's begin with, um, you storm. What? What are you doing over in Bali?

01:45 S7

Yeah, well, I am here for my sister's wedding, which has been lovely, but, um, inconvenient timing when you're, um, launching your business at the same time.

01:57 S4

Wow.

01:58 S8

But as you were saying. Yes.

01:59 S4

You have got something coming up soon. We'll come to that, um, a little bit later. But what got you started down the line of beauty products?

02:09 S2

Yeah. So I, um, where do I even start? So I was born with cerebral palsy. That affects the right side of my body, but honestly had lived with very few barriers in life. I mean, I desperately wanted to be a dentist when I was younger. And, um, you kind of need two hands and lots of dexterity to do that. So other than my childhood dream of being a dentist, which I know is a very strange, um, childhood dream and, um, not being able to play the trumpet properly, which, again, another strange childhood dream. Um, other than that little bit very, very few barriers. But about two years ago now, I broke my dominant hand. Honestly didn't think too much of it, but when I went to do my makeup, I realized how much I actually relied on my dominant hand, and I'd never really thought about that before, to be honest. I've just kind of compensated so much with my left hand, which is my dominant hand. I just didn't realize. And I went to do my makeup and couldn't open the tube of mascara. Just I just couldn't do it, let alone, you know, hold it steady and use it. And it was this kind of light bulb moment for me because I was like, this is so hard. How does anyone with disability do their makeup? This is really I just, you know, I was like, this is just I never saw how inaccessible it was. So I did, you know, the, the normal thing, which was you Google thinking, oh, okay. You know, one plus one equals two, right. Of course is going to be accessible makeup. So just, you know, search accessible makeup in Google. And nothing came off. And I was like this is so bizarre. Like there was one country in the US that didn't ship to Australia. And I'm like, this just makes no sense. So I called one of my, um, one of my girlfriends, and she has severe cerebral palsy. And we've been friends for like, I don't know, probably ten years, and I've never once asked her how she did her makeup, ever. She always looks beautiful and it just never crossed my mind. And I asked her how she did it and she said, still with great difficulty, makeup isn't made for people like me. And why would it be? No one thinks they're beautiful. And it was this moment for me that was a just heart breaking and shattering mixed with a whole lot of, you know, shame as well. To be completely honest. And I was like, this just is not okay. And this is not right. And I felt very, um, a lot of shame that I'd never asked the question before and I didn't realize. So that kind of, I guess, got me down the track where I am now. It was just honestly complete naivety until I had the lived experience myself. And I was like, oh my God, why is no one doing anything about this? Like, this is just insane.

05:01 S4

Well, I mean, even blind or vision impaired people, I mean, we struggle with packaging of any sort, really. I mean, Lizzie, you've encountered the joy of the childproof lock in the past, haven't you?

05:12 S5

Oh, of course I have. Yeah. And just back to the whole makeup thing. I've done the same thing. I tried to Google accessible makeup, and we even had in here in Adelaide, there's some blindness organizations that have tried to run, like accessible makeup classes and stuff. And it's just so hard. You get to a point where unless you want to do the basic like eyeshadow and stuff, if you want to do any more than that, you end up needing support. So it's really cool that you've decided to go into making some, like, changes into the accessibility of makeup.

05:46 S2

It was honestly just a problem I couldn't ignore, and I think a lot of it was, you know, I just had never thought about it before. And I have quite a lot of shame around that because I've, I've worked in the disability space for, you know, ten years. And I still didn't realize I never asked the question. So I have a lot of, I guess, um, understanding when it comes to the big beauty industries not paying attention because they're probably it's probably not in their orbit, which is why I'm really passionate about talking about it and bringing it into people's orbit and understanding that, hey, there's a huge problem here that affects millions and millions and millions of people that I was really naive to. And I think a lot of people are, um, but I think once you start understanding it, you're like, oh my gosh, we need to we need to problem solve this. There has to be a way. But yeah, I just, I, I couldn't not.

06:40 S4

So let's go back a little bit. Let's hear a little bit about you. What is your, um, background. So when you're not developing accessible makeup, what do you normally do?

