Exclusive: Hardcore Entrepreneur Tammy Nott is telling a Beautiful African Story with her Brand

Tammy Nott, a Namibian native, is set on a mission to build one of Africa’s most admired and globally patronised beauty brands using natural plants unique to her home country. To achieve her goals, Tammy is knocking down every barrier and shattering every glass that represents obstacles. And she’s winning, amid seemingly insurmountable challenges.

Tammy grew up in Namibia with her botanist mother where she learnt about the ancient Namibian Myrrh, the essential ingredient that would later form the core of her beauty company. With the hope of sharing the beauty and story of the natural plant with the world, she started ‘Rare Scent’, a brand she ran from her garage. She later launched Mbiri Natural Skincare with a loan she secured from the bank when it became obvious that she had to take her business to the next level.

Fast forward to present day, Tammy’s Mbiri brand is now a key player in the skincare market in Namibia, South Africa and now in Europe. She says the brand is now eyeing the US market.

Business Elites Africa pressed Tammy for more and in this interview, she shares with us the backstory of Mbiri and how she almost gave up on her dream when the journey got tough.

Q: You pride your company as 100% natural skincare brand: a lot of beauty brands also claim that, what’s special about Mbiri Natural Skincare?

A: Mbiri is unique because of the African ingredients we use in our products – the ingredients present a story about Africa and more specifically about Namibia. The star ingredient is Namibian Myrrh essential oil harvested in the Namibian desert by the Himba women. Because Mbiri buys the oil directly from the community owned project any person that buys an Mbiri product is inevitably also supporting the project. Mbiri is connecting people from all over the world and through the product a beautiful story is told.

Q: You once advised entrepreneurs to remember why they started when things get tough, why did you start your company? Share the backstory.

A: Growing up in Namibia I spent many holidays in the Namibian desert with my mother, who is a botanist and did a lot of research on the indigenous plants growing in the desert. Mother discovered that the Commiphora wildii plant, which exudes the resin that Namibian Myrrh is extracted from, could be commercially harvested. She assisted the conservancies in the area in setting up a processing facility. I grew up with the project and I wanted to share this amazing ingredient with the world so I started a skincare line that could not only tell this story but support the people in this area. The desert plants and people are my inspiration!

Read the full interview in the latest edition of the BEA digital magazine here: Find it on pages 24 & 25.