We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Allie Savino. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Allie below.
Hi Allie, thanks for joining us today. Along with taking care of clients, taking care of our team is one of the most important things we can do as leaders. Looking back on your journey, did you have a boss that was really great? Maybe you can tell us about that boss and what made them a wonderful person to work for?
I had two very impactful bosses in my lifetime (thus far). I will preface the first with a quick story about my 10-year old self. I wanted a pony in the worst way, I suppose all young girls do at that age. We definitely could not afford it but my parents found a local horse farm with a really cheap pony that no one else wanted and the owner who ran the place allowed me to work there and keep my pony there for free. My wonderful father worked there on his only day off, mending fences and fixing things around the farm. I don’t think I really appreciated it for what it was at the time, he too, made a huge sacrifice for me. My dad was such a hard worker and a great man, he truly taught me that I can do anything because he made the impossible happen everyday through his work ethic. I worked at the farm most days after school and on weekends, I didn’t really have a day off. It was hard work for a 10-year old and my boss was a tough woman. At times, she blamed me for things that weren’t my fault and I often took the fall for other’s mistakes but she genuinely cared about me. I was essentially running the day to day farm operations by the time I was 12. I realized over time, and looking back, that she made me resilient and strong. I remember feeling very proud that I had earned her trust and that I felt very capable even at that age. All the while, I worked hard to train my pony and he ended up winning a ribbon at the National Horse show after I sold him to another family. That was what I did, I bought the cheap, rejected horses and turned them into sweet, wonderful, safe animals that anyone could ride. It was one of the best times of my life.
After college, I began working in pharmaceutical toxicology. I studied veterinary science followed by biology. I have always been a self-proclaimed science geek. I began working at a facility and was at the very bottom of the totem pole, so to speak. After proving myself for a while, I was approached by the lead of a different department who asked if I would be interested in working for her instead. She gave me a long, (somewhat terrifying) speech that I don’t recall verbatim but it went something like this: “I expect you to be smarter, faster and to find problems before me. If you don’t, then I don’t need you.” She had a very straightforward personality which I always appreciated, there was never any guesswork. Furthermore, she had other expectations as well. When presenting her with an issue, she expected a solution and possibly a backup solution. She had studied at the best university for her profession and I was determined to never let her down. She had an aura about her, perhaps it was her natural leadership qualities, but she was the kind of person that you never wanted to disappoint. She pushed me to question everything and to find my own answers to the problems in front of me. I will forever thank her for her for her methods as it has molded me into the person I have become today. I remain ever-curious and solution-based in my thinking.
My new business, Plumera, is relatively new and we are currently family run and operated. We will likely need to hire employees as we grow and expand and I hope utilize the leadership strategies that I have experienced with my future employees. I hope I, too, can be a great boss to someone else very soon.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Plumera is a family owned and operated company dedicated to making handmade products that are good for you and the environment. We have a full line of soaps, lip balms, face and body oils, balms and a dog product to promote healthy skin, naturally without the use of harsh ingredients and chemical surfactants. We use good oils and primarily essential oils in our products, although we have a few soaps in which we utilize commercial fragrances. All of our products are scientifically formulated using up-to-date scientific literature referencing our ingredients and their benefits for the skin/skin goals. We have an on-going and almost constant R&D process and are always coming up with new products and ideas for the future. We are currently working on a simple, healthy serum line using specialized, rare ingredients backed by science. Release date is TBD, as we are currently performing stability testing. Another special feature coming soon on our website is our custom soap builder. We will offer custom soaps to customers with the scents/colors of their choosing to accommodate an upcoming event such as a wedding or party. Another cornerstone of our Mission is to educate the consumer about our ingredients (the science), why they are effective and to demystify the industry as a whole. There is an ocean of choices out there, we want the consumer to understand exactly what they are purchasing. We have a detailed “ingredients” page on our website that gets updated frequently. This contains summaries of the mechanisms of action of many essential oils along with scientific references for each. We plan to expand on this in the future to include many other common (and uncommon) skincare ingredients. We also have a blog that details ingredients, products and other topics.
Our History: Plumera began as simply a mom (Allie) in her kitchen attempting to make healthy soap. I was a normal, working mom in 2012 and had just landed my dream job at the NIH/NIAID. Shortly after starting, I began getting ill and after numerous medical tests, found out that I had a genetic condition called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome as well as several other chronic medical issues. I ended up leaving the job and worked for an animal shelter for a couple more years before becoming fully disabled. Throughout that time period, I had made the conscious decision to make simple, healthy changes in order to improve my health. Once my soap experiments officially began they never stopped. It was something I could do while sitting or I could simply make a batch on a “good day”. It became a fun, creative outlet and family/friends enjoyed receiving soap as gifts every year for the holidays. I started branching into other necessities like lip balms, healing balms and, most recently, skin care products. I began selling locally to customers about 2 years ago under a different business name. Everyone loves the soaps, and most importantly, they love how their skin feels after using them. I am always shocked by the responses I get to the lip balms. People love them! They are a fan favorite.