06:49 S2

So I, uh, I've done lots of different things. I started my, my career as a dietitian. Um, and then I decided I hated it. Um, it's really, really hard to help people with their diet when they don't want help with it. Not a lot of people, not a lot of people want help with their diet. Most of the time I was seeing patients who were forced there by their wives or their doctors or, or somewhere, and they did not want help at all. And I think, um, as I kind of reflect back on all the, you know, things that I've done in my life, all I've ever wanted to do was help people and make a difference. So I started as a dietitian, and then I, not knowing what to do, I, um, kind of fell into the NDIS space as a support coordinator. Don't hold it against me. Um.

07:39 S5

Don't don't worry.

07:41 S2

And I, um, I kind of just fell into support, coordination and specialist support coordination and ended up doing my master's in mental health and, you know, really loved that space and moved into, again, don't hold it against me and guys consulting and front a few NDIS companies. And I'm really I'm really passionate about the space and, you know, helping providers create systems and companies that make them able to provide really good quality service. You know, obviously the NDIS is a very controversial space and topic at the moment, but there are some really amazing people in the space doing really wonderful things. And it's been a um, yeah, kind of a journey in my career in this space doing all, all kind of weird and random and wonderful things. But I really love it.

08:26 S4

We could talk probably do a completely separate show about the NDIS. In fact, we have done completely separate shows about the NDIS. But let's get back to the matter at hand here. Tell us a little bit about these products.

08:39 S2

Yeah. So look I'll start with kind of coming back to the problem. So we knew that I was learning that makeup was really inaccessible particularly, you know, through my lived experience it was physical, um, accessibility. That was kind of my first, first understanding of it. I knew that there was it was inaccessible. And I originally thought, okay, we're going to need to make accessible makeup, that that kind of makes the most sense for this. But as I had focus groups, people with disability of all varying abilities, we soon realized that the people that I was speaking to didn't want special makeup. They just wanted to use the same products that they were hearing about on TikTok, on on Instagram, with all their friends were using. They cared about, you know, using cool makeup, not necessarily, um, wanting different makeup. So we came up with the idea of making makeup accessories is what we call them. But you can kind of think of them as like a grip aid. But, you know, grip aid is not a very sexy word. It's a very clinical word. So we came up with makeup accessories, which are products that attach to makeup items to make them easier to hold and use. Basically, they basically just provide a bit more surface area and different kind of shapes to accommodate different kind of like hand mobility challenges. And one of the biggest things as well is that they they don't they stop products from rolling, which, um, I've learned is a very big problem with lots of the low vision and blind community as well, because when you drop a product and it's round and cylinder, which is, um, most makeup items, they then roll and then that makes it very challenging. So yeah, we kind of came up with the idea of makeup accessories not actually redesigning the makeup itself.

10:32 S4

So Lizzie, that sounds, um, very handy. I mean, would you have some experience in all of that?

10:36 S5

Well, I've never used makeup accessory, obviously, but there's been many a lipstick I've lost to the bottom of the vanity unit when it's rolled underneath, and I can't get it, but. So how do these actually work? So do they hold the makeup case for you or, like, in what way do they actually work?

10:54 S2

Great question. Um, we've designed them to be as universally as adaptive as possible, meaning that they can fit a whole different range of product types and different brands. Um, the really I guess common denominator with a lot of makeup products is they are round cylinders. Um, most makeup products, so they are silicon and they kind of come in different shapes, but basically they're silicon attachments that you push your makeup product into and you push, I guess, the handle of the makeup product. So if it was a mascara, for instance, you put it over the top of the handle part of the mascara or the lid part where the wand attaches. You put it over the top of that, and it helps you be able to twist the actual product open and then I guess, take it out and use it where you have a bit more control over using the product because you've got a bit more surface area.

11:50 S5

So I wanted to go back to something you said, which was that you had these focus groups. How did you, uh, get those focus groups together, and what methods did you use to collect that sort of data?

12:01 S2

Yeah.

12:01 S9

So I originally.

12:02 S2

Started with just surveys. Well, not really knowing. So I've, you know, haven't had a business like this before and I didn't really know what to do. So a lot of my information was coming from Google to start with to say, how do I co-design? How do I make sure people with disability are involved in this, that I'm making products that actually work for people? So I originally started with just a survey, and it was just a Google form that I put on, I think Instagram and Facebook and just kind of tried to see if I guess anyone was interested. And the original survey was actually just trying to understand people's different lived experience when it comes to maps and beauty. And I think it was called understanding makeup for people with different abilities, something along those lines. Um, and then one of my friends, Kelly from Nobull me.

