In short
Podcast Notes: Extraordinary Life Stories - Maxine Laceby | From Kitchen Table to Beauty Powerhouse
Episode Overview In this episode, host John Reynolds converses with Maxine Laceby, the co-founder and CEO of Absolute Collagen, a leading UK beauty supplement brand. Maxine discusses her entrepreneurial journey, including her late start in business, her creative and scientific collaboration with her daughter, and her insights on mental health, resilience, and empowerment for women.
Key Themes and Discussions
- Maxine Laceby's Background
- Personal Traits: Described as compassionate, energetic, and a bit unconventional ("bat-s*** crazy").
- Life Journey: Rediscovered herself at 50, embracing both creativity and scientific exploration in her work.
- The Birth of Absolute Collagen
- Starting from Scratch: Launched Absolute Collagen from a home kitchen without prior business experience.
- Initial Experiment: Began with boiling bone broth, leading her to explore collagen as a potential product.
- Navigating Challenges: Faced skepticism from formulators but remained persistent in her vision.
- Visionary vs. Practicality: Combines creative vision with practical problem-solving skills to build the brand.
- Overcoming Adversity
- ADHD as a Strength: Reflects on how her ADHD traits contributed to her entrepreneurial success, emphasizing the importance of intuition and emotional intelligence (EQ).
- Self-Sufficiency: Early in her business journey, Maxine opted out of seeking funding to retain control and independence.
- Empowerment and Female Entrepreneurship
- Role Model for Women: Advocates for female empowerment, especially in entrepreneurship, citing the lack of funding for female founders.
- Backing Oneself: Discusses the psychological barriers women face in confidence and self-belief within business.
- Fostering Relationships: Shares her collaborative relationship with her daughter Darcy, highlighting the importance of mutual support in successful partnerships.
- Lessons on Business Growth
- Test and Learn Approach: Encourages a mindset of experimentation and learning from failures.
- Customer-Centric Focus: Prioritizes understanding the customer experience and recalibrating business strategies when necessary.
- Importance of Mentorship: Stresses the value of surrounding oneself with knowledgeable individuals to facilitate growth.
- Personal Wellbeing and Work-Life Balance
- Self-Care Practices: Engages in outdoor activities (running, hiking, etc.) as a means to rejuvenate and maintain mental clarity.
- Living in the Moment: Shares her journey towards being present and finding joy in simple moments, contrasting with her earlier tendencies to overthink.
- Definition of Success
- Broad Perspective: Views success as a combination of personal satisfaction, empowerment, and the impact on others, rather than purely financial metrics.
- Enjoying the Journey: Emphasizes the importance of embracing every part of the entrepreneurial journey, including challenges and learning opportunities.
Key Takeaways
- Empowerment Through Authenticity: Maxine advocates for being genuine and embracing one's true self as a path to success.
- Community and Support: Building strong relationships, especially among women in business, is crucial for overcoming challenges.
- Balance Between Intuition and Learning: A successful entrepreneur blends emotional intelligence with practical knowledge, valuing both instinct and informed decisions.
- Continuous Growth: The journey of entrepreneurship is ongoing and involves constant learning, adaptation, and personal growth.
Conclusion Maxine Laceby's story is one of transformation, resilience, and empowerment. Her insights inspire listeners to embrace their unique journeys, back themselves, and pursue their passions regardless of age or obstacles. The conversation highlights the importance of emotional intelligence, supportive relationships, and a commitment to personal well-being in achieving success.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOMaxine's Entrepreneurial Journey
0:53 to 2:26
Maxine shares her artistic journey leading to the creation of Absolute Collagen.
“Let's bring almost your entrepreneurial journey to test and learn.”
Understanding Emotional Intelligence
2:26 to 4:00
Maxine discusses her high EQ and its impact on her relationships and business.
“And she said to me after the three days, I'd love to do an EQ test with you.”
The Relentless Drive Behind Absolute Collagen
4:00 to 7:00
Exploring Maxine's persistent efforts in building Absolute Collagen against challenges.
Empowering Women in Entrepreneurship
7:00 to 8:06
The importance of backing oneself and the challenges women face in business.
“And there is an element of, I use that terminology, backing yourself.”
