P H E N O M E N A L W O M E N
Interview Series
GEORGIA CLARKE
Entrepreneur and Founder of Kalon Parlour
Watch the Interview on YOUTUBE
Florian Host: Welcome to the Phenomenal Woman Interview Series, a series powered by Florian London to celebrate, highlight, and put the spotlight on women doing phenomenal things in their chosen fields. Today, we have Georgia with us. Georgia can you introduce yourself and tell us a bit about what you do.
Georgia Clarke: My name is Georgia. I’m the founder of Kalon Parlour, which is a luxury Med Spa just off Oxford Street, London. And we do everything from facials, massages, nails, waxing, literally a wellness hub.
Florian Host: Can you tell us what inspired you to want to create Kalon Parlour.
Georgia Clarke: I had a traumatic experience with my skin. I suffered from severe stress acne. And I was put on some very heavy, strong medication. So strong that you literally can’t be pregnant on it. I had to go in monthly for pregnancy tests, because if you’re pregnant, the baby will be born deformed. So yeah, I took it because I was just desperate at the time. My skin issues caused a lot of confidence issues. I went really, heavy on makeup. And I was basically doing things that was making it worse. So, my mum worked with a doctor at the time. And it was racketeering that they put me on by the way.
But what they didn’t explain to me at the time was the horrible side effects, which I only learned a couple of months in. So, I was on it for about six months, and four months in, I started to suffer from severe depression and suicidal thoughts. But it wasn’t until my family and friends recognized my deterioration that my mum started to make the correlation. And immediately, it was just like, let’s get you off it. It did what it was supposed to do with my skin, but at such a cost. And it was only after a couple of months, I had to go on a retreat to improve me. I moved out of London to just heal myself. And it was only after I recovered that I just thought there must be healthier ways to deal with stuff like this.
We all want to enhance ourselves. We want to look pretty. We want to be comfortable in our own skin. But it should just never be at the cost of our well-being. So, from then I just did a lot of research into more natural ways to deal with skin issues. I got introduced to a lot of different facials. And from then, I just grew sort of passion of self-care. And I thought it would be amazing to have my own space, where people could get all these things done, but also know that everything that is being done and the people taking care of them have their wellness in mind.
My trade was law. I just never thought I’d be able to do something like this until I had my son, which was two months before lockdown for COVID. And I was on maternity leave. I quit my job and embarked on launching the Kalon Palour.
Florian Host: A transition from law, straight into entrepreneurship. Tell us more about the kind of woman you had in mind when you launched Kalon Parlour.
Georgia Clarke: Someone that was conscious about their beauty. What I found was that it’s a saturated market, but a lot of what was being put out there were products that were just really, bad for your skin. And I think people became a lot more conscious, especially during lockdown of everything they were putting inside of their bodies and on their skin. So, I had someone who cared about their wellness and what they were putting into their systems from diets, to what their daily activities and routines were, to then like beauty. What type of products are they using for their skin? Because we don’t have anything medical grade here. It’s all natural, but science backed. So yeah, I was very particular with the brands that we stocked.
Florian Host: Working as a lawyer to transitioning into being an entrepreneur. How did you find that transition? Because I’m sure a lot of people are working 9-5s jobs right but would like to launch a business they are passionate about
Georgia Clarke: It was passion that kept me going with it because of my personal story, but the transition wasn’t easy, because there are two very different worlds. So, law is corporate, and beauty is just very, very different. I guess my background supported me with the business aspects in terms of behind the scenes. But being on the front end, I had to learn. Not that I wasn’t already, but I had to be more of a people’s person and understand people more.
Georgia Clarke: Network, 100%! Because different people, different stories come through the door. And I had to learn. It was something I had to learn to do. But I’m not the same person I was before.
Florian Host: Why do you think networking is so important when you’re transitioning from the corporate world into entrepreneur, running your own business? Why is networking so essential and so crucial?
Georgia Clarke: That’s a good question. And what comes to mind first — and I’ve learned the hard way — is that one person can’t do everything, especially when it comes to trying to build a brand, especially in a market that’s so saturated. And what I learned the hard way is that having a community behind you that believes in the same thing as you do, has the same values, is what will really push your brand, because, for me, I have a story, I guess, behind it, and it’s not something I blather about, but where I do meet people that connect with me in terms of their passion for wellness, it’s something that I guess helps take the brand. And it’s heard through different ears, I guess. So yeah, I think that’s what it is.
Florian Host: That’s interesting. There’s a lot of different buzzwords that people say, self-love, self-care, wellness. Why do you think...? I know you’re passionate about wellness. Why do you think it’s important for us as women to fall in love with wellness.
