PETER NICHOLAS: INDUSTRY DISTRUPTOR
He’s disrupted the Australian health and beauty industry for over 23 years. He’s taken ideas and turned them into multi-million dollar realities. Peter Nicholas is legendary when it comes to developing cosmetics, skincare and health and beauty brands that consumers fall in love with.
Not only has Peter developed, created, marketed and sold over a dozen health and beauty brands, he’s also single-handedly catapulted them to #1 in their categories. His love for business, the start-up world and innovating products is why some 20 years later, all of these brands remain market leaders.
Most recently, Peter has ventured into property development, adding luxury residential and entertainment establishments to his portfolio, including successful restaurant, lounge and bar, Bedouin, Double Bay.
Peter’s been named #1 on the BRW Fast 100 in 2012, and he’s featured on the BRW Young Rich List multiple times over.
To date, Peter’s companies have grossed $150 million in revenue.
AN ENTREPRENEUR BY HEART
Peter’s entrepreneurial journey began at a time when “entrepreneur” wasn’t a buzz word and everyone wasn’t working on a side hustle.
While today being an entrepreneur is part of Peter’s DNA, at the start it was something nurtured and fostered through his own accord.
Flat broke, at 26 years old, it was Peter’s fascination for the world around him, self-education and love for marketing that spurred him forward to become the businessman he is today.
The support of one of his early mentors Jay Abraham—who has worked with the likes of Tony Robbins—taught Peter the secrets of direct response marketing; that’s when the game changed.
Fuelled by inspiration and a desire to outgrow his current circumstances, he harnessed the wisdom and knowledge he’d acquired and built his own direct response marketing empire from scratch. The business turned over $8 million in its first year.
FIT, ACTIVE WITH EYES LIKE A HAWK
With a natural love for keeping fit and active, it wasn’t long before Peter spotted a gap in weight loss supplements, which led him to the creation of Fat Blaster. The brand was so successful, it amassed over 10,000 before and after photos, was featured multiple times on Channel Nine’s A Current Affair program and became the most recognised weight loss supplement in history.
While Fat Blaster rose to success, behind the scenes Peter was co-developing Skin Doctors, his first foray into the beauty industry. The brand’s breakthrough technology ignited its success, making it the leading brand in the category of nutraceuticals. Skin Doctors was sold in over 48 countries worldwide before it was bought by health and wellbeing industry giant PharmaCare in 2007. PharmaCare is now Australia’s second largest supplement company.
Shortly after, in 2008, Peter launched his company HiLife Health & Beauty (HLHB), with the now legendary mineral make-up brand Nude by Nature.
THE RISING ENTREPRENEUR
Nude by Nature was born after Peter saw the mineral makeup market emerging. He pre-empted the need for an Australian brand to be formulated without unnecessary chemicals, synthetic ingredients or preservatives.
Peter developed his own unique formula and using model Jesinta Campbell and actress Ada Nicodemou as the faces of the brand, launched Nude by Nature to the Australian market. Following Nude by Nature’s very first advertisement on Channel Ten, Peter received over 3000 orders. The product was in shops in a matter of weeks and an industry was born.
Nude by Nature was an overnight success for Peter, achieving a massive 93.39% growth in its first year, a figure that was almost doubled again the following year!
Rapid Loss, another weight loss supplement company, was developed in 2009. It’s now Woolworth’s #1 Australian weight loss supplement. Peter is featured on the package of the brand, inspiring customers with his own personal body transformation journey. The supplement is now sold nationally through supermarkets, chemists and other reputable retailers.
As Rapid Loss continued to grow, Peter went on to create the renowned Immortal Cream, the extremely popular anti-ageing cream that has taken Australia by storm. Inspired by the Immortal Jellyfish and containing Juvefoxo, the product is helping countless Australians achieve younger looking skin—a beauty trend that sees no signs of slowing down.
PROPERTY, START UPS & ALL THINGS VISIONARY
Peter’s dedicated his life to revolutionising the health and beauty industry, he’s also a keen investor amongst the start up world.
Being a visionary himself, his finger is always on the pulse, ready to spot new ventures that set to disrupt global markets. His most recent investment is in Whizz, a convenient platform to book residential and commercial cleaning services.
On the other hand, with a longstanding passion for property development, he’s added another category to his list of entrepreneurial endeavours. Peter currently has multiple luxury property projects across Australia in development with a residential focus. One of his recent commercial projects includes Double Bay, Restaurant, Lounge and Bar, Bedouin, which is a favourite hot spot in Sydney.
Peter is currently concentrating on expanding his brand portfolio into Europe, the United States, Asia and the Middle East.
PHILANTHROPY: MATTERS OF HEART
In 2018, Peter signed on as the primary sponsor for world renowned neurosurgeon Charlie Teo’s “Sydney Skinny”, the “truly unique and joyous” Annual Charity Swim raising money for brain cancer research. Recently losing its key sponsor, Peter stepped in to save the event, and looks forward to personally sponsoring it for many years to come.
PASSION PROJECTS
Coupled with his dedication to HLHB and the health, nutrition and beauty industries, Peter is sport and book lover.
- He’s a passionate supporter of the Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC) and built a private gym and training area to support and manage Australian cage fighters including Soa ‘The Hulk’ Palelei and Hector Lombard.
- Peter is a major sponsor and partner of MMA (mixed martial arts), kickboxing and boxing events around Australia.
- He’s in the process of writing his own book, featuring his marketing secrets.
In his downtime, you’ll find him at the gym, spending time with his son, or immersed in a title from his extensive personally-curated library of books.