Self-Sufficiency and Growth
8:33 to 12:06
Maxine discusses her self-sufficient approach and the evolution of her business strategy.
“Welcome to Tell Me Lies, the official podcast.”
Building a Team and Collaborative Success
12:06 to 14:00
The importance of team dynamics and collaboration in growing Absolute Collagen.
“And Darcy and I, Darcy's my co-founder, we have a really wonderful, unusual relationship where it is really equal.”
The Visionary vs. The Science
14:00 to 15:00
Exploring the dynamics between the founder and the scientific aspect of the brand.
“Absolute College was a cash-rich business.”
Building a Strong Team
15:00 to 16:10
The importance of surrounding oneself with great people in business.
Navigating Business Challenges
16:10 to 17:20
Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs based on personal experiences and lessons learned.
“If you look at trademarks, that could really blow your head.”
Learning from Mistakes
17:20 to 18:40
The significance of learning through mistakes and empowering others.
“And I always say business shouldn't be difficult.”
Show all 21 chapters
Trusting Your Instincts
18:40 to 19:50
The role of intuition in decision-making and business growth.
“If they don't feel pain, if they don't get burnt, they'll do it again.”
Consumer-Centric Business
19:50 to 21:30
The importance of focusing on the customer and recalibrating business strategies.
“And we can talk about that from a personal point of view.”
Finding Balance as an Entrepreneur
21:30 to 22:20
Maxine’s approach to maintaining personal well-being amidst business pressures.
Embracing the Outdoors
22:20 to 23:50
Maxine discusses her love for outdoor activities and their role in her life.
“At any one time, you know, there's so much energy going into it.”
Lessons from Childhood Experiences
23:50 to 26:10
Reflecting on childhood influences and their impact on current values.
“And there was quite a few times when she said, oh, we didn't speak for like two hours.”
Defining Success
26:10 to 28:00
Maxine shares her personal definition of success and its evolution over time.
“Yeah, that's like, you know, I've actually had to get down on my knees to stop the surface area and get back in a strong wind and tide.”
Embracing the Journey of Life
28:00 to 29:00
Discover the importance of being present and enjoying life's journey.
Overcoming Overthinking
29:00 to 30:20
Learn how to manage overthinking and embrace the present moment.
The Revelation of Simplicity
30:20 to 31:40
Understand the freedom in simplifying life and not worrying about appearances.
“I just put a load of clean knickers and underwear in and wore the same denim jumpsuit, right?”
Rejecting Self-Doubt
32:02 to 33:44
Explore personal experiences of self-rejection and the journey to authenticity.
“Get tickets today at burnoutparadise.com.”
The Power of Genuine Connections
33:44 to 34:44
Discuss the value of authentic relationships and mutual understanding.
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00Ever seen a musical so good you didn't want it to end? Like you could live inside it forever? Then you're going to love Schmigadoon. Get your one-way ticket to Broadway musical paradise. Have you ever felt trapped at a musical? Like you literally couldn't escape? Then you'll hate to miss Schmigadoon because you'll never want to leave and you can't. But the important thing is you'll never want to. Get tickets at SchmigadoonBroadway.com. Nobody cares. Nobody cares. What? Hallelujah. Normally I've had four pairs of shoes, four this, four that. What a revelation. Tell me, who is Maxine Laisby? A very compassionate, a bit bat-s*** crazy, full steam ahead woman that loves to empower people whenever she meets them.
0:53Let's bring almost your entrepreneurial journey to test and learn. The whole being when I led to Absolute Collagen was me doing this fine art degree and stripping myself there of makeup and letting my hair go grey and wearing really dandy clothes and no makeup for four months. And that whole project of just wanting to be Maxine. So I have worked quite hard on it, I guess.
1:25I'm really excited. I'm good. Very good. Tell me, who is Maxine Laisby? Maxine Laisby is a very compassionate, very considered, a bit batshit crazy, full steam ahead woman that loves to empower people whenever she meets them and actually sees the best in people i have this i don't know if it's good or bad i have this kind of thing where i always get the best i see the best in people i don't see the negative and i sometimes wonder if that's a good or bad thing that's what i think it's a good way to start i think what it probably means that i can relate to this is that you might be taken advantage of and it's how quick you work out that perhaps the good you saw, you've then got to pull back.
