“I think our element of fun inspires us”

Lisa Laurent, co-founder of Good Karma Eyewear, told OT: “We have a crazy office.” 

Wellbeing, fun, and personal connections are key for the Worcestershire-based business, as is its commitment to working only with independent practices.

Good Karma Eyewear launched in 2022, and was founded by Laurent and her business partner, Julie Bridgewater. OT learnt more about the brand’s latest launches, inspirations, and ambitions. 

Behind the scenes

What makes Good Karma Eyewear and its approach or its products unique?

What makes us unique is that we’re not corporate as a company. We bring a fun team to the market, we’re easy to deal with and we only supply to independent practices. We also donate to charity for every frame that we sell. 

We like to work with practices. Some of the practices help us design frames. Our eyewear designs are not just down to one or two people, or an in-house designer – it's a collaboration of people that love frames. That’s what I love, because no one or two people have got all the answers. There are people in practices who absolutely love frames and love to get involved. 

Three facts about Good Karma Eyewear

Good Karma

1. Founded by Lisa Laurent and Julie Bridgewater
2. The business is based in Tardebigge, Worcestershire. The office is in a courtyard of converted farm buildings
3. The team do yoga twice a week in the Good Karma Eyewear office. 

What is the latest collection that you have released?

We have just released our metals collection. It has taken us three years to find the metals that I loved. I’ve had probably more than 100 samples made and haven’t liked them or the quality. It’s quite hard to get a good quality metal at our price point that we like to work with. There are 12 models in the collection made with hypoallergenic stainless steel. They’ve been really popular.  

Good Karma

The ‘Gabrielle’ frame from the Good Karma metals collection

What are the company’s main ambitions for the next 12 months?

We want to grow the business but without selling our soul. We don’t want to be in four practices in one town – we don’t want to oversaturate the market, because you can be a bit of a victim of your own success in a sense. There are lots of exciting things in the pipeline too. 

Could you tell us what informs or inspires your work?

I think our element of fun inspires us. We have a crazy office: we have two dogs (Woody and Chester) and we all do yoga twice a week in our lunch break. My husband walked in last week and four of us were lying on the floor. Wellbeing is a big deal – because if we are all happy, then everyone performs better and we’re more productive. 

Beyond the brand

What key trends do you expect to see in the months ahead?

Colour is our big thing. I think that people, while they are not moving away from colour, are approaching it in a more subtle way. Still colour, but not in a ‘oh my god’ way.

What are some of the market challenges you see facing the sector?

There are fewer true independents. The economy is also a factor. Practices are seeing an effect on their businesses and that has a knock-on effect. As a company we’re okay because we’re not too big. We don’t have big targets to hit or a massive payroll – we’re quite a small team so that does help. 

What are the biggest opportunities that you see currently?

I think you just have to do good, provide a good service, and hopefully people will want to deal with you as a company. I think people are looking to use more small, independent companies. And there aren’t that many now – even the smaller companies have been brought out by larger companies. People want to support independent businesses, and that’s where I want to stay. 

What does it mean to you to be a women-founded business in optics? What has it meant to you to be in the optical industry?

I own a practice, VIP Eyewear, that I run with a female business partner. That is how Good Karma started, really, because we couldn’t find frames for women with bigger heads. We were having to wear men’s frames. That’s how we started the frame business. We’ve evolved considerably since then. Every day I have to pinch myself when I remember that we’re three years old.