12:52 S3

Uh, we know Kelly.

12:53 S2

Oh, you know Kelly. Yes. She's amazing.

12:56 S5

Yeah.

12:56 S2

Kelly's amazing. So, Kelly, I sent my survey to her originally, and she said, this is terrible. She's she's very much a straight shooter and she was like, okay, we definitely need to redesign this. And she actually, um, helped me redesign it all and send, um, the survey out to a lot of people in the disability community with all different kind of abilities. And we were primarily focused on, um, different physical and dexterity challenges. And we got, I think, about 100 survey responses from that, which was amazing. And one of the survey responses actually named the company. So yes, my name is storm and it was called by storm. Uh, it's called by storm. Um, which people go, oh, that's, you know, because it's named after myself. But actually it was in response to one of the questions, how does makeup and beauty make you feel? And someone wrote, it made me feel confident and powerful, like, I can take the world by storm. And I was like, oh, that's it. That's that's that's the name right there. Um, but anyway, that's we started with surveys. And then from the surveys, one of the questions was, would you like to be contacted further about, you know, about what we're doing? And quite a few people said yes. So from that survey, I reached out to those people also through my network of, um, NDIS providers as well. Um, we had focus groups of people and we really just had brainstorming sessions to start with. I had already done a few like designs of things, of what I thought, but we kind of came together. We had like there were only very small. So like, I think the first one was 10 or 15 people. Um, and then the second ones got a little bit bigger after that. And we were going through, I guess, what is actually going to work here. I had what I thought my ideas were and they were so completely wrong. Um, after doing the groups, I thought, yeah, we're definitely going to be designing makeup, and this is how it's going to be. And the feedback that I got was not we're not doing any of that, um, which was really great and really eye opening for me. It challenged a lot of, I guess, the assumptions I'd made, which I think was one of the most valuable experiences we had from from doing the focus groups. We had about five focus groups going back and forth with different, different kind of products, different variations. We'd go, yep, okay, we think this is it. And then we go back and go, okay, no, this isn't it. Let's try it again.

15:21 S5

It's great though.

15:22 S4

So out of all that, what was the biggest surprise? I mean, so one was yes, that they didn't necessarily want special makeup, but was there anything else that actually took you by surprise?

15:31 S9

Yeah, actually. So when I was first.

15:33 S2

Designing these, I had in my head I thought we were designing a different or a product for each product. So like, you know, we'll make a mascara drink and then a lipstick grip. Um, and one of the biggest things, which sounds so simple is someone picked up one of the accessories and I was like, okay, so this one we're thinking for mascara. This one we're thinking for, you know, nail polish. And they literally just picked it up and then put it on every different makeup item. We're like, well, can't I just be used across all of them? I don't want to have like different ones for different makeup products. And I was like, oh my God, yeah, of course I can. Like it was just this really like light bulb moment. So we then ended up going one of the hardest challenges was going, how do we make this fit? Different diameters and slightly different shapes so they can fit across different brands and different product types. So I guess, you know, brand diagnostic and they can really be used however you want to use them. I made all of the first initial prototypes myself, so I taught myself how to 3D model, and I bought a 3D printer and started injection silicone molding in my garage. It was a very, um, very garage setup and, you know, winging a lot of that because, you know, I have a full time job. I'm just trying to see what we can kind of do in every, every other spare minute. I'm I'm working. Um, so I was able to kind of quickly iterate, which was really cool. So after every focus group or after every conversation I had with someone and I'd get an idea, I'm like, oh, we can change it this way. But we, um, ended up, uh. I just love myself. I always say, oh, we ended up doing this. It's all me. But I feel like we just sounds. Makes me sound so much more professional. Like I've got a whole company behind me or.

17:18 S10

A whole team behind me. That is fair enough, but I.