2:14But it's probably served us both well, right? And it's certainly served you well as someone that takes life to the maximum. I've been told over the years I've got a really high EQ. Weekend just gone, I spent the weekend with a shaman, right? And she said to me after the three days, I'd love to do an EQ test with you. Your EQ is so high. And I said, I'm so glad you said that because sometimes you think is that the story I've told myself and people will say to me you've got high EQ and I think is that because I've told them that but I have an extraordinary EQ and that's come with touch on my misplaced childhood all the rest of it but it served me well and I can normally spot people I can just feel and I I've learned over especially in business to tune into it and I think you've got it I think we've all got it you've just got to learn to listen and feel it that's well I've been guilty.
3:09I've felt, I've felt, and I'm going to call it a vibration, we vibe off each other, right? And that's a relationship I really am enjoying growing with you. You know, we filmed on ADHD, Beyond the Label, learned so much from you about that kind of ADHD journey, if you like, and the fact that you wouldn't be the founder of Absolute Collagen without it. And so much of that related to me where I'm like, actually, I wouldn't be doing all the things I'm doing without, but that vibration element that relates to people being our currency there are times when I've I've felt something in my gut I felt something where the EQ was talking to me and I've not listened yeah I might have been distracted or what not wanted to believe it and give the benefit of doubt but you've got to do that in order to know when you're right and wrong because if you don't ever go down the route of being wrong you'll never have a guide to guide it against so sometimes you've got to get it wrong it's really true and isn't that the whole almost philosophy of life and let's bring almost your entrepreneurial journey to test and learn I mean test and learn absolute collagen around your table yeah talk me through that because I know that a story you've told before if you like but that whole element of like relentless drive where a lot of people would have given up a lot of people would have and just to be clear in watching listening this is what led to you founding with your daughter absolute collagen but you know you needed to be persistent you need to be relentless through that journey and I can be both those things big time much to a lot of people's dismay actually especially my children and actually sometimes I exhaust myself because once I'm like a dog with a bone if I feel something if I see something if I'm very solution focused I'm extremely practical which a lot of people who know me might find that really bizarre but I am and I think it comes from that and it comes from I and I'm also creative so I have a vision so there's that practicality and that visionary in in one actually which is probably quite unusual so I came across the collagen in my kitchen well I was boiling bone broth in my kitchen and then I was like what is it in that bone broth and I bear in mind 10 years ago there was collagen wasn't a thing there was there was skin supplements but not just collagen and I just would not let go and I even remember the formulator telling me it was a stupid formula and it wouldn't wouldn't be able to be formulated two weeks later and I went you're right you're absolutely right but there's two things I do in my kitchen that gets around what you're thinking won't work and I'm not going to say what that is and he phoned me back two weeks later and said oh my god like this this is incredible but sometimes I think you can have too much knowledge so he had 25 years experience and his knowledge was so practical so scientific he was unable to look outside the box and i think that's what i've been able to do yeah mixture of naivety because but also like why not try it yeah which sums you up right yeah why not have a go yeah why not try and look where that's got you and then from coming up with a formula that works to then branding to then being so successful it's just in context of breaking that down that that relentless drive sits at the heart of it right You've never pulled back.
6:23You've never seemed to have, I don't want to say doubted yourself. You know what I mean? It feels like there's been a constant drive. Do you know, I guess it asks this question a lot. People say, as a woman, as an older female, you know, did you come across people who didn't believe in you? I never even saw it. I never even saw it. I just went for it. And I guess for me, there was that because I'd launched a formula that I created in my kitchen into a market that didn't exist i expected people not to believe in it so i didn't even see it does that kind of make sense it does and i just knew it worked my point of reference is it works on me and my friends i know it works and that whole wanting to empower um women through my product was just such a big drive for me so i find that fascinating because you you know i've got two teenage daughters and i in any way possible want to talk to someone like yourself that I can champion in female entrepreneurship where there's less than 2 % of VC funding year on year.
7:21And there is an element of, I use that terminology, backing yourself. There is, what I've found out, rather than being an archaic, broken, chauvinistic kind of system, it's actually often women that don't back themselves don't quite have the confidence. It feels like that whole conviction and confidence that you have where this works and I'm going to do it, actually not disproves that, but there's an element that how many times has a woman in entrepreneurship being dissuaded by the formula guy or being dissuaded through lack of role models, if you like. And so that's probably where I'm going with this.
