Reclaiming Your Hue: A Podcast for Women Rediscovering Themselves in Motherhood & Entrepreneurship
Motherhood and entrepreneurship are powerful journeys—but they can also leave women feeling drained, unseen, or lost. Like flamingos who fade while nurturing their young, women often put everyone else first and lose their own hue. Reclaiming Your Hue is about the moment when women remember their brilliance, reclaim their vibrancy, and step into who they were always meant to be. Hosted by Kelly Kirk, this podcast shares faith-led encouragement, inspiring guest stories, and practical strategies for harmonizing life, family, and business.
Why Listen / What You’ll Gain
- Inspiring stories of women who found themselves again after seasons of loss or overwhelm
- Practical tips for building businesses without sacrificing your sense of self
- Honest conversations about the challenges and beauty of motherhood + entrepreneurship
- Encouragement rooted in faith while welcoming diverse women’s voices
Listen In For: mompreneur journeys · reclaiming identity · harmonizing life & work · authentic entrepreneurship stories
Reclaiming Your Hue: A Podcast for Women Rediscovering Themselves in Motherhood & Entrepreneurship
Ep. 59 with Alyssa Johantgen | Founder and Owner, Milk & Honey Tallow Co
The Chemistry of Motherhood & Entrepreneurship
What happens when a scientist discovers ancient wisdom might outperform modern skincare technology? Alyssa's journey from Estée Lauder formulation chemist to tallow-based skincare entrepreneur reveals the powerful intersection of science, motherhood, and faith-driven entrepreneurship.
After 14 years formulating products for one of the world's leading beauty corporations, Alyssa found herself questioning everything when the pandemic shifted her perspective on work, family, and health. Pregnant with her third child and facing a challenging workplace vaccine mandate, a rainbow literally appeared in her backyard, providing the divine confirmation she needed to leave her career behind.
The transition wasn't easy. Alyssa candidly shares her identity crisis as she suddenly lost her professional community, moved to a new neighborhood during COVID restrictions, and adjusted to full-time motherhood. "I don't think I came into myself as a stay-at-home mom fully... it was honestly like in hindsight, I can see how I was in the darkness of the valley and how I was being led out into the light."
What emerged from this challenging period was Milk and Honey Tallow Company, a business born from Alyssa's scientific understanding of skincare chemistry and her personal experience with tallow's effectiveness. She breaks down why most skincare products—even "natural" ones—contain problematic ingredients like preservatives, synthetic fragrances, and oxidized seed oils, while explaining how tallow's fatty acid profile mimics human skin's natural sebum.
Beyond skincare wisdom, this conversation offers powerful insights into balancing entrepreneurship with motherhood, setting intentional boundaries, and finding purpose through life's unexpected transitions. Whether you're questioning conventional beauty wisdom, contemplating a career pivot, or simply seeking inspiration from another mother's journey, Alyssa's story reminds us that sometimes our most fulfilling paths begin with a leap of faith.
Connect with Alyssa:
- Website: Milk & Honey Tallow Co.
- IG: @milkandhoneytallowco
- Facebook: Milk & Honey Tallow Co.
Contact the Host, Kelly Kirk:
- Email: info.ryh7@gmail.com
Get Connected/Follow:
- IG: @ryh_pod & @thekelly.tanke.kirk
- Facebook: Reclaiming Your Hue Facebook Page
- YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@RYHReclaimingYourHue
Credits:
- Editor: Joseph Kirk
- Music: Kristofer Tanke
Thanks for listening & cheers to Reclaiming Your Hue!
Good morning, alyssa. Good morning. How are you? I'm good. How are you? I'm good, I'm so excited. I'm so excited to have you here. I'm very excited to be here, and maybe a little nervous too, but here's what I always tell guests, no matter what it's your story. You know what I mean and nobody knows your story better than you. So let's go ahead and dive in. Okay, first thing. First, let's share with the listeners how it is that we got connected. I would love for you to share that.
Speaker 2:Sure. So a mutual friend of ours, ryan Evanston. His wife is one of my really close friends and he connected. He reached out and said you know, would you be interested in being on this podcast that talks about being a mom and an entrepreneur?
Speaker 1:And I think I hesit oh, fascinating, cause he gave me just a little briefing on your history which we'll go, we'll share with the listeners here too. It's fascinating, um, but he was like, yeah, let me just, I'm waiting to hear back from her and I'll let you know. And some time did go past and I finally nudged him again. I was like, hey, how, how's Alyssa doing? And he was like you know, I think I might just facilitate the introduction. I think he facilitated the introduction.
Speaker 2:Didn't he? Yeah, yeah, I'm glad for the nudge because I um this is totally outside of my comfort zone, so fair enough. Yeah, this is something very new, but I'm excited. And I am too, yeah, I'm excited to add podcast to my list of things. New, but I'm excited. I am too, yeah, I'm excited to add podcast to my list of things. I never thought I would do.
Speaker 1:Check, check, yeah, just pushing you outside your comfort zone. Well, what came first for you? Was it motherhood or was it entrepreneurship?
Speaker 2:It was motherhood. I was still in the corporate world when my first two kids were born. Actually, all three of them were born while I was working corporately.
Speaker 1:Okay, and would you mind sharing where it was that you were working previously?
Speaker 2:Sure. So I was at Estee Lauder as a formulation chemist and I did that for about 14 years. I think, Um, so right out of school, um, right out of my undergrad it was 2009. So it was the big recession, yeah, and I, I remember, I think.
Speaker 2:I kind of wish I had counted, but I think I had applied to over a hundred different jobs like easily, maybe probably more. My undergrad degree is in biology and I was looking for like a medical lab type of job, like I loved being in the lab, that's what I wanted to do, and it just nobody was hiring. And so then I get this interview, I guess set up um at Estee Lauder, and so locally here in Minnesota it's the Aveda campus in Blaine, um, and they are owned by Estee Lauder interviewed there, got the job, was offered the same day, and then I think the same day I got a medical lab job offer as well.
Speaker 2:And it was like when it rains, it pours, and it was like I am so glad I made the decision that I made, Um, you know, not knowing what it would look like 14 years later, but it completely paved the path to what where I'm at right now. And so I did take the Aveda job and, yeah, that was, that was the where I ended up spending my entire career.
Speaker 1:Much like what we did to just get a little bit more of like that rich history Right. And so one I just want to point out that I was not aware that Estee Lauder was overhead umbrella company for Aveda, so that was one of my like learning points in our conversation. Yeah, but I think too it's like there's so much behind the scenes that happens for you to get the product that you put on your skin, that you put on your face, that you put on your hair.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that was the fun stuff that you were doing was all of the formulation and the testing of that. So could you give a little briefing on what that looks like, because I think that like you mentioned that this really paved the way for what it is that you're doing right now, and so we'll. We'll get to that here in just a moment, but I think it's important to share, like what is it that you? What is it that really makes Alyssa tick and and revs her engine, so to speak?
Speaker 2:Um, yeah, it's. It's one of those things, you know, when I was fresh out of college, I was young I also had never thought about what went behind the scenes for these products that you use day to day. And, um, for me personally, I have a very creative side and I also have a very analytical side, and so this job just was like the perfect marriage of both of those, um, I guess, strengths or interests of mine, where I had this, you know, chemistry job, but also super creative, because you do have a lot of creativity when you're formulating a shampoo or, uh, you know, any sort of like personal care product. Um, it doesn't have to be, it's not black and white ever, and so, yeah, it's. You know I was at the lab bench, you know, 40 hours a week and mixing different things and like seeing what I could come up with.
Speaker 2:And then you know, working for a corporation, obviously, you're given, you know, an outline of what sort of um you know, aesthetic properties you need to hit. But otherwise, I mean I had like full creativity for the most part, I think, throughout most of my career, and that was I. That is one of the things that I loved. So cool.
Speaker 1:So I I like really start to dive into one that the creativity and the creative side, but also having parameters around it, Like it really has my brain wheels going. I'm like, how does that work? Like you're offered the, the capacity and the capability to be able to be creative, but you also have parameters. So did you bump into anything when it came to that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think you know it's good to have them, otherwise you could kind of go crazy A little rogue.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:But yeah, it was good in a sense, like you knew kind of what targets you had to hit and what you were looking for. And it also made it difficult because sometimes you don't always know what you're going to get. When you have a formula and it has, you know, 30 different ingredients in it, like that's a lot of variables that all interplay and you don't always on paper like maybe the chemistry looks like it should do something, and then you put it in a beaker and you mix it and it doesn't.
