‘It's a reminder to be unapologetically myself… That's the energy I try to bring to MATER and to my life’ - How Petra built her brand

Featured

25 May

Petra’s journey to lead her business is skincare has been tough - but her positive attitude, the connections she has made, and her sheer determination has driven her brand to success.

Here Petra shares her business journey with us.

What’s your biz?

MATER Beauty is advanced New Zealand skincare, made simple, for women who are already doing all the things! I formulate high-performance cleansers, serums and treatments designed to support the skin barrier and deliver visible results in fewer steps, built around a philosophy I call "Do Less, Expect More".

It's a very European approach to skincare - the idea that you invest in fewer, better things, that you are intentional about what you put on your skin, and that the ritual itself matters as much as the result. Every formula is built with maximum active ingredients, no fillers, no fluff, no greenwashing. Just intelligent, clean formulations that respect your time and reflect your worth.

MATER is proudly made in New Zealand, free from parabens, sulphates, silicones, artificial fragrance, artificial colours, and animal testing, with 95%+ natural or naturally derived ingredients.

Who do you work with?

My ideal customer is a woman in her 30s to 50s who is capable, busy, and has probably been a skincare devotee at some point in her life.

Somewhere along the way, between work and family and just keeping everything moving, her routine got sacrificed. She still cares deeply about her skin and what she puts on it, but she no longer has the time or headspace for five steps. She wants results without complexity, and she is done being sold products that promise everything and deliver nothing.

Instead of creating multiple one-trick products with marketing gimmicks and asking you to buy more to compensate, I put the work into the formulation so you don't have to do the work in the bathroom.

The hero product - FACE Ritual - replaces a toner, moisturiser, and eye cream in just two steps, morning and night, and consistently outperforms the routines women had before.

I am a lifetime skincare fanatic who uses and genuinely adores every product I make, every day. There is no disconnect between the brand, the products and the person behind it, and I think customers feel that.

What sparked the idea behind your business?

After 15 years in advertising and IT, I became a mother at 40. I was a complete skincare fanatic with carefully planned multi-step routines and a bathroom full of products I loved. Then overnight, none of it was possible anymore. Time evaporated, and my sense of self quietly disappeared with it.

I experienced post-natal depression during that period, which I'm open about because I think far too many women go through it in silence. I've lived with depression on and off for most of my life, and becoming a mother intensified everything I thought I had under control.

When my son was two, I lost my mother, Zdenka. In her final days she said to me: "Start looking after yourself and putting yourself first again, Petra. It's not just for yourself - those you care for also need you at your best."

Those words sparked the idea behind the brand.

MATER means mother in both Latin and Croatian, and I chose it because it captures something I had to learn the hard way: that women are the driving force behind the universe, yet we are almost always the last to receive care.

MATER launched in December 2022 as my answer to that, and to the idea that a few mindful minutes each day, what I call a 'MATER Moment', can restore your sense of self, not just your skin.

What does a typical day look like for you as a business owner?

Controlled chaos, most of the time. I still work part-time in IT alongside running MATER, so the days are full.

It starts with the family, getting my six-year-old fed, ready, and out the door to school, then I pack and dispatch orders for the day because customers getting their products quickly matters to me.

From there it depends on the day: some days are my IT work, on days off I'm across MATER admin, marketing, and planning, and when I'm really lucky I get a day in the lab.

I have a custom-built lab in my home, and those are genuinely my favourite days, when I get to experiment, play, and create.

Balance is probably the wrong word for it, it's more like a constant negotiation! I'm a perfectionist by nature, so accepting that done is better than perfect is something I have to actively remind myself of, repeatedly.

But protecting small rituals keeps me grounded, and my skincare routine is genuinely one of them. A few mindful minutes doing something just for myself, with no other agenda, resets my nervous system. It's the principle MATER is built on, and I try to actually live it, not just say it.

What are some of the key milestones in your business journey so far?

In its third year of business, MATER sales doubled the previous year. That was a significant moment, not just as a number but as a signal that the brand was resonating and the foundations were solid. When you're running everything yourself, juggling another job, and constantly questioning your decisions, seeing that kind of growth is incredibly satisfying and affirming.

The 2026 Beauty Shortlist Awards were another major milestone. MATER received 7 accolades, including two Winner titles for RISE TO RADIANCE (Best Night Cream Age 50+ and Best Night Cream Age 60+), two Winner titles for ONE & DONE Cleansing Balm, Winner for YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE, and Editor's Choice for I WOKE UP LIKE THIS. These awards are independently judged and performance-based, which makes them mean a great deal to me. The products have also been featured in Vogue, Fashion Quarterly, NZ Herald Viva, MiNDFOOD, The Post, Good Magazine, and many others over the years.

