We were lucky to catch up with Amber Champagne-Matos recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Amber thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. The more we talk about good leadership the more we think good leadership practices will spread and so we’d love for you to tell us a story about the best boss you’ve had and what they were like or what they did that was so great?

When I worked for Benefit Cosmetics, I had the honor of working with 3 incredible mentors/leaders simultaneously (Jill, Courtney, and Natalie). It’s pretty unusual to be able to call your boss a mentor (at least in my experience). It’s remarkable to have three people truly invested in seeing you succeed at once. All three of these women challenged me to be my absolute best and helped me to develop a plethora of skills I have used and/or currently use in my role as the owner and founder of a successful skincare line and apothecary.

Each one of these women was an extraordinary boss who brought so much to the table individually. I could go on and on about each one of them, but we probably don’t have time for that!

I will say that one of the things I loved most about them was how much autonomy they gave me. Knowing I had bosses who trusted me to do my job – and to do it well – was one of the best things I could have ever asked for. It made such a difference in my learning process and in my performance.

Having experienced how empowering having that autonomy was has ensured that I am very intentional about allowing people who work with me to have that same space in their own jobs. It’s awe-inspiring to see how much people flourish and contribute to the overall vision of ETHYST® and Champagne Apothecary when they’re allowed to focus on and do what they love.

I’ll forever remember how these three women helped to shape me and my professional career and I am truly grateful for them.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Amber Champagne-Matos. I am a Licensed Esthetician, Clinical Herbalist, and the owner and founder of ETHYST® Skincare and Champagne Apothecary. Champagne Apothecary is a small-town, enchanting self-care shop full of one-of-a-kind treasures and is the home of ETHYST®.

Working for 20+ years in retail management and corporate retail, I saw how many people don’t make self-care a priority the way they should and how it harms the overall wellness of our society. My business has evolved dramatically since I first started, but the intention has always been the same; to create a business that would provide ways for people to relax, remember how important self-care truly is, and help people live abundant lives full of self-care and one-of-a-kind moments and treasures.

Under the umbrella of self-care, and as a Licensed Esthetician and Clinical Herbalist of nearly 10 years, I see skin health and skincare as a major piece of the self-care world, so I also created a skincare line called ETHYST®.

I am a self-proclaimed skin science nerd. I am constantly studying, researching, experimenting, and reading studies about skin science and cosmetic chemistry. ETHYST® Skincare is a line backed by science that helps the skin’s microbiome and skin barrier to function properly. ETHYST® combats both hormonal issues and aging simultaneously (something I call The Midlife Skin Crisis©), is gluten-free, paraben-free, fragrance-free, cruelty-free, vegan, and made in the USA and is helping people all over the country as it has already sold out over 5 times nationally since launching in May of 2022!

Prior to starting my own business, I had a 20+ year career in retail management and corporate retail. Most notably, I was a Senior National Educator and Educational Content Creator for Benefit Cosmetics, where I trained many other Estheticians all over the country and wrote content contributing to the company’s corporate success.

Now, I own and operate three different branches within my business. Champagne Apothecary, ETHYST® skincare, and The Esthetician’s Guide to Business, a consulting, branding, and marketing company specifically designed to help Estheticians build their dream business and become 6 figure business owners.

At Champagne Apothecary, there is something for everyone. The store is full of all kinds of herbal remedies, meditation supplies, body care, premium coffees and teas, relaxation tools, essential oils, skincare, and more. The products we carry are typically things you won’t be able to find elsewhere. We put lots of effort into curating unique, results-oriented items.

Plus, we have a lot of our own Champagne Apothecary branded products and, of course, we carry ETHYST® in store and online. And even though I no longer physically practice as an Esthetician, I am still licensed in both CA and MA and offer Virtual Skin Health Consultations online.

