Cowell’s Jade Kuhn recognised for ThermoBrush’s international success at The Stevies awards

A joke over the dishes has led to entrepreneur Jade Kuhn winning a swag of awards for her new product, now sold all over the world.

Jade Kuhn, founder of ThermoBrush. Picture: Supplied

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A joke over the dishes has led to entrepreneur Jade Kuhn winning a swag of awards for her new product, now sold all over the world.

The Cowell woman, 40, set up her business ThermoBrush in 2016 – borne from the frustration of finding it difficult to get the blades from her Thermomix clean.

“Hubby tried to clean it one night and said, ‘Is there a better way to clean the blade?’ and when I said ‘No’, he said, ‘That’s silly – you should invent something’,” Mrs Kuhn said.

Her internet research found many people were cleaning their blades by using disposable mascara brushes, which she saw as a terrible environmental waste.

“I got out the kids’ craft box and made my first prototype from their popsicle sticks,” she says.

She had a cleaning brush prototype made, along with a mould, and found a manufacturer in Adelaide.

Mrs Kuhn last month travelled to New York in late 2018, winning silver in The Stevies Awards for Women in Business in the Startup of the Year – Consumer Products Industries category.

She has added that to her growing collection of trophies, including two gold Stevies from the International Business Awards, held in London during October.

Mrs Kuhn recalls feeling deflated when asked if she was sure she wanted to fork out a large sum of money to have a mould made for her product – because it may not be worth it in the long run.

Jade Kuhn invented the ThermoBrush. Picture: Supplied

“I just had to believe in myself and my idea,” she says.

“In our pre-sale we were selling a brush every 10 minutes.

“The hardest part is trying to juggle being a stay-at-home mum and also running my own business.”

ThermoBrushes are now sold in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and across Europe.

Mrs Kuhn says although Cowell may seem an unlikely base for such a wide-reaching exporter, internet sales and marketing allow companies to excel wherever they are.

“It’s a really big eye-opener for people to understand that it doesn’t matter where you live, you can run a very successful company,” she says.

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