This week on my Mums in Business series I’m delighted to be featuring Melanie who set-up Bare Biology after suffering from postnatal depression following the birth of her second child. What Melanie saw was a gap in the market and pounced on this to create an amazing Omega 3 product to help benefit a healthy lifestyle and diet to improve mental health. Now she has an award-winning business where Bare Biology is stocked in Liberty and Whole Foods. Read on the find out more about Bare Biology, and how Omega 3 can benefit you. Tell me a little bit about you, your background and Bare Biology? I am a mother of three, and I started my love affair with Omega 3 in 2008 when I suffered from postnatal depression. I’m a passionate believer in health through nutrition, and intensively researched ways to improve mental health through diet and lifestyle. My research found that Omega 3 is one of the most critical nutrients for mental health, as well as general health. I was also struggling to find an Omega 3 product in the UK that ticked all the boxes of purity, strength and freshness. Like many entrepreneurs, I saw a gap in the market and decided to create my own brand and launched Bare Biology in 2013. I knew I had done something right when my first stockist was Liberty after taking part in their Best of British Open Call. In 2016 I won the NatWest Entrepreneurial Spark ‘Entrepreneur of the Moment’ and ‘Most Accelerated Business Award’. Bare Biology is now the leading premium Omega 3 brand in the UK. It’s the first UK Omega 3 brand to be independently certified for strength, purity & freshness and has products for every life stage – Lion Heart capsules, Lion Heart liquid, Bump & Glory (for pregnancy and during breastfeeding) and Super Hero (specially formulated for children). Stockists include Liberty, Whole Foods and Planet Organic. What were your drivers and motivations for setting up Bare Biology? A personal passion for Omega 3, born out of my own journey through postnatal depression, was the impetus for me to create Bare Biology. While battling the illness following the birth of my second child, I realised that a change in my diet, lifestyle and mindset would help my condition. I started exercising and eating healthier, and began taking Omega 3 after hearing that it could alleviate my symptoms. Omega 3 is an essential fatty acid that we need in order to function properly. As our bodies cannot produce it, we have to consume it on a daily basis. After a while, I noticed a positive change in my energy levels and mood, and I was certain that Omega 3 helped me get better. I set up Bare Biology to promote the benefits of Omega 3 to our physical and mental well-being. How do you balance the business around family and childcare? It may sound like an impossible task but work/life balance can be achieved, even for full time working mums. I believe the key is to plan, be organised and be prepared to deal with schedule mishaps along the way. From getting the kids up and ready for school in the mornings (it’s always a good idea to set the breakfast table on the previous night!). Plus ensuring you complete each work task before moving on to the next one. Then fill the weekends with quality family time and setting clear boundaries between spending time with the children and avoiding the temptation to check your phone or reply to a work email. Since setting up the business what’s been your biggest success to date? Making Bare Biology the UK’s leading Omega 3 company, by ensuring each batch of fish oil supplements I produce undergoes rigorous testing and receives 5-star certification for strength, purity and freshness. What’s your top tip for Mums who are thinking about setting up their own business? Follow your instinct and persevere. When I decided to start a fish oil business back in 2012, my friends and family raised their eyebrows and smiled. Omega 3 had been a life saver to me as a mother of three young children, and I was a complete convert. But I was tired of trying to hunt down a supplement that was strong enough to work, fresh enough to taste good, in a form I could absorb, and with clear proof of being 100% pure. I couldn’t find one, so I decided to make it myself.” You can find out more about Bare Biology by visiting the website, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Thank you so much Melanie and Bare Biology for taking part in my series, it was lovely to interview you, and I wish you the best of luck in the future. If you would like to be part of my Mums in Business then just drop me an email: thepramshedblog@gmail.com. Or have a nose at some of the other businesses I have featured in my series: Amicable, KW Photography, and Get Ahead VA. Claire x