We knew Millie Clare was destined for great things when we met with her last year to film Keep on Punching, part of our Mindset Matters series of inspirational people doing amazing things despite their health challenges.
For those of you unfamiliar with the series, Millie is a young woman living with a very rare genetic condition called Cystinosis. It means she has to take around 45 medications every day, alongside various surgeries to keep her kidneys functioning. Defying the odds, she told us that she was determined to thrive and not just survive.
And hasn’t she just! We recently caught up with Millie about what she’s been doing over the last year since we last met, and by anyone’s standards, she’s smashing it.
Working towards her B.A.
Despite having a really rough time with her health, including a failed kidney transplant that meant she needed three months away from studies, Millie has refused to quit her degree.
With her amazing tenacity, she’s about to commence on her third and final year of a BA in Digital Marketing at Portsmouth University. Amazing stuff.
Superstar intern
Millie wanted to combine her passions for marketing and make-up. So she decided to create an opportunity for herself – by going straight to the top.
Through LinkedIn, Millie bravely messaged the founder of one of her favourite beauty businesses, luxury online subscription service Beauty Pie, asking for an internship.
After telling her story, Beauty Pie were thrilled to take Millie on as a New Product Development intern for a year, which she’s still in the middle of and learning a great deal for her next career move.
Creating her own brand
You might remember from Keep on Punching from our Mindset Matters series Millie mentioned her dream of one day running a beauty brand.
It turns out that dream wasn’t very far away at all!
Tired of not seeing herself reflected in the beauty industry, and fuelled by the mantra ‘perfect is boring, human is beautiful’, Millie is in the process of establishing her own beauty brand, Human Beauty
It’s a business with a much needed difference; it’s aimed at being truly inclusive, designed with and for people who live with a variety of health issues and disabilities. For example, packaging will be printed with braille.
We think Human Beauty is a truly fantastic idea that could shake up the industry for good. And apparently, so did Superdrug…
Winning a nationwide competition
As if she hasn’t been busy enough university, interning and launching her own brand, Millie has just scooped the prestigious title of Superdrug’s Faces of the Future 2020.
The competition exists to give a platform to grassroots campaigns for real change. Millie’s Human Beauty was selected for its inspiring aim and huge industry potential – Superdrug could obviously see the gap in the market for more accessible and empowering cosmetics.
As a result of the big win, Millie will now be under the mentorship of Superdrug and their selected panel of mentors, who will help her progress Human Beauty and bring her closer to seeing her products on the shelves.
Millie truly astounds us. She encapsulates everything we believe in when we talk about the power of mindset. Her incredible strength and positivity ensures she thrives alongside her condition; for every knock-back, no matter how serious, Millie takes two steps forward, and is creating an amazing life and purpose for herself.
We can’t wait to see where her journey takes her next.
Follow @humanbeautyldn on Instagram and Facebook to keep track of the launch, we certainly will be!