17:22 S2

I ended up probably, I think it was close to a hundred different revisions we made of just the opening of the shape. So they were able to accommodate all the different kinds of sizes between different brands of makeup and also different makeup types. So that was one of the biggest, I guess design challenges is how do you have something that can get on a product easy enough and be taken off easily enough, whilst also accommodate different sizes and slightly different shapes, but also stay on enough to help twist open a product and stay on while you're using it. So there were kind of lots of different variables to consider that because I was really trying to think about, okay, it can't be too difficult to take on and and take off because you know that that can be a really big challenge. But we also need to help open a product. Um, so there were kind of lots of different conflicting, almost design challenges. But we we got there in the end, which was really good. But yeah, that was one of the biggest surprises is just yeah, of course we could be used across different product types like it was one of those like, oh, of course it's so obvious and I never thought of it.

18:35 S5

So you are launching your product on the 24th of June? Yes. Is that correct?

18:41 S2

Yes.

18:41 S10

I'm very, very excited.

18:43 S2

We did a a pre-sale just to kind of test the waters. The first day I got in I got to Bali, which was very poor timing. I am really good at not having any concept of time. So, you know, it's it's the ADHD. I mean I'm yeah, not very good at that, but just to, you know, stress test the waters and it went so amazingly well. I was so happy and so, so stoked with it. Um, but we do officially launch in June. Yeah, June 24th when I get back. So I can be there to fulfill orders and fix anything that's broken. You know, we had a little break with the website, um, to start with on actually the NDIS purchasing place of the website. So we stress tested that, which was amazing and got it all fixed. But yeah, 24th of June it's yeah, really, really exciting.

19:34 S5

So these products can be bought using NDIS funding. Is that correct? Because that's what I seem to understand from what I've seen.

19:42 S2

Yeah that's right. So obviously in the context of it needs to be reasonable and necessary and related to your disability. Uh, what I've actually done on the website is create a reasonable and necessary form so you can actually fill out that form on the website and click if it is reasonable or necessary to your disability type and it will email you your answers. So then you can forward that through to your plan manager or your support coordinator or your NDIS planner if you actually need need the evidence. Um, working in the NDIS space, I know that you need evidence for everything. So I've read every single piece of legislation and really tried to make sure I could figure out a way that this wasn't going to become a nightmare for people who actually need it. And then the planner or the sport owner or anyone goes, oh, well, is this actually claimable? You know, why is it? And then put that burden on the person who actually just wants to buy it. I've tried to do that legwork. So we have the evidence there. Um, and I've written a few templates for support letters as well. So you can see the support coordinator coming out of me ready for your support letter like templates that participants can use, um, to send to the plan managers as well, just to kind of help the plan manager or the planner and planner understand, I guess, the need for it. And also the cost. Cost for benefit, which is, you know, one of the things the NDA loves to say, but making sure that it's actually gonna, um, be a reasonable cost for the NDA and it's going to reduce the reliance on more expensive supports.

21:20 S4

Now, not everybody is actually on the NDIS, so if, um, they decided someone out there decides they actually need something like this. Uh, what sort of cost are we looking at?

21:29 S10

Um, so the products.

21:30 S2

Are $45 and they are a lifetime guarantee. So they're silicon and very durable and, um, will literally last. Um, they'll probably outlive me, to be completely honest. So they're very drop proof and very breakable. Um, very, very, very clumsy and probably drop mine 300 times a day and they just bounce straight back up, which is excellent.

21:55 S4

How big are they? Because one of the biggest problems that I as a blind person, uh, tend to have is that all of these very useful little tool, which I'll then promptly lose. Is it easy to lose and leave it and drop it behind a desk or something like that?

22:08 S2

Um, no. Look, they're not I mean, they're not huge, but they're. I guess their whole purpose is to provide more surface area. Um, so they're quite reasonable. Uh, I'm trying to think smaller than a tennis ball, but. But bigger than a ping pong ball.

22:24 S5

Yeah, that is that.

22:26 S2

And trying to think of, um, some comparable sizes there. So definitely not tiny. You're not going to lose it down the back of your couch.

22:33 S5

Just nice enough size to put in the makeup case, right? Exactly.