Speaker 2:And so it's like and that's part of the fun part, I think, for me is I really like that challenge and the puzzle, like the solving of the puzzles, also stressful, like when you're under the gun for a corporation and you're like this product has to launch in a year, but the formulation has to be done in six months. Sure, you know a year, but it has to formulation has to be done, like in six months.
Speaker 1:And sure, sure, there was always like a little bit of like healthy stress to get the job done, but I liked that as well, like yeah oh, I bet there's just so much in terms of like what that system was like, how you operated within that system in that corporation, and how that kind of transcends across the board for what it is that you're doing now.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:So let's dive into that, and I like I am sure that the listeners are listening right now going, oh I've got questions about this, this, this, and I'm sure we'll kind of we'll come full circle and answer some of those this, this, this and I'm sure we'll kind of we'll come full circle and answer some of those. I'm so fascinated with what it is that you had formerly been doing and then how that plays in now. So let's kind of catch them up to speed on the company that you have now, and then we're going to, and then we're really going to dive into that motherhood component as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, sure. So, um, the company that I started about a year ago is called milk and honey tallow company and it is beef tallow for skincare and it sounds weird and crazy and maybe gross to some people. It did to me. I was like I'm sort of surprised. I tried it initially and then I tried it and I never went back.
Speaker 2:It's amazing, like it, just the thing about it is right now it feels very trendy because it is, but also it's ancestral skincare, like it is what people have used for, you know, thousands of years. And it was only really until recently, in like the early 1900s, that skincare first of all became like kind of a corporate thing that companies kind of started doing and making um, but they were using um, like highly processed oils that were, um, you know, not necessarily good for the skin, but they were cheap and they were becoming readily available and used for different industries, like um, motor, like an engine, lubricants is what a lot of them are used for and they found that they could use them for skincare, and so animal fat skincare definitely like went to the wayside, and you know.
Speaker 2:Then you had companies popping up that started making these products so that you could find it on a shelf in a store, versus probably making it yourself or getting it from a neighbor or, you know, just locally sourcing just tallow or lard or like lamb fat for skincare. So now it seems so foreign to us because we're a hundred years past, you know, when it was previously used. But the reason it's trendy, I think, is not because it's cool but because it works because it works.
Speaker 1:So I remember our phone conversation and you shared. You shared your storyline of like getting out of the corporate position in coming into what you're doing now, um, would would you mind sharing why that transition happened?
Speaker 2:Sure, um so COVID hit and it affected all of us and my job really shifted um considerably. It was no longer um, it no longer brought me joy, it was very stressful. My position kind of shifted as needed and a lot of like what made the company I worked for fun like went away and at the same time I was pregnant with our third, our third child, and I had started feeling the prompting to like maybe, maybe I kind of want to be home and I had never felt that with my first two kids, like they went to daycare and I, I loved my job and I was like that was.
Speaker 2:It never crossed my mind, honestly, to you know, to stay home with them and not that I don't wish that I could have, because you know you can't ever get that time back but I was very we had like it was just the life we had was great. And then something just totally shifted with that third pregnancy and I just was like I don't think I can do this, I don't think I can work full time, be a mom, be present, and you know, you know, once you have your first, you realize how quickly that time passes and I just I just couldn't give that time up. Um, and then, additionally, there was a mandate put in place throughout the corporation I was at and it, yeah, it shifted, kind of I ended up having some very serious health complications within 24 hours of receiving the, the jab that was mandated to keep my job, um, and on top of that, um, I was pregnant and so I just I was very scared, um, and I just the reason I went, I knew I didn't want to take it and I wouldn't have taken it, but I was pregnant and so I had insurance through my company and my job and my husband we didn't have it through his job, and so it was just very, very stressful to think about leaving a job. You know, I think I was six months pregnant, like with no insurance, and so that really, I think that was just one of those things where it made it very, very obvious that I needed to probably like leave, sure, sure, yeah, um. And so I did end up staying through.
Speaker 2:I did give birth while I was employed and then, um, shortly after returning from maternity leave, I just I, I had a very clear sign that it was just time to leave. Um, yeah, I actually had. I, my faith has been very instrumental in that decision and I probably wouldn't have left otherwise. But I was praying about what to do, because my logical brain was, like you need to stay employed, like you need a job and like you need insurance and then I'm like, okay, God, I'm really bad at like listening, like in the quiet, like really bad at that, like I need a very clear sign.
Speaker 2:And the next day, literally, I woke up, I looked out my bathroom window and there was a rainbow that like ended in my backyard and I could not make this up.
Speaker 1:I'm like, okay, like, there it is and I think I put my notice in shortly after so same day, probably within a week okay, yeah, yeah, I was like, yeah, she built up the courage, everyone, she built up the courage. But I I love that you're not the first person to be on this podcast where, whether it be a sign from God or whatever their guiding principle is, in life, there's this misalignment that ends up happening, and it's oftentimes triggered by pregnancy right right um, or or perhaps there's another pivotal moment in life, and maybe it's a.
Speaker 1:It's a, a dramatic, a traumatic speed bump of some sorts, but oftentimes it is triggered by pregnancy, yeah, and the hormones and all that stuff. And it's like I get these flashbacks of one, like being being in the midst of COVID. I was, I was dating somebody else at the time, but not not married, didn't have kids, and so I I feel this sympathy, I guess, is where I'm trying to go with this Now, having a family, having two bonus boys, having my daughter, and literally hearing the stories of women who have, who went through COVID, either your circumstance where you already had kids, but then you're you're on your third pregnancy and all of a sudden you've got this mandate that's put into place, and there's so many other individuals that fall in that category. But then you have the families that you know were cooped up at home and had to work, operate a business or or work their nine to five while also having their kids at home and doing this balancing act with their kids and their homework and Zoom and all that stuff.
Speaker 1:And I'm like I cannot even imagine. I can't empathize to it, but I can sympathize to it. Now doing this reflection backwards and going what the heck Layer on top of that having this mandate? You're already like high level of stress from being pregnant, but then somebody telling you by the way, in order for you to keep your position with us, this is required.
Speaker 2:It's mandatory and you're like.
Speaker 1:Since when did they all of a sudden mandate us to get vaccinations? To do this to do that Wild.
Speaker 2:It's just wild.
Speaker 1:Looking backwards now, I think all of us are like we're kind of coming up out of the fog, so to speak, and going why?
Speaker 2:did we tolerate this? I don't know. And a lot of people I mean so many people had an awakening during those four years. I think of COVID. My principles are different. My values are stronger. I'm not afraid to stand on them now where I was before. I'm not ever going to let the threat of a job loss ever force me into a decision that I don't agree with ever again. And as a scientist, I pushed back and said there's no science backing this thing up, because you've never administered it to pregnant women and gone through their whole pregnancy.
Speaker 1:And yeah, it was just absolutely wild, like so I, um, and not that we need to to go into a deep dive about COVID and vaccinations. I just want to level set with you, alyssa, because I, um, I knew that I, I think, and I, I think I shared set with you, alyssa, because I, um, I knew that I, I think, and I, I think I shared this with you too on our phone call. I knew that I wanted to have kids and I literally had that thought reoccurringly going through my brain, like it was on, like this vicious cycle of like, well, if I take this vaccination, if I, if I get this, how can that impact my ability down the road to get pregnant? Will it? Yeah, because nobody knows, nobody knows, yeah, nobody.
Speaker 1:I was terrified, like I remember going to get that first jab and crying afterwards because I was like, and I almost didn't go, yeah, and I wish I wouldn't have, because I mean, who knows, like, really, what the long-term impacts of that is going to actually look like for us? Yeah, who knows? But you, you firsthand experienced. So what were some of the things that you experienced after your first vaccination?
Speaker 2:Um, I had serious heart issues and, yeah, I it was hard to like give an official diagnosis because I was pregnant. There was some um screenings that they didn't recommend because I was pregnant but yeah, it was presumed myocarditis, and I suffered the rest of my pregnancy with chest pain.
Speaker 2:And then when you had your child, did it go away? Um, it has slowly dissipated. Um. I still get occasional flare-ups, um, and I don't know if that was my official diagnosis. I have not. I don't know. Um, I don't think anyone knows enough to know what yeah. I, I it's kind of a mystery and I'm just to the point where I'm like I'm doing the best I can, with you know, doing being healthy and letting my body heal. I pray, and yeah, prayer.
