We recently connected with Alyssa Pittera and have shared our conversation below.
Alyssa, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?
Every winter I contemplate going out to get a “regular job.” I think about how that would feel to have a consistent paycheck I could depend on when my slow season hits. These thoughts crept in around January this year, when I had some travel planned even though the bank account was dwindling, and business was real slow.
My income is dependent mostly on the farmers market season here in Maine. We have markets through the wintertime, but it’s nothing like the summertime markets. And truthfully, my online sales could be better, but that depends on my marketing skills. I am a one woman show, and the not so sexy parts of running a business, such as accounting, taxes, bookkeeping, and online marketing are admittedly not my strong point. This past winter was especially challenging, with my partner and I both struggling through health challenges. The motivation was just not there for me. I consistently say out loud a goal I want to accomplish, and consistently do not see it to fruition. For example, I really want to get my products into local stores and pull on some wholesale accounts to float me through these slower months, and yet again, I am still not there because I need to sit in front of my computer and make marketing materials. It’s tough! It is hard to be my own boss, hold myself accountable, and create a schedule I can stick to. Especially with our long winters and really going through it with my health, sometimes it can be hard to find the ambition that once drove me to build my herbal business in the first place. Ironically enough, because my lack of health and vitality is what originally brought me to plant medicine and natural ways of healing.
It’s easy as an entrepreneur to fall victim to imposter syndrome, get down on myself when things take longer than I would like them to, and procrastinate the things that can help me grow my business and find more financial stability. But as my season has once again picked up, I realize that if I have my needs met, a roof over my head, nourishing food, and a community that is thrilled to support me, that is success. I would never trade running my own business for the financial security of working for someone else. I just can’t imagine spending my time on someone else’s projects and dreams when I have so much of my own to offer! This belief alone has made me a somewhat bad employee to a handful of jobs I worked before starting The Salty Rose Co. I was consistently late, and often did not stay for more than a few months. In my opinion, these characteristics often represent a person that is meant to only work for themselves!
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?
The Salty Rose Co. is my absolute passion project. The name originated from a product I made that I felt really described me as a human, a flower with sass and attitude. I soft launched this business in 2017 while living in Washington state after attending many classes at The California School of Herbal Studies in Forestville, Ca. I attended a wide variety of classes here, from growing herbs to wild edible and medicinal plants, and formulating topicals and tinctures. I started out with four products- a body scrub made from black lava salt and rose petals, an exfoliating scrub made from a blend of 7 skin loving herbs I call Herbal Dirt, Blues Buttah – a hand and body cream made from herbs that support you in the winter months, and a tincture I called Don’t be Mintal that was minty goodness to support focus and cognition. Today I have over 50 products!
I particularly was drawn to topicals due to my own skin struggles. I got off birth control when I was 20 because my body felt out of alignment, and my skin absolutely freaked out. As a teenager I had pretty clear skin, so this was really tough for me. My chin, cheeks, forehead, jawline, and my back were so broken out with cystic acne, I was desperate. I never left the house without a full face of makeup and was over washing my face and using alcohol-based wipes, completely stripping away my skins natural defenses.
In 2013 I quit my restaurant job and went on my first cross-country road trip. Travelling made my appearance much less of focal point in my life, because why would I put on a full face of makeup to be camping out in a VW bus and driving hours across state lines? And without running water, I certainly was not obsessively washing my face. It started to improve! This mentality of less is more is extremely counter intuitive to what the beauty industry pushes on us. We are told that oil on our skin is a huge no no and will clog pores and make acne and oily skin so much worse. So fast forward to Herb School, I started to learn why less is actually more, and how oil is a friend not foe. Up until this point I had begun to naturalize my skincare products but was also travelling a lot still and my skin would oscillate between clear and broken out regularly. It wasn’t until I started making my own products that I finally found longer lasting relief.
My current product line includes something for everyone. I have an Oil Cleanser called Golden Rose, Herbal dirt exfoliator has remained on the line up since the beginning because it works SO well, four different hydrosol-based toners to address many different skin types, three oil-based serums, and two creams designed for night or day use. I offer a whole skincare ritual consultation for those that are getting started and need a little bit of guidance of which products will work best for them. My first piece of advice to my customers is not to buy one of my products, but to stop washing their face with soap! In addition to face care, I have a lotion for (almost) every ailment, and I have expanded into herbal and medicinal mushroom tincture formulating to support all systems of the body.
Supporting our skin is an internal and external landscape dance, making sure we nourish both for optimal health. Our skin is the largest organ of our body, and one of our main detox pathways, so when we have flare ups, it is our body’s way of communicating. Everything we put on our skin is absorbed into our bodies. Nothing I make contains harsh chemicals or surfactants, or synthetic preservatives and scents, ever. I do not cut corners in my sourcing, and my priority is to source everything as local as possible starting with my own garden. I believe that the things that grow in our immediate environment can often be the most effective for our wellbeing. If we consume and commune with the plants and mushrooms around us, we can learn their resiliency and embody their adaptability. Every infused ingredient in my products is made by me, from the glycerites to the oils, to the tinctures and oxymels, I grow and wildcraft 85% of the plants and mushrooms I work with. I source my base oil from a friend in NH that has an organic sunflower farm, even though it costs me 5 times what ordering it from Europe would. I am determined to bring quality and effective products at a price that is accessible, with a focus on bringing our natural environment into our health rituals. I want skincare to be sexy not sterile, and an act of self-love!
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
The majority of my customers have come from the local farmers markets I do, and other in person events. In the herbal world, I have found that people want to support you as a person more than the products themselves at first, and then when the product really works they keep coming back! Being on the ground, directly selling to my customers builds a relationship of trust, and sometimes even friendship between us. I often have people calling me up saying they tried their daughters/sons/mothers cream they bought from me and it worked so well that they need their own! The power of word of mouth is still very alive and well even in our digital age. I find the farmers markets to be so fulfilling, and the easiest place for me to advocate for myself and business. I feel like I am part of a community that is all supporting one another, which makes it all so much more worth it. Most of my positive reviews come straight from the mouths of my customers on market days!
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
I am in this together with you. I didn’t have perfect skin and health and start an herbal wellness brand. I have the scars and am not afraid to show them. I am always on the journey alongside my supporters, using myself and close friends and family as my guinea pigs, and formulating new custom blends for those in need. I have always been an open book about my experience and I think that has made a difference in my relationships with my customers. Being the only person behind The Salty Rose holds me accountable for any mistakes, and I will always make it right on my own dime! Sourcing ingredients locally has formed a strong community of folks always putting support and connection over competition, and it is such a blessing to be a part of it. As my business has grown, I have begun to teach classes on crafting herbal remedies, identifying wild edibles and medicinals, and mushroom foraging! This has been such a pleasure to give back to my community in a way that empowers them to take their health into their own hands.
Contact Info:
- Website: thesaltyroseco.com
- Instagram: @the.saltyrose
- Facebook: facebook.com/thesaltyroseco
Image Credits
Rebecca Seger Photography