Georgia Clarke: I think there’s a lot of pressure on women from society in terms of our appearances, the things we do, how we live our lives. And what I’ve learned so... for example, being natural and healthy. I was the girl with like the 5~6 different eyeshadow palettes. But loving yourself and being authentic to who you are, I think, is what a lot of people are coming to terms with. And accepting ourselves, I think, that’s what that has been the biggest shake in a lot of industries. It’s women breaking down the barriers and deciding: “No, actually, I like doing this instead of what you’re telling me to do.” And I feel like the more empowered you are by yourself, the more powerful you are holistically.
Florian Host: And touching on breaking barriers, starting your own business couldn’t have been easy. What is the one challenge you remember overcoming when you started Kalon Parlour?
Georgia Clarke: I’m laughing because there’s so many. The biggest challenge for me was learning that I couldn’t control everything.
Georgia Clarke: I learned to just let go and not be so attached, I guess. Because it’s my own business, I’m very attached to a lot of things. So, things affect me a lot more. But just learning that not everything can be controlled and just appreciating the process. Once I’ve made that shift in my mindset, I think, the process became a lot smoother. Obviously not easier, but smoother.
Florian Host: What would you say is the one thing you wish you knew about business that you know now?
Georgia Clarke: I think, and I guess it’s more related to the current climate. Just how unpredictable consumers can be. And just how unpredictable the seasons can be and how they sort of work together. I think I started off with ideas, obviously anticipations, but a lot of things just were thrown into the spanner in terms of the industry one but also how consumers shopped and stuff. So, that was something I wasn’t prepared for. So yeah, I think we say a lot of plans, but that’s often difficult.
Florian Host: If you could go back five years, what would you do differently?
Georgia Clarke: I think I would, it sounds really cliché, but just live more in the moment. And it sorts of links to what I just said, because nothing is set in stone. You can have all these plans for your life for the next five years or next 10 years, but I think everyone’s come to realize anything can happen. And I think, yeah, back then I would have just been a bit easier on myself on what I wanted for my life and just to enjoy things a lot more. I feel like a lot of time was spent planning and a lot of good things were therefore missed. Yeah.
Florian Host: What do you do to enjoy yourself? What you enjoy doing in your spare time?
Georgia Clarke: Again, it sounds really cliché, but spending time with my family, I really... I think particularly as well, because starting up the business, a lot of time, personal time is taken. So, I love the days in the week where I just get to do nothing, literally switch off completely. And just show my son the world and spend time with my husband.
Florian Host: How do you find a balance with being a mum and an entrepreneur?
Georgia Clarke: Well, there wasn’t any balance at the very beginning. And it was something I had to consciously realize and plan of action for myself. Because at the very beginning, I was missing a lot. Like, sometimes, I would go home, and my husband told me, “Our son did this.” And I’ll be like, “Wow! When did that happen?” And once I realized that I was missing a lot, it really would pull up my heartstrings like I hated it. So, I had to decide that: “Okay, I’m literally going to take this day out of the week to devote myself to him.” And if I am in the spa, one day, as soon as I go home, that’s it. I won’t turn on my laptop. It’s a conscious effort to do, because, obviously, I’m trying to push the brand and I have so many plans for it. But something must give. So, it was a conscious effort. And yeah, so for example, on Fridays, it’s my son. I take him out. I do everything. And I’m learning to trusting myself and the decisions I’ve made and the team I’ve built to be able to leave them and let go is something I’ve also learnt to do. And I guess that helps me create the balance.
Florian Host: What advice would you give to someone embarking on the entrepreneur journey
Georgia Clarke: “Just do it “ You’re going to be uncomfortable. There’s going to be very uncomfortable times. It comes with the game. It is what it is. You must be uncomfortable to get to wherever you want to get. But just deciding to let go and take the risk, you’ll be surprised at how rewarding that will be. And you’re going to learn on the process. So, you shouldn’t be afraid. Yeah, basically, don’t be afraid of the process and just do it, because it’s going to come with its ups and downs. Everything will! But once you decide to do that, regardless, you’ll even enjoy the process a lot more, because you’ll learn a lot.
Florian Host: This is my last question. what’s next for Kalon Parlour.
Georgia Clarke: This is the year of growth for us. So, we’re tapping into the wellness aspects, because we have three branches here. So, its beauty, which is the spa; ethics, which are all the brands that we work with; and then the third leg is wellness. So, we’ve started our monthly wellness for women events. We had our first last month which involve Pilates and hypnotherapy and mindset coaching. We’ll be doing a lot of those.
Georgia Clarke: We’ll also be launching wellness boxes, which will be specially curated boxes filled with wellness products, partnering with up-and-coming wellness brands. And we’ll also be launching a wellness app.
Florian Host: You’re phenomenal and amazing, amazing, amazing, amazing brand. Just wanted to say thank you so much. Thank you for coming on. And thank you
Georgia Clarke: Thank you.
Visit Kalon Palour - www.KalonPalour.co.uk
