When Lucy Goff's baby was a few days old, she lay in bed after a terrifying spiral of pre-eclampsia and an emergency C-section. Feeling "worse than I could ever imagine," she woke up her husband and told him: "I think I'm going to die." Paramedics undressed Goff and drew pen all over her body as parts of her skin had turned black. It was septicaemia, and she spent the next six weeks in intensive care.
Even after returning home, recovery was gruelling. The former PR executive for Selfridges lacked the physical strength to lift her newborn daughter. "The doctor said I should 'give it time,' but I felt hopeless," she recalls. Instead, Goff took a desperate trip to a Swiss health clinic, which changed her life in two ways. She had a chance conversation with Oxford longevity academic Professor Paul Clayton, who was at the same hotel for a conference. "He started talking about pharma-equivalent, highly absorbable supplements designed to stop bodily inflammation," she explains, "and promised to post me some to try. I was pretty sure I'd hear nothing of it."
From Health Crisis to Business Idea
A few weeks later, a package arrived containing a supplement regime of 16 tablets a day. Goff recovered "dramatically" and saw a business opportunity. "Working at Selfridges, I'd spent years watching beauty brands launch identical, marketing-led products," she says. "I knew the industry was ripe for actual, science-backed disruption."
Turning Clayton's formulation into a commercial product, which became luxury supplement brand LYMA, was not easy. "The standard supplement factory all used generic, bulk-bought ingredients from China," Goff explains. "Finding a facility that would agree to use our patented, peer-reviewed ingredients took us over a year." Securing capital was also tough: Goff sought £2 million, "but every single investment firm turned me down. They refused to believe that anyone would pay premium prices for a scientifically-proven supplement." Instead, she remortgaged her home to pay for 10,000 units of supplements, which she listed at £150 for a month's supply. "When we sold out in two weeks, and then the investors came back to me wanting to get involved.. but I wouldn't partner with someone who didn't believe in me from the start."
Building the Brand
Goff struck sales deals with Net-a-Porter, then Harvey Nichols, Harrods, and in the US, Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop, as well as department stores Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus. She secured £2 million investment from Pembroke VCT across 2018 and 2019; the company has been profitable since year two. Its next big leap came after Clayton noticed that a patient's knee, treated with a medical-grade low-level cold laser for an injury, looked much younger than the other knee. Goff then beamed a handheld laser torch at her own knees every evening. After eight weeks, her younger-looking knees led her to engineer cumbersome medical lasers into a sleek, consumer-friendly device.
Laser Success
The LYMA Laser launched in September 2020 at £2,000 — fortuitously when lockdown-struck wealthy consumers wanted beauty treatments. "It was a completely unprecedented point in the home beauty tech space, and I was worried," Goff admits. "But I thought if we sold 100 lasers in a year, we'd have done incredibly well." She sold 100 in the UK and Europe in the first week. "That was the moment I realized the absolute power of the trust we had built." It took 18 months to receive US regulatory approval, as there was no precedent for home-use cold lasers. Once on sale, business ballooned: since Goff launched the high-powered LYMA Laser PRO, 70% of turnover comes from the US, where A-list facialists and celebrities have become fans. "I was at an event in New York recently where Martha Stewart was talking about how much she loves the Laser," Goff reports. "Then Courteney Cox turned around and said, 'I love you guys, I have your lasers at home.'" Other customers include Hannah Waddingham, Carey Mulligan, and Kate Hudson.
Financials and Future
Turnover hit £36 million last year, with £5 million EBITDA. Now running a team of 55, Goff's desk still houses a badly-made copper pot — a remnant of an early supply chain mistake that resulted in a warehouse full of "expensive, unusable paperweights." "It sits there to mock me… a daily reminder that quality is non-negotiable." LYMA is now launching a skincare line and considering expanding to the UAE and Australia. "We're just," Goff adds, "getting started."