But what I'm most proud of is the collaboration that produced RISE TO RADIANCE. Amélie Hendrickx, a qualified skin therapist and clean beauty expert with over 13 years of experience, came into my world through another She Owns It member, our business coach Kate, who introduced us. We bonded immediately over a shared, borderline obsessive passion for skincare and ingredients, and what started as a friendship became a two-year product development collaboration. RISE TO RADIANCE is an overnight glow treatment built on ceramides, prebiotics, oil-soluble Vitamin C, and a suite of barrier-repairing botanicals, and it won two international awards in its first year.

That product is proof that the best things in business come from genuine human connection.

What have been some of the biggest challenges you've faced so far?

The gap between making something genuinely excellent and getting it in front of the right people is real, and it is relentless.

Marketing as a solo operator with a limited budget has been my biggest ongoing challenge. I've tried working with agencies and learned expensive lessons about the difference between activity and results. Getting that right, understanding what actually moves people to buy and why, has been a long education.

The other challenge is the internal one: the myth that building a business means doing everything yourself. I believed that for longer than I should have, and learning to ask for help earlier, to collaborate rather than carry everything alone, is still a lesson I'm actively working on.

The Amélie collaboration was a real turning point. Trusting someone else's expertise and building something together produced a result neither of us could have created alone.

What are your future goals in your business?

The dream I started MATER with, the goal I've been quietly working towards since day one, is to be stocked at MECCA. I'm still working on having the confidence and the brand foundations in place to make that approach, and that is the biggest goal on the horizon.

Beyond that, I want to keep growing in Australia alongside New Zealand, deepening the product range with the same formulation integrity everything to date has been built on (BEAUTY SLEEP, a companion to RISE TO RADIANCE will be making an appearance in the next few months!).

What I'm most excited about right now is that MATER finally feels like it's finding its people. The customers who find us tend to stay, and they tell their friends, and watching that momentum build is the most gratifying thing.

What’s worked best for you to build brand awareness and get customers?

Hands down, the most effective thing has been a long-term collaboration with Amélie Hendrickx (@cleanbeauty.with.amelie, mentioned earlier as a co-creator of RISE TO RADIANCE), with her deeply engaged community of clean beauty followers. When someone with her credibility and warmth recommends your products with real conviction, it resonates in a way no paid ad can replicate, and her customers have become some of MATER's most loyal.

The media coverage over the years, especially being featured as one of two NZ skincare experts talking about ingredients in The Post recently has also added meaningful credibility.

What hasn't worked as well is trying to shortcut that trust with paid advertising. The lesson I keep coming back to is that people buy from people they believe in.

What is one of the important lessons you've learnt as a business owner? What advice would you share to someone starting out?

Building a business is gruellingly hard work and a rollercoaster of extremes, so whatever you're building, make sure your heart is completely in it.

Do what feels right, what you genuinely believe in, and what aligns with your values - not what some random person on the internet, or a paid agency, or a trend report says you should!

The noise is constant and everyone has an opinion, but what matters is your own, and what your customers are telling you.

How does being a part of She Owns It help you in your business journey?

It was a She Owns It connection that introduced me to Amélie, who became my closest collaborator and co-created one of MATER's award-winning products.

It was a She Owns It member who was our business coach.

That alone tells you the value of this community, because the right connection at the right moment can genuinely change the direction of your business.

Having a space of women who want to see each other succeed, and who share the unglamorous parts of the journey alongside the wins, matters more than I can quantify.

⚡️ FAST 5:

1. One thing you’d tell your younger self starting out?
You don't have to have it all figured out before you begin. Start. Adjust as you go. Waiting until everything is perfect means waiting forever.

2. Your favourite biz or personal development books or podcasts?
Atomic Habits by James Clear. It's full of genuinely useful insights about how small, consistent changes compound into remarkable results. It reframes the whole idea of progress in a way that's stuck with me.

3. How many tabs do you have open right now?
32 on this laptop. I counted. There's at least another 20 on a second laptop. If that doesn't paint an accurate picture of my mind and the sheer number of things I'm always trying to learn and do at once, I don't know what does 😂

4. What's your go-to power song?
Something Taylor Swift - which, for someone with a lifelong diet of alternative and eclectic music who spent decades thinking Taylor Swift was "teenage girl music," is a lot to admit! I accidentally heard a song last year (it was 'Dress' from Reputation), went digging, and became an utterly convinced Swiftie at 46. She is a musical and lyrical genius, and one of the most inspiring examples of a woman who has dealt with an extraordinary amount of scrutiny and adversity with strength and absolute grace, while still delivering a perfectly honed petty comeback when warranted.

5. A quote you love?
"People will stare. Make it worth their while." — Harry Winston. It's a reminder to be unapologetically myself, even in the face of people who have enough spare energy to try to pull others apart. If they're going to look, give them something worth seeing. That's the energy I try to bring to MATER and to my life.