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Name: Leanne Sedlak & Kim Brunton

Business: SkinCatering, LLC

Industry: Consumer Goods, Health and Beauty

Location: Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.

Reason for starting: After meeting at a Melanoma education event for the beauty industry, we became instant friends as we bonded over our obsession with natural, raw beauty and how it can be used more effectively in the spa world for client wellness. We began as a boutique spa in Springfield, Mass., providing affordable, high-quality wellness and spa services without toxins for balanced, healthy living. Growing in popularity, clients began requesting attractive, toxin-free products they could take home to continue their care. From that, our skin care line was born! In 2012 we began formulating and manufacturing our own line of shelf-stable products as a way to cater to our clients’ well-being, beyond the spa environment. It is our mission to combine glamorous products with all-natural ingredients so clients don’t have to choose between looking good and being healthy.

Related: Read about another female entrepreneur working in natural skincare here.

How do you define success? We feel successful every time a new client gets referred to us, and in the follow up purchases of current clients. This tells us our clients trust us and love our products. It’s very validating to hear their stories of why they keep coming back for more!

Biggest Success: Recently we signed a contract for a big store in our area. It’s a family-owned chain, and they want to start carrying 22 of our products in five of their shops. That’s pretty exciting, and we can’t wait to announce it to the world!

What is your top challenge and how have you addressed it? Our top challenge is that we’ve grown enough to feel the need for more support staff but not enough to financially bring them on board. This means we continue to wear all the hats, but to help combat this we have streamlined some of our processes and block our schedules to create time for specific tasks that need focused attention. While it can be frustrating, it’s taught us how to be super creative within a very tight budget, how to separate what we really need vs. what we want, and how strong and capable we really are.

Related: 12 Tips for Effective Time Management 

Who is your most important role model? We look up to Sara Blakely of Spanx and Sophia Amoruso of Nasty Gal. These ladies started with nothing but a creative vision. They stayed focused and worked within their limited means to build multi-million dollar empires. It keeps us inspired and motivated to keep going, especially when we have moments of self-doubt.

[box_light]Website   www.skincatering.com
Twitter   @SkinCatering
Facebook   www.facebook.com/SkinCatering
Pinterest   www.Pinterest.com/SkinCatering
Instagram   @SkinCatering[/box_light]

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Edited by The Story Exchange