Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Monica Pittenger. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Monica , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I would love to tell you how we started or newest company, Wash Yo Self. I have 3 very active teenage boys who play all the sports, and they smell like they play all the sports. If you have ever picked a group of teenagers up after a practice or a game, you know exactly what I am talking about.

At the time, my oldest son was in middle school and they had football practice before school in Texas heat, with 150 other teenage boys. Then they change and head to class for the day. They have showers but they only have 3 shower heads for 150 boys and are only given about 5 minutes. So you can do the math, its not enough time, so no one showers! Honestly, most kids are too embarrassed to shower at that age. I get it!

So I started to look for solutions and I was disappointed in my findings. Most body wipes are made in china and made with terrible ingredients. I was not going to have my children rub these wipes all over their face and body everyday. You see, after a workout, you pores are exposed and vulnerable. You need to be extra careful what you put on your skin after a workout.

You see, my sisters and I own a beauty company called Busy Beauties. We make and sell clean haircare and skincare for the busy women. We pride ourselves in our ingredients and how we run our company. Because of this journey, I read All labels. It has made me a bit of a product snob. (sorry, not sorry) I just really care about the chemicals we rub on our skin daily, especially when it comes to my children.

So you probably guessed it…. I did not like anything on the market , so I made my own. With the help of my sisters of course. My older sister, Julie, is a Chemical Engineer, and my younger sister, Katie, is an OBGYN. So together we made oversized, individually packaged, clean face and wipes with Aloe and witch hazel. They are amazing! Clean ingredients and Made in America!

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

Getting to know Me! I taught middle school math and cheer for 7 years. I loved every minute of it, I learned so much in those short years that I can honestly say, teaching made me a better person and definitely a better mom. I “retired” from teaching after those 7 years because I had 3 boys that need me more. I was lucky enough to be able to stay at home with them for years. So many memories were made. Then….. they got older and I looked around and I was a little bored. I honestly lost myself and my identity in my children. I decided it was time to take care of myself again, I think we call it “me time.” SO, my sisters and I started to share beauty tips and magic beauty ingredients. We wanted beauty products that were affordable and products that really worked for the busy women of the world. So we started Busy Beauties. 3 years later, we started Wash Yo Self.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

When we started Wash Yo Self we thought it would be so easy. We knew we had a supreme product and let’s be honest, this was not our first business adventure. After all, we were running a successful company and we have a good social media following. We thought we knew it all! We asked some amazing professional athletes in the area to support our brand. They were so sweet and became our ambassadors. They all had a huge following. I thought in just one post by them, we would have product recognition. This. was going to be easy…. it was not. For some reason the athletes did not bring in the sales like we thought they would. The athletes still gave us a “cool card”. The kid’s go home to tell their parents they want Wash Yo Self wipes because the athletes make us look cool. That in itself is amazing. (I’m a mom, I do not have that kind of superpower.) But they were not bringing in the sales. It really confused me and made me feel bad. I wanted these athletes to succeed with us. They are all so sweet and some of the hardest working people I have ever met. I wanted us to grow together with my product. Can you tell it still bothers me? So we had to pivot. We quickly realized moms’ were are biggest market. They did not want to have the stinky kid at school. They bought our wipes by the truckload, so we made them our ambassadors too. They love the product, so they give honest feedback and that brings in the sales.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Reputation is everything. We have an IG. page called @3.crazy.sisters. It lets our followers see the real us. They see our kids, they see our everyday life and they watch our struggles. They get to see us struggle with the work and family balance. They get to see us! They get to know us! They get too trust us!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.washyoself.com WWW.busy-beauties.com
• Instagram: busy_beauties wash.yoself
• Facebook: @officailbusybeauties @washyoselfofficial

Image Credits
Audrie Dollins Jesus Gutierrez