We were lucky to catch up with Cassie Mrotek recently and have shared our conversation below.

Cassie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

ASTRA is a collection of handmade self care products, spells & potions, curated art & goods. ASTRA focuses on helping retailers create their own self care space through wholesale pricing & distribution. My mission is to create products that promote self care and healing. I want to help in raising the universal vibration through intentional aromatherapy products. Visit the ASTRA Workshop & Studio in St. Pete, FL, Friday through Sunday.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I started creating self-care products for myself and friends/family when I began my personal healing journey. Some of the first products I created were sugar body scrubs and linen sprays that were heavy with Amber aromas. It brought me comfort and peace mixing and formulating recipes. I realized that this is the self-care I was needing. The act of creating turned into my personal self-care and helped me dig deep to confront my PTSD, Anxiety, & Depression. I gathered the courage to speak up for my mental health and advocate for my happiness and peace in this world. And along the way, I continued creating new and different products, some of which are still around to this day! That was over 10 years ago. When I moved to St. Pete in 2019 my intention was to continue creating products for friends/family/myself and work my trade as a hairdresser. The pandemic and Covid had other plans. So I made the pivot when the salon I was working for decided to close. With the support from that salon owner I launched “ASTRA” and began working full time on building the brand, creating more products, and researching/experimenting. With the world in so much pain, I found that the products I make and provide can help bring light into dark places. I want to encourage people to dig deep within themselves to expose their most authentic self. When you walk into my Workshop & Studio you will find a collection of items that will help you better care for yourself and your mental health. Tools that we could all really use to help let go of those thoughts and emotions that just don’t serve us anymore. Some of my personal favorite products are the Aromatherapy Inhalers, The Aura Sprays (specifically ‘ABUNDANCE’ & ‘CARETAKER’), Smudge kits, Amber Incense Perfume, Bath teas, and the golden Sleepy Woman Goddess Shave Bar that can double as a shampoo bar in a pinch!

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Ever since I was little, I didn’t like people telling me what to do. My grandma will tell the funniest stories of situations where I was going to do what I was going to do, and that’s that. Growing up, that was always a feeling I had inside of me. So when getting into the hair industry there were more moments than not where I would go, ‘But why?’. “Why can’t women over a certain age wear their hair this way?”
“Why shouldn’t I let this person embrace their natural curl?”
“Why are we telling these women that they need to change the way they look so they feel more beautiful?!”
There was always something inside of me that felt this wasn’t right and was not the way I wanted to operate as a beauty professional. Because, who I am to determine when something is beautiful while something else is not? So when the pandemic hit, my patience for the beauty industry and it’s standards was no longer something I wanted to participate in. I wanted to help open peoples minds and hearts to the idea that they can be unconditionally loved, regardless of their ability to cover their grey hair, or their ability to get the trendiest new style.
What I needed to unlearn is that it’s not what you do that makes you beautiful, it’s who you are, and that beauty has always existed inside of you. So what can I do now to help you see that? I create these self-care products as a way to help you pause and take time for yourself. Whether it’s a couple hours, or minutes, I know that my products can help open your hearts to the possibility of being loved unconditionally and the strength to love unconditionally.

We’d really appreciate if you could talk to us about how you figured out the manufacturing process.

For over 10 years, I have been experimenting with self-care products and for the past 3, have been refining the formulations. I do a lot of research, reading, experimenting, ect. I just moved ASTRA into a warehouse space where I am able to create, manufacture, and distribute my products. All of my ingredients are stored in the warehouse and I have multiple set ups for the different products I create. Some of my products like soaps and shave bars are made outside of the warehouse and are then brought in, melted down, and blended with my natural aromatic and essential oils, and then hand poured into beautiful molds. I am happy to now have the space I need to start manufacturing all ASTRA products under one roof.
I think the biggest struggle with what I do, is everything I do and managing each thing. I am ASTRA and anytime you get an email, a notification, or see my products out and about, it’s because I made that happen. It can be exhausting but then I remember exactly why I do this. Because you are me, and I am you, and I need these products. The thought of making my family proud, my friends happy, and the rest of the world finding their peace, keeps me fueled during my non stop work week.
As my business grows I am finding more ways to mainstream some of my creations without taking away the personal, hand-poured touch. Maybe instead of counting out exactly 45 drops for each Aura Spray bottle, I now know the weight of 45 drops and can create more than 1 spray at a time. This helps me fulfill wholesale orders quickly so that business owners can get the products into their shops and into their customers hands as quickly as possible.
Another great thing about having this Workshop & Studio space is that I can continue experimenting with Steam Distillation and other essential oil extraction forms. To be able to distill my very own essential oils to then use in aromatherapy products is my dream. I want to be better connected with Nature and all the wonderful aromas that can be extracted from plants.

Visit the ASTRA Workshop & Studio in St. Pete, FL 4115 8th Ave South, Friday 12-7pm, Saturday 12-6pm, Sunday 12-5pm

Contact Info:

• Website: www.astrastpete.com
• Instagram: @astra.aromatherapy
• Facebook: @astra.aromatherapy
• Other: Wholesale website: FAIRE: https://astra.faire.com

Image Credits
Cassie Mrotek