CEO of 'The Ordinary' Opens Up About Her Co-Founder’s Tragic Death

Begin Again with Davina McCall

FlightStory

Society & Culture, Self-improvement, Mental Health, Education, Health & Fitness

4.8 • 631 Ratings

🗓️ 20 March 2025

⏱️ 100 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode of Begin Again, Davina McCall sits down with Nicola Kilner, the powerhouse CEO behind beauty empire DECIEM and founder of The Ordinary, to explore the highs and heartbreaking lows of her journey. From co-founding a $2.2 billion beauty empire in her 20s to navigating the tragic downfall of her business partner, Brandon Truaxe, Nicola opens up about the immense challenges she’s faced. She reflects on her father’s struggle with alcoholism, the resilience it instilled in her from a young age, and the lessons she’s learned about leadership, loss, and finding purpose in chaos. Raw, inspiring, and deeply personal—this is a story of strength, survival, and redefining success on your own terms. 📢 Drop a comment: What’s your biggest takeaway? Follow me here: www.instagram.com/beginagain https://www.tiktok.com/@beginagainpod (00:00) Intro (02:14) Nicola’s Childhood and Her Father’s Struggles with Alcohol (13:55) Early Entrepreneurial Spirit and the Power of Kindness (18:40) Meeting Brandon: A Life-Changing Connection (20:17) The Beginnings of Deciem: A Vision Takes Shape (23:37) How The Ordinary Was Born (31:51) (Ancient & Brave Ad) (33:10) (Adobe Ad) (34:13) Brandon’s Experimentation with Drugs (48:16) The Public Downfall (1:08:17) The Tragic Loss of Brandon (1:15:55) Recognizing the Signs and Offering Support (1:20:18) Starting Over and Finding Joy in Life (1:27:58) Championing Mothers in the Workplace (1:38:06) Davina’s Final Thoughts Sponsored by: Ancient + Brave - https://ancientandbrave.earth/pages/planet Adobe - https://www.adobe.com/uk/express/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	exclusively on Disney Plus.
0:02.4	It's hard and it's brutal and that's what makes it special.
0:06.2	The multi-award winning series, FX's The Bear, is back for a brand new season.
0:11.4	Upon my signal, unleash hell.
0:15.4	And every second counts.
0:17.8	When that shows zero, this restaurant ceases operations.
0:21.8	FX is the bear.
0:23.1	New season now streaming exclusively on Disney Plus.
0:27.1	18 plus subscription required season C's apply.
0:30.2	Throughout this entire conversation, I've thought about 20 people that I need to send this to.
0:35.8	You had this idea for the trip advisor for skincare.
0:38.7	People asked like, why was it so successful?
0:41.1	It was common sense.
0:42.2	I remember from the second I met Brendan, he was a genius.
0:45.3	You couldn't help but like being or of him.
0:47.1	Then we launched the ordinary at the end of 2016.
0:50.2	The business was exploding.
0:51.7	It's quite mad what you guys did.
0:53.7	Brandon sounds like a brilliant guy.
0:55.5	He sounds like a maverick.
0:56.9	So when did you first start noticing that something was off with him?
1:01.4	I've never seen a human change so quickly.
	...

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