Coping with criticism & the world post COVID-19

Q&A with TECMASK Founder

Founder of TECMASK Maddy answers the public's questions on Instagram and opens up about the backlash her company has received during the global pandemic. Here are a couple of them below.

Do you run the business by yourself?

When we first started TECMASK, it was pretty much a one man show.

The business slowly started to grow. Friends and family would come in and help, mum would come meet me and help pack orders.

Then as the business started to take off we ended up developing a really strong TECMASK team who are now my TECMASK family. Which is made up of a whole bunch of girls that are very passionate, very talented and very driven. They definitely help keep the business running as is and I couldn't do it without them. 

Did you start Covid?

I can't say I started COVID.

TECMASK was around well before COVID. We launched in Japan in 2015 and then in Australia in 2018.

What we have experienced during COVID is people coming out of the woodworks saying you are price gouging, taking advantage of the market, you’re trying to make money off the pandemic which look, it isn’t the case.

It’s been tough, coping with that type of criticism but what I am happy about is that we entered the market with the objective to educate people about protecting their health even if it's through the use of a mask and making the mask more fashionable. 

How do you see the world post-COVID 19? 

If you want my honest opinion, I think post COVID you will see less people in Australia wearing face masks but you will see more people than we did prior to COVID.

What COVID-19 has done is it has brought to our attention how important it is to protect ourselves and others when we are sick.

In saying that, I think face masks are becoming a new norm. People will have them, they may not wear them all the time but if they feel like they are in a situation where they need a mask they’ll have one with them.