‘A lot of brands will avoid it’: Kic founders Laura Henshaw and Steph Claire Smith reflect on ‘real and honest’ rebrand one year on
One year on from completely rebranding, wellness platform Kic has gone from strength to strength. Co-founders Laura Henshaw and Steph Claire Smith sat down with Mumbrella’s Lauren McNamara to reflect on the biggest challenges and learnings they’ve faced, and the opportunities moving forward.
The wellness space was very different in 2015 than it is now. When Keep It Cleaner launched originally as an ebook, the idea of ‘clean eating’ was taken positively in the dieting space – healthy, nutritious, well-balanced meals.
Nearly ten years later, and that has changed significantly. Too often, clean eating is used synonymously with restrictive dieting – and in 2023, Keep It Cleaner’s co-founders, Laura Henshaw and Steph Claire Smith, knew it was time for a change. As the pair were heavily against restrictive eating, and never intended to promote that message, the rebrand journey began.
“We’ve always been against restrictive eating,” Smith tells Mumbrella. “It’s been a very clear differentiator for us against others in the market. Something that we’re really proud that we’ve stuck to is that we are not about toxic diet culture, but that wasn’t really reflected in our brand name anymore.”