Speaker 1:I tell you, yeah, so I do. Um, I want to take a step back to being in that corporate setting, because this is, I mean, being in a corporate environment, and harmonizing that with motherhood presents its own set of challenges. I don't want to completely like, overlook or, um dismiss how that may have looked for you. So can we, can we go back to that moment in time when you were doing, doing this teetering of um, that harmonization with work life balance, so to speak?
Speaker 2:Yeah, um, you know, definitely, before our third was born, um, it was becoming harder to balance, like as our kids, scott, it's hard when they're little, cause they need you and then they get a little older and it just becomes hard in a different way, like they were you know, starting little sports like little you know like, when they were three and four and five.
Speaker 2:And so you have that and then you know you find yourself coming out of the fog of like the baby stage and like you can start doing fun things again. It's like, well, we don't really have time to do the fun things because you know, my husband and I both work full time and then the weekends, if we're not home, doing laundry and grocery shopping and cooking for the week, like that, if we go do something fun, none of that gets done, it takes away.
Speaker 2:When you say yes to something, you're saying no to something else Exactly, and so I just felt like I was just constantly behind. I just it was just a struggle Like it's I don't know and it, um, I think it was getting hard. And then we were pregnant with our third and then, despite all the medical stuff and everything that stress like, I started thinking I'm like how the heck are we supposed to like? It's already hard.
Speaker 2:And now we're adding another, you know, baby to the family and like, like something has to give and it just, it was honestly this, you know, baby to the family and like, like something has to give and it just, it was honestly this.
Speaker 2:You know, I'll tell you, I thought I would retire from that job that I had.
Speaker 2:I loved it up until COVID. Like I was very content, like in my field of work and the company I worked for, and then suddenly I wasn't, and it was a weird shift to say, like all of these signs, like all the things that brought me joy, like now bring me stress, and all the things you know with my kids, like I'm not enjoying my time with them when I do have it, and then I miss out on all the great stuff, like you hear about, you know, all the cute things they did at daycare, and it's like, well, I really wish I was the one who was with them, and so all of it's like everything suddenly shifted within like a six month period to point away from what we were, how we were living and the you know the jobs we had. And it was just strange because I didn't ever, I never thought that I'd, I never had considered, you know, not continuing down the path we were, we were living, and then all of a sudden it was yeah, it was so obvious.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, and you had a clear sign from God.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And then that was just like okay, had a clear sign from God, yeah. And then to talk, that was just like hey, alyssa, I'm speaking to you, this is your sign, literally, but I do.
Speaker 1:I do love that. You had that very clear indicator and I think that so many women who have been on here have have talked to those moments in time, whether it was a very clear sign or they're doing the um, connecting the dots backwards and going. That was it, and I just was so like in the weeds that I couldn't even see it. But now I, now I understand, looking back, like God would he kept planting all of these little breadcrumbs for you to get there and for some people like you, it's like just like that, and you asked, you literally asked for it, and I think that oftentimes that is just. It's just sometimes so simple Like you, ask God for something and he will deliver it.
Speaker 2:He may not deliver it in the way that you thought he was going to, but he always delivers for sure.
Speaker 1:So, and I think, too, there is really something to be said for us as women, whether it's something that's consciously there or subconsciously, like you do not want to miss out on those moments, no matter what. And if we have the opportunity to make a pivot, like why not the cord with my corporate mortgage position, even though in the mortgage world, you really are operating 100% commission and you develop your business however you want to. So there's a lot of parallels with entrepreneurship and them being in that mortgage space or in real estate, so to speak. But it took me a very, very long time to finally go okay, it's time, it's time and, honestly, it's because of all of you women and hearing the stories, the inspiration, the, the like, leaps of faith and like just stepping into braveness and boldness and going, all right, it's time, okay. So, speaking of braveness and boldness, you put in your notice. And then what happened?
Speaker 2:And then what happened? Um, I don't know, it was terrifying.
Speaker 1:I don't know Like it was.
Speaker 2:It was not like, oh, how fun I'm like home now, you know, and on one hand, yeah, like I'm home with my little baby and that's amazing, but then I'm like what did I do? Like I gave up this incredible career like just something I loved and great benefits, and then I said no to it and I walked away and, to be honest, like I don't really feel like I came into myself as like a stay at home mom, fully, fully, like I kind of had an identity crisis, like it was talk about very real. Um, it was honestly like in hindsight, I can see how I was like in the darkness of the valley and how I was being led out into the light, like that's. It's obvious. Now and at the time, though, I'm like this is who I've been like, this is what I've identified with. Like if you would ask me like what something about myself, like my job would be, what I would tell you about, like yeah, not about anything about me, because I'm like I don't even know if I even like had a personality anymore. Like because I was. You know, you're like go to work and then you're a mom and you're just busy and tired and then that's like your life.
Speaker 2:And so I came out of working and basically overnight, like my community was gone, like I didn't see my friends at work anymore and I no longer was this you know chemist, who I'd been for 14 years and we had moved. At the time we also had built a new house, we were in a brand new neighborhood that we had. So I'm like I don't know my neighbors and it's COVID, so nobody, we're not going to meet them. That was 2020. And I don't know. It was just like a really, and I don't know if I ever questioned I don't think I questioned that I made the right choice, but it led me into a new life.
Speaker 2:That was also not easy. And now I'm home right, like and it's great and anyone who stays home with their kids knows like it's so hard Like to the point where I told my husband'm like can we trade? Can I go to work for 40 hours a week? And like you stay home with the baby, because I'm like you can have peace and quiet, you can like get some stuff done and like um. So it was honestly hard for me to enjoy it and I don't know I was grateful and I did enjoy it. I don't know. I was grateful and I did enjoy it. I don't know, it's like a weird. I was just a weird place.
Speaker 1:I get it Super weird, like I get it again all levels set with you.
Speaker 1:There was a period of time where we home with Maddie maybe one or two days a week, while also trying to answer phone calls and do mortgage applications and cater to her needs as well, and I was like what the heck? I was so grateful for those little moments in between. But when when because I can identify with like this identity crisis that was happening right, like when I cut the cord, it was deeply personal for me. I was so tied to who I was before because I thought that I would continue to do mortgage I never truly loved it, which was really interesting, but I thought, oh, I could do this, I could keep doing this it's good, you know, like we make good money and like combined we make really good money.
Speaker 1:But I always identified like that way working, working, working all the time. And then in the mortgage industry it was working all the time, sun up to sun down. And so when that shift happened and I shifted away, I was like I shifted away, I was like holy cats and dogs.
Speaker 2:Who am I?
Speaker 1:But it really first started when I had Maddie and I was like, do I want to stay at home? And when I got a taste of that stay at home, I was like I had such a fond, fond, deep appreciation for anybody that is full time som stay at home mom.
Speaker 1:Fond appreciation Because I'm like this is not for the faint of heart and anybody that like speaks to stay at home moms, as if it's some easy walk in the park. You are so off base. It is so, so challenging in a very different way. Yeah, mentally, yeah, mentally challenging. You're on 24 seven.
Speaker 2:Yes, there's no taking a break.
Speaker 1:100%, yeah, but yeah, like that, that time period. I mean I was so grateful to have support from um. Both of our parents are mothers, so my mother-in-law and then my mom were amazing support um networks, like support people for us during that time period. But even even so, it was doing this like balancing act with their schedules too and like sometimes they wouldn't be able to make it and that would throw a little curve ball in the whole mix for the schedule, right, yeah, so it's like you have to be malleable and flexible and be able to ebb and bend and flow in all different ways, shapes and forms. Yeah, for the listeners, like we're, we're literally listening. I are literally like doing these eyebrow raises at each other. Like you get it.
Speaker 2:I got it, I got it.
Speaker 1:Yep, we got it, we understand, and I'm sure that there are many individuals who are listening right now. They're like yes, you get it, you understand. So that was back in 2020. It's 2025, 2025, so we've got a bit of a gap here. Let's talk about what all of that looked like yeah, so let's see 20.