22:37 S2

Still fits inside a makeup case or on your or in your vanity. I've tried to make all of them with flat surfaces as well. So something that I learned by doing a lot of observations of watching people do their makeup was that, unlike me, who often does their makeup as they drive in the car, which I'm very multi skilled at, a lot of people sit in the one place to do their makeup and like things to go back in the same spot and everything has has spots for things, so we've tried to make sure that everything has a flat bottom. It's not going to roll, it's drop proof and really try to consider a lot of those things in the design process, okay?

23:16 S4

If somebody wants this product, where do they go? How do they get it?

23:21 S2

Um, they can go to my website which is by storm Beauty.com ww.com. And if you do go to my website, I would just like to say, um, I have tried to make my website as accessible as possible. Um, I've tested it a million times, but I would love any feedback. So if anyone does go to my website and they see that it is not accessible for them, I'm really, really, really open to feedback and I really want to create a really accessible shopping experience because I know that's a huge barrier for a lot of people. So if anyone would like to provide any feedback to me, I would, um, really love that.

24:01 S5

Well, I actually happened to go to your website today. Oh, great. And unfortunately, at the moment is not accessible for Apple Screen readers because there's some sort of like, launching banner thing that keeps coming up and it just blocks everything else and you can't get to anything. But I haven't tried it on my computer yet.

24:20 S2

Oh, okay.

24:21 S5

Oh my gosh, thank.

24:21 S2

You so much for telling me. Oh, I think all of my, um, stress tests for my website, we didn't actually have that banner when I was stress testing it. We kind of only added that in. So that is so helpful because now I can go and change that. Thank you.

24:38 S5

That's okay. So after the launch goes and um, provided all goes well, which I'm sure it will. What are your future goals for Bystorm beauty? What's next? What's next?

24:48 S2

Look, I, um, I have a really silly business goal. Anyone in the business space would be like, this is ridiculous. So my goal is to actually make my products completely redundant. I want to make accessibility the standard when it comes to beauty and makeup. I guess my my goal is to really be able to educate the big beauty brands who actually have the funds and means and capacity to change the way that we interact with beauty as a whole. Um, and I do have a collaboration with a big beauty brand, um, launching the month after, which is really exciting because they have a very, very large audience. And I want to get the understanding that accessibility in makeup is really important, and it's a lot easier to do when we actually build it in from the very start and make it a design consideration, like we do with so many other features of makeup. There are certain sets of principles that we have to design by, and I want accessibility to be built into the to the foundations of that. So, you know, stupid business model for me trying to make my actual products redundant. But I want makeup to be accessible as the standard so anyone when they can walk into a, you know, Mecca. Sephora, Priceline, wherever you get your makeup, knows that they're going to be able to use it. I know we've probably got a very long way to go for that, but, um, that is definitely the big picture. Goal for me is to just, you know, change, rewrite the entire narrative when it comes to beauty.

26:22 S5

I love that. That's great.

26:23 S4

Thank you so much for joining us. It has been a blast. It's, uh, you're you're clearly enjoying Bali. And, uh, so we'll leave you back to enjoy the swim up bar and the beach and all that sort of stuff.

26:36 S2

Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. I really, really appreciate it.

26:42 S4

That's a wrap for this week. A big thank you to Storm Menzies. That was a good show, wasn't it, Lizzie?

26:47 S5

It certainly was. And of course, thanks to you for listening. That includes our listeners on the Reading Radio Network. As usual, you can find the podcast of this program plus some extra content by going to Google, Spotify, Apple or your favorite podcast platform.

27:02 S4

Next week we're celebrating the renewal of Studio One for another three years. Yes we are. Yes, you're stuck with us for that amount of time. So we will be reading a few of your emails that we've sent over the last year or so and going back over some of our more notable episodes.

27:19 S5

But between now and then, please do get in touch with the show. Whether you have experience of any of the issues covered on this week's episode of Studio One, or if you think there's something we should be talking about. You never know. Your story and insight may help someone who's dealing with something similar.

27:34 S4

Our email address is studio one at org. That's studio number one at org.

27:40 S5

Or of course, you can find us on all the good social media platforms, whether that be Facebook, Instagram or X by looking for VA Radio Network. We want to hear from you.

27:50 S4

This program was made possible with the support from the Community Broadcasting Foundation.

27:54 S5

Find out more at CBF.

27:58 S4

Now you can go back to bed. Good night.

28:01 S11

Good night.