From Chronically Ill and Indebted to an International Skin Empire: The Honest Story of Mandy Keulen

Behind every successful company there's a story, but the story behind Mimos soap and more reads like a rollercoaster.

If you had told me a few years ago that today I would be sending international orders to the United Kingdom and that my brand awareness would explode at rocket speed, I probably wouldn't have believed you. And yet, this is exactly the reality that I have built myself.

I am Mandy Keulen. Mother of four fantastic, unique children (12, 10, 3 and 2 years old) and a woman who fights daily against a long list of invisible chronic illnesses. I deal with ADHD, Dysthymia (chronic depression), C-PTSD (Complex PTSD), hypermobility, Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS), Rosacea and Asthma.

This is my raw, honest story about a heavy financial struggle, psychological fault lines with my own body, and how I turned my greatest weaknesses into my absolute superpower.

My struggle didn't start yesterday. Since 2018, I have been in a financially challenging period with a tremendous amount of hassle. Due to my accumulation of chronic illnesses and psychological issues, working on multiple fronts simply became unsustainable. My body and mind couldn't handle it anymore, no matter how hard I tried to fight.

I ended up in an exhausting, bureaucratic process with the UWV (Employee Insurance Agency). The uncertainty of reassessments, the Sickness Benefits Act, and the eventual transition to a WIA (Work and Income (Capacity for Work) Act) benefit caused me constant stress. The financial distress that arose from this created significant gaps, including rent arrears that the municipality was on top of and sleepless nights due to envelopes from the CJIB (Central Fine Collection Agency). I was in classic survival mode: putting out fires, counting every euro, and the constant fear of going under.

Psychologically, I also had a very tough time with my own body during these years. When your body constantly lets you down with pain, shortness of breath, and inflammation, it feels like you're living in a permanent war with yourself.

Besides the psychological and financial struggle, like thousands of others with HS and Rosacea, I constantly hit a wall in the medical world. For years, doctors and dermatologists made me feel like they weren't listening. I wasn't taken seriously. The standard solution was always: "Here's a hormone ointment, here's an antibiotic course, and good luck with it." They never mentioned that these remedies would completely destroy my skin barrier in the long term and ignore the biological cause.

I couldn't take it anymore. I wanted change. Out of pure frustration, years ago I started doing my own research into skin diseases. I delved deep into medical literature. I studied molecular biology, the gut-skin axis, the function of mast cells, histamine explosions, and overactive nerve receptors. I wanted to understand why my skin was doing what it was doing, because the doctors weren't giving me the answers.

When I started Mimos soap and more, it was initially a purely commercial company focused on daily, mainstream skincare. Nice, pleasant products for the general public, because, yes, I had financial worries and wanted to be able to feed my children at all costs.

But as my own medical knowledge grew and I saw how much misinformation was being spread online, I made a radical decision.

I decided to turn my own weaknesses into my greatest strength.

My illnesses, my frustrations, and the years of medical knowledge I gained, I transformed into a mission to help others. I ditched mainstream care and transformed Mimos soap and more into a scientifically-backed ecosystem for hyper-reactive and diseased skin. I launched The Flare-Up Fix line: 100% natural products at the exact skin-identical pH value of 5.5, specifically for Rosacea and HS.

And from that moment, things moved fast. My company is starting to generate brand awareness at rocket speed. My medical blogs and free brochures are being downloaded en masse.

And the ultimate victory came quickly after I launched The Flare-Up Fix; people were enthusiastic, bought my products, noticed they actually helped, and decided to keep coming back. Soon, I also started acquiring customers outside the Netherlands.

At the same time, the financial puzzle is finally falling into place. Financially, we are definitely moving towards a more stable future. And all because I started doing what I should have done much earlier: helping people.

I really want to emphasize that, yes, I run a business, and yes, I have to pay my rent with it, but what really matters to me is genuinely helping people. Because if you have a bunch of diagnoses, your doctors aren't giving you answers, you're at your wit's end, and you ask me that pressing question: "Mandy, can you explain what's wrong with me?" Then I will do everything to figure it out and help you on your way, and if that means my products are not suitable? Then I will NOT offer them. 

The recipes for the expansion of Mimos soap and more are already laid out in my Google Docs. To give you a peek behind the scenes, here's what's planned for the near future:

• KP Rescue Lotion (For Keratosis Pilaris)
• Soothing Scalp Shampoo (for extremely sensitive scalps)
• Calm & Care Conditioner (an addition to the shampoo)
• Barrier Balance Bodywash (a wonderful bodywash that complements all our Flare-Up Fix products)
• Soothing Liquid Deodorant (a special deodorant suitable for people with HS)
• Friction Defense Powder (a talc-free powder, specifically for skin folds for people with HS)

More information about these upcoming products will be shared in our WhatsApp channel and via the newsletter. So, if you're curious about these new products, be sure to sign up so you don't miss any updates! There is no fixed schedule yet for when these will launch, but I expect everything to launch by 2026.

I sincerely hope that my words are helpful to you. And that you know that help can be found, even if it's not always obvious. You can ALWAYS send me a message via WhatsApp, chat, email, or social media. I will always respond personally, as quickly as possible.

Love,
Mandy