Sisterly

Sisters can now do it for themselves thanks to three entrepreneurial friends who set out to change the way women approach their own health. Fed up with the familiar experience of trying to juggle big careers and busy lives they turned their various careers in finance, law and branding to create Sisterly – a nutritional supplement that means all our mums, sisters and friends can live our best lives. We talk to the founders.

Tell us why you set up Sisterly?

Aoife, Louise and I set up SISTERLY for our mother’s sisters, girlfriends and ourselves. Every woman has a cupboard full of supplements gathering dust because it’s so hard to remember to take them consistently.  We also know that not all supplements are made equally but who can tell the difference? We wanted something that was top quality, easy to take and most importantly designed for women because we’re not small men.  We took three years in development with a formidable team of doctors, female health experts and scientists and our award winning daily powder sachet ticks all the boxes for women who want more energy, better immunity, deeper sleep, balanced hormones, glowing skin, and stronger hair and nails.

You all gave up corporate careers to move into a completely new industry. What were the biggest challenges?

I was a barrister, Aoife a banker and Louise a brand developer, so we were keenly aware that we weren’t qualified to develop a supplement. We worked tirelessly to build our team of experts and Aoife in particularly was reaching out to countless industry insiders. As a barrister, I did a lot of professional negligence work so I’m used to cross examining experts, a helpful skill in a world where not all experts are experts. Our team of Physiologist Dr. Daniel Jones, GP and Hormone Expert Dr. Mandy Leonheart, Food Scientist and Nutritional Therapist Susie Perry and Nutritional Therapist and Sports Nutritionist Adrienne Byrne have decades of experience and they worked on this for 3 years. Their expertise and professionalism is evident in the quality of the formulation. Our reviews and awards can be found at www.sisterlylab.com – this is the good stuff.

The packaging looks more like a beauty product, what was the inspiration?

We put a lot of thought into the packaging. Beauty products are often so beautifully presented that you leave them on your dressing table.  We wanted to replicate this with SISTERLY and so we designed a beautiful discreet box that fits into every kitchen.  By leaving it on the countertop, it’s so much easier to remember to take your sachet every day. Our recyclable box is designed to blend in seamlessly with every kitchen and it is refilled with a monthly pouch of sachets. 

What are the pros and cons of being a female entrepreneur?

The pros are getting to work with your friends on a project that is really meaningful to you.  We are all absolutely obsessed with how important this is as an effective supplement solution for busy women.  We have all experienced first-hand the juggle – career, kids, aging parents, the pressure to look the part, hormonal changes etc.  Women really need a top-quality effective supplement to support them in everything they do.  Our aim is to find SISTERLY sachets in the bag of every woman who needs it. 

The cons are that when you’re obsessed, you never turn off.  The to-do list is literally never ending and there is always more being added.  When I worked as a barrister, there was some respite at the end of a case before you went on to the next one.  The Courts also closed for the vacations, and during that time, I didn’t think about work. Project SISTERLY is never finished.  Holidays, weekends, day and night, the SISTERLY wheels are spinning.  It permeates every moment of our lives. 

The brand name implies a community of women, was that part of the approach? 

Absolutely, we love our SISTERLY moments. We’ve organically built the most fantastic community of women who attend our sea swims, yoga mornings in Portugal, runs and breakfast events. We love hearing from experts about ways to improve our diet and lifestyle.  While supplements fill in the gaps left behind by poor food quality and busy lifestyles, we know that diet and exercise come first when it comes to our health.  We take a very holistic approach to wellbeing that we want to share with our SISTERLY community. We hosted our SISTERLY Summit in the Arts Club in London supported by Investec with Olympian and Sky Sports presenter Katie Shanahan and Louise put together a beautiful wellness breakfast for IWD with Rose Ferguson in the Bamford Club at Daylesford.  Sign up to our newsletter at www.sisterlylab.com for invitations to our events. They’re really amazing.

What does a typical day look like for you?

It is always changing as we are travelling quite a lot at the moment but I like to get my son to school, fit in a run, bike or gym session at some point in the day and lots of calls, emails, meetings, events, strategy sessions, it’s an endless to do list.  We’re applying for B Corp at the moment and Aoife and Ciara on our team are working really hard on that.  I’ve had lots of highlights in the last year – doing Trinny’s Elevator Pitch, organising a shoot in Bath with Jade Parfit and Tine Stapenfeldt, our Harrods launch.  It’s non-stop but that’s the world of start-ups where you’re doing everything. It’s fun but I’m not sure we can maintain things at this pace forever!

Who or what inspires you most and why?

Our reviews – hands down. We get these unbelievable 5 star reviews every day, messages on IG, Linked In, from all these incredible women telling us how much they love SISTERLY.  One of our favourites recently was from a woman who described herself as “a nurse, farmer, mother, 55” – she said she thought that a month’s supply of SISTERLY was expensive until she realised that she spent more on her pets and kids in a week then she was willing to spend on herself.  I think a lot of women don’t value their own health and wellbeing enough, always putting the needs of others first.  A sachet of SISTERLY is less than a cup of coffee a day and yet we all second guess it.  We can see every day how well it is working for women so we are really inspired to get the word out there about it.

What does luxury mean to you? 

Freedom, being able to make choices and do things without having to think about it too much.

What’s next for Sisterly? 

A UK takeover!  We launched in Harrods in February and we’re also in Whole Foods, High Street Kensington.  We really want to develop our community in the UK and find our likeminded SISTERS.  We are exploring opportunities in UAE and will be turning our sights to the US eventually.

QUICK FIRE QUESTIONS

Favourite spa – Eden One Spa in Dublin https://edenone.ie/
Favourite hotel – The five star Merrion Hotel in Dublin https://www.merrionhotel.com/
Favourite bar – Bar 1661 in Dublin https://bar1661.ie/
Where are you happiest – Enjoying a sea swim with friends
Next travel destination – Quinta do Lago, Portugal for our yoga event at The Bold Octopus with Sarah Shannon Yoga
Who would you most like to see headline Glastonbury – The Cure