Speaker 2:So 2020 was let's see 2021, I think is when I had the medical incident and then my daughter was born early 2022. And then I put my notice in November of 2022. So then I took a year, um, of just like redefining myself, um, and I just I feel like I grew in so many areas because I finally had the bandwidth to and the time and like I don't know the I don't know, it was just such a weird season that I actually did self-reflect and I think it was out of necessity because I was just like who am I? Like my whole identity was like gone and, um, I actually grew exponentially in my faith. Like that's really when my faith kicked in and I don't think that that's a coincidence and I don't think it's anything that I like did other than just starting to dig um, but I think God was there, obviously the whole time, but he's like okay, like now you're like, you're listening, like you're ready, and so I started realizing how critical my faith was and how I needed to rely on that to make my decisions and not on my own understanding, and so that was huge. And then it was like I and this sounds corny, but like I picture that time as like a tiny flower bud like that started to open up and I became like who I have always been, but like who I didn't know who I was like. And I started like coming into myself and like we made great friends, like in all these communities, like neighborhood and their kids' school and our church, and like all of a sudden we had these like really profoundly impactful, healthy friendships in our lives, like really good people that I'm just like where have you been like all my life? Like really incredible friends.
Speaker 2:Um, and then like I kind of came into myself as a mom and like who you know, who would I want to be? Like I don't want to be this mom that just like drops you off at school and like then I put you to bed like an hour after we get home because we're busy, and like I want to be there, like I want to be present, and so what does that look like? Like what do I have to change and even to become less selfish about my own time and what I want to do and pour into them? Um, and so I feel like I had work to do there and then I was getting bored, like a little bit mentally, like I was like I don't have these like puzzles to solve anymore, like I don't know, like I don't know if I can just be a stay-at-home mom, like what I don't know.
Speaker 2:Like what does my future look like like, besides being present for my children? Like I need a little bit something else to do, and I didn't know what that was for a while. And then this little business that now exists like was born overnight. Like I, um had been using tallow myself for like five years, and I'll tell you this is really funny looking back, but, um, working for Estee Lauder, I was mainly on the Aveda brand, which is vegan, and so, within working there, like you couldn't wear feathers, you couldn't wear leather, you couldn't wear like any animal products, like cause it went against the integrity of the brand being vegan and I was using tallow, and so I'm like I can't tell anybody at work that I'm like using beef tallow like as my skincare.
Speaker 2:I'm not using Aveda, I'm not using Estee Lauder products anymore, which, to be honest, had never really worked for me, and like I just thought I was, there was something wrong with my skin or whatever, and so I remember joking with my husband. I'm like if I ever quit and this was like five years, this is like pre COVID Like if I ever were to quit my job, which I didn't think I would. I'm like I think I need to like make beef tallow skincare and like it was just so funny to me at the time, cause I'm like here I am on this vegan brand and I'm, like you know, completely using plant-based materials, and I just remember I was like, oh, it'd be so funny because I loved it, like it was amazing. And I've been using Talo. I did not know it was trendy.
Speaker 1:I didn't realize it was trendy.
Speaker 2:But I didn't realize it was trendy. I just knew I had been using it and the brand I was using was okay, like I don't think it was well formulated, like it had some issues, but I didn't care. Like it was, I'm like I don't know, I don't like I don't have access to like tallow, like you know it's fine and my skin looks amazing. Um, so I'm going to keep using it. And then I was like well, what if I start like making stuff at, like my own tallow products, like how I like them, like a little, maybe nice, more nicely formulated, and like just for like my own use at home, like that might give me that outlet to be creative and like have something to do like besides laundry and making meals and stuff? And then my husband was like well then, why don't you just sell it, like make it and making meals and stuff? And then my my husband was like well then, why don't you just sell it? Like make it and sell it? Like, if you're going to make it and formulate it like, maybe there are other people that might like to hallow?
Speaker 2:And I was like oh yes. And it got the wheels spinning and literally this was a conversation. It was like it was like January 1st, like the timing like was so bizarre Really, and I was like it wasn't a new year's resolution by any stretch, it was just us having conversation. And then the next day, like I took off running, like I registered the business, yes, I was like I'm going to do this, like it felt so right, and I'm like I've never run a small business, like I have no idea what I'm doing, like how?
Speaker 1:do you open a bank account Like?
Speaker 2:or like I don't know, like nothing, like I, like, knew nothing. All I knew was like I had decided to do this and I never looked back, and so that was January of 2024. And we launched, I think, officially in May or June of 2024. So we're coming up on our one year anniversary.
Speaker 1:Awesome. And what's so incredible, alyssa, is in that period of time. Look at the exposure that you've had and how the brand itself has built Like I'm, I'm, I'm all in. Like I've got my lip butter, my peppermint lip butter. It's so funny I always have. Like, since I got it, I'll always be sitting here and I'm so addicted to it, Like this has always been my thing is like I'm always putting something on my lips and I'm like opening this up, putting it on while I'm talking to the guest.
Speaker 1:Nobody else can hear. You probably can't even tell that I'm putting it on right now, or maybe you can cause I'm that close. But then I always think, oh, can they hear me putting the cap back on? Maybe, maybe, as I drop it. Now you can know. But, or now you know.
Speaker 1:But I am like so in love with the face cream, and what I love is, um, I had accessibility to you right, like I had your cell phone number so I could go. Alyssa, okay, do you ever do consultations with people in terms of, like the products that they're using right now and then how to mix this in with it? And you were literally like no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, like this replaces all of it, and I was like all of it and you're like, yeah, I mean like play around with it. I think is kind of what you alluded to, like, you know, play around with what works, what doesn't work. But I just remember, like ordering it and I mean it's not cheap by any stretch of the I did was it's literally replacing seven other products. Yeah, yeah, that are more than what I just spent on this bottle of face cream. Yeah, this jar of face cream. I should say it's so incredible, like I am such a believer.
Speaker 1:And then take it a step further. There's another gal who's been on the podcast and I think I had mentioned, um, her, it's her. Now I'm totally drawing a blank. It's. She's married to this gal's brother and, um, they have a farm it's a regenerative farm and so she gets all of like their dairy, like their egg, their eggs, their milk, um, their beef, from this farm. And then what she decided to do she's gonna make her own towel. So she had me try. The towel was like I think I'll stick with the tallow that I've got because one, it smells good and it's like formulated by a chemist.
Speaker 1:So I think we're just going to stick with this and not upset the apple cart, so to speak. But I just am so floored at what you have created. Um, floored at what you have created and it's all in such alignment to like who you are as a person while also serving on the health side too, like this truly is by and far an incredibly healthy product that you're putting on your skin, that, as your skin is soaking it in. You're not having these weird responses to it.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, yeah, I mean, what I love about it is like, like you said, the simplicity. It's natural, and even a lot of these natural companies, many of whom I've worked for, um, there are not always great things put in the formulas. Um, you know, and if you have a formulation that has water in it, you have to preserve it, right? So preservatives are not good for the skin. There's no such thing as a natural preservative, um, with the caveat maybe of like, there are some, like rosemary or oregano extracts, that, but they make your product smell terrible, so there's nothing great. Um, it's probably like the Holy grail, like the natural skincare formulation.
Speaker 2:Um, industry is like a natural preservative but, with that being said, so tallow, there's no water in these formulas, so there's no need for a preservative. You can't, you're not going to get mold or fungus or whatever, um, and so that even still, it's like even that much healthier. Even though these other products are natural, they're not necessarily good for you, and so I think it's easy to conflate natural with. You know, great for your skin, but there are a lot of um natural ingredients that I would never recommend to put on the skin, and they're in almost every lotion and serum, and I would love for you to just, um, maybe dive into that a little bit more so that the list cause I'm.
Speaker 1:I know that the listeners are going. Well, what are they? I want to know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean so maybe rattle off just a few. So like preservatives, like I said, not great perfume fragrance, these are synthetic fragrances that really. I think there is ample scientific evidence to back up that these are endocrine disruptors. They probably do other things. They're not. And your skin is your largest organ. So what you put on your skin is absorbed, and I kind of equate it to kind of what you put in your mouth, right, like what you eat and what you put on your skin are the two things.
Speaker 2:I would you know if you're going to start down the healthy path, like that's where you start. Yeah, I would you know if you're going to start down the healthy path like that's where you start. Yeah, totally, if you have a product that's like a wash off, like a shampoo, conditioner, body wash, like those can fall lower on your list as you start to tackle things because they're not staying on your skin, sure. And then there are things called phthalates parabens are things called phthalates, parabens? There's kind of a laundry list of like dirty ingredients that a lot of companies are trying to get out of, but that's not to say that what they're using is also healthy and good for you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like the alternative, you mean the?