7:57I see you as such a role model, Maxine. Someone that other women can look at and go, if you have purpose and you believe in what you're doing, you can absolutely achieve. This episode is brought to you by Indeed. Stop waiting around for the perfect candidate. Instead, use Indeed Sponsored Jobs to find the right people with the right skills fast. It's a simple way to make sure your listing is the first candidate C. According to Indeed data, sponsored jobs have four times more applicants than non-sponsored jobs. So go build your dream team today with Indeed. Get a$75 sponsored job credit at indeed.com slash podcast.
8:31Terms and conditions apply. This is your fix. I am your host, Stassi Schroeder. Welcome to Tell Me Lies, the official podcast. What's the most unhinged thing of season three? Steven, because he's so evil. I do think he is misunderstood. You see everyone face consequences. It's intoxicating. The writers just know how to trick you. There's always a twist in this show. Tell Me Lies, the official podcast, January 6th, and stream the new season of Tell Me Lies, January 13th, on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+. I think so, and I think with me, there is that thing that works for me a lot and then doesn't work for me self-sufficient.
9:11I am so self-sufficient to my own detriment. And I wonder sometimes when you say, and it is true that less than 2 % goes to female founders. Female founders that I know tend to be self-sufficient. Going for investment was never an option for me. I didn't even consider it because I didn't want to rely on somebody else. I didn't want to have to answer anyone's questions. I wanted to be, I wanted to be just Maxine and there was element of wanting to be me and there was element of I don't explain myself to somebody at board meetings and other I just want to do it and so the self-sufficiency that is what I see in women and I think that's why a lot of women do not go for funding of course you've got the element where they don't get funding and I think there's that eight old that that saying isn't there you know a guy will think I see a job I can do 80 % of that job a woman will say 20 % of that job I can't do and she will just look at the 20 % I just I've always backed myself and I think I think I had to as a small child there was nobody else and like maybe sometimes it is kind of dangerous as well because I've backed myself so much and I suppose nowadays as I've got older that back in myself is I consider the consequences of my actions where I never used to in my 20s and 30s and possibly early 40s but now I consider I think through what are the consequences of that action and if I'm if there's a consequence I'm prepared to take I will take it but when I go and even actually when I go back to start of absolute collagen I put I remortgaged my house I sold my motorbike I sold jewelry I sold so many things to put i borrowed money from a friend obviously paid her back there was a belief but the consequence there with borrowing the money from the friend i knew i could raise more money in my house if i needed to so i knew there was a solution if it all failed it's also like you know for me listening to that there's a there's you're all in you put your you sort of so where where some people will take funding from a particular vc it's quite a transactional non-emotional yeah taking money a friend absolutely actually has got more of that and i wouldn't have done it if i knew i couldn't pay her back if anything went wrong there's absolutely no way i would done it and i think anyone listening and watching this particularly from bloomberg tv pointed you know which is heavily sort of investor focused audience if you like you know that's the kind of founder you want to back right if anything you probably could have got and i did eventually get go i wanted to cover that because that's self-sufficient yeah um side of you which actually i can relate to in a certain I'm not very good at asking for help and that's something I'm working on but certainly also a number of the things that I've got involved in personally I've not brought funding into if you like until I absolutely needed to so what changed and what I mean by that is that that mindset shift where I want to try and control this on my own I want to I want to be steering my own ship but then to scale and so how did you sort of evolve into that yeah it's a really good question I was never about wanting to control it on my own that was never what it was about so I think one of my biggest strengths and that is knowing what I'm not good at and I'm okay with that you know someone said to me is it imposter syndrome went no loads of things and I'm okay with that right I can't be great everything but I'm really really good at knowing what I'm not good at reading people getting people my EQ and knowing what the business needed so right on day one with absolute collagen So I sort of spent about a year and a half speaking to scientists, all the rest of it.
