We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Marissa Morris a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Marissa thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

2019: While working as a health associate in Raleigh, NC, my skin was complimented by a woman, “your skin is so beautiful! What do you use?” To which I responded proudly, “coconut oil.” The woman looked stunned. “Stop using it! Start looking into other oils like jojoba, argan, and rosehip.” A month later, after relocating to Harpers Ferry, WV, I was on the hunt to find rosehip oil. I stopped by Ulta, purchased my first bottle, went home, and was trying to find the ingredients. On the bottle, it said, ‘for a list of our ingredients, visit us online’ to which I did, and saw the proprietary blend of additives, fragrances, and everything but the Organic Rosehip Oil that I thought I was buying. Alas! The idea was born: to create an all natural product that didn’t greenwash, but was true to its label. I began researching how to make oil infusions and made my first batch of Rosehip Oil.

Marissa , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m Marissa Morris and I have ReVersaRose Organic Skincare and Holistic Facial Studio in Shepherdstown and Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. I started handcrafted skincare in 2019, before opening my first brick-and-mortar in Shepherdstown of August 2020. I decided to get my esthetics license and attended the Salon Professional Academy in DC in 2022, and received my license in October. I then opened my private holistic facial studio in December of 2022 using my organic, all natural skin, hair, and body products during treatments. I am a true holistic esthetician that focuses on using products without fragrance, additives, preservatives, emulsifiers, and other modalities that don’t align with my vision. I love to focus on facial massage, lymphatic drainage, and buccal massage in addition to utilizing internal healing protocols to achieve skin goals. I have many clients that see me for the sole reason everything is 100% natural including my transparency. Our skin is a reflection of what is going on internally. In order to treat what’s going on externally, we must address internally. I always tell everyone that my products and services are as crunchy as me.

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

When I attended esthetics school, I was the only student who wanted to be a holistic esthetician. In fact, I think there was a lot of doubt that circulated my ideas and beliefs that I would be able to achieve the same results from a natural standpoint vs using professional grade/luxury/modern skincare products.

In school, we focused on how products would “fix the skin” and I wasn’t a fan or believer of that.

I had to unlearn (what seems to be) universal views regarding esthetics and products

I knew I wanted to achieve more, holistically. I knew I could and I have.

Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?

Shepherdstown, WV holds a Street Fest every June where the city shuts down the roads and our streets are lined with vendors, live music, and liquid libations. It’s a time when the community comes out and it’s beautiful. I decided to set up a vendor table and tent outside the shop where my sister, Karlyn, would help outside while I was inside doing brow/lash services. We have more interactions with people!

I had one woman whose main concern was age spots and discoloration and she was telling me about all the products and services that she’s used and nothing has worked. She asked about Balanced, our organic spot treatment for helping diminish age spots. I told her every herb and plant oil in that bottle was studied to fade the discoloration. She questioned, “so it’s going to work?” to which I responded, “with consistency, I am a firm believer it will”. It was a back-and-forth sales moment where I felt like a car salesmen! She decided to invest in the bottle. I remember looking at my sister saying, “that was a hard sale and I’m sorry you had to see that” and we playfully laughed because it was intense! We get it. What sets us apart from every other natural promise from a product? For a second, I even doubted myself, “is it really going to help?” Months later, the same woman came into the shop and said how she couldn’t believe it, but her age spots were fading and she owed it to the spot treatment. I remember phoning Karlyn (my sister) and telling her. This is a story we share with everyone to this day.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.reversarose.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reversarose
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reversarose
• Yelp: www.reversarose.com/reversarose
• Other: TikTok: www.reversarose.com/@reversarose

Image Credits

The headshot of me with my lab coat on was taken by A Peer Photography.