When Rawinia’s newborn daughter developed a severe rash, prescription creams only worsened it. Drawing on mātauranga Māori, she made a kawakawa balm in her kitchen — within 48 hours, the rash was gone. That moment lit the spark for Girl Native.

With just $100, she built a Shopify site and ran Facebook ads. Within three months she had turned that $100 into $10,000 of sales. The early traction, fuelled by authentic storytelling and direct community engagement, set Girl Native on a journey from home-kitchen batches to global recognition.

Girl Native makes natural, culturally authentic skincare that blends indigenous knowledge with modern beauty expectations. Its rise has been scrappy and demanding: scaling through trial and error, surviving cashflow squeezes, and learning discipline in SKUs and systems. Today the brand stands as an indigenous beauty label with international reach and aspirations of building New Zealand’s first indigenous-led skincare lab.

Startup Rollercoaster

⚡️ Girl Native has grown from a $100 experiment to a globally recognised indigenous beauty brand by leaning into authenticity, telling its story online, and surviving cash crunches with grit.

The Spark – A Mother’s Balm

“It all started because my daughter’s skin was breaking out and nothing worked. Kawakawa did — and I realised this knowledge needed to be shared.”

• Daughter’s rash healed by kawakawa balm sparked the brand.
• Saw a gap in inclusive, authentic indigenous beauty.
• Launched with $100: Shopify + Facebook ads.
• First 3 months: $10K revenue validated the idea.

The Peak – Awards & Global Buzz

• Social storytelling (harvesting, making, founder journey) went viral.

“People saw me making it, packaging it, posting it — they came along for the ride.”

• Shortlisted for Pure Beauty Awards London after discovery on Instagram.
• Features in Vogue, Glamour UK, and international media.
• Invitations to Emmy Awards swag bags, lifting credibility overseas.

The Drop – Cashflow & Overreach

• Reinvested profits into too many new SKUs, tying up cash.
• Outsourced manufacturing twice; both times quality slipped, damaging trust.
• “We said yes to everything — freebies, unpaid features — and it drained us.”
• International orders exciting but brutal: upfront production, months before payment.

“We said yes to everything — free products, unpaid features. It drained us.”

The Reset – Refocus & Boundaries

• Cut back to hero products like kawakawa balm and BB cream.

“I had to learn to say no. To freebies. To things that looked good on Instagram but didn’t pay the bills.”

• Brought production back in-house to control quality.
• Hired an accountant, implemented cashflow tracking.
• Learned to say no — to free product drains and unsustainable opportunities.

The Discipline – Systems & Scale

• Built ability to produce 2,000 units/week by hand.
• Grew a team of 5 across fulfilment, packaging, and production.
• Set up lean operations after bouncing between home, cabin, studio, and shop.
• Balanced growth ambition with operational discipline.

“Every step, from the kitchen to a shop to a studio, taught me what not to do. Now I know what works.”

The Climb – Indigenous Beauty on the World Stage

• Flying Solo (NY & Paris), Stylerama (London).
• Global reach: NZ, AU, UK, US, EU, and Middle East.

“We’re now working with LVMH on Sephora — that’s where I see Girl Native next.”

• Long-term vision: an indigenous skincare lab employing Māori practitioners and exporting cultural authenticity worldwide.
• Vision: an indigenous skincare lab employing Māori practitioners.

Case Study

1. Why This Brand Got Started

Girl Native was born from necessity — a mother fixing her daughter’s skin problem — and from vision: to create a brand that celebrated wāhine Māori and broadened beauty norms. Rawinia wanted to prove that indigenous knowledge could stand at the forefront of global beauty.

2. Launch & First Batch

The first kawakawa balm was sold online through a $100 Shopify site. Facebook ads amplified the story. In 3 months, the brand had $10K revenue and a loyal base. Markets and Instagram built word-of-mouth. Being shortlisted for a Pure Beauty Award just months later proved Girl Native had international relevance.

3. Cash Flow: The Existential Challenge

Te Taumata, Callaghan Innovation, Embassy of France to New Zealand, The British High Commission, The Generator, MSD, Creative HQ, Māori Women’s Development Inc, and many more supported Girl Native’s first commercial lease and packaging. But the brand was bootstrapped, and every misstep hit hard. Free products, unpaid PR, and long export payment cycles nearly broke the business. Twice, outsourced manufacturing failed, wasting money and hurting trust. The reset came with discipline: limit SKUs, hire a good accountant, manage cash like oxygen.

4. Growth Mindset Reset

Gift shops didn’t work. Girl Native pivoted to luxury partners and online channels with better margins. Social media became not just marketing but R&D: a sensitive-skin coffee scrub was developed directly from customer requests. Influencer strategy focused on authentic Māori voices rather than high-priced global celebrities.

5. Founder Reality Checks

International opportunities dazzled — Emmy Awards bags, Vogue spreads, overseas events. But Rawinia realised exposure doesn’t always equal sales. She learned to decline opportunities that cost more than they delivered. Bringing production back in-house restored quality and trust.

6. Lessons for Other Founders

• Don’t expand too fast — hero products matter more than SKU count.
• Authenticity is the edge: customers buy the founder story and cultural truth.
• Cashflow kills faster than competition — track it daily.
• Social media is the cheapest lab: test, learn, and co-create with customers.
• Boundaries protect both the business and the founder’s wellbeing.

Key Takeaways

• $100 can become $10K — storytelling and authenticity unlock traction.
• Cash discipline is survival. Export orders strain working capital.
• Focus on hero SKUs; more isn’t always better.
• Authentic indigenous stories resonate globally.
• Social media doubles as market research and growth engine.
• Saying no is as critical as saying yes.