Speaker 2:alternatives aren't always great, and the one thing I actually have a big issue with are seed oils. Like seed oils are going to be from, like sunflower, soybean I'm drawing a blank with others like rapeseed, canola, grapeseed Like these oils are highly processed that's how they get them from the plant and so they're highly processed and during the processing of them to make them clear and odorless and uniform they are, they start oxidizing. So they're, by the time like by the time we would receive them, you know, at work like they're probably oxid. So now we're putting them in this formula and oxidized oils are really bad for your skin.
Speaker 2:So, they can cause premature aging. They probably I don't know. I don't know how much actual scientific literature there is to prove how bad they are, but there's a lot of anecdotal evidence so far. Which is kind of where, like you know, the science starts, is with the anecdotal evidence whole lot for you. They're greasy, they don't always smell great and then they're cheap and that's why you know, and they're not, they're quote unquote vegan and natural. So you know you can stick soybean oil in a formulation and claim you have a vegan, natural, vegan product and it's like, well, it doesn't mean it's good for you, um and so kind of. On the other side of that is um tallow, which is a highly stable um fat lipid. Um, it's got a very long chain length, which is good. It means it's not readily oxidized.
Speaker 1:Um and it's.
Speaker 2:The fatty acid chains that are in it are super similar to our own skin, and so that's why it's so um, incredible on the skin is because it it's it's a bio-mimicking raw material, and so when you put it on your skin is like, oh, like. This is just like the sebum that the skin cell naturally produces, and we know what to do with this. We can absorb it. It contains fat soluble vitamins that our skin needs that definitely are not in these seed oils, and so your skin is able to take these up and utilize them and kind of just nourish this, the skin cells like deep down, and I mean I look at it as like food for your skin. Yeah, like, cause it's what you're, you know you're putting it on, it's absorbing like and it's nourishing these skin cells.
Speaker 1:I will. I'll just give you um a testament to the Talo. Now I've only been using it for a few months, but I had my high school reunion. I graduated in oh four, so just a few weeks ago, Okay and I literally had not one, not two, but many, like handfuls of people, go. I feel like you're aging backwards Seriously and I'm like, wow, it's working.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I know it's like and it's crazy. It's hard for me selling it to tell people like all the benefits because, um, they're like. They look at you like you're crazy, Right, they're like. There's no way Like I've tried all the products, I use my 12 steps and I like my skin looks pretty good and there's no way that one product will replace everything and I'm like, just try it, Like give it a month, like and it and once.
Speaker 2:So you're. The cell turnover rate of your skin cells is about 28 days for adults. And so I try to tell people, like, just give it 28 days and let those, under layers of skin cells, as they rise to the surface, they're fully nourished, they're given these vitamins and these fatty acids that they know what to do with and utilize. Let those come out and you will be glowing. And I, actually I had somebody, assume I was 30, I'm 38, and I was like they're like, you're like, how do you, how are your kids so old? Like you're, wait, how old are you? Like yeah, how do you have a? This, whatever nine-year-old, and you're 30? They're like, trying to do the timeline of like facts, I've given them and I'm like I'm not 30, like, yeah, I am 38. So that was kind of funny, um, and then my husband started using it back when I was starting to formulate, and so he's you know, he's like my biggest cheerleader, he's like he's like let me try that.
Speaker 2:He's like I'm gonna. So he's like putting the tallow on and his, I think, a co coworker or somebody was like have you, did you change something Like? It's like? I know this is going to sound super weird, but like your skin looks really good.
Speaker 1:For a guy to say something like that, right? Yeah, actually I'm so glad that she brought that up. My husband used the face cream on his. He put it on his cheeks and he's like gosh, this stuff's really nice. I love how it absorbs into my skin, is what he said, and I was like I know, right, and she's going to be on the podcast too. I can't wait. It's so exciting.
Speaker 2:I've had a lot.
Speaker 1:You wouldn't believe how many people who have purchased from me, who have said they're like I had to buy another jar because my husband took my jar and he started using it. I love it. I think it's, I think it's incredible Speaking of which you mentioned your husband being like such a cheerleader for you. Let's talk through what your village of support has looked like, starting with your husband.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh my gosh. I like I don't know if I would have. Actually, I know I wouldn't have done it without him. He was the one who planted the seed of the idea of like I think you could turn this into a business, and so that he was right there from the beginning. And then, just like every step of the way, he's like you know cause I'm like who am I like to do something like this? Like I like sure I can formulate it, but like I'm not, like I don't know what I think about business, I don't know what I think about marketing, and he's like you'll figure it out. Like don't worry about it, just just do it. Like just go and start.
Speaker 2:And then every step of the way. I'm like we've done markets and he's. He'll be up till midnight with me like stamping soap, like filling jars and like it's just yeah. I don't know that I would have done it without him or stuck with it Like I don't know.
Speaker 1:So it's so incredible when you can lean into your significant other and and honest to goodness, alyssa, like wholeheartedly grateful that I have the husband that I do to push me, kind of like what you're saying, like you have somebody who's pushing you because otherwise, if that push from behind, that tailwind from behind, wasn't there, I'm with you. I don't know if I would have done the podcast. I don't know if it would have opened up my mind to other opportunities of which I can serve mothers who are entrepreneurs in a very unique and fun way and, much to your husband's point, this is what Joe said to me too.
Speaker 1:He's like you're going to figure it out, you're smarter than what you say you are, and I'm like but let's actually talk through, um, the your background Right, and I think so much of us can speak to this like we don't have these formal business or marketing backgrounds to back into right when we decide that we want to start something and start it from scratch. So what did that look like for you? Like what were the highs, what were the lows? And I don't think that we can go without talking about these different sets of challenges that you're probably bumping into in terms of harmonizing it with motherhood too. Okay, yeah, so I kind of laid a lot out there. Start with what you want first.
Speaker 2:Okay, gosh, I like I don't know. I look back and I'm like I can't believe I did this, Like I had no reason to believe that this would take off as much as it did, and maybe I just didn't care if it did or not and that so maybe my like bar was set just so low. I just was like it's something to do, it's like getting that creative part of my brain functioning again and like even and I think, yeah, even if it hadn't taken off like it did, like I still would have had fun doing it and it still was just something else for me to like that was fulfilling. However, it has been taking off and now I'm like joking, half joking with my husband some days. I'm like I feel like I need like 40 hour work week. I'm like who am I saying this? I'm like this is why, like a lot of the reason why I left my job is I'm like I can't do the 40 hour work week. And he's like, well, like do we need to look at, you know, putting our youngest now in like preschool? And I'm like, oh, you're like breaking my heart because I'm like I don't necessarily want to do that, you know.
Speaker 2:But the balance now that it's like a different season of balancing. Like I am home, which is the key. Like I'm home, I'm doing this out of my home, yeah, and so I'm home with my daughter my youngest, my older tour our school age, and so it is this like beautiful lifestyle that I just I feel so grateful for, lifestyle that I just I feel so grateful for, and I feel like just kind of in awe still every day when I wake up and I'm like I don't have to go to the nine to five like, and it's nine to five in a different way. It's actually like seven, five, 5am, some days to midnight, like it's different, but it's still like it's my business that I get to run how I see fit. It's my formulas. I don't have anybody telling me what to put in it or how it should feel or how it should look, and all the while, like my daughter is, like you know, playing next to me or sometimes screaming and like clinging and I'm like.
Speaker 2:OK, well, how do I do this? But at the same, you know I wouldn't trade that at the same time for anything Like I know, these years are short and she's already three and a half and it's like oh so Time flies when you're having fun.
Speaker 1:I think, something else to be said in all of that, too, is this alignment that you're in, like when when you got here, when you arrived here for your interview, and I'm like we're meeting each other for the first time and I can see this glimmer in your, our faith and take that leap of faith into something a complete, unknown right, all the while trusting the steps that are in front of us via God.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean, but I think you mentioned something that is worth noting, which is it's just a different season. Right, it does present its different challenges and you ebb and flow with it, but the best part about all of it is it's yours, it's not somebody else's, and you're not having somebody bark at you about this or tell you that you have to stay within these parameters. Not having somebody bark at you about this or tell you that you have to stay within these parameters, like you formulated something that, by all means and standards, is superior. It's superior, really.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:And it's healthy, and you're laying a foundation for legacy, not only like for yourself, but for your children, right, and so I think you also said something earlier on that so many people are awakening to the lies that have been fed to them. Yeah, and that is very much the case with the food that's being presented to us. Yes, and the products the beauty products and the lies that we, specifically as women, are told you have to have this, you have to have this, you want to age backwards. Have this product in your arsenal, have this one in your tool belt.
