Lilié Biskopsdotter is a name synonymous with resilience and innovation in the health and wellness industry. As the founder and CEO of Kibushi.se, a Swedish brand dedicated to improving the health of people, animals, and nature through the use of Effective Microorganisms, Lilié has been on a remarkable journey since establishing her company in 2019. This year, her pioneering work was recognized when she won the Most Innovative Pet Health Solutions CEO 2024 award from EU Business News, a testament to her visionary leadership and the impact of Kibushi’s products on the market.
Kibushi.se is renowned for its unique animal collars and bracelets that enhance blood circulation and repel ticks, products that have gained the trust and daily usage of several prominent Swedish celebrities. Despite this success, Lilié’s path has been fraught with challenges. Her entrepreneurial spirit was first tested when she owned and operated a popular café, which expanded into a mansion during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the economic turmoil of 2022 forced her into bankruptcy, marking a low point in her journey. Nevertheless, she rose from the financial wreckage, channeling her determination and experience into the establishment of Kibushi.se.
Lilié’s entrepreneurial journey is a compelling narrative of perseverance and passion. Having faced the stark realities of financial crisis, she knows the demands of balancing business with personal life, especially as a mother. Her resilience and commitment have not only led to personal growth but have also paved the way for Kibushi.se to thrive and expand rapidly. With her eyes set on global expansion and an unwavering belief in her mission, Lilié continues to drive Kibushi forward, proving that dedication and innovation can turn adversity into a catalyst for success.
Congratulations on winning the Most Innovative Pet Health Solutions CEO 2024 award! How has this recognition impacted your business and personal journey?
Thank you, More people and companies have opened their eyes to the products, which has resulted in increased sales and even more publicity, invitations to fairs and events, etc.
For me personally, it’s a sign that I’m on the right track and that Kibushi is solving a problem that exists, and it gives me the strength to keep going on days when I feel overwhelmed.
Can you tell us more about Kibushi.se and how Effective Microorganisms are central to your products? What inspired you to focus on this particular niche?
I started Kibushi in 2019 because I saw what a great product it is and what opportunities there are to develop the product while the demand for non-toxic health products was high during and after the pandemic.
Our signature product is Natural Pearls, which are produced by a Japanese professor, Dr. Teruo Higa.
He is a Master of Health and Nutrition with The Beijing DeTao Masters Academy (DTMA), a high-level, multi-discipline, application-oriented higher education institution in Shanghai, China.
He is also the founder of EMRO (EM Research Organization) in Japan and has worked with EM for over 40 years and now this technology is available in 100 countries.
What are Kibushi Natural Pearls?
Natural pearls is a Japanese Kibushi clay that has been yeast together with effective microorganisms and then fired at a temperature of 1300oC.
The firing process makes the pearls have a long-lasting effect of EM®. The properties of the natural pearls have a positive impact on all materials and environments they come into contact with, above all on our water.
With the help of Kibushi Natural pearls you can increase your blood circulation, keep ticks away, make your bouquets shine longer, increase the durability of fruit & vegetables and improve the water quality of your and your animal’s drinking water.
I immediately saw an opportunity to be the first with a product that can help both people, animals and nature achieve better health and that consists of 100% natural substances.
Also having a strong team behind it (EMRO) with over 40 years of research and studies made me not hesitate for a second. Kibushi is everything I stand for and love.
To be able to improve the health of everyone and make the world a better place at the same time that I get an outlet for my creativity in photography, develop, manufacture and design products, work with animals and plants and produce content for social media and the website.
You’ve experienced both success and challenges in your entrepreneurial journey, from bankruptcy to winning awards. How have these experiences shaped your leadership style and the way you approach business decisions today?
I don’t regret any decisions I made in my business journey, I am absolutely sure that you have to go through something that totally destroys you in order to grow and become a better version of yourself.
In 2022, I lost everything. From living in a mansion and running a café with a shop, large concerts and events to having to put the company into bankruptcy due to increased food, electricity and petrol prices as well as an unreasonably high rent. See people closest to me turn their backs on me, while I was going through a divorce after 17 years together and I had nowhere to live.
