Transcription of Marine Plant-Based University with The Seaweed People:

Alissa Miky: Hi everybody. Thank you so much for listening to the Marine Plant-based podcast, and today I would love to introduce to wonderful new marine plant-based team. So please, could you introduce a little bit about yourself?

The Seaweed People: Yeah, sure. So we’re the seaweed people and it’s two of us that are part of the company and we’re based in Dorsett in the UK.

The Seaweed People: And essentially we are our small business, is about utilizing seaweed for skincare, for a creative use for artwork and for food. So it, it’s about we, we wild harvest seaweed, so we don’t farm it. And we have to be very sustainable in our practices and, and how much we take so it can carry on coming back and, and we can run our business at the same time.

The Seaweed People: And yeah, essentially we’ve been. Are going for about two years up to two years. And we’ve learned a lot about seaweed and not a huge amount of people know so much about seaweed. So yeah, we still learning. I mean, even if we do it every single day, we still learning because it’s just so much to learn.

The Seaweed People: I think we approached, we approached seaweed from like different perspectives because we both gardeners and we were just bringing, bringing, bringing the seaweed on the, on the soil just to fertilize our planter. And Freddy, he would just find those beautiful red algae or green algae in, in those piles of rotting stuff.

The Seaweed People: I was just thinking, wow, that’s beautiful. And then I, I was always interested in like medicinal plants and herbs and doing my own tinctures because I’m a landscape architect and. Well, my interest in seaweed started when I started to suffer from like, a really bad acne. Just like I started to have in my late twenties, like horrible breakouts, like those hormonal ones on my face, and I couldn’t do anything about it.

The Seaweed People: I just tried loads of different types of, you know yeah, supplements and skincare and everything. But then I read about, about seaweed and I was just like, well, I, I could just go down there and try it in the raw form. So I just, Put that jelly jelly no way. On, on the, yeah, on the spots. And the redness just went and I was just like, bloody hell.

The Seaweed People: I mean, could I just extract it somehow without, you know, like any chemicals because I’m, we are all in natural and sustainable and yeah. So that’s how I developed my first infusion and it. Miraculously worked for me, so we just thought, wow, it would be nice to just connect these two passions, the artwork and the skincare, and try to make a business around seaweed as the thing.

Alissa Miky: I know that the seaweed is good for skin, but I haven’t met any single people who are, are putting the real material on the skin. Actually, I’m gonna little bit worried about, you don’t have any allergy reaction.

The Seaweed People: yeah. I mean the redness, I mean, just basically, you know, when you have some sort of inflammation or irritation on your skin.

The Seaweed People: I just took that jelly. Which is being created on the, on the layer of, on the surface of the seaweed. And I just put it on.

Alissa Miky: You know what I wanted to ask? Why do you guys name seaweed people? That is how really is, I love the name. How do you come up that idea? Yeah, it’s a, its few. Cause a lot of people said that I like kelp something little bit making, trying to make it little fancy name. You decided to feel that your TV was too diary and I love it.

The Seaweed People: Yeah. You know what, it just happened because, We had a few other names for a year and a half, and throughout the whole period of, we had one name and another name, everyone kept calling us the seaweed people because they just, it was just easy thing to, to call us and say, oh, you know, have you seen the seaweed people and da da da?

The Seaweed People: And we were like, ah, that’s, that’s quite a fun nickname. And then it took about two years to realize that actually that was quite a good name. And we just kind of owned, owned our nickname. And yes. Yeah, it’s, it’s, it’s good.

Alissa Miky: I envy you. I should take that name. Cause like a lot of people call me that in the same way.

Alissa Miky: Hey Elisa. And then they don’t remember my name. They said, oh, the seaweed queen or, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, seaweed people or seaweed startup, but oh shit, I should, you know, do that.

The Seaweed People: There’s that, there’s, there’s that side. And then also we, we wanted to create some sort of hub. Of people connected with seaweed. Yeah. That we much like what you’re trying to do. We wanna be sharing and, and we want it to be kind of horizontal rather than vertical. We want people to work together in that way.

Alissa Miky: Lovely, lovely. I love that. So sorry to I, you know, jump back to your, you know, product. So you said that you have your skincare and you have your artwork. Could you please more? You know, tell me more about that. So what kind of skincare product do you do?

The Seaweed People: Yeah, so we currently have face oils, body oils, face masks, and body scrubs, and we are gonna be developing more, more products, but they are not water based, are oil based, and it’s basically like a simple infusion.

The Seaweed People: So we don’t put any preservatives or any emulsifiers, anything like that. It’s basically just the seaweed infusion. And some, yeah, some of our oils are scented. We’ve got rosemary and the scented scented oils. But for people who have really, really sensitive skin or any allergies, we’ve got just the simple, we call it original unscented unscented oil.

The Seaweed People: And also that was, that was the idea because when I was. It just all comes from my experience when I was trying loads of different products. People usually have that feeling that they have to sort of like you know, dry or get rid of the oil from their face. That’s not true. You know, you want to use, you want to use like a good, good oil or basically good skincare, which supports supports the natural, natural microbiome basically, and doesn’t strip.

The Seaweed People: Your skin off, all the good stuff. So that’s why it’s all oil based. Plus the oil we use is jojoba oil, organic jojoba oil, and it basically, it’s got a very similar chemical structure like our own skin. Or actually the oil that our skin produces called sebum. So, yeah, that’s why. And yeah, face mask, it’s a mixture of green clay and grounded kelp and some rosemary and body scrub again English, sea salt, sugar and kelp, and some essential oils.

The Seaweed People: I can’t wait to try them.

Alissa Miky: Where do you sell Right now?

The Seaweed People: We sell online and there are a few shops around where we live, where we stock as well.

Alissa Miky: Congratulations. What’s your like, you know, headache because like a lot of people starting the business is there, it’s always a lot of toughness or headache.

The Seaweed People: Yeah, so we balance our, our company alongside another job that we have as well. This one of our businesses and then Lena is a landscape architect and and demographic designer. So those two support the business.

Alissa Miky: well. So, but you wanted to do a full-time in your business? No. Or is that your plan?

The Seaweed People: In the future. That is the plan. That’s what we’d be building up to. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, we basically, yeah, we basically funding our company ourselves at, at the moment, we didn’t apply for any grant or anything, which, yeah, we thought we will, but it was quite difficult.

Alissa Miky: Usually these days it’s a winter economy is like a winter situation, and then everybody’s like, you know, How to say their pocket money is like, you know, tightening up and mm-hmm. It’s quite dif difficult to get the fundraising. I hear you. I had a safe situation when I started my business.

Alissa Miky: So I have actually one funny story. When I when I moved to the state from Japan, I didn’t have any connection in any families or any single black people here. I just grab $20,000. That’s my only money I had. But one day. So I spent a lot of money for the kitchen, but I like, and there were only $1,500 left in my bank.

Alissa Miky: But I need to pay $2,000 for the kitchen fee for the next day. Of course, the $500 is short. What I did is I, you know, cry to the AM and I do a final pitch, and then next day she sent me a $50,000. So she saved my business. So what I wanted to say is just like, you know, if you work hard, study hard, and then believe in your business.

Alissa Miky: Somebody is like, you know, watching you. So I, I hope you know my story is just a small thing, but I, I hope you have a, you know, you can find a good connection, good supporter, and I’m always happy to support you too. So let me know if you need more help. Okay. Oh, thank you. Oh, that’s really, thank you. For the future.

Alissa Miky: Let’s talk about more, you know, beautiful future. Not, not just talking about headaches. Yeah. So, for the future, what’s your plan? So you already have a skincare product, so what do you want it to do in the future? What’s your, you know, plan what’s your, you know beautiful future? Yeah. Well,

The Seaweed People: we’re, we are taking every day as it comes, as a small business cuz there’s so much to do.

The Seaweed People: But essentially we’re, we’re aiming to scale up to a point where we don’t have to rely on the, our own. Harvesting of the natural wild seaweeds. So whether that’s getting in contact with people in the farming process or becoming part of the farming process ourselves, it’s that’s the, the, the ground plan is the amount of seaweed that we’re gonna be using.

The Seaweed People: Yeah, because at the moment we’ve got, yeah, we’ve got actually three branches. We’ve got the skincare, we’ve got the artwork, which is beautifully pressed seaweed and Freddy’s graphics as well, made of seaweed. Just showing people that, you know, this is what, what,

Alissa Miky: where do you, where do you showcase your artwork?