Speaker 2:This will solve all your problems, and I mean it's expensive and it's expensive, that you need a different product for each skin challenge. It's totally false. That is completely. And that's like one of the things where I've didn't realize this when I started. But I like quickly, was like hang on, like there's a way, like women do not need a seven step skincare process, like you nobody does.
Speaker 2:Like it's just, um, we've been sold a lie and so that kind of became. Like the foundation of my brand is like simplify your skincare. If you're using something that works, works, like you don't need to spend any like all this money and you don't need a separate product for each skin. Like your skin is one organ. Like why would you need? Like, do you like the fact that people believe that this one little serum is gonna fix just their acne or just their like age thoughts or their fine lines? Like it's in it. Like when you can step back and look at it, um, it's like, oh yeah, like this does seem kind of silly, right. Like that this thing is actually going to. Like this product is going to target this little thing. Like like that I have to. I don't know, it's just.
Speaker 1:Well, and you and I kind of had this moment in our conversation over the phone where we talked about, like it, a lot of this has to do with the food that you're intaking to your gut the amount of hydration you have, the hydration levels of your skin as well, and so it's like to think that a product is going to fix your problems rather than going.
Speaker 1:Well, wait a second, let's actually take a close look at what the root cause, which really could be identified as what you're putting in your body, like I think we talked about whole 30 and um, just these kind of getting back to, like the, the foundational pieces of what nutrients we're putting into our body and then building, building back into, like okay, well, is dairy something that might be triggering it? Maybe, maybe not, no, okay, beans, no, yes, maybe what else? Pasta, breads, carbos, I don't know. You know, like there is an evaluation that has to be done too, because our gut plays such a large role.
Speaker 2:Yeah, a hundred percent. I think how our skin, our skin, absolutely starts with what you put in your body and I think for, yeah, and like, even tallow, I mean I'll say like isn't the like cure for bad skin sometimes? Because if you're not addressing the root cause, like it might and it probably will still benefit your skin because you're still nourishing it from the outside, but it starts inside. And these processed foods and I think the food and the beauty go hand in hand. It's like get away from the processed products, you know, and that goes for skincare, that goes for natural skincare products, you know, and that goes for skincare. That goes for natural skincare. And, um, I did want to touch on two like oils that are good that you, you know, besides tallow, it's like oils that are pressed, they're not refined and that are, you know, squeezed out of um the fruit. So, like coconut oil is great, olive oil is great, um, avocado, jojoba oil, like, and these, but I will say I wouldn't ever use any of those except jojoba oil like on your skin either.
Speaker 2:Cause they're very heavy um and they can cause acne. But, um, yeah, so looking for food and skincare that is minimally processed it's just taken from the source and maybe filtered, you know, or slightly heated to kind of purify, um, like that is what you want to look for and if you can attack both sides of that, like you will have amazing skin.
Speaker 1:Yes, and you'll feel great I know I, and I feel that, like I, we talked through like whole 30 and how I had. I think when we spoke I might have just been finishing up with whole 30. Um, but it's interesting, like, if I have, if I have, like, refined sugars, my skin tells that story after the fact very quickly too. So I'm like shame on you, kelly, like shame on you.
Speaker 2:I know for me it's seed oils, like if I'll, we don't eat that a lot and every once in a while we will, and it's like I'll get little pimples and I'm like I can't walk around selling tallow, like having, like you know, skin. That's not because I think generally my skin looks really great not not trying to pat myself on the back, but just like the tallow is so amazing like it's.
Speaker 2:I agree, like you know, I'm like I can't like this is just a reminder. I'm like this it starts with what you feed your body and yeah, and actually that's where I started. Where I found tallow for skincare was we were, um, like really eliminating products from our home like food, cleaners, beauty, that we were starting to kind of wake up to that like the more process this is like doesn't mean it's better. In fact, it means it's worse. And so we started kind of cleaning up on all fronts. And, yeah, we started with diet, for sure, like that was a big deal, like we tried like paleo and whole 30 and like we've kind of landed on like a low carb, like high protein diet, which has really been amazing for us and yeah, it's. That was where I found tallow.
Speaker 2:I think was like going down a rabbit hole and like healthy eating and I'm like wait, what is this Like? And I thought it was gross. So, for those listening, like, I get it a hundred percent. Like it's like a weird, really weird like thing to think about putting on your face, but once you try it like, once people try it, I have so many customers that are just like obsessed. We just have to putting on your face, but once you try it, like once people try it, I have so many customers that are just like obsessed. We just have to go on your reviews. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:Like people have left so many glowing reviews that the product speaks for itself. So let's um tell or share with the listeners what exactly is tallow, so that they like for those that don't know they've got a better understanding, yep, so tallow is the rendered fat from beef.
Speaker 2:So, um, the fat is taken off the meat or from around the kidneys, which is called suet, and then when you so to process it, it's called rendering. You just heat it on a low temperature for a while and that pulls out, kind of like any other fibrous tissue and whatnot. So you're just left with the fat and then the tallow that I use then goes on to be wet rendered after, and what that means is you use water and salt and you render the fat in the water and the salt on a low heat and the water and the salt pull out any additional impurities and the smell. So the tallow that's a big question is, um, probably most tallow brands don't wet render and so that smells like beef and that was like a non-starter for me. Like the one I bought, I think was a little beefy but it used essential oils to like cover it up and I'm like I knew starting this, I'm like I that's like I wouldn't use this myself and if I'm not going to use it, I'm not going to like tell other people to use it, right. And so the tallow I'm really proud of our tallow.
Speaker 2:It's sourced from the US, from US cows. They are organic, but they don't have the USDA organic claim because that's really expensive and hard to get. But the farm that it comes from these cows are not vaccinated, they're not given antibiotics, they're free range. They're healthy cattle living their best days out in the field. Um, grass fed, grass finished. So there's when you get corn finished beef, you get um like a higher polyunsaturated fatty acid level, which is not always like the greatest for skin, um, and so these are grass-fed, grass-finished cows. And so what's important when you're sourcing tallow is so impurities, viruses and other toxins will get stored in the fat, and so that's where you want to be sure that your tallow source is very clean, um, and the rendering does pull some of that out as well. But so, yeah, our tallow is like very, very high quality Um cause, again, you want to be really cautious with what you're putting on your skin but you know it's as clean and natural and you know low processed as possible.
Speaker 1:That was a wonderful and amazing explanation. So thank you so in depth. I love it. It's, it's amazing. All right, I have so many different avenues that I would love to go down, but in in a an effort of time as well. Um, and to honor your time, I think that it's time to start landing the plane so to speak.
Speaker 1:One of the things that I keep thinking about, alyssa, is like what are and I'm going a little off script, so you just let me know how you are seeing with being a mom raising kids, and then what you're doing with your business, if any?
Speaker 2:Parallels.
Speaker 2:I think it's being intentional, like I think starting a small business is kind of like having a baby, you think Like they don't cry, but they scream in other ways for your attention.
Speaker 2:And so in that aspect it's funny, because I do find I need to be intentional on both fronts, because if you're not, it's easy like get nothing done or not spend any quality time with your kids or making sure you're balancing one over. You know, you, that the business can easily take up all your time and it's super easy to like get sucked into it. Um, so like separating myself and I'm trying to have more of like a work day that I end, and so one thing I didn't do initially was like I would work late at night or I'd work on the weekends, because I had the time and I had the help from my husband to like you know, help with the parenting. And I've gotten to the point where I'm like, okay, like my kids are not getting any younger and these years are flying by, and so I'm trying to like end my day when the kids get home and not work weekends.
Speaker 2:So it's been hard sometimes yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh, it's good. You literally hit the nail on the head with that. Literally hit the nail on the head with that, like it's very much like having a child, except the business screams at you in a very different way and to your point, setting the borders and the boundaries for yourself, and understanding, like, what really is important in all of this. Like, yeah, I got to get these orders out, which it sounds like you had a lot of that in the last few days, which is, you know, good on you, like kudos, that's incredible, right, but then going, but my kids aren't getting any younger and so I do have to set some parameters around what this truly is going to look like.
Speaker 1:I'm sure that you'll eventually get to a point where there'll be some scaling too. Have you thought about that?