Champagne Apothecary is also a certified LGBTBE® through the NGLCC as well as a business with a big heart – We give back 10% of our profits to support our local community every year. In both 2021 and 2022, we were able to donate $10,000 annually to support local youth, cancer patients, animals, and more!

Additionally, we make many efforts to be as sustainable as possible by offering things like our annual Eco-Friendly bag, which incentivizes customers to use our reusable bag throughout the year in exchange for a 10% discount and re-using every bit of packaging we receive (we haven’t purchased much in the way of packaging since opening!

Future plans; just in case you’re interested.We are currently working on how to bring ETHYST® to an even bigger market, so I’m looking forward to see that happen! And I have this really wild dream of once all of that is at a place where we are helping people globally, to open up the most beautiful Apothecary anyone has ever seen. I have a pinned doc, a pinterest board, and a notebook full of ideas I come up with regularly for this place. I promise people would want to visit from far and wide!

Have you ever had to pivot?

Yes! My whole business has been created based on pivoting!

When I first started in 2019, my business was more of an esthetics studio/mini apothecary. Of course, we then experience the pandemic and everything I was doing was upended.

We were living in CA at the time and everything was shut down. I knew I would have to get my business online if I wanted to survive. So I created my first website. It took me 5 weeks at almost 16 hours a day to complete. And I’m glad I did because CA ended up being shut down over 9 months, but it was like I almost didn’t miss a beat!

Getting online was a huge game-changer for my business. I started to offer Virtual Skin Health Consultations and helped many people all over the country with their skin via Zoom, product recommendations, and follow-up sessions and emails!

Again in 2021, I was faced with a life-altering circumstance when we found out my father had stage 4 cancer. I found out at Christmas while I was visiting from CA, went back home one week later, closed up my shop, packed up my entire life, and came back to MA to be closer to my Dad.

Again, I used online as a way to grow my e-commerce business while I looked for a new in-person location and began the development of my skincare line. This time, I created a Facebook group and spent many hours daily growing it from 30 members to nearly 6k members in less than 3 months. All of the members were estheticians and that’s how the Esthetician’s Guide to Business was born.

I noticed that even though I had found a way to grow my business online during the pandemic, many estheticians were closing their doors. I wanted to help as many as I could, so I created an online course, resource guides, and opened up my calendar for 1:1 and group consulting.

Through these programs, I’ve been able to help many other estheticians all over the US build their dream businesses and become 6+ figure earners!

As I eventually found the shop’s new location and launched ETHYST®, I had to taper down the amount of consulting work I was doing, but I still work monthly with a handful of estheticians who have really taken initiative while working side by side with me. It’s an honor to be a part of their journey.

Clearly, my journey has had some twists and turns, but all of these twists and turns have made my business what it is today. Don’t be afraid to change course, if needed!

As another side note, I have been on a multitude of platforms since first creating the site. I won’t get into all the nitty, gritty, but I will say that if you are looking for an e-commerce platform that has everything you’ll need to run your business and scale when the time comes, you should absolutely use Shopify (and no, I don’t get paid to say that!). It’s what we’ve been using for the past couple of years and it’s what we encourage our consulting clients to use too. Shopify has done right by everyone!

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

Saved, saved, saved! I saved money for years with the idea that I would eventually one day leave my job to start my own business. It took me a really long time to muster up the courage to do so. Actually, tragically losing my son when I was 6 months pregnant was what really pushed me to take the leap. Had I not experienced that devastating loss, I don’t know that I would have made the move.

However, having saved so much, helped me to feel a little less nervous about leaving my 6+ figure job and starting something without knowing what was to come.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://champagneapothecary.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/champagneapothecary/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/champagneapothecary
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amber-matos-72a85268/
• Other: Google – https://g.page/r/CS3cUcyeZVGkEBM/review Pinterest – https://www.pinterest.com/champagneapothecary/

Image Credits
Photos are taken both Hillary Lynn Photography and Tony J. Matos. If you’d like me to specify which ones are which, just reach out and let me know! Thanks