Alissa Miky: I actually wanted to see it. What’s your Instagram? Is there any Instagram or anything that I can see

The Seaweed People: now? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s all on Instagram and our website, the seaweed people.co.uk. And that’s mainly where you’ll be able to see it. I think Instagram is where you’ll see the most recent pieces.

Alissa Miky: Okay.

Alissa Miky: Wow. Oh my, my God.

The Seaweed People: What? Yeah, so the, the artwork is, is a very visual, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. You, you just don’t expect all of those types of seaweed to be coming up on the beach.

Alissa Miky: How do you make this so you dry and then press it?

The Seaweed People: exactly. It’s, it’s a really simple process, really. You know, it’s very similar to flower pressing, but for the first three days while you’re pressing the seaweeds, you just draw the water from.

The Seaweed People: From the seaweed and, and keep changing, you know, newspaper and tissue paper until it’s dry and it’s, and it’s pressed. And the amazing thing is that the artwork smells of seaweed. I don’t, I haven’t come across so, so much artwork that smells of seaweed and it fades over time. It’s one of those things, oh my God, is it nice?

The Seaweed People: You know, pleasant smell, not that rotting. Yeah, not rotting smell.

Alissa Miky: Okay. All right, then I’m like, a lot of people call me as a seaweed queen, so I need to, you know, put something here.

The Seaweed People: Well, exactly.

Alissa Miky: Okay, interesting. So if the, the color is gonna continue like this brightness, or is it gonna be a little bit darker?

The Seaweed People: it will. So the, all the colors change in specific ways when when sunlight hits it. So the green colors, they fade quicker. But the, the pinks and the reds, you know, they, they’ll keep their color. For years, we, we met a lady who had pressed some seaweed like 40 years ago at a market. Yeah. And she came up and showed us, and you know, the colors were still there on the, still pink, the pinks.

The Seaweed People: It was amazing.

Alissa Miky: Wow. Why don’t you put in a Resin?

The Seaweed People: Yeah, well that’s another, that’s another form I, I guess, you know, I started doing this form of artwork and I found it quite therapeutic mentally cuz it just, it draws all of your focus. And I haven’t, I haven’t really wanted to go any further with producing different types of artwork.

Alissa Miky: But definitely if you like, do resin, I, I guess the color can be continue longer than, you know. Yeah. Doing on a as a. As a beautiful art artwork. Oh my God, I definitely need to buy this. Do you ship internationally?

The Seaweed People: We got actually one customer in, where is it? AR Arizona.

The Seaweed People: She like loads of skincare. Yeah. So she didn’t have to pay for a postage.

Alissa Miky: I’m gonna be the next customer then. So, again, sorry. Again, let’s like go back to your future. So you, you have your skincare artwork, so what do you want, what’s your plan? What do you want it to, how do you want it to expand your business?

The Seaweed People: Yeah, and we’ve got also third branch, which is, which is food related.

The Seaweed People: So we’ve got seaweed, snacks, and seasoning and yeah, that’s what Freddy said, that we would like to find some some ways how to either forage or harvest it. Sustainably because it could be a problem in the future or farm seaweed with some other benefits, like ecological benefits. Yeah, I think, I think the plan for the next few years especially is to get to know people in the area who we could form some sort of collective with.

The Seaweed People: And, you know, act on our name and be the seaweed people and look at the options for our company. Because at the moment we’re a small business, we’re quite artisanal. We do seasonal skincare and food, and that’s, that’s sort of how we want to keep it for the time being. Yeah. So it’s, it’s a really exciting point where the next few years we’re gonna talk to people, get to know people in our area, and essentially see, Which direction we could scale up rather than having visions of becoming, you know, a huge seaweed farm or, or an institution.

The Seaweed People: Yeah, huge. Seaweed farm is probably not the thing that we aim for. No. Well, I think we just want to show people how beneficial or how, like healing. Seaweed can be because it comes from our own experience and it would be just great to share with, with as many people as we can because we do, we do some, like a smaller markets at the moment, and it’s great to talk to people and just, you know, share our story and just, you know, because sometimes people just come and ask, well, I’ve got this and that’s skin issue.

The Seaweed People: Do you think that it would help me? And I was just like, you know what? We’ve got like loads of customers and it helped them. What about if you try it and you’ll let us know? Yeah. And actually, yeah, we had some customers who had like, rosacea, psoriasis or like bad eczemas and it helped them, and I really blame the seaweed.

The Seaweed People: I think it’s a, it’s an extremely soothing soothing. Ingredient.

Alissa Miky: I love that you know, how you how you care about environment because it’s pros and cons. Like, cuz it’s, you know, we as a seaweed industrial, we need to like, make the industrial bigger because otherwise we cannot be a full-time business, or we cannot, you know, grow our business.

Alissa Miky: But the con’s is, of course, if we, if they’re too much bigger market, that means we’re gonna destroy the seaweed. I love how you, you know, Always think about the balance from the really beginning. What, what I wanted to do is I wanted to make for form fermentation on island, not just in the ocean. I think that once when we get used, get those kind of a biotechnology, it gonna be another solution that that’s why we’re existing.

Alissa Miky: So we’re the company that we are start, we are still using a lot of. Seaweed from the na nature from the ocean. But on the same time as a startup, what we do is we are trying to invest our money to how can we grow our seaweed on the land that we took. So, but it’s takes too much time. Yeah. It’s, it’s like, I already invested this area for four years, but like, Still is like a lot of, you know, difficulty.

Alissa Miky: We don’t know when the final result can become, but hopefully, This kind kind of activity can help everybody, and I hope it’s gonna be a solution to the future. But meanwhile, what, what as a company, see, what I’m doing is, first of all, we need to scale this, you know, business because otherwise, even if we talk about the benefit of the, you know, the seaweed, but people don’t buy or people don’t, you know, use, it’s not gonna be sustained as a startup.

Alissa Miky: That’s why we’re focused on more like a finished product. These days. But on the same time, again, as you mentioned to think about the true sustainable, like we definitely need to protect the seaweed. That’s why as a company we’re also like investing that area. So, Yes. Let’s cross our finger.

The Seaweed People: Yeah, exactly. Sorry. So I was just gonna say it’s a, it’s like a volatile, volatile time for farming and, and knowing how, how to carry the industry forward. But it’s a really important time, isn’t it?

Alissa Miky: Yeah, it is. There’s so many, you know, like mysteries still in here cuz like, you know, It like a lot of, like science is like pretty difficult to understand, especially the, you know, the seaweed is, how do to say, they have a super unique, you know growing crosses.

Alissa Miky: They suddenly grow into the big, big amount that they, they, but still people don’t know what’s going on. We just know that it grow like 11 inch a day or 30 inch. This is incredible, but we don’t know when or how, and what’s. Yeah, that’s a reason. So that’s a problem right now. Even if we have a lot of like seaweed babies and put it on the, put it, put it on the net, but we don’t know when it’s gonna be really growing.

Alissa Miky: So I’m just hoping that the sea, I can like, and one of my dream is I wanted to communicate that.

Alissa Miky: Why do you grow that first? Like, is there anything that I can help?

Alissa Miky: Sorry. I’m like, you know, we just, so we only have like one more two minutes for the for this show. So for the last, you know, thing, I would love to, you know get some comments from your side. What do you want it to say to the listener or the reader of the Marine Planet base?

The Seaweed People: I guess, you know, go go and check out the seaweed people and see what we’re doing.

The Seaweed People: And yeah, be, have, have a open mind about seaweed. I think it’s gonna become a huge, a huge thing. And it already is. It’s already becoming, yeah. Yeah. It’s already becoming, and there, there are so many, so many small differences of the flavors and the uses. And don’t be afraid to. Pick up a recipe book or look online about how to use seaweed because there, there are just, there are so many ways to do it.

The Seaweed People: Yeah. I think seaweed is very, very humble and giving, but we also, as you said, we have to protect it and we have to, yeah, we have to make sure that we still leave. As much as to, you know, to keep, to keep the ecosystem safe and sane. Yeah.

Alissa Miky: Perfect. Thank you so much. So please check the Seaweed People website.

Alissa Miky: We’re gonna put every information on the on the description and also the website. Thank you all. Thank you very much.