Natalja Millsap with her son
Natalja Millsap is the owner of Sweetsation Therapy, organic and natural pregnancy and baby skin care company. 5 Questions is a series where online business women are asked 5 questions about life as a mom and entrepreneur. To be featured, please contact me.
1. What or who inspired you to start your business?
My inspiration came quite suddenly. While I was pregnant sitting in my OB/GYN office. I read an article about cosmetic products. How their ingredients/chemicals can affect a mother’s health, and her growing baby in particular. Being a mom-to be over the age of thirty, I was concerned with how I looked by using a number of age-defying skin care products I already had at the time. Having worked in the cosmetic industry for over 20 years, I had accumulated a lot of major brands (expensive ones) that I was using religiously on myself every day. After reading that life-changing article, I rushed home to see if any of the ingredients I had just read about, were in the fancy creams I had been using. Sure enough; the listed ingredients from the article were listed on the products I had thought were good for my skin. I was shocked, and horrified to think that I might have harmed my unborn baby. That was the moment when I decided to create my own line of cosmetics that would be safe to use for moms-to be. I wanted my product(s) to be: Organic, chemical free, while having age-defying ingredients that help women to look their best; the natural way. I put all my experience, and expertise to work. That is how Sweetsation Therapy was created. After my son was born, it was only natural to extend my line to offer Organic baby products; something that was pure and safe, that I would feel comfortable using it on my own baby. I make it a point to offer educational links on my website on all the ingredients I’ve learned about. There is still a lot to be done to inform the public about invisible dangers that linger in our skin care.
2. What motivates you?
My little boy of course. I never thought that having a baby would transform my life this much. From the day he was born; it feels like my heart is outside of my body and it makes me just think differently and make decisions from completely different prospective.
3. How do you balance being a mom and an entrepreneur?
Finding a balance is an everyday challenge! There are always sacrifices to be made. But my family comes first. As time goes by, your children grow. There are no “do over’s”. So it just happens that I do most of the work when everyone is asleep, only then I can fully concentrate. More often than not those times extend past 2am. It has become my normal routine. My loving husband wakes up to take care of our son while I rest. During the day I have play time with my son. Then it’s back to work.
4. What do you love most about what you do?
Being creative and finding solutions. Lots of research is required. Then the design, development, and testing is completed. I love to come up with new products that solve a problem. If it is possible to combine two skin care functions into one product, that’s a bonus. Right now I am working on a few such products. It feels very gratifying when I design a product and then it gets rated in a TOP 10 best products guide, or receives an award. One of our star products is our Organic Sun*Brella Triple action moisturizer with SPF 30. It is being recommended by The Environmental Working Group (EWG or Skin Deep) and is listed as a TOP 10 best moisturizer with SPF, due to its incredible safety. Even though our products are designed to be pregnancy-safe, they can also be used by anyone who is concerned with health and living a “green” lifestyle. It’s also nice to be able to make my own schedule.
5. What single piece of advice would you give someone who is starting out?
Not to rush into product development as soon as you have a new idea. Thorough research must be done. In this market it’s very difficult to be unique, and it can be easy to fall into the category of “me too”. Don’t be shy to ask for advice from someone who is in a successful business. They don’t necessarily need to be in the cosmetic field either. All business’ that manufacture goods have common practices and procedures. You would be surprised how many people are willing to help if you simply ask kindly.
You can contact Natalja at Natalja.Millsap [at] sweetsationtherapy.com, follow her on Twitter: @Sweetsation, or check out Sweetsation Therapy.
Related Posts:
