I GOT IT FROM MY MAMA

I GOT IT FROM

MY MAMA (and my grandma, too)

To unearth the inspiration behind a business that nurtures the health of our skin, mind, body and planet, I look back at the humble beginnings of Tropic Founder and CEO, Susie Ma, in conversation with (and about) the remarkable women who helped her sow the Tropic seed.

By Florence Reeves-White

As I set up my recording equipment, close all my ‘how to make pizza dough from scratch’ tabs and ready myself for our Zoom interview (not to be confused with its tedious relative, the Zoom quiz), Susie and her mum are already chatting away. I discern some complimenting of clothes (waist up, of course) and a few giggles about justgot-out-of-bed hair. There’s a current of joy, comfort and ease that even the stilted nature of the video format can’t cut through. The first thing I notice (again, try as it might, my pixelated screen can’t mask it) is their enviably luminous skin. Although evidently, some good genetics are at play here, I want to delve deeper into some family secrets – how do Susie and her mum, Shu Mei, keep the complexions with which they were blessed, consistently looking their best? “Thank you!” Shu Mei replies as I tell her how well she looks. “That’s one thing Susie’s grandma has always taught us both. Our skin is our first impression and our best protection, so we have to look after it in the same way that we look after what’s inside, too.” Born in Shanghai, Susie grew up around her grandmother, who talked of how toxic chemicals – absorbed by the body through the environment, diet, medication and personal care products – affect our health and wellbeing. “Grandma really is where it all began, isn’t she?” Susie confirms with her mum. “She was a medicinal chemist and toxicologist, after originally training to be a surgeon. She’s always been a big advocate for only using natural products on our faces and bodies – this usually involves a lot of plant oils and glycerin – and I never saw her buy any cosmetics when we lived in China.” “That’s right,” Shu Mei interjects. “She swears by a few drops of plant oils massaged into the face regularly for maintaining supple, radiant skin. But the massaging itself is an important part for her.

I remember when I was a little girl, she would bend and fold and press her skin with oils. It’s a kind of ritual for her; you can tell it makes her feel as good as it makes her look, and it’s the same with me.” It’s evident that these two have been through a lot together – although Susie has steered herself independently towards success, those formative years of navigating adversity with her mum have given her her bearings in life. At the age of thirteen, Susie moved with Shu Mei to London after several years in Cairns, Australia. To pay off household bills, aged fifteen, Susie borrowed £200 from her mum for ingredients to whip up a batch of body scrubs, using a family recipe, which she then sold at Greenwich Market. “I was really nervous about going,” Susie recalls. “I put it off for weeks after I’d made all the products, but what really drove me was watching the letters pile up – final notice letters for bills, rent, and money that we’d taken out on credit. I just came to the realisation that there was very little left to lose – we were in so much debt anyway, and I believed in the product. I was nervous but the worst that could happen was selling nothing and coming home. I guess I’d have had to remedy the rejection by using those 50 body scrubs on myself!” On the first day, Susie raised enough money to pay the bills for a whole month. Motivated by success, she continued to spend weekends at London’s markets selling what’s now Tropic’s best-selling Body Smooth. By the time she was 21, Susie had funded her studies at university and bought her mum a house. “Honestly, I don’t think Tropic would exist as it is today without the influence of you and Grandma,” Susie confesses to her mum. “The reason I was able to sell Tropic in the first place was because I knew I had a great product. Without you both I could still be working in banking or – more likely – we might be back in Australia, having not made it work in the UK.” It’s evident that this is a family that’s always seen the value of prioritising health, and that shows on the outside too. The message that’s been passed down through generations of women – from the bustling streets of Shanghai to the coastal reaches of tropical Australia, from a small Greenwich Market stall to Tropic HQ’s impressive Innovation Lab – has always been loud and clear – your health starts with yourself. Now that’s a wise lesson I think we’d all like our children to learn.

“What really drove me was watching the letters pile up – final notice letters for bills, rent, and money that we’d taken out on credit. I just realised that there was very little left to lose.”

Scan the QR code to read the full interview.

Susie has kindly translated her mother's words from Chinese for us, in order to enrich this piece with the full range of her language.