Founded in 2018, The Whitening Co began as an e-commerce enterprise but due to its success, was able to launch two bricks and mortar stores in rapid succession. Now across both the North and South Islands and with Australia in its sights, The Whitening Co is redefining the path of at-home whitening and oral care. 

This month, the business has partnered up with The Cosmetic Clinic in an exciting new partnership between that is set to change the teeth whitening game in New Zealand. With the alignment of both companies, professional whitening services are now more accessible to the nation, expanding from three locations to nearly 30.

The services include in-clinic dental grade treatments, at-home products and a soon-to-be-launched innovative Electric Toothbrush.

Kennedy’s vision for The Whitening Co, put simply, is to make everyone smile more, with confidence and we would love to raise awareness about how this serial entrepreneur is creating positive waves in an industry fixated on beauty expectations and appearance enhancement.  We caught up with Kennedy on finding his niche, imposter syndrome and staying motivated in a past faced digital age.

What made you get into the dental industry/ whitening services?
I was super self-conscious about my smile growing up, so ended up buying all the dodgy products I could find on the internet when I was a teen and was so disappointed to spend my hard-earned hourly wage on products that simply didn't work. Once I found my place in the marketing world and had epic business partners on board to finally help me get a brand rolling, it felt like the perfect fit for me! I had no idea it would lead to this but I'm forever grateful that my job is now creating smiles!

You were recently named in Wall St Times ‘Top Entrepreneurs to Follow in 2023’, how does it feel to be a person to watch? Is there added pressure now?
It was such an incredible feeling to be recognised on a global stage, especially with The Whitening Co being front and centre.  It definitely came along with some slight imposter syndrome but I've had such an epic response from everyone online and in my life that it really made it all feel worth it.

I do always feel the pressure in business, but I guess I like it? In a strange way. The feeling of always wanting to challenge yourself I see as a huge blessing as it made me work this hard to get here so far, there are for sure moments I need to remind myself to take it all in and realise how insanely cool these opportunities are but overall, I wouldn't change out the stress and pressure for the world. This is my dream life I'm building.

How do you stay motivated and creative?
Staying motivated is easy when you have clear goals/visions in mind - Self Discipline, on the other hand, is a battle every day and having those goals handy (iPhone notes is my go-to) is such a huge driving factor as it allows you to reset the reasons why you might be pushing yourself this hard... for example, if you are having a real struggle street day or even a day where the focus is just all over the place... checking in with your goals allows you to ask yourself if it’s worth pushing yourself that extra bit that day, and some days it might not be worth it, that's totally cool but it allows me to be ok with pushing myself when I know the real reason WHY. 

You have recently partnered with The Cosmetic Clinic to bring your advanced whitening services to many more New Zealanders, making this option more accessible for so many, why did you choose to partner with The Cosmetic Clinic?
Firstly we are over the moon to celebrate this partnership, it's such an epic step for our NZ small business. So when looking for a partner we really wanted to consider companies that held similar values when it came to beauty, what that meant to them and how we would market it to NZ. The Cosmetic Clinic had appeal in all of these categories and better yet, have such a reputable name throughout NZ so at the end of the day the partnership was a perfect fit.

Having stained or yellowing teeth can really affect people’s confidence, is this service suitable for everyone?
We totally agree, Kiwi's having a lack of smile confidence is the biggest motivator behind our brand. We love helping people smile their biggest teethy smile possible, so we have tried to make our service as 'open to anyone' as possible. We have TWC Whitening practitioners that are trained in making the experience best suited to you, whether you have sensitive teeth or are even just nervous about a dental-orientated experience, we make sure to make all feel welcome and excited. We, however,  cannot offer our services to those under the age of 16 or if they have any prior dental issues.

Does teeth whitening hurt or make teeth more sensitive?
The TWC method does not damage or make your teeth more sensitive in the long term, we have done a lot of research into making this service as 'pain-free' as possible, and we are even working on bringing out an entirely new service that is dedicated to sensitive smiles! In the meantime, there is plenty our amazing practitioners can do to make the experience more suited to someone with a known tooth sensitivity, i.e. Turning down our whitening lamp's power or shortening the application times.

Overall we want you to have an enjoyable 'spa-like' experience at TWC so would rather you let us know in advance about any worries and we can be sure to tailor the experience for your comfort and for you to get the best results.

What if we are red wine and coffee lovers? Is this service still suitable and will our daily caffeine hit ruin our beautiful new pearly whites?
We LOVE coffee and red wine drinkers - you all keep me in business! I'd be lying if I told you it didn't affect your results, basically the rule is - 'if it can stain a white T-shirt, it will eventually stain your pearly whites too'. However it doesn't mean you can't have a bright white smile it just means your Whitening Journey may be more regular than those who don't, but it honestly comes down to each individual's teeth, some people are blessed to have year-round white chompers.

What is your top tip for maintaining your newly whitened teeth?
Maintenance is KEY, we ensure each client leaves a TWC experience with a little aftercare pack/instructions and basically what we tell you is to 'keep it up'. Our whitening strips, The at-home Essentials kits or even just a whitening toothpaste will all help maintain your smile at its peak brightness for longer. The brighter you ae able to keep them, means that in your next session, we will be able to work on getting them even whiter rather than just trying to bring them back to where they were.

You have some new launches on the horizon including the new Whitening Co Electric Toothbrush, what makes this brush so different to others on the market?
The E-Brush by TWC has just launched!! We are so excited to bring this baby to market after almost 2 years in R&D. The E-brush is unique because we pretty much took every single feature of the standard Electric toothbrush and improved it.

The look and feel was a huge one, so many on the market are UGLY and consumers don't want to keep them out on their basins... so that was fix number 1 - then from there on out I went through all of the pain points consumers have i.e, Battery life - The E-Brush last up to 2 months from a single charge so you don't have to cart your charger around with you if you travel etc. Functionality - our new E-Brush has 3 different sonic brush modes that allow you to choose how polished you want your teeth that day, cause we all know some days they need that extra buff.

What’s next for The Whitening co?
We have set our sights on Australia, we are currently looking at partner options and how best to bring 'The Whitening Co way' across the ditch. Our in-studio experience is second to none so we already know the Australian market is going to love our treatments we are just planning how quickly we can ramp it up over there due to stock and resources.
As far as New product development we have 2 more products on the horizon for this year hopefully - both are more oral-care based like our E-brush so I can't wait to bring these concepts to market as well.

What is one thing you wish people knew about The Whitening co and your services?
How well it truly works! Still our most frequently asked question is ‘does it work’, there is a lot of scepticism around teeth whitening and every day we still get questioned about whether our brand ‘works’. Of course, it does and we are able to get a result out of pretty much every singles persons teeth. Results vary of course but TWC works well and we will be able to help you with your smile journey if you take the step 🖤

Who has had the biggest influence on your life or career and why?
Probably my parents, then secondly my business partners. Sounds cheesy I know, but I was 100% that new kid on the block that thought he knew everything - the business world humbled me very quickly, and without these influences on my life and helping me understand how important it is to have soundboards and genuine people in your corner has a huge learning for me.

To book in for The Whitening Co. Service, or to find out more, click here.

The Cosmetic Clinic
S219, Westfield Newmarket, 309 Broadway
www.thecosmeticclinic.co.nz