With our website finally up and running, the future is bright for us. We are here, with open arms, ready to welcome everyone into our Plumera family.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Resilience is something that has become a normal everyday part of my life. My wonderful father passed away suddenly in a bicycle accident in 2006. He was here, and then he just wasn’t. It was so traumatic. I had just gotten him a new job doing facility maintenance at the pharmaceutical research site where I was employed, he was supposed to start his new job in 4 days and he was so excited to be able to work with me everyday. It effected me for a long time, but my life got better slowly. I started a bicycle safety foundation in his name and we raised money and purchased hundreds of helmets for kids and adults. In the midst of this, I met my future husband, who was a cyclist himself and we instantly connected. We were married in 2008 and had our daughter in 2009. Then came 2011 and hurricane Irene came through. We lived in a cute little house on a cute little river. It became a raging river that day and flooded everything, which subsequently made our house uninhabitable. That is how we ultimately ended up where we are now in Virginia. We wanted a change so I landed the job at the NIH/NIAID in 2012. Shortly after I began my dream job, I began getting ill. It took many years, but I was eventually diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, POTS, bilateral superior semicircular canal dehiscence, acquired epilepsy, myasthenia gravis and more. I was a normal, working mom prior so it was a shock to all of us when I became suddenly ill. I was a contract employee at that job and absences were not tolerated so I ended up leaving after only a few months. I then went to work for a county animal shelter, which I loved! I was the the animal behavior program manager and it was a wonderful experience, unlike any other job I had ever had. I did well there and they were very sympathetic to my various medical issues. Eventually I seemed to stabilize and I became pregnant with my son. When I returned to work after maternity leave, I also did relatively well. Eventually, I began to deteriorate again. Thinking back, I believe it was due to a head injury that I brushed off at the time. Beginning in 2015, I had 3 separate surgeries to repair “holes” in my skull bones. My doctor, who specialized in this condition, informed me that these were the largest he had ever seen. The openings were allowing my brain to protrude into my inner ear canals on both sides causing a plethora of hearing, balance and neurological symptoms. I even had to have the left side re-done because of another minor head injury that led to a brain herniation. These problems are common with Ehlers-Danlos patients. My doctors have now instructed me that I am required to get a head CT for any “bumps on the head” (I don’t). Ehlers-Danlos makes me very clumsy because it causes loose, stretchy joints and causes frequent joint dislocations and severe pain so I often do trip and hit my head on things. I also occasionally pass out from low blood pressure due to POTS. Because of the excessive trauma to the left side of my brain tissue, I was told that it caused a mini traumatic brain injury and epilepsy in that area. My myasthenia gravis effects me on a daily basis. I can’t use my muscles for a long period of time, they just stop working. Some nights I can barely use my arms to brush my teeth or hold them up.
I have always been a “glass half full” person and even when I was very sick, I never gave up hope that things would get better. Thankfully, they have. I have learned ways to cope and work around my various disabilities. Although I have many limitations, there is a lot more I can do now. I am not always the most reliable person. There are days when I wake up and say “It’s not happening today”, and I am ok with that. My family understands and that is what is most important to me. I can only wish that my experiences and my health battle can provide hope to other people struggling with their own. I remember being there, and I will never forget the feeling of going to bed not knowing if I would wake up the next morning. But it is that feeling that now drives me forward. You just have to keep going, even when it seems impossible to do so. I have a business now that I am able to do, on my own schedule, when I feel that I can do it.
Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.
We manufacture all of our products by hand, in small batches. We do purchase our ingredients from suppliers, i.e. essential oils, butters, oils and other botanical and skincare products. Some of the dried flowers and herbs that we use are grown organically in our personal garden. When I got started making soap in my kitchen, I had no idea how to do it. I really wanted to try it out so I just went for it and I had success in my first batch. This was back around 2013 and after that, I just kept going from there. My first batches were basic, unscented, uncolored but they worked great. I started experimenting with mineral and plant-based colors and originally used commercial scents. I thought commercial scents would be a little easier to predict their behavior in the saponification process. Certain essential oils can speed up the process and harden the soap quickly. For a beginner, that can be the difference between success and failure. In 2015, I began using almost exclusively essential oils as fragrance/actives in my soaps. This really changed everything. I loved using them and the soaps had better results as far as skin benefits were concerned. Fast forward to now, a large majority of our soaps are essential oil based recipes that are formulated for different skin concerns. Although, we couldn’t resist making a few fun versions like the “Birthday Cake” & “Bubblegum” that use a commercial scent.
We have learned many lessons via manufacturing our own products. The first being, we are in control of our inventory. This is definitely a positive aspect. We can see exactly what we need to make and when we need it. Another being, the saponification process can be finicky and unpredictable at times. The oils and lye must be added together within a specific temperature range. If there are deviations of more than 10 degrees, the reaction is not very happy. With that said, there are times when everything is seemly done correctly and ultimately end up with a “soap failure”. Manufacturing your own goods means you may end up with more waste/unusable product due to failure, human error or aesthetic issues. We try to minimize this by selling our “ugly” soap at a discounted rate, it includes the end pieces or others that are not as aesthetic as the regular bars. The most important aspect of our manufacturing process is the rewarding, hands-on process that occurs when making the products. We take a few natural ingredients and get to create a beautiful, artistic yet functional product that everyone uses everyday. My favorite thing is cutting the soap into bars, never knowing exactly what it will look like. This process never ceases to amaze me. Also with handmade manufacturing, no two products are ever exactly alike, just as in nature. There are always natural variations from batch to batch according to the person creating it, environmental conditions and other factors.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://plumeraessentials.com
- Instagram: @BetterWithPlumera
- Facebook: @BetterWithPlumera
