Pull up a chair, grab a cuppa, and settle in because golly gosh, do we have an origin story for you.
It all started back in 2010.
We (Phoebe and Aaron — partners in life, soon-to-be parents, and now co-founders of Woohoo Body) were living in Newcastle, juggling day jobs and quietly wondering if life could be a little more than just the daily grind.
We weren’t founders.
We weren’t “entrepreneurs” (yet).
We were just two wide-eyed almost-parents staring down the barrel of adulthood and realising everything was about to change.
A bump, a balm, and a big idea
Phoebe was pregnant with our first bub. And like many expectant mums, she started seeing the world differently.
The supermarket aisle became a minefield. Every label got scrutinised. Every ingredient list became a puzzle. What she ate, what she wore, what she put on her skin… it all mattered more now because she wasn’t just looking after herself anymore.
That’s when Aaron disappeared into the kitchen.
Not for a snack (though there were plenty of those). For an experiment.
Flexing his cocktail mixology talents in a slightly different direction, he whipped up a belly balm using nothing but natural, nourishing ingredients. Practically edible. Plant-powered. Pure magic.
That little jar didn’t just soothe Phoebe’s stretching belly, it sparked something huge!
From one jar to one giant leap
Something shifted in us. It wasn’t just about the balm. It was about the feeling:
✨ That maybe we could create something meaningful of our own.
✨ That maybe we didn’t have to spend the rest of our lives stuck in traffic.
✨ That maybe, just maybe, we could build a life with more freedom, more family time and the occasional midweek beach swim and caravan adventure without having to apply for leave.
We didn’t have investors. We didn’t have a business plan. We didn’t have a clue what the heck we were doing.
But we did have:
- Curiosity
- Determination
- A brand-new baby
- And a blender that would never quite smell the same again
So, we did what any slightly sleep-deprived couple with a dream would do...
We started a skincare brand from our loungeroom.
Happy Skincare was born.
The early days were gloriously messy
If you’ve ever had a newborn, you know that life quickly becomes chaotic.
Now add mixing balms, designing labels and packing orders into the mix and you’ve got peak DIY startup energy.
Our kitchen became the lab.
The dining table became a packing station.
The loungeroom turned into a cardboard obstacle course.
We poured, labelled, packed and Googled our way through web design.
We once sent out a full batch of face masks with the wrong lids 🙂
Customers picked up orders from our front porch while we rocked a baby on one hip.
And somehow… it worked.
People felt the love in every jar. They kept coming back for more!
Markets would sell out. Word spread fast. Mates told mates. Small stores started asking to stock us.
And our little homemade skincare side hustle started growing roots.
Enter: The Armpit Era
As Happy Skincare grew, we noticed something funny.
Customers were loving the creams and balms…
But they kept asking: “Do you make deodorant?”
Natural deodorant was having a moment. But most of it just didn’t cut it. It was either:
❌ Too irritating
❌ Too weak
❌ Too expensive
❌ Or smelled like a medicinal lemongrass candle
Aaron, a self-proclaimed sweaty human with VERY sensitive skin, had tried them all. And none could survive Aussie humidity. He was either rashy, red or smelling like a lemony foot.
So, we rolled up our sleeves and got to work, sniffing armpits, tweaking formulas and learning more about bicarb skin reactions than any couple should.
There were disasters.
There were very questionable scent combos.
There were moments of what on earth are we doing?!
But eventually… we cracked the code.
Woohoo Body was born. 🎉
From loungeroom chaos to full-blown fun factory
Fast forward to today, and we're still that same family-run Aussie biz, just with a few more helping hands and a whole lot more natural formulas.
Aaron now has a fancy cosmetic chemist certification, which means every single Woohoo formula is backed by real science. Each one is bursting with plant-based goodness and crafted to be ridiculously good for your pits and bits (we even create hair products now too!).
We made the decision to bring it all under one joyful umbrella: Happy Skincare became Woohoo Body, so everything now lives side by side. Deodorant. Skincare. Haircare. Bodycare. Natural and made with love.
Our HQ has moved out of the house and into a proper little fun factory in Newcastle, complete with mixers bigger than a Thermomix and a team of absolute legends from all walks of life.
But the heart of it all is the same.
We still:
🧪 Formulate everything ourselves
📦 Pack every order with love
📬 Read every review and reply to every message
💛 Believe small businesses can do big things
We never wanted to be a big “beauty brand.” That world never fit.
What we do want (and still believe in deeply) are:
- Products that actually work
- Ingredients that are kind to your body and the planet
- A business that supports our family and gives back
- A community of incredible humans who care about what they put on their skin (and pits)
And you know what? We think we’re onto something.
We’ve now got 15,000+ verified website reviews. We’ve won a stack of awards. We’ve donated heftily to charity. And over half a million armpits have tried Woohoo natural deodorants!
What’s next?
Honestly? We have no idea. And we kind of love that.
We built this business from scratch — baby carrier, blender, dog and all (plus one extra kid along the way). And we’re still growing.
There are more products to make. More pits to protect. More people to welcome into the Woohoo crew.
So the next time you use one of our products, take a second to remember: you’re supporting a little family, a dream and a big ol’ heart that started in a Newcastle loungeroom.
Thanks for being part of it, choosing natural and keeping this fun-filled world of ours chugging along.
We are SO grateful for you!!!!
