Priscilla Hajiantoni put life on hold to launch beauty brand Bangn Body
She quit her job, put her wedding on hold and moved in with her mum to launch a skincare brand – now Melbourne entrepreneur Priscilla Hajiantoni is living her dream.
Fiona Byrne
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Melbourne entrepreneur Priscilla Hajiantoni quit her job, parked her wedding and put her plans to start a family on hold so she could “go all in” on her skincare brand dream.
Hajiantoni, 29, launched her Bangn Body firming lotion in 2019 after several years of planning with the motivation to develop her own formula stemming from years of suffering with hormonal acne and eczema.
“I was the ultimate guinea pig for the brand,” she said.
“We moved back to my mum’s house, we were engaged at the time, and put getting married on hold, put having kids on hold, everything went on hold.
“The day I launched Bangn Body was my last day at my full-time paying job.
“I just thought if I can’t believe in my business enough to go full-time then there is no reason why I should do this. I knew it was not going to run on its own, it needed to be nurtured and I couldn’t do that if I was giving everything I had to a full-time job.”
The leap into the unknown paid off with the “seven in one” face and body moisturiser that features shea butter, pineapple fruit oil and green coffee bean extract, and its distinctive yellow tube attracting immediate attention.
The business turned over $8 million in its first two years and has continued to grow at huge pace. Now four years since its launch, 500,000 tubes of Bangn Body’s famous firming lotion which retails at $48, have been sold. The range has expanded to include face cleanser, body wash, a scrub, lip and eye balm, and a serum and mask product.
Its success saw Hajiantoni land on the Forbes Asia 30 Under 30 list in 2021.
“I wanted to make a multifaceted skincare cream that could be used on the face and body and provide solution focused skincare that actually works,” Hajiantoni said.
“We invested our earnings back into the business and that has really helped us scale and grow. We have had some really exceptional years, especially during Covid.
“I feel like we are just scratching the surface of what we can achieve with the brand because we have really only been playing in the Australian space. We don’t digitally market globally yet (they do ship internationally).
“I hope by the end of this year, next year, we can start looking at international expansion, go into that brick and mortar space, get boots on the ground, and digital marketing globally.”
Hajiantoni and her now husband have funded the brand themselves.
“We don’t have an investment yet or anything like that from a capital or a raise perspective, but we hope in the future we can explore those options,” she said.
“Up until now it has been one hundred per cent bootstrapped.”
The name Bangn Body is meant to inspire.
“Everybody deserves to feel ‘bangn’, everyone is ‘bangn’ and everything that you desire to do in life is ‘bangn’; you should live in that mentality,” she said.
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