12:44Darcy, my daughter, came in. And Darcy and I, Darcy's my co-founder, we have a really wonderful, unusual relationship where it is really equal. We both empower one another. We all step forward when we need to and step back when we don't. And I relied on her. You know, I wasn't good at ordering ingredients, da, da, da, da, da. So she did all that. She was studying food science. You know, we worked out it was a protein called collagen. I wouldn't have been able to do that without her and all those sorts of things really and day one when the business when I press start you know when I thought okay this is really serious now I'm still self-funding but I need somebody to build the website I can't do that but I'd met a guy called Brad who I knew was a really good man a really good I'm still he's still shareholder I'm still absolutely very good friends with Brad he will text me at least once a month saying thank Thank you for creating this crazy product.
13:35You know, we had a really good relationship. What I loved about Brad, and if I talk about that as well, is I would ask Brad the same question time and time again, right? Because that's me. I will not stop until I understand. He would answer it like it was the first time he answered it. That's a skill. That is a skill. And so that was one. Then there was, obviously, Darcy is... Darcy is the... we always say absolute collagen is um an emotional brand backed by science guess who's the emotion right darcy's the science so she brought the science uh and the credibility i i'm the visionary and i think when you are a visionary i see a lot of founders that won't let go actually and i think it stops their growth um i think you have to and when i went for funding it was about it sounds really arrogant.
14:28We did not need the money. Absolute College was a cash-rich business. We're a direct consumer. We were doing incredibly well. Market leader, all the rest of it. I wanted really great people around the table that could, Darcy could learn from, Brad could learn, you know, it wasn't just about me. It was about, yes, and respect for them. And so bringing, I wanted great people around the table. So that was why I brought investment in. You must, I mean, I can just imagine how much these people in that tribe must enjoy working with you and Darcy and how well you've all done as well there's so much of you that I learn from and have the pleasure of your company including of course this conversation right now that is almost like a mentoring element how much of what you do now is spent helping kind of the next generation and I guess in any way kind of what advice can you give to someone that's coming through because you've got the Maxine experience before you became a founder which all goes into that mixing pot and building the eq then you've got the journey so it gives you that sort of maturity and perspective to look in and of course the changes that have come through you live through the direct to consumer marketing and so which was not a thing no but you've actually done really well with that as absolutely subscription wasn't a thing god i mean subscription have you got now i got loads and that is going to change as well subscriptions about to fall off because there's so many people that aren't doing it right they're not treating the consumer right and so people getting fed up so it's going to affect every subscription um so yeah you've got to look at that but i think anybody coming into business what i will say is if you've got an idea and you really believe in it talk to people about it you know I talk to people it doesn't mean I really do what they say but I'm gathering bits of information I will always make my own mind up but you need that feeling from a different mix of people what do they think about it most of the female founders I know have started businesses because it's a service or a product that they needed and that's that was the case with me i also think you can spend a long time standing on the edge wondering what if procrastinating absolutely and i've done that i had a business idea back in when the girls were nine and eleven took them to china bloody hell um come on we're going to china find a manufacturer i thought about that business so much that i lost it i i didn't launch it in time but that's fine because i learned some things i learned about trademarks i learned about all of those things and i would say don't be scared.
17:03If you look at trademarks, that could really blow your head. Phone the trademark, the intellectual property officer up. They are brilliant. I used to speak to them on a daily basis. And I think it's just about asking questions and nobody wakes up and knows everything, right? You have to find your way. And I always say business shouldn't be difficult. It's damn hard work. Most things you need are signposted and you've just got to keep asking and then find your way. and I think it's about you can spend so much time standing on the edge wondering what if would you want to die thinking what if and never taking that step I mean I mean I love what you're saying and it parallels even why we're sat here you know there was uh things I procrastinated on and talked myself out of you probably learned from them as well and I've learned the feeling which which there's there's quotes on about that no regrets so you know and you know you don't want to get to a certain age and wish you'd done something and that that thought very much probably it sort of meant i literally learned this on the job you know i hadn't had no previous experience at all from broadcasting or you've got mistakes absolutely but i think being prepared to make them in real time you know and i think those mistakes that some people would even call failures yeah are all part of what becomes missteps yes no such thing as failure i you know you say about empowering, you know, people say to me, how have you created these two brilliant children?
