Women In Wellness: Kasia Rothe of Rustic MAKA On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Stay connected to your family and friends: get together with your parents, siblings, nieces or nephews, grandparents, and friends on a regular basis. Holidays shouldn’t be the only time we are connected to each other. Have dinner together, your favorite dessert or just meet up for coffee at least once a week. Spend time doing different activities which can lead to getting to know each other and create a more intimate relationship. You can volunteer in your community; find a place where you can pay forward to those around you who need help.
As a part of my series about the women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Kasia Rothe.
Kasia Rothe is the CEO and co-founder of Rustic MAKA, and has over 15 years in corporate setting, business practices, and customer relations and her past entrepreneurial endeavors include wedding photography business and health and wellness blog. She created a natural deodorant and personal care routine that worked in tune with her body after natural products on the market failed to perform. This became a catalyst to a new way customers care for their underarms and the beginning of Rustic MAKA.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?
It all started with a simple comment from my husband: “Honey, I think you need to do something about your deodorant.” Since bad body odor isn’t easy to face, and when you develop something this embarrassing that’s evident to everyone around you, you become determined to find the right solution. So, what’s a girl to do when life gives you stinky lemons? You make Sweet Lemonade Natural Deodorant, but the story goes back to growing up in Poland in the 80’s, which wasn’t easy.
Very early on, my sister Monica and I have learned what it means to live simply. Without having access to mainstream beauty and hygiene products, our mom, Anna, taught us to make do with what we had. She used potato starch and water solution to soak dry hands. She put sour milk or yogurt on sunburned skin and used active yeast to make hair soft and silky. When our younger sister Alex was born, our mom used chamomile water to soothe her sensitive skin. We learned to take nature’s gifts and use simple remedies to battle many bodily ailments.
After moving to the United States, the lessons from the past combined with the passion for organic and wholesome products became our way of life. Yet, as natural products became available on the market, many of them failed to perform.
Our first product, a natural deodorant, was the result of a personal experience and giving up on what’s out there. We needed something simple and healthy, but at the same time it needed to really work. With our mom’s guidance and recalling lessons from the past, we spent countless hours researching just the right ingredients and cooking batch after batch in the family kitchen. When we realized we had something that truly delivers results, our journey started and Rustic MAKA was born. We now have an effective product filled not only with wholesome and healthy ingredients, but also pride and joy. With lots of hard work and utilizing gifts from nature, our products became loved by many and are available across the U.S. and beyond.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? What were the main lessons or takeaways from that story?
When we first started Rustic MAKA, our main goal was to get in front of the customers and be carried by retailers. Since I previously worked as a marketing and sales rep for a local organic bread company, I had an idea of who would be the best retailer partner. It’s also important to get yourself known among local customers so they can become your fans, your advocates and sort of an extension of your brand when your products start popping up at local stores. It’s a great way to meet and build relationships with your customers.
But this is all a process and sometimes people are hesitant and need that testimony that you are a legit company, and your products will sell before they are willing to place them on their shelves. So, we were very determined to get the word out and get on the “radar” of the local news stations and be on TV.
I made a list of local newspapers and looked up every writer that was remotely related to business, beauty or start-up entrepreneurship. The list was growing, and I started sending out the emails in hope to connect with just one writer or news editor. At the same time, we had some local retailers picking up our deodorants and at some local events people were giving us leads to what stores would be a great fit for us. Someone even mentioned Whole Foods but were we ready for that? So, then it happened I came across a post on social media about an event for potential vendors for Whole Foods. I figured “great, I can go and learn about requirements, etc.” so I sent the email and next thing I know I have a confirmed meeting with a sales team to review our product line. Not to panic, right? We had a few weeks to put everything together, Monica worked on the line sheets, presentation etc. and I practiced my speech. The presentation day came, and it was one of the best feelings in the world when a Whole Foods sales team tells you they love what we do and would love to bring Rustic MAKA on board. Wow, cloud nine and nervousness all at the same time!
All of this was like a domino effect of events intermingled with getting into store after store, when I was least expecting it ABC Channel 7, JoAnn Purtan was calling me. She wanted to interview us, Rustic MAKA mompreneurs for her segment about mom’s business owners. We had our first TV interview and the story received a huge amount of recognition which led us to expanding our product line and more stores.
This journey might have many twists and turns, but when we think back on all of this, we always say that taking those chances and keeping on knocking on doors is what made us get where we are today. We might have thought we are not ready for Whole Foods or even a TV interview but if you don’t take chances you don’t know where you end up.
Can you share a story about the biggest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
You will make many mistakes as an entrepreneur but what you learn and how you move on will determine your success.
It was our very first local event, it was our “launch”, our premiere, where we wanted to showcase our new brand and sell our deodorants. We found what we thought a perfect way to share what we created with other moms. This event was a mom-to-mom sale, but it turned out it was a complete flop. We didn’t sell one thing, came home disappointed and somewhat discouraged and almost gave up. After having to face that loss and re-thinking our strategy and really looking at our customer base, we realized we need to be better at the selection process so we can align ourselves with the event’s customers. Sometimes, you are so thrilled about what you have to offer you get lost and that’s ok. That passion and excitement just needs to be re-directed into better planned execution but don’t get pigeonholed into the perfectionism of it either. Design your strategy plan and execute it, while learning as you go if the mistakes happen, because they will.
Let’s jump to our main focus. When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?
Creating a natural deodorant that truly worked was just the beginning of the possibilities where one product can change lives for so many. Rustic MAKA company fills the gap for a truly trustworthy brand that brings health-conscious consumers a product they can rely on. Hearing stories from countless customers on how much something we created has improved their everyday life, and how they are no longer self- conscious about their underarms, is one of the most rewarding and exciting aspects we didn’t expect to get from starting Rustic MAKA. Seeing customers come back month after month, genuinely inspires us to continue to develop more natural personal care solutions.
Can you share your top five “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey towards better wellbeing? Please give an example or story for each.
1. Stay connected to your family and friends: get together with your parents, siblings, nieces or nephews, grandparents, and friends on a regular basis. Holidays shouldn’t be the only time we are connected to each other. Have dinner together, your favorite dessert or just meet up for coffee at least once a week. Spend time doing different activities which can lead to getting to know each other and create a more intimate relationship. You can volunteer in your community; find a place where you can pay forward to those around you who need help.
2. Get lost in nature: go for a walk. Find a local park or nature preserve and go get immersed in nature’s beauty. Being in touch with nature has been proven to increase our brain activity, helps with positive thinking, and increases vitamin D production.
3. Get to know yourself: Spend each day thinking about your daily interactions and how it affects your self-talk. Are you boosting your confidence or are you constantly feeding it negativity? By changing your mindset, you have the power to change your life. Find what brings you joy each day and what activities make you smile. By knowing yourself you can create a life that is not only gratifying to yourself but to those around you.
4. Get