About My Business
Elshaw was created from a deeply personal place, but its purpose has grown far beyond our family. Two years ago, our world changed when our seven-year-old daughter, Eleanor, was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. Overnight, we entered a life of constant monitoring, insulin management, and learning how to navigate a condition that requires both precision and endurance every single day. One of the most painful, overlooked parts of her care wasn’t the medical treatment itself — it was the removal of her sites and sensors. Every few days, adhesive would cling tightly to her delicate skin, often leaving redness, irritation, and tears. As a parent, watching that repeated discomfort became something I couldn’t ignore. I searched for gentle, natural solutions, but everything available felt either too harsh or not designed for frequent use on sensitive skin. That gap is what led to Elshaw. After extensive research and five careful formulations, Elshaw Natural Adhesive Remover was developed — a gentle, naturally derived solution designed to safely and comfortably remove medical and therapeutic adhesives from the skin. Today, Elshaw is used for diabetes CGM sensors and pump sites, medical dressings, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) patches, and kinesiology tape (K-tape), supporting people across both medical and wellness journeys. Elshaw is proudly a New Zealand-made product, born from lived experience, not corporate strategy. It exists to bring comfort to a moment in care that is often overlooked, but experienced every day by thousands of people. As a business, we’re very much a “David vs Goliath” story. We’re a small, founder-led business in a space dominated by large global medical and pharmaceutical companies with huge resources behind them. We don’t have the scale, the funding, or the infrastructure they do. What we do have is something different. We’re close to the problem. We live it. We understand it in a very real, everyday way. And that’s what drives everything we do. We’re building Elshaw step by step — talking directly with families, clinicians, and stockists, learning as we go, and improving as we grow. It’s not fast, and it’s not always easy, but it’s real. And it matters to us that we get it right for the people actually using it. At its heart, Elshaw is simply about making something difficult a little easier. Because we’ve been there, and we know the small things matter more than people think.
Why We Should Win The Peoples Choice Award
If you’ve ever had to do something that hurts someone you love — even when it’s part of helping them — you’ll understand why Elshaw exists. For us, it was those small, repeated moments. Every few days, helping my daughter remove her sensor and knowing it was going to sting, pull, and sometimes bring tears. It might seem like a small part of managing a condition, but when it happens over and over again, it adds up. Elshaw came from wanting to change that moment — not in a big, dramatic way, but in a practical, everyday way that actually helps. What has meant the most to me since launching isn’t just getting the product out there, it’s hearing from people who are using it. Parents, individuals, and even elderly customers who say something that used to be stressful or painful has become easier, calmer, and sometimes completely pain-free. One mum messaged me after using Elshaw and said her daughter looked at her and said, “That was so easy… there was no pain. Can we use that every time?” That’s the kind of moment that makes all of this worth it. Elshaw isn’t backed by a big company or a large team. It’s built here in New Zealand, by me — a mum figuring it out as I go, while raising four kids, working part-time, and trying to grow something that genuinely helps people. Every order, every message, every stockist conversation — it all matters. And every bit of support makes a difference. If you believe in backing small, local businesses… If you believe in products created from real-life need, not just ideas… If you believe that even the smallest improvements in someone’s day can matter… Then I’d be so grateful for your vote. Because this isn’t just about growing a business — it’s about making something hard just that little bit easier for someone else.
