Little Company
Hailing from Whakatane, A small town in the middle of the North Island, Stacey Burt today calls Byron Bay home – though you may have seen her Warrandyte home (now on Airbnb!) which was one of our top 10 last year!
After training and working at a facialist at a Polynesian spa, Stacey left NZ in 2005, chasing the sun to Burleigh Heads, Queensland. Eighteen months later, the food, culture and city life drew her to Melbourne, where she decided to launch her own business in 2016.
A wellness space offering restorative facials, Little Company is located in Cremorne, with a second premises set to open in Byron Bay. ‘We are a little company dedicated to treating the skin as a living organ: taking a supportive approach (no quick fixes) and using only the best natural and organic ingredients plus sustainable practices,’ details Stacey. ‘Our locations and spaces are an extension of our philosophy, with design supporting restoration in an energetically nurturing environment – far from the clinical feeling you usually find in beauty businesses.’
Though moving to Australia was more of a lifestyle choice than a business decision for Stacey, she has found that within the beauty industry, the size of the Australian market has enabled her to break new ground, and create a tailored business with its own niche.
Addressing Kiwis looking to branch into business in Australia, or visa versa, she recommends a lean approach to business, ‘bootstrapping’ as much as possible. For Little Company, in the beginning, this meant working with the resources at hand. ‘Venue/space budgets can often blow out, so our family helped with our initial build, painting and the fit-out, then even other things like accounting and washing machine repairs!’ she tells. ‘We used eBay and Gumtree for second-hand plants and planters, clearance plywood, and excess stock left from a prior business.’
Having a lot of creative Kiwi friends living in Australia also gave Stacey a hand up, as she has never been short on finding someone keen to swap services. She has Charl Laubscher to thank for web design and creative direction, Shayna Quinn for artworks and textiles, and Ben Wilkie for interior architecture tips, to name but a few!
Stacey and her family are off chasing the sun again, relocating to Byron Bay to open their second Little Company space this June. Find out more at Littlecompany.com.au and stay tuned for the release of their range of living skin products.