I moved 5 times in six months with two small children, dog and cats and was totally exhausted. But instead of giving up and feeling sorry for myself, I saw an opportunity in being able to prioritize Kibushi and then started an E-commerce. For about 6 months I disappeared and focused on myself, read several courses on E-commerce, leadership and sustainability. Started calling around and booking meetings, stood at fairs and markets and slowly I started to bring in clients.
I learned the hard way and now I listen more to my intuition, if something feels wrong, it is wrong. Previously, I could rely on others, but today I am much more careful with who I work with, I look more at what a person performs than what they say.
I don’t take advice from people who haven’t run a business, it doesn’t matter if it’s my best friend or a family member, never listen to a person who doesn’t have the same ambitions as you. In order to succeed, you unfortunately need to say goodbye or no to people you like, clear out friends who take more energy than they give.
I have become much more confident in myself and better at making decisions, I know myself what I want, what is best for me and my company and I make better financial decisions. There will always be people who have opinions about you no matter what you do, so stop caring what others think and say about you.
There is a very good quote that I have taken to heart:
“A millionaire won’t judge you for starting a business, a bodybuilder wouldn’t judge you for working out, a professional athlete won’t judge you for playing a sport. It’s always those people who are going no where who want to judge you for trying to do something with your life.” There is nothing that can stop me anymore, I know where I am going and I will get there.
What are your future plans for Kibushi.se? Are there new products or markets you are looking to explore? In the competitive landscape of health and wellness products, what do you think sets Kibushi.se apart from other brands?
The plan is to expand worldwide and there are a lot of new products coming. Our product is completely unique when it comes to health products, there is no one like us. Most other products out there contain perfumes, toxins and dyes which to me is just unbelievable. There are a lot of health products out there that make your health worse and also make you addicted.
Our products consist of 100% natural substances and can be used by both children, adults, animals and plants without side effects. The effect in our products also lasts for 10 years!
The fact that a ceramic bead can purify your drinking water, increase your blood circulation, keep pests away such as ticks and increase the shelf life of fruit and vegetables is completely unique and at the same time ours products are beautiful.
The fact that I was then able to combine my spiritual side in the products makes them even more unique. I have taken my knowledge of stones and crystals as well as my masterdegree in Reiki healing and created bracelets that are not only good for your physical health but also for your mental health.
Your journey includes overcoming bankruptcy and significant financial challenges. How did you find the resilience to bounce back and start anew with Kibushi.se? You mentioned sacrificing personal income to reinvest in the company. How do you manage the balance between work and personal life, especially with your dedication to your business?
Being an entrepreneur is a lifestyle and a mindset that you are born with. Not everyone has what it takes to run a business as well as not everyone can become a doctor or world artists etc.
Running a business is about overcoming adversity and finding solutions to problems, putting yourself last in all situations, not complaining and having the ability to pat yourself on the back because you will be very lonely.
You also need to be a little quirky and dare to make big decisions based on your intuition. The reward is the few times something goes well and it gives one the strength to continue. If you don’t have that mindset, it won’t work, you can’t be naive and think that everything will work right away and that everyone will love what you do.
You also need to have ice in your stomach and dare to take a chance, everything can change in a day! I read somewhere that coca cola sold 25 bottles the first year, look where they are today. I knew that if I bet everything I had, I could also lose everything, which I did.
But what’s so wonderful is that you can rebuild, learn from your mistakes, it just takes a little longer and you have to work twice as hard and believe in what you’re doing and your product, but do you have the will and the work ethic so it goes. My mistakes are my biggest lessons and after a bankruptcy you know what to do and what not to do.
How I was able to build a new company while I was bankrupt with the previous company is sheer willpower and work ethic. I don’t give up, it’s not in my DNA and when I learned to say “When I succeed” instead of “If I succeed” it was like cracking a code.
In connection with the bankruptcy, I went to one of Sweden’s leading mediums and he took my hand without knowing who I was or what I did and said “You have an incredibly strong intuition, listen to it” then he said that I was born to be an entrepreneur and that I would rise again from a difficult financial situation, that I would work with imports and exports and it would be very big.