Speaker 2:Every day and it's we're in like a weird place of like super big growing pains where I do, I'm, I'm operate out of my home and so my kitchen gets sanitized and cleared of food and turned into a lab and then sanitized and turned back into a kitchen and it's working so far, but I don't know how much longer. Like, which is great right, like growing, such a good issue to have. But it's like we we're struggling. We've had this conversation probably like every day for a couple weeks now. Like what does our, what do our next steps look? Like like we're not, you know, we're not big enough to like go rent a space, like we don't have. Like we've only been doing this for 11 months, so it's like we don't have enough.
Speaker 2:Um, you know, on paper, like I guess money coming in knowing that we could like afford a space, sure, sure, and so it is out of our home and like I think my biggest thing right now, I have soap curing in our basement bedroom and I have materials stored in another room in the basement and then I have materials in the garage and I like I ship out of the office and I make product out of the kitchen and so I'm like my husband some days is like this I just kind of tired of like looking at soap and like looking at like tallow, like it's great, but like I'd love to like put my stuff down on this counter that has now become like a work counter, so that is yeah, that's where we're at. We're like at a like growing pains stage, which is great. It's a great problem. Yeah, um yeah. So I did want to share one like really cool story with you please like.
Speaker 2:I've had like the marriage of like motherhood and entrepreneurship, like come to like this really cool head, like the last couple of weeks with my daughter. She's in third grade and they just did a unit on entrepreneurship and they had to create a product and they had to use materials like that they had at home. Like they couldn't go buy stuff and then they had to like make it to sell it in school and like rent their desk out to like you know, like you were at a market, like they had to rent their stall, and so she made soap, because one of the products that we make is tallow goat milk soap and she's. I've tried for a year now to get her interested in making soap with me, cause I'm like she's a nine-year-old girl, you know like yes, I would have totally been all over that at that age and she's just been like I don't know, like that's okay, mom, I don't have to help and I'm just like my heart, like breaks a little bit, Cause I'm like, come on, like it's so cool.
Speaker 1:Like.
Speaker 2:Let me like geek out on the chemistry with you, like this is so cool, so get her to do it couldn't get her interested and now then she decided to make soap as her like product to sell, because she has seen us go to these markets and sell soap and she's helped us at the markets, which she does like, and so she, pretty much 100, made the soap. I helped her, as to you know, and I um kind of like taught her how to do it and like, but she did it. She did 90 of the work and so she had ownership of it, and so she and she's telling me she's like mom, like soap chemistry is so cool and I'm like in my head, I'm like screaming, I'm like I know I'm trying to tell you and you wouldn't believe me but it's a family business, I know, and so it's like so cool to see her have ownership over a product and understand like the real life implications of like how do you sell this product?
Speaker 2:Like what?
Speaker 2:are all the, and I think why that meant so much to me was because I had we have had to sacrifice, you know, time with them to do work for this business. And there are times where the kids are like, oh, we have to go to the post office again, like I'm like, well, guys, like this is what it looks like to like, you know, do like run this business and um, so just I think for her to like see with fresh eyes, like why we're doing this and like the sacrifices like that may come for the family in order to like focus on the business in certain seasons.
Speaker 2:Like it was just really cool, it was awesome.
Speaker 1:I love this story so much. It is all of what you just said plus more.
Speaker 1:The modeling, I think, is like you don't realize the modeling that you're doing in the moment right you just feel like, oh, I'm, I am taking away time, precious time, from my kiddos, but it does set a tone for them as well to understand. Like you said, like sometimes we have to sacrifice. When you say no to something, you're saying yes to something. You're saying yes to something, and when you're saying yes to something, you're also saying no to something else. And you have the choice and you can have the discernment around that too. And I say that to us as moms. You know, like we're, we rub shoulders with each other, we like that is what we do. We have to have the discernment to set the boundaries, but then also have the discernment to go.
Speaker 1:But I am literally modeling for my children right now what it looks like to be a business owner and they can make their choices whenever they want to, whatever path they want to carve for themselves. But by golly, is it cool to be able to go? Hey, you can do this too, but you have the choice. Whatever you set your heart to, you can do it. It's just what. Thank you for sharing that story. It's like I get chills thinking about it. How cool, so okay. Remember when I said that we were going to start to land the plane. But I have another question that just came up, because you are, at the core, a chemist, and so what are some of the like it in terms of that, sales and the marketing of it and all this stuff? What are some of the things that you've had to like strengthen through all of that?
Speaker 2:Everything else like literally.
Speaker 1:I wish that I had video going right now to see your face, okay.
Speaker 2:So, to give you an idea, like Instagram, I had to learn how to make a real and a story and learn the difference between a post and a reel. Like I had no idea. I'm like, how do people make these videos? Like that was cause I I'm not huge on social media personally, and so that's been a struggle. And then marketing, like oh gosh, that is not a strength of mine, like at all. And then I mean mean all of it, like the only other thing that was kind of fun was I was like into photography as a hobby, like way before kids, and so we like dusted off our like you know, our DSLR camera and like did our product photos. And that was also learning too, because I'm like we're not like by no means are we like photographers um, building a website, like all of it, and so I don't know, we've like bootstrapped our way like this whole time, like I feel you like.
Speaker 1:Look, I'm recording out of my home office and I'm like whatever, who cares for? For a while, getting things started, I was like absolutely not. Like I want to have the podcast studio of podcast studios and my husband's like you've got all the gear, who cares Do it Go, just start. And now I'm like how cozy comfy is this? Like I want people to come and feel comfortable and like doesn't have to be at a studio to make this run, Just like you figure it out and then you pivot and change and evolve as you see fit.
Speaker 1:I do want to just say, because I have been on the website, because I've ordered the products and I'm like this is great, like because I did think about that, I was like I wonder how, like, really how all of this has evolved and shifted, and so I love hearing some of the behind the scenes on that right, because and I think part of like not that we're huge by any stretch of the imagination, but part of our success is that we grew organically, Like I we never took out a loan, like we didn't get investments or investors or whatever, and so we've grown like so organically and I think that was kind of critical.
Speaker 2:Like it took the pressure off, like hey, you know what, if this thing like doesn't take off, like we're not out anything but like maybe a little bit of money in our time, um, but I think that was critical too, because it allowed us to grow naturally, like also not just by sales, but like growth and like learning marketing and like learning how to do these things that you know we weren't investing thousands of dollars into or whatever Like and I just it's been good for us to just take it slow.
Speaker 1:I love hearing what I'm kind of hearing through all of that is simplicity is like that is sometimes all it takes and all you need and I think part of what I'm learning from you is I have a habit of over complicating things and when I like your point, when you take a step back and you just go well, wait, it's actually simpler than this. There's so much beauty in the simplicity.
Speaker 2:Yes, and like peace, cause you know you're not beholden to anybody else and you're not. There's not this huge pressure on you Like I don't know It's's. Yeah, I'm glad we just took it slow and I think like my piece of advice for anyone like thinking or have, who has an idea, like just start, like and don't put a lot of money into it so that if it doesn't take off like you're just out your time, but you've grown and learned at least something you know from your failure, like success is just built upon a whole pile of failures, at least in my case.
Speaker 2:You know and like that's what it is, I don't know. It's like the mountain of success is just a big pile of failure, probably for most people Like.
Speaker 1:Oh, for sure, For sure. You cannot get to where you want to be without having failures. Yeah, cause that's the only way we're going to learn and grow. We are, we are faulty as humans. We are faulty. And so in order for you to like really truly grow as to like really truly grow as, as a person, it requires you to have those missteps, and sometimes the missteps can be, you know, like incredible missteps. And then sometimes they're just little speed bumps.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, and I feel like you can always look back in hindsight and, for a lot of things, be grateful for them too, like cause they lead you and they refine you and they build character.
Speaker 1:Yes, there was another gal who was on the podcast who really talked specifically about this refinement that God was putting her through Constant refinement, constant refinement and it allowed her to evaluate what her heart posture was in all of what she was doing, whether it be spending time at home because she does some part-time stay at home with her kiddos and then working in her business as well, and she wouldn't have it any other way because she decided how does God really want me to show up in all of this? And that's what she was being told. And she listened and it was really cool to hear her talk about that and to hear you kind of coming alongside of that and going, yeah, you can refine things through those failures and those missteps, or just deciding something doesn't feel right here. How can I allow this to be an opportunity for refinement too? Yeah, definitely. What's a piece of advice that you would give a younger version of yourself, knowing all that you know now and where you're at currently?
Speaker 2:Um gosh, I think I wish I had the faith I have now.
