We were lucky to catch up with Nicole Vlietstra recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Nicole thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard.

I feel I am different than industry standard because I formulate all of my own recipes and use only natural/organic/clean/vegan ingredients. Alot of similar companies use premade bases and add fragrance and dye. I don’t do any of those things. I have even created my own bases from scratch. I don’t use synthetic fragrance in any skin care/body product- only natural plant/essential oils. I create fun blends to imitate or put my spin on classics. I don’t use any dyes in my products, only natural pigments/micas.

My customers appreciate these aspects because they like knowing that they can trust what is in the products that they use. They are quality and made with real ingredients like fruits, vegetables, clays, botanicals, plants, etc. But I still offer a wide variety of fun products. Using clean ingredients doesn’t have to be boring!

Nicole, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I have always been a crafty person so when my mom asked me to make a better quality candle, I jumped right in. I was doing a ton of research on how-tos but also ingredient quality. I soon jumped into lipbalms and the rest was history. I started out doing fundraisers but decided that I wanted to do this full time someday because I loved it so much. I eventually got that point and now I do this full time and still do fundraisers throughout the year!

I offer a wide variety of all things body and skin care. I have a full skin care line, many body care products like scrubs, soaks, oils, sprays, etc. Many lip products like scrubs, balms, glosses, sticks. butters, oils, etc. I offer some aromatherapy products like roll ons, oils, sprays, bath soaks. I have cosmetic products like eyeshadows/liners, bronzer/highlighter, cheek and lip tints etc.

I recently moved into a commercial space and will soon be offering monthly in store shop days and a variety of classes so you can make your own! I would like to branch out with class ideas and offer other things as well. So stay tuned for that if you are local in Wisconsin.

My entire line can be purchased on my website. You can see lots of fun info, sneak peeks, etc on our social media as well! I will be creating more content for tiktok soon, if you like behind the scenes.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

I started out slowly but surely. Honestly, I was working multiple jobs to build my savings so I could live and hop into running a business. It wasn’t easy but worth it and paid off in the end.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Perfectionism. I always want everything to be perfect. I tend to over think things and plan way more than I need to sometimes. While perfection within my product creation is a must, when it comes to social media, marketing, doing collabs and events, etc, I had to adapt more to the just do it/just try it mentality. It wasnt easy at first, but well worth it. You don’t know if things will succeed or not unless you try them. Sometimes you just have to take the leap and try it out.

Another example of that is when I hired employees. I had to let go of the “I have to do it all myself” mentality. I had to allow others to give me that space to trust them with my business. That has also been very rewarding and needed.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.herbesque.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/herbesque
• Facebook: facebook.com/herbesque
• Other: facebook.com/groups/herbesquevip tiktok.com/@herbesque

Image Credits
Jamie Kempen Photography