Wellness Guru: Lucy Bee, Beauty specialist and inspiration behind THAT coconut oil

This week our Wellness Guru is the wonderful Lucy Bee. Many of you will already be familiar with her name and product range if you're fans of The Body Coach as he (Joe Wicks) regularly uses her coconut oil in his recipes. For those of you not familiar, Lucy Bee is a health company started by two busy parents and named after Lucy their daughter. They originally started with just coconut oil and now also produce a range of food products and are soon to launch a new Beauty Book.

Its an exciting business journey and a truly inspiring one, hear more from Lucy herself on how it all comes together.

1. Tell us about yourself, Lucy, and how you got to be where you are today?

I’m a qualified CIBTAC beauty therapist and until last month I was still working one day a week doing beauty but decided to stop as Lucy Bee has become so busy.

Originally with Lucy Bee, I was only looking after our social media, concentrating on Twitter but the bigger Lucy Bee became the more opportunities there were with it and now I look after our Instagram. Our Facebook followers chat with Meg and then we have Helena and Sadie helping on twitter too.

Such is the power of social media that we were approached by a publishing company, Quadrille, about doing our first cook book last year. That’s when everything changed for me and I took on many more rolls within the company.

2. Tell us how you spend your average working day?

Every day is different. Some days I’m in the office all day doing admin; others I’ll be recipe testing and development; each week doing videos for social media; or out doing in-store demos or meetings. This is why I love my job so much because it’s always very different day to day.

I eat such a variety of foods that it’s difficult to know where to start in writing them down. The best thing to do is to check out our Lucy Bee Instagram as you can follow what I eat each day, since I’m always posting on there.

I also try to exercise every morning - I’m currently a fan of HIIT as it’s quick so there are no excuses not to fit it in!

3. What inspires you?

My family, friends, nutritionists, different blogs and books plus our amazing followers on social media inspire me in different ways.

4. What’s your goal in life?

This may sound cheesy but my goals are being happy with whatever it is I’m doing, whether it’s with work or in my personal life.

5. What does Wellness mean to you?

For me, wellness is feeling positive and healthy from the inside, out - both mentally and physically.

6. What advice would you give to a person looking to transform their life?

Read lots of books on what it is you want to achieve. Research is key. I also think the best motivation is when you want to do something for yourself.

I always find I achieve things when I am doing it for the right reasons and know I am going to feel better for it. Everyone is different so I would say really think about what it is you want to transform in your life in to and work hard to achieve it.

7. Tell us about your business Lucy Bee

It’s a family run business. My dad is the business man and I look after the social media and work with the team on recipe creation and development, marketing and customer contact side of the business.

We pride ourselves on being Fair Trade and all that it means as well as a strong belief in recycling and the principles of organic farming. These are at the foundation of our company.

The reason Lucy Bee started is because I am a coeliac. When I was 18 months old, I was very poorly and my parents had to completely change their way of eating as they always had to check labels and cook from scratch. Luckily for me they are both incredible cooks so I never felt left out with my gluten free versions of foods. This is why I have a passion for cooking and eating healthily.

Lucy Bee started off with coconut oil. Ours is unrefined, extra virgin, raw, organic and Fair Trade from either the Philippines, the Solomon Islands or Sri Lanka (each label tells you where it’s from). This is what we are best known for and we get endless posts from people tagging us in their photos of their jars of Lucy Bee – which I love to see.

We have now made our extended our range with Cinnamon, Turmeric, Cacao, Maca, Lucuma, Epsom Salts, Himalayan Salt and Dead Sea Salts. We’re always looking at new products, so watch this space!

July is an exciting month for us with the launch of our beauty book, Natural Beauty with Coconut Oil, and we have our second cook book, Coconut Oil: Recipes for Real Life, coming out in September, which is an amazing feeling.

We started off as a team of three but now there are 12 of us in the office (which is attached to my parents’ house). Lucy Bee has grown so much and I love it as I mostly work with family and friends!

8. Tell us your Top 3 Tips for Wellness?

1. It’s important to take time out for yourself and do something you love as life is so busy we sometimes forget to stop and relax.

2. Stay hydrated – this is so important for many reasons. I carry a bottle of water around with me all day!

3. Exercise / get some fresh air. Exercise gives you feel good endorphins. One of my favourite ways is meeting up with friends and going on a long walk somewhere beautiful. It’s a win, win really as you get to catch up with friends, exercise and get fresh air.

9. So what’s next in your career/life?

With the new beauty book coming out this month “Natural Beauty with Coconut Oil” and the cook book in September “Recipes for Real Life” I’m excited to see what happens with those and then see what the future holds!

More about Lucy

Lucy is a 25 year old, CIBTAC qualified beauty therapist with a love of healthy living including eating foods close to nature and exercise. Diagnosed as a coeliac at a young age, eating a well-balanced, healthy diet has always been important and has been the driving force behind Lucy Bee.

Find out more at lucybee.com

#Wellness #WellnessGuru