It was like he confirmed what I felt and it may sound strange but it was exactly the confirmation I needed and it made me once again bet everything.
I sold my car and everything I had of value and put the money into the company, my mother saw how much I wanted this and helped me when no one else believed in me, she is now with the company and my biggest supporter.
As a mother, how do you navigate the demands of entrepreneurship while ensuring your family remains a priority?
I think many people have the wrong idea of how to spend time with their children. Of course, it is important to be able to let go of work and be in the moment with your children, play, ask questions and show love.
But my children have grown up knowing that Mom has her own company and that I often involve the company when we have to do something, for example we went to New York this spring and then I took photos for Kibushi while doing fun things with the children.
I’ve always tried to make it a fun thing and involve them, let them feel involved and think it’s fun.
When I ran a cafe, for example, they loved to help me carry dishes, stand at the cash register or bake something, and while I was peeling potatoes, we talked about how it was at school.
Now with Kibushi, they have been with me at fairs, help me hand out leaflets, make bracelets and pack orders because they want to and they feel involved.
I think it’s good that children learn the value of money early and that you have to work hard to be able to do fun things and buy new clothes, etc.
My daughters and my Dog were a big part of why I wanted to start a business, I didn’t want them to have to go to preschool for long days and if they wanted to be at home they could be, to be able to bring my dog with me to work is total happiness for me.
Being able to be at home and available to my children while they are growing up is everything to me, which I have been able to be while working.
On the days that they are at school or with their father, I have the opportunity to catch up or work more, which works well, it is important to plan your time and make good use of it.
Are there mentors or role models who have influenced your approach to leadership and business? How have they shaped your journey?
There are several people I have met in my lifetime who have inspired me and made me want to fight.
Most of these people are the best at what they do, they are self-employed, world-class music producers, actors and billionaires. I have had the honor to hang around these people and learn from them. There is no education in the world that can give you that.
Listen and learn, get help from people who have done what you want to do and are where you want to be. Always be the dumbest person in the room.
How do you define success, both personally and professionally? Has that definition evolved over time?
Success to me equals freedom. It’s the freedom I’m after not the money, but with money comes freedom.
The definition of success has definitely changed over time, when I was younger success was how many followers you had on social media and being liked by people I don’t know and being beautiful.
Now that I’ve run a business for almost 8 years, success for me is being able to draw a salary and make a living doing what I love. To be able to decide on my own time and combine holidays with the children while being able to work.
Being thin has completely changed to being healthy, now I want to take care of my body to feel good and not for how it should look or how I should be perceived by others.
But the ultimate success for me is when the company has become so big that I can gradually withdraw as I love being private, which you can’t believe as I can be seen in pictures a little here and there.
Social media is an incredibly powerful tool but unfortunately it is also a poison and a facade, I think it is far too much makeup, thin women with plastic surgery, happy families, beautiful decorated homes, good and healthy food and the pursuit of financial freedom . It’s as far from reality as it can get.
During your lowest points, what strategies or support systems did you rely on to keep moving forward?
My willpower, my intuition and my children.
I go by my gut a lot and it told me to just keep going, that I was on the right path and am on the right path. Then I just need to look at my children and the strength will come to me, I want to give them a good future and they won’t have to pay for my mistakes. If I can show them that hard work pays off, I believe they will succeed in anything they want in the future.
What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs, especially women looking to break into the business world?
Be around people who lift you up and who have the same ambitions as you. It is dangerous to hang out with the wrong people! Don’t talk too much, listen and observe and let people show you who they are instead of telling you. Read contracts carefully, educate yourself in the subject you want to work in and take help from mentors or people you look up to.
Test your business idea before you start investing money in the company, just because you think you have a good business idea doesn’t mean you do. The customers are always right and you have to swallow your pride sometimes, change, improve or maybe even rethink completely.
Don’t copy others, you can be inspired, but if you want to succeed, you have to have something unique to come up with and you need to dare to show yourself and your product or business.
But perhaps most important of all, believe in yourself. If you don’t believe in yourself or the products/service you sell, why should your customers?
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