Michelle Mountain

Former Miss South Africa Michelle Mountain (then Michelle Bruce), is the face of natural makeup in South Africa and is a strong advocate for living a healthy and completely natural lifestyle. A self-proclaimed Eco-Warrior, Michelle is convinced that many dreaded diseases and health complaints are directly associated with the chemical burden we place on our bodies through constant exposure to harmful products, ingredients and chemicals.

A firm believer that the “best makeup you can wear is a healthy skin”, Michelle says that the true, unhealthy cost of beauty is not necessary – with a little knowledge, and the correct natural products, all women can achieve stunning, glamorous make-up, whilst improving their health and caring for the environment.

Colleen Funkey

Colleen qualified from Rhodes University with a BA degree and Honours in Psychology. After discovering a passion for business and marketing, she went on to complete her BCom degree through UNISA. Colleen has spent 13 years in classical consumer goods marketing with much of that time at Colgate-Palmolive and the Clicks retail chain. Whilst at Colgate she worked as Senior Brand Manager across a number of categories and most extensively within oral care. A lifestyle decision to move to Cape Town opened up the opportunity to take on a divisional role within Colgate-Palmolive Africa/Middle East establishing a divisional packaging process, ensuring consistency of product appearance across the continent. Once established, Colleen moved across to the other side of the fence to join the NuClicks Group as Marketing Manager, managing the marketing of all private label and exclusive brands within the Clicks stable and in this time introduced some key exclusive offerings into South Africa, namely Max Factor (after a long absence in the country) and John Frieda hair care, working closely with the international brand owners.

A decision to leave the corporate world to start up her own business allowed Colleen the opportunity to follow a lifetime dream of launching her own brand into the market which now sells in selected retail chains within the luxury bath and body category under the brand name "Imbali". Whilst developing and growing the Imbali brand, Colleen has consulted for Yellowwood Future Brand Architects as a senior brand strategist working on brand re-positioning, brand architecture and brand portfolio strategy projects across the DairyBelle, SAIL, Trinergy, Nature Conservation Corporation, Baby Expo and Iziko Museums brands.

Colleen is an experienced brand strategist and marketer who consults to businesses on brand strategy and provides marketing implementation support through an outsourced marketing solution.

Why work with Funkey Brands? "Because we know what it's like to be in business, we understand the challenges from the inside but bring an outside perspective with us" - Colleen Funkey