Meet Sally Larsen: Founder, Owner and Formulator,

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sally Larsen and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sally, what do you attribute your success to?
We started the company out of necessity. So many people have health issues that are tied to what they eat, what they breathe and what they put on their skin. Usually, we find out the hard way that these things affect us. Everyone has their own health journey. I found that cleaning up both my food choices and my skincare choices improved my health considerably. Once I had shared our products with friends, family and healthcare professionals, I realized that we had something special…and in demand. That was in 2005 when we were one of the first companies to even consider skincare products made from organic or non-toxic ingredients. We were ahead of our time and believe our success is largely due to the fact that we’ve spent years researching and discovering how to turn pure, plant-based ingredients into luxurious, healthy treatments for the face and body. 

What should our readers know about your business?
We were one of the first companies to become EWG (Environmental Working Group) Verified. This verification holds products to the strictest standards for your health. This means that products with the EWG Verified Seal have full transparency, none of EWG’s chemicals of concern, and a mark you can trust. Although we use mostly certified organic ingredients, we wanted a program that backed up our claims of having clean, non-toxic products. Skincare and other companies engage in green-washing and fake claims and we don’t, so having the EWG verify our mission, gives us the credibility that backs up what we do. After a few years of simply having great products, we realized in the last 24 months that we had a lot of competition and needed to invest in serious branding and marketing. This is probably the most challenging goal of ours. It’s not easy to stand out in the health and beauty space. We are learning every day about communicating our message and educating our customers on how to stay clean and safe in the world of cosmetic ingredients. We want our customers to know that your lifestyle, what you eat and what you put on your skin matters to your health. There are products available (like ours) that are not only safe but also effective in giving you glowing healthy skin. And that is without using harsh chemicals or ingredients considered toxic, so many which are used in skincare products by even America’s leading brands.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
In a normal year, I would make sure to show them Ponce City Market, the Beltline, the Civil Rights Museum, the Aquarium, Atlanta Botanical Gardens and the High Museum. I would make sure to give them a driving tour of Buckhead, Inman Park, Ansley Park and some of our lesser known but beautiful neighborhoods where the woods and the vistas are beautiful … particularly around the Chattahoochee river..

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Yes. In 2010, someone from the movie set of HallPass came into the little shop where I had my products asking if I want to donate products to the cast and crew. I try to always say yes to that question and donated several pouches of goodies. The next thing I knew — the lovely Kimberly Snyder, who was traveling with some of the movie stars keeping their diets on track, had written a blog praising my lip gloss. Blogging was a relatively new thing in marketing. Sally B’s had had a couple of folks blog about our products and the resulting 3-4 sales were well received. But when Kimberly, who had already written books and developed an impressive mailing list and social media following, blogged about my products, sales increased dramatically. All of a sudden, we were getting sales from other parts of the United States and even other countries around the world. Kimberly Snyder is an important and revered figure in my business journey.

Website: https://www.sallybskinyummies.com/
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Linkedin: Sally Larsen
Twitter: @skinyummies
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Youtube: Sally B’s Skin Yummies