Speaker 2:Back when I was younger Um, I wasn't atheist and then I was a very nominal believer, christian, very new and fresh and, um, I never grew in my faith Like I really needed all the things I talked about that happened in beginning in 2020. Like I really needed those things to happen in my life because they brought me into just this incredible and I'm still learning and growing um in my faith but like I just really leaned into it because I had I didn't know what else to do and what I wish my younger self. I wish I had had that faith younger because it would have and I don't know where I would end up now, what decisions I would have made, but they probably would have been better. You know, like, instead of leaning on my own understanding and my own reasoning, like giving it up to God would have probably made my life easier and maybe not I mean sometimes not always right Like you don't always get the easy way out but yeah, probably like more refinement and like more um.
Speaker 2:I don't know, yeah, so I would. Just I wish my younger self had had the faith that I have now to rely on, instead of thinking it was just all me like having to make those choices and decisions and like you know, it's so good yeah, it's so good A few other questions.
Speaker 1:Good, a few other questions. Nothing. Nothing crazy though, alyssa. So what's?
Speaker 2:what has self-care looked like for you in all of this? That is a great question, um, so I think the thing I focus most on is like food, like I had a realization of how critical like healthy food was and how much it drives everything else in your life, and so that is my biggest form of self-care that I feel like I have control over for the most part and time for right, because everybody you have to eat, and so you have to daily make those choices.
Speaker 2:Um other than that, I would say, as, like a mom of three young kids, like self care is probably lacking um other areas, um, we're just very busy with fun stuff, like fun stuff with the kids and sports and school stuff and everything Um. So I think like finding the joy in those things and I have a tendency to like look at those as like a check, like a box to check right, like, oh, today I have these three things like check, check, check. Okay, now I can, like you know, go to bed. Like finally, like relax, and what I'm trying, like that's my natural tendency, my natural tendency, and so what I'm trying to do as a form of self-care is like living, being present in those moments, like making eye contact with my kids, like when I'm talking to them, because I'm not good at that, like I do have, I get busy and I, you know, you know, like you have a business and or you have a job and you have, or you have, laundry, like it's really hard to like give them my attention.
Speaker 2:For me, at least as a mom like I'm not, that's not a strength, and so I have been working on that and like it is rewarding, it is self-care, because it's like, okay, my day was actually really fulfilling today because I took a step away from what I thought was the most important thing in the moment and focused it on my children, and they do bring you so much joy, like you know like and my toddler, like, is less poorly behaved because she's like she's seeking that attention and so I can actually like enjoy all the time, like the the little time that I do have with them in a day like most.
Speaker 1:I love that you caught yourself, like at first you were like as a mom of three, I don't know Like what we put into our bodies is, to your point, critical, absolutely critical. It is the one of the highest forms of self care that we individuals, as human beings, can do for ourselves. Seriously, especially with this day and age that we are in and you are starting to see this awakening of wow, I've been fed so much in terms of like actually fed, but then like actually fed, but then like, spoken to like this is so healthy for you no, it's not. No, it's not. And coming like, coming up out of the fog and understanding like you have to advocate for yourself and you are doing that.
Speaker 1:That is self-care. Advocating for yourself is self-care, but even saying I am having these conversations with my children and eyes on the prize, like eye contact, and that is self-care in itself because it nourishes your soul and it also nourishes because they just want love.
Speaker 2:They just want your attention, I know.
Speaker 1:That's all they want. That's all they want. Yeah, oh, so good. All right, I do want to just ask this last question and it's kind of a heavy one and I think that you did allude to it but are you willing to share a dark moment that you went through? And I, like I said, I think you did already share this, but let's, let's go there and then, how you worked through it, let's go there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, I think, um, it would definitely be obviously this like identity crisis in what 2022? Leaving my career, like losing that community of people like overnight. Like going from having like a social life basically at work right, and friends and stuff, to not like you don't now, you don't see anybody, right, like that's hard. Um, and then, yeah, just the health scares and really like and then going into motherhood 24-7, which, in and of itself, is you know, we don't like.
Speaker 2:I feel like I have to say like it's so rewarding, but it's so hard and I had no idea how hard that would be. It seemed easier, like when you're at work and you've got the stress of projects and you've got deadlines and you've got meetings and your day is busy and like I kind of I would daydream like gosh, it would be so great to just stay home, like with my kids, like the laundry would be done and like meals would be cooked and grocery shopping would get done besides the weekend. And then you're like home with a toddler and you're like, well, I didn't get grocery shopping done today. Like laundry is backing up, like totally everybody's hungry, and so that was like I had no idea, like what I was getting into even though you know I wouldn't change it and I it's rewarding in its own way, but yeah, so that was yeah.
Speaker 2:And then, like I like I said we moved, so like we lost. We had new school community our daughter was kindergarten um, brand new school, we didn't know anybody. Brand new neighborhood, we didn't know anybody. I left my like tribe at work and my husband was also at a small job that he, you know, didn't have like a huge social community at work either and he's a very like extrovert like he needs that, whereas I'm an introvert and I don't necessarily like I need it.
Speaker 1:but on a smaller scale.
Speaker 2:But yeah, um and I it was like I don't think I was depressed, but I was definitely like I don't know.
Speaker 2:it was kind of a like a really dark season for a good year and then like we also lost, like both of our dogs that we'd had since yeah, you know they were old and like they both passed in that same year and like it was they had medical condition, like it was just, it was heavy, like it was just hard. The day-to-day was really hard, yeah, really hard, and I questioned like my decision and I didn't know who I was. And then, like I said, like I felt like and this is the point where I started really leaning into my faith, like my I went, went from a very lukewarm Christian to on fire and it was this refinement. I was ready, my heart was ready and God was there waiting and he did some incredible things. My life is so full right now of just beautiful things and I just am so glad I made that choice and like made that hard decision to leave.
Speaker 2:And you know, financially it was a horrible idea. Like we had just built a house and and like never in a million years did I think I'd like quit my job, and nor should we have built this house if I was going to leave my job, you know, and it's like what are we doing? But both of us were like this is right, like this is the right choice, like on paper, no, not at all, but like spiritually and emotionally, and like everything there's no way we're not doing this. And then, yeah, the rainbow appeared in my yard and then it was like, okay, all right, I'm listening.
Speaker 2:I'm going to be faithful and I'm going to step into this new season and I don't know what it's going to look like and it's been incredible.
Speaker 1:That was so beautiful. So, as you know, the name of the podcast is Reclaiming your Hue, and you just spoke so eloquently and beautifully to exactly what that is and that comes in so many different ways shapes, forms, depending on who you are as a woman. But I think really the point of all of this is like for individuals who are listening right now, who are in perhaps a challenging season of what that hue looks like for you, If you think about the concept of a flamingo right, so like when they have their babies, they lose the all of that coloring and then that coloring starts to come back and it's very applicable to us as women in motherhood, but then in business too. Yeah, I mean it's. The parallels are just so uncanny. It's scary, yeah.
Speaker 1:So thank you for sharing that. I know that you. I felt that that was probably what you were dealing with and challenges you were dealing with when you spoke to that early on in this interview, but I wanted to really bring it to light for other people and other women to be able to listen and hear that and just know that when you start to see something that gives you that spark, that gives you that joy you have to lean into it, whether it's your faith or it's a business idea, or it's spending quality time with your children because you're seeing those flickers of joy come back, or if it's getting out of the house and going for a gosh darn run, because you enjoy that so much but you haven't been able to.
Speaker 1:There's so many different ways. Yeah, so many different ways. Yeah, this has been so beautiful and so encouraging and so incredible, and I have so many more questions. But we are landing the plane now and it's. It's been a soft landing, but here we are. So how can people find you and get connected to you?
Speaker 2:Um, so I have a website um milkandhoneytallowcom, and I'm on Instagram and Facebook, which I think I said. Social media is not my strength, so I'm working on being a little more present on there, but, um, I do a bunch of giveaways. I love doing giveaways on there, so you can usually find one like every like couple months or so. Um, and, yeah, I do locally, like sometimes I'm at a market here and there as well, so cool.
Speaker 1:I have really, really, really enjoyed our time. And just another shout out to all the tallow products that you have and probably are continuing to build. That eyebrow race says it all. Um, so incredible and such a pleasure to meet you in the flesh, and I'll be sure to drop all of that information into the show notes, but I really hope that you have an amazing day.
Speaker 2:You're so welcome, really fun.
Speaker 1:You're so welcome.
Speaker 2:Have a good day. Thank you, you too, thanks.
