Building a standout brand in a saturated market is tough. Doing it with zero experience, in a tightly regulated sector, while juggling the chaos of motherhood? That takes a mindset few are willing to embrace.
Joanna Jensen, founder of the award-winning skincare brand Childs Farm will take the stage this September at Ideas Fest, to share exactly how she did it. Her session, Making Business Child’s Play, will reveal how a kitchen-table solution for her daughter’s eczema-prone skin became one of the UK’s fastest-growing baby and child personal care brands, and ultimately a multimillion-pound success story.

Joanna, with a career spanning property, interior design, and investment banking, had no background in skincare when she started Childs Farm. What she did have was an upbringing that shaped everything she would build: a no-nonsense household led by women, a nurse for a mother who championed holistic care, and a deep respect for sustainability and the natural world. When her daughters, Mimi and Bella, both struggled with skin conditions, Joanna realised the personal care options available for children hadn’t evolved in decades.
Rather than waiting for the market to catch up, she took matters into her own hands. Drawing inspiration from the natural remedies her mother had used, she began formulating gentle, effective products that would soothe eczema-prone skin without stripping the fun from bath time. That choice set her on a life-changing path, but the climb to success was anything but straightforward.