Pure Mama exports NZ luxury to mothers around the world with Airwallex

Like many great business ideas, Lara Henderson was inspired by a personal experience of a gap in the market. 

“When I fell pregnant back in 2018, I was looking for clean, clinically tested, beautiful products to use and I really couldn't find anything that resonated with me,” she says. 

The answer was PURE MAMA a naturally luxurious range of products for pregnancy, postpartum, and beyond. After launching with a bang with major local retail partner Mecca, the friction point for the business soon became in scaling operations worldwide. Then they discovered the Airwallex Business Account.

The challenge

PURE MAMA has always operated from Papamoa, a coastal town two hours outside of Auckland. 

With no intention to move operations to a metropolitan centre, but every ambition to get the product in the hands of mothers around the world, the key questions became: “Why can’t a New Zealand brand be on the world stage?” and what technology could make this kind of growth possible? 

Solutions that couldn't keep up with the pace of growth

PURE MAMA rapidly expanded from New Zealand to Australia, the US, and Europe, and challenges arrived quickly too. The team needed to hold and move different currencies, pay overseas suppliers and spend locally when travelling for baby shows and other business activities.

Initially CFO Yasmin Shepherd set up a World First account that could hold Australian dollars, but the team could not access that money with a physical or virtual card.

When Lara and the team travelled to Australia, they had to spend from a New Zealand bank card instead. That created foreign exchange costs and left Yasmin with more manual reconciliation work after each trip.

Yasmin Shepherd

CFO, PURE MAMA

It was just really clunky to use. It became really tricky when we were traveling because we had these Australian dollars sitting there in the account, but we couldn't actually access it.

Disconnected systems created manual work

The business initially used Xero and Unleashed, but the systems did not connect in the way Yasmin needed. Tasks that should have taken a few clicks could take an hour to work through, especially when she was trying to reconcile bills, inventory and payments herself.

“I found, quite early on, the challenges between working in two different systems and trying to get them to talk to each other,” says Yasmin. “I wanted to try and automate as much as I could because I was doing it all myself… but I was continuing to run into challenges on things that should’ve been easy.”

As PURE MAMA grew, the team moved to NetSuite, but manual work still remained. Bill payments and expenses still needed human attention, and adding new functionality might have involved developers, add-on applications, or additional subscriptions.

Wholesale payments and employee spend were hard to track

Pure Mama’s small wholesale customers often wanted to order and pay at the same time, but the team could not easily offer card payments on invoices. In some cases, customers sent payments that then required additional verification and paperwork before Yasmin could confirm where the money had come from.

Employee and travel expenses created another visibility gap. Traditional card spending appeared later in bank statements, often without a receipt or a clear explanation. The team had to chase receipts, work out what each transaction related to and reconcile expenses after the event.

Yasmin Shepherd

CFO, PURE MAMA

“Everything that should have been a click of a couple of buttons would be, ‘Oh, I’ve got to sit down for an hour and figure this out.’

The solution

Yasmin discovered Airwallex through a case study on LinkedIn. She found the story of Airwallex’s founders, who established the business in Australia before expanding globally, particularly compelling.

From there, she discovered that Airwallex could provide the connected global financial layer Pure Mama needed as it expanded.

Activating the Airwallex Business Account

Airwallex’s Business Account gives Pure Mama a single place to manage its multi-currency operations, with local currency accounts, a Yield account, and competitive FX and transfers.

Yasmin can now create a new Global Account in about 30 seconds, with the account details available immediately. When the business began separating its Australian operations from its New Zealand entity, she created the new entity in Airwallex and had it live within two days.

The team can also now receive and hold Australian and US dollars, as well as currencies needed for suppliers and partners in Europe. When excess Australian or US dollars are not needed right away, Yasmin can place them in a Yield account to earn a return while keeping the funds available for future use. 

“The return rates are really competitive,” she says. “I'm always looking around and checking Google and other other websites just to see where they're sitting. And I feel pretty confident that Airwallex is giving us a really good rate. So I feel like I'm winning there too.”

Airwallex Spend offers total transparency

Airwallex Corporate Cards give Pure Mama a practical way to manage travel, subscriptions and employee spending across currencies. Yasmin can create a card for a new employee or an upcoming trip, and quickly set spending limits. 

The team also uses separate cards for different subscriptions, making it easier to see which costs are flowing through each card.

Yasmin Shepherd

CFO, PURE MAMA

“We know what's going through each card, to have it set up that way with different limits is really good and transparent.”

With Expense Management, employees can capture receipts when they make a purchase. When the card is used, the user receives a notification to capture their expense, then can photograph the receipt on the spot, before discarding the paper copy rather than keeping it for later reconciliation. 

“You open up the app and take a snap of the receipt,” says Yasmin. “We just make sure they add a description. It's so quick and easy to be able to do that for all our employees.”

Airwallex Payments and integrations slash manual work

Airwallex connects with NetSuite so Pure Mama can import bills, review payment details and pay suppliers without updating the same information in multiple systems. Once Yasmin approves a bill, she can pay it with one click and the payment status flows back into NetSuite.

Payment Links address a separate problem in the wholesale workflow. Pure Mama can now add a payment link to a NetSuite invoice or send it directly in an email, giving wholesale customers a way to pay by card when they order. 

“When I started using Airwallex, I didn't even realise that the capability was set within there to be able to accept payments from our customers by adding a link,” says Yasmin. “In Netsuite I can tick a box, and then we can embed it in the invoice or just send it as part of the email that says, ‘here's a link to make payment.’”

Together, these workflows give Pure Mama a clearer view of money moving through the business.

The result

Airwallex has helped Pure Mama move from a collection of manual banking, payment and expense platforms to a connected workflow that supports its growth across markets. Using the Airwallex Business Account, Lara and Yasmin have more visibility and flexibility in how they hold, move and use their business’ money.

The tools are also helping Pure Mama stay lean, reflects Yasmin. “Without Airwallex, I probably have to hire another person because there are so many little things every day that make our lives easier.” 

And if she was talking to another business with similar growth goals, or any company just doing business in today’s fast-paced environment? “I would say go and talk to Airwallex.” 

Yasmin Shepherd

CFO, PURE MAMA

“I really, genuinely feel like it's changed the way we do business.”

This information is factual information only and it doesn’t take into account your objectives, financial situation, or needs. This case study is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as an endorsement or guarantee of results. The experiences and outcomes described may not be representative of all clients or experiences. If you are a customer of Airwallex Pty Ltd (AFSL No. 487221) read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) for the Direct Services available here.