18:29You know, I believed in them because you have to believe, you cannot micromanage, you have to believe, you have to empower and how you do that is you allow them to make mistakes, they have to feel pain. If they don't feel pain, if they don't get burnt, they'll do it again. Even with business, you know, Darcy's my co-founder as you know and I allow her because we're equal, it's not a case of allowing her she has to feel something that's wrong I've got to allow her to go into that because if I protect the business or protect her if there's certain things that happen that I will allow her to or I have I mean she's probably far superior to me in business now when we go back at the beginning there was a certain thing and I was like I don't think we should do that and she really wanted to do it I went right carry on it was wrong I know she'd learned so much from that but I was able to go this is not going to ruin the business and actually I might be wrong my feeling is I'm right but I might be wrong you know sometimes I think in any form in every any area in life you can come against a junction you can go you can get so paralyzed by which direction should I take and sometimes you just gotta it doesn't sometimes it doesn't matter you know either each direction will be right and you'll figure out which we did but she learned from that and I learned from that It's growth, right?
19:51And we can talk about that from a personal point of view. We can talk about it from a business point of view. So the decisions and the trajectory that you guys went on to then hit the wall or hit the brakes, pull back, and you've learned something, you know, and you had the knowledge and the EQ and the IQ to actually know you needed to stop. because of course that's the other thing isn't it you've got to be able to I guess have that that goal and that whole uh sort of alignment but at the same time try different things but whether it pulls you off and distracts you and not so whilst I'm quite gung-ho I would say not to any cost so when we were growing really really fast and we were growing like 400 a month and it was just crazy I used to say to my digital marketeer on a regular basis can you stop acquiring customers please and she'd go what the hell said nobody ever because I needed because my focus is the absoluter she is everything she's my customer she is my reason to but to to wake to sleep for everything right she's the reason absolute collagen exists I never ever want to let her down if we are growing that fast and our systems can't cope something's going to give and so every now and again I'd stop I'd recalibrate and we'd go again and that was something I felt really strongly about everybody around the table who had business experience thought I was absolutely crazy but I think this is where the founder comes in because they know they feel it and they know and I say that's my job now you know I've got a CEO now and my role is I sit with the absoluter and the team on these shoulders and every single decision i'm thinking how does that affect how does that affect and i i think you can never underestimate the founder's insight into the consumer in the business ever i love that and that goes back to the uq which you've led on a couple of times but that's probably the best articulation which is a there are clearly key moments and milestones where your gut instinct and your conviction to say i'm going to keep going produced ultimately the product and then actually made some key decision making but also to parallel that in business to you as Maxine there's been such a relentless energy and drive right up to today but along the way you've had to make time for yourself that that entrepreneurial journey is is I keep using the word relentless but there's long hours even though you've got you know there's there's there's a team of you if you like and Darcy's there as an equal partner to vibe off and bounce off.
22:26At any one time, you know, there's so much energy going into it. What do you do? What have you done? Yeah, you know where this is going, right? What works for you to try and remove yourself from all the things going on and have some me time? I am, you know, when you said earlier, who is Maxine, I am actually a very, very simple person. It took me a long time to work that out. I think I was so intellectual and so complex you know and people that know me would people that don't know me that well would say there's no way she's simple people that know me really well will tell you i am and i know i am quite simple so i love being outdoors it's my thing i love running i love walking i love mountain climbing i love hiking i love cycling i love it all i've got shorts a backpack no makeup i am happy i don't care if it's snowing that's your happy place that is my happy place i love the energy of the wind the rain there's something so alive about being outside i can't be outside in sunbathe and i'm quite boring i have to be outside doing something i've got a flashback to you did a podcast with steve huett on paddleboard yes oh and i thought what a great sunset what a great day yeah he loves the outdoors he's filmed on here he's i love steve yes but you i could see in your face that you were loving you know you're having a meaningful chat capturing some cool content he says to me what do you want to do i went we're in uh birmingham let's go on the canals and paddleboard i expect him to turn up his peaky blinders by the way but um yeah that to me is and you just you can be alone you can be with somebody and i actually really love silence believe it or not i'm really happy with silence and i did the cotswold way last year and a friend I did the first four or five days on my own, which I love doing, by the way.
