We were lucky to catch up with Toni Schulze recently and have shared our conversation below.

Toni, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

I am so happy that the first part of this is taking about my mom. My father died active duty military when I was just a few months old, so my mother raised me all on her own. For as long as I can remember, she never held me back in anything I ever wanted to do. She encouraged me to always do my absolute best and work hard at whatever it was. I excelled all throughout high school and even took Esthetic Classes in the evenings because I loved skincare and makeup artistry. I’m pretty sure I drove her crazy while I was in college, changing my major all the time, but she supported whatever my interests were even if they were short lived. She said it was better for me to try it and decide I didn’t like it than not try and never know. She let me explore my artistic freedom always, whether it was actual art or a crazy haircut I dyed blue. Always with words of encouragement and being the best role model and working very hard so I could explore my endeavors. My mother did everything right and put me on a path to succeed in work and in life.

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 mentioned previously how I loved skincare and makeup artistry and took evening classes in Esthetics in High School. When I graduated from High School I was able to work as an Esthetician through college for spas and well known makeup brands. When I graduated from college I stepped back from the beauty industry to work doing medical research, but after several years I decided it just wasn’t for me and I went back into what i was passionate about. Fast forward years later and I now have my own bath and body small business where I create unique and whimsical, handcrafted bath and body treats, aromatherapy products and candles. My products are 100% vegan, small batch, palm free, cruelty free, paraben free, sulfate free and made from high quality, earth conscious and organic ingredients. I love that my customers are from all walks of life and appreciate the natural products I create for every body. What makes me most happy is when I get feedback from customers letting me know how one of my products has helped them or someone they know. The skin is our largest organ and I am so happy that people are finally starting to see the benefits of using natural body care. The best way to describe my brand is vibrant, colorful and edgy and when scrolling my social media you will see that instantly. I get inspiration from day to day life and interactions with others and turn it into a design or new product. I am so proud to be a trusted brand for bath and body care.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

What I am really trying to accomplish with Bluebird is to put natural products in the hands of everyone willing to try them at a reasonable price. For many years I personally wanted to use more natural bath and body care products, but the retail prices out there were insane. Natural and healthy body care doesn’t have to break the bank! This journey has been so inspiring being able to provide a line of products for those that might never have tried them otherwise. Every day I wake up and push myself to create the best products I can with this in mind at all times.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I think the absolute most important thing to remember when building your social media is to HAVE FUN WITH IT. When I first started Bluebird social media felt like a job and I honestly hated it. It seemed to take the creative out of me and trying to learn how to work with all the algorithms on different platforms was just a nightmare. When I decided to just change my mindset and perspective about social media, there was a significant change in my work. The creativity flowed and for those that know me, they could see that I was really going outside of my comfort zone and my audience started to grow organically. It is definitely important to use the correct hashtags for your particular niche and to change up the content so people continue to engage, but it is also important to engage with others and build community. In the end social media is all about connection with people, so don’t think of it as a job, think of it as a world of possibility.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bluebirdbathboutique.com
• Instagram: @bluebird_bath_boutique
• Facebook: @2020bluebird
• Other: Tik tok: @bluebirdbathboutique