We spoke with James Dutton, the founder of Nutricare and PATCH Strips, about how he manages to balance a business, spend quality time with his young children, go to the gym AND meditate (sounds to us like a multi-tasking genius, right?!).
Tell us a bit about the people behind your company
My team is first and foremost passionate. They see the benefit in pursuing environmental change by helping create natural solutions, and empower consumers with choices that make significant differences in their everyday lives and environment. When it comes to personal health and the environment, our team believes that the natural way is the best way.
What inspired you to start your company and when did you start it?
Nutricare’s journey began in late 2015 after my youngest son had an adverse reaction to a common wound care product. Learning that a growing 20% of the global population suffer from allergies or adverse reactions to the chemicals and materials used in wound adhesive, I assembled a team to create PATCH, a healthier and safer alternative to a product dating back nearly 100 years.
Ultimately, I want to provide people with a wound care solution that not only enables healing but allows them to get back outside, exploring and enjoying life. For me there was no question about it!
What would an ‘average day in the life’ look like for you?
My average day, doesn’t look so average if you ask me. I start with a morning workout to get energised for the day, and spend time with the kids before sending them off to school. From there, I am busy at work for majority of the day.
Meeting with new people, pursuing business endeavours, and ensuring that we get PATCH into the hands of as many people as possible. Starting, growing and running a start‐up is definitely not for the faint hearted. Throw parenting into the mix and the days definitely start early and end very late but I’m a strong believer in finding the joy in all that you do so although my days are long, I make sure that I find satisfaction in all of it.
What gets you out of bed in the morning?
If I’m honest with you, one of the main reasons why I get up in the morning is not only my family, but that I’m in an incredible position to help people across the world with PATCH. Since being on the shelves, we have received so many stories from people, just like Charlie, who suffer with sensitive skin and love PATCH. To know that I can help one person by providing a natural, allergy‐free alternative makes it all the more worthwhile!
What is your favourite way to enjoy your product/s?
If you’re a parent, I’m sure you can empathise with the struggles sometimes of having two young, very adventurous children. Their naturally adventurous spirit comes with a lot of bumps and scratches along the way. So for me, my favourite way to enjoy PATCH is seeing my kids faces light up when they put one on after a life lived to the fullest. Oh and they get to watch my face light up when I don’t see any reactions!
What is an interesting way of using your products that not many people would know about?
PATCH strips are biodegradable and compostable. You can throw the strips away in the soil and watch them break down in a matter of weeks! Another interesting fact is that our PATCH tubes are made from all recycled cardboard!!
What have been the biggest trials so far in starting and running your company?
Definitely resourcing ‐ Finding staff/contractors that are as passionate as they need to be in their roles is hard. Working in a start‐up business environment requires so much dedication, creativity and sheer talent that it takes very special people to make it all happen. There have been some bumps along the way but I am so grateful that I have found a great team of people that are helping to make PATCH a force in our market segment. The culture is now expanding dramatically, and to be able to watch that take place is a very rewarding thing!
What experiences lead to the values you have instilled in your company
Before having children I didn’t have much awareness of the environmental impact that our little everyday choices make. Ashamedly, for a lot of my life I fell into the category of ‘ignorance is bliss’. Once having children I definitely had a wake up call and our home choices started changing as we became more educated. Creating safe, beneficial and environmentally centred products is at the core of our company mission and are major considerations with every decision that is made.
What is your favourite way of winding down and taking time out?
Definitely at this stage of my life, it is the simple things. Finding time to meditate and do some pampering (I’m a sucker for a good massage), kicking the ball with my boys at the park, cooking a nice meal with my wife or having friends over.
Here at Retreat Yourself, we LOVE dreaming BIG ‐ what is your vision for your company?
My vision is simply to empower people to make better decisions for themselves, their families and their surrounding environment. Our efforts will go towards offering a range of products that provide people with a natural, organic, environmentally conscious solution to a traditional product on the market.
For anyone out there wanting to start their own business, what would your biggest piece of advice be?
Be ready to work hard, be resilient, adaptable and knowing your WHY in every business is imperative. When you know this, never give up, because that’ll be the only thing that gets you through!
And lastly, what does a fulfilled life look like to you?
To have a happy and healthy family, having the joy of freedom in my life to spend those quality moments with my family and friends, collecting amazing experiences while escaping the mundane to adventure through life even as I grow old.
You can find PATCH Charcoal Strips in our Winter 2018 Retreat Yourself Box or at www.patchstrips.com.