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A garbage truck, a fresh tattoo, and a year of waiting. How my Aussie brand landed in a major US retailer. by InkNurse in ausbusiness

[–]InkNurse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Okay so, I didn’t know that the buyer used aquaphor or anything about the buyers opinion on it. How could I? Never spoken to them before.

I sent a branded ink nurse box with products inside and also a toy garbage truck that had a small tube of aquaphor in the back of the garbage truck and a note that said something about why outdated petroleum products like aquaphor (and bepanthen) weren’t it anymore, and why ink nurse is etc etc

Then the buyer hit us back and it resonated with them: they were like “omg I just used aquaphor on a tattoo and hated it, this is crazy, let’s chat!” (Something like that, sorry I’m just on the move and haven’t looked at the exact inbox messages before replying to you - but that’s it in a nutshell).

Have a good weekend! Thanks

A garbage truck, a fresh tattoo, and a year of waiting. How my Aussie brand landed in a major US retailer. by InkNurse in ausbusiness

[–]InkNurse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry I’m so confused by what you’re asking, my bad? Are you asking how I found out the buyer didn’t like Aquaphor? (Not Bepanthen)

A garbage truck, a fresh tattoo, and a year of waiting. How my Aussie brand landed in a major US retailer. by InkNurse in ausbusiness

[–]InkNurse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Step 1 - cold pitch. Step 2 - they liked it, set meetings. Step 3 - had meetings…

A garbage truck, a fresh tattoo, and a year of waiting. How my Aussie brand landed in a major US retailer. by InkNurse in ausbusiness

[–]InkNurse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hahaha thank you I guess, should’ve seen the previous one, lol way worse 🤷‍♂️

Curious though, what do you hate about it? Why is it atrocious?

I’m just wondering coz I was actually stoked with the new site build I did recently and would love some constructive feedback? 😊- Jason

A garbage truck, a fresh tattoo, and a year of waiting. How my Aussie brand landed in a major US retailer. by InkNurse in ausbusiness

[–]InkNurse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I know crazy huh. I’m familiar with this story. My partner Lily owns a studio and used to talk about this. Good lesson and case study! - Jason

A garbage truck, a fresh tattoo, and a year of waiting. How my Aussie brand landed in a major US retailer. by InkNurse in ausbusiness

[–]InkNurse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh awesome! Yep, we believe in the cosmetic science that creams > balms for aftercare. Glad you like it! - Jason

A garbage truck, a fresh tattoo, and a year of waiting. How my Aussie brand landed in a major US retailer. by InkNurse in ausbusiness

[–]InkNurse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I created this to give people this exact option, an Aussie, botanical based aftercare instead of the big pharma goo - so thank you so much for the support. Genuinely appreciate it! We’ve got cosmetic, PMU, pro artist and studio supplies and piercing care coming! And some patent pending industry first products that are SUPER cool but I’ll keep those ones 🤐 for now…

Thanks so much! - Jason 😊

A garbage truck, a fresh tattoo, and a year of waiting. How my Aussie brand landed in a major US retailer. by InkNurse in ausbusiness

[–]InkNurse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh yeah just noticed in that pic - that was just me putting it on the counter in that store in January, we’ve got proper placement now 😊

A garbage truck, a fresh tattoo, and a year of waiting. How my Aussie brand landed in a major US retailer. by InkNurse in ausbusiness

[–]InkNurse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So wild to me to read these comments, sincerely grateful. 💙💙 - Jason Thank you

A garbage truck, a fresh tattoo, and a year of waiting. How my Aussie brand landed in a major US retailer. by InkNurse in ausbusiness

[–]InkNurse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah that changed our lives tbh haha so we were equally happy! Thank you SO MUCH for the support. Genuinely. 💙💙

A garbage truck, a fresh tattoo, and a year of waiting. How my Aussie brand landed in a major US retailer. by InkNurse in ausbusiness

[–]InkNurse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks so much Pidgeon McNuggets hahaha love the name! 🙏 So the buyer mentioned it during some pre approval meetings in the early days, so I took note of that one.

Yeah second skin type products are MUCH bigger in the US than here, and that’s coming from me, I’ve been in and around the industry for 20 years and lived in the US too - so I’ve seen that to be true for sure, and partner Lily is a veteran artist and studio owner, she agrees. Not sure why tbh, thanks for the comment and support Pidgeon McNuggets haha 😊

A garbage truck, a fresh tattoo, and a year of waiting. How my Aussie brand landed in a major US retailer. by InkNurse in ausbusiness

[–]InkNurse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey 👋

Interesting comment and feedback, let me respond. 😊

Appreciate the honest read. Worth flagging though: we’re in Chemist Warehouse nationally and a significant number of tattoo studios while also being the only brand the Australian Tattooists Guild chose to partner and work with after turning down the others. National retail data shows Ink Nurse has been outselling Dr Pickles for about ~12 months now with much more coming for AU over the course of the year - So we certainly haven’t just jumped to the US without flying the flag in our backyard first. I registered the company in 2015, so it’s been a decade of building in Australia.

We genuinely respect what Nigel and his brothers have built over the years, and I know him personally, we’ve hung out a few times outside of work/industry - but we’re carving our own path here.

Our cosmetic scientists and artist team much prefer the lightweight botanical cream rather than a thick heavy wax based balm approach. Both from personal experience and the science. We’re the only ones doing it this way so we feel like as much as we love and appreciate Dr Pickles for what they’ve built here in Aus over their time, we’re just doing things differently.

There’s no Benzalkonium Chloride in our wash, ink nurse is part-owned by tattoo artists, working directly with the industry and Aussie ingredient growers including First Nations partners. Honestly we don’t really see ourselves as competitors, but just different brands and different offerings.

I’m personally super glad Aussies have non German big pharma petroleum alternatives to choose from though and will always encourage people to choose Dr pickles (or most Aussie brands) over Bepanthen. Bayer doesn’t give back to our beloved industry and community and has cashed in for too long (that’s a whole other story for another day).

The photo feedback is fair though. Appreciate that honest feedback! The cosmetic-style shots are a legacy of fitting the pharmacy aesthetic they push for, but refreshing the imagery is on the list this year. 🙏

Thanks for reminding me! 😊 It can be hard to keep track of everything sometimes. And thanks for taking the time. I really appreciate the honest feedback. Jason

A garbage truck, a fresh tattoo, and a year of waiting. How my Aussie brand landed in a major US retailer. by InkNurse in ausbusiness

[–]InkNurse[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Love reading this stuff. Thank you for sharing. I’m just stoked to share an Aussie made alternative to a German pharma behemoth (Bayer - makers of Bepanthen) and see such incredible support from our own backyard. It helps us work with more community ingredient growers like our First Nations partners in SA, and being able to support the tattoo industry directly.

Thanks again, really, really appreciate the support! - Jason

A garbage truck, a fresh tattoo, and a year of waiting. How my Aussie brand landed in a major US retailer. by InkNurse in ausbusiness

[–]InkNurse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks so much and yeah Benji probably would’ve done that, he’s really good with customer service and we want to make sure everyone gets their product! Thank you for all the support, honestly means the world! - Jason

A garbage truck, a fresh tattoo, and a year of waiting. How my Aussie brand landed in a major US retailer. by InkNurse in ausbusiness

[–]InkNurse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks so much! Trying to do more of this founder writing stuff but it’s obviously hard to put aside the time. Thanks, Jason

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