24:15And then my friend joined me. And there was quite a few times when she said, oh, we didn't speak for like two hours. I went, really? I didn't even notice. And I don't know if that's because I've got ADHD and my mind's always going. I'm always having conversations. But I'm really comfortable with silence. It's so interesting. And you learn a bit about me from this conversation because I'm the same. And I think people think I'm moving at such a pace. They see my social media everywhere. Yeah. What they don't know is I will take myself off to the spa or I will go for a walk outside with no phone.
24:47And then that's when I put myself back together again. I'm listening to the birds and I'm watching the leaves falling or my favorite time is summer. Just having been in the warmth of sunshine. But I've got to be doing something. I'm not very good at something. Yeah, no, I'm not either. But I'm very happy in that environment where I don't actually need to be getting any stimulation from a book or... So satisfying, isn't it? Yeah, it is really satisfying. But I think I've never heard anyone articulate like you did where I think people think the same of me Whereas I he needs he needs something that I actually don't know.
25:14I don't did you spend a lot of time? Outdoors as a child. Yes. I was encouraged to me too. Very very We were always doing welly walks, you know I haven't really told anyone's before but I think going back to how I was brought up I When my grandfather was clearly dying and was in hospital I went to see him and I'd been told I was 17 and I've been told by my mum that this may be the last time you see him and uh i looked out of the window and it was absolutely pouring with rain and this is a this my granddad used to climb mountains so this whole layering of being outside was in in my jeans if you like and i turned around uh to my grandpa said oh well it's an absolutely miserable day awful day and he and he slowly turned and looked at me and said i'd do anything to be out there yeah i went out for a bike ride that afternoon with all the rain lashing down and it was it was a kind of like you know i brought the kids up like that you know we would they'd say it's raining what are we going to do we're going for a walk we're going to play you know i love that and it's really interesting i was in bournemouth the weekend with the shaman and um i went from running the morning i ran up to pool along the front and it was really windy and really raining i was running into it and i loved it i didn't realize how much i loved it so i turned around and ran back and it was really easy and i was like oh isn't that weird i've done it the other i've done it the other way i've done it the way where you're running this feels easy and then you turn around and you're I wish I hadn't come so far.
26:36Yeah, I'm glad I did the way I did. I've done it on paddle boards. Yeah, oh gosh. Yeah, that's like, you know, I've actually had to get down on my knees to stop the surface area and get back in a strong wind and tide. But I get the point you're making. And I think that, again, I haven't heard anyone articulate that as well. And I think moving on to one other thing, anyone could describe, and I will describe you as successful. and I just I just feel that that's almost become a byproduct of what you you know what you've ultimately done I don't feel like being successful in a true sense of you know you're very very sort of highly awarded if you like and people will talk about you in that echelon of oh Maxine's such a great businesswoman and look what she's done and I wonder how much that actually means to you and what your definition of success is sitting here now oh my god my definition of success is just just to be able to be you know to be able to breathe I okay there is a financial reward I'd no longer wake up in the more in four in the morning and go what am I gonna do today because there is that when you start a business and you've invested so much right I don't know success to me is just this it's just doing it's like walking it's it's how I live my life it's been able to meet wonderful people it's giving back it's empowering others it's turning up as that woman that was never there for me there was some women there for me by the way but there were some women that were really not there for me um and it's just it's just showing that showing there's a different way because we were always told as kids you know if you want to be successful in business you need this you need i haven't got a degree i don't got no business experience i didn't work you know i worked till i was 25 and gave up for my children i didn't start absolute college until 49 um so it's success to me it's just whatever life brings i don't question it that much i can feel that and actually probably similar question but in context of often we can describe life as a journey and then there might be a destination that some people goal that people really want to achieve and i don't necessarily i wonder do i see that but yeah it doesn't feel like there's a no an actual milestone no you are just really enjoying and embracing the journey everything about it whatever that brings the good bad the ugly and just going with it and and being present is really important to me it's something i've really learned to be and it hasn't been a conscious it's just happened and i'm now really good at being present and i'm like where did that come from god that's that is just such a gift like even now i'm completely present and i don't think i could have done that 10 years ago i can feel that yeah and you you've got my absolute full attention now as well is there an adhd uh conversation here which is that a younger version of you and me would have been overthinking everything how do i look yeah um you know what have i got to do this often oh no i need to bring it back to this oh i forgot to do this and somehow we calmed that down because I'm I'm 48 so there's a maturity to both of us where younger version is I was spinning so many things overthinking everything but actually it may be quite hopefully inspiring to anyone who's listening but I've somehow calmed that down it's interesting because there's a few conversations we've had and it's been spinning and I've gone to take it back there and I've let it go that's a new thing that's something I've learned to do and I don't know how that happened and maybe it's whoever you're with at the time because I do think that you know I think the end like again I talk about energy I think the energy is good between you both it's just a different vibe and so there has been times and I've thought yeah my old self would have definitely brought that back but there's a comfort there's a let it go like move on the conversation has moved on from that whereas i would normally have taken it back because that's my bloody adhd i'm just listening to if you think about previous part of our conversation that test and learn yeah that try something and fail yeah that's probably where both of us allowed ourselves to not be the person that's going to have no regrets because you didn't try and then not try different things and then not experience that and actually then the world didn't end yeah you know i survived and so on and actually then yeah exactly yeah no one cares do you know what went to ruby waxes with you for dinner recently and that day i came up i was working at smart works um which i love doing for the day doing some voluntary work then i was coming to rubies and the next day i was doing something else and i remember packing in the morning think oh do you know what i just don't want to pack loads and i just want my backpack and i was So sorry about this, guys.
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32:10So funny. So for filming day, I have brought probably four or five different versions of what I could wear. i'm only gonna go i'm only gonna wear one today i'm still learning and i can and then before i came into london because i come in for like three days so i have to pack for everything yeah i bring far too much stuff yeah i've learned but i'm i'm slightly behind you on that but that's inspiration for me because i'm just gonna remind myself for the last few days i've not worn 70 of what i bought and i carry it i know a great big ruck that and a suit bag yeah and i'm like right work out before you leave and just own it and there is that like no one's looking everyone's so wrapped up in what they're wearing what they're saying what they're doing but this is where and in no way because i think most people can relate to that but i think that whole rsd that goes with neurodivergent thinking is like that whole not wanting to uh you know wanting to fit in wanting to have options and actually just being a lot more kind of right i'm gonna own this rsd that's rejection sensitivity disorder now this is really really interesting so i spoke to tash natasha yes about this and i was chatting to her because i did a chapter in the book for unstoppable design unstoppable yeah and um i'm doing some work with my adhd and i was i don't think i've got that and we were discussing it discussing it discussing it do you know who i rejected the most?
33:34Maxine, how? It was a real thump. I've rejected myself for so long and that's, people don't see that now but the whole being when I led to Absolute Collagen was me doing this, going to a fine art degree and stripping myself bare of makeup and letting my hair go grey and wearing really dowdy clothes and no makeup for four months and that whole project of just wanting to be Maxine so I have worked quite hard on it I guess sure um but the person I rejected the most was Maxine and I was like whoa but then that self-awareness to be fully present and to be authentic I mean that's why I enjoy your company so much because I'm craving authenticity you want to be around people that haven't got masks up haven't got a facade haven't got an agenda yeah and then you learn you learn from that because if you're learning from a facade or a mask it's not genuine right and so um this is a conversation that i so look forward i don't want it to end but we've we went out of time but this was this was something that you know i wanted to happen sooner or later so i'm so glad we made it happen today so i hope you've enjoyed it do you know i've loved it i mean i always say you're talking i'm talking about myself for god's sake of course i'm gonna love it i mean this is really bad of me to say that but i am right but you know you've always made me feel really comfortable and there's certain people you meet in life that just get it you just you just get each other and you are one of those oh thank you saying that when it's ditto to you.
34:59Thank you for having me.
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From the publisher
In this inspiring episode of Extraordinary Life Stories, host John Reynolds sits down with Maxine Laceby, co-founder and CEO of the hugely successful wellness brand Absolute Collagen.
Starting her entrepreneurial journey later in life, Maxine turned a kitchen-table experiment into one of the UK’s fastest-growing beauty supplement companies, all without any prior business experience.
She opens up candidly about her winding path: rediscovering herself at 50, combining creativity with science alongside her daughter Darcy, and harnessing the power of curiosity, resilience and bold decision-making. From navigating ADHD to building a multi-million-pound brand that empowers women worldwide, this conversation offers raw insights into passion, reinvention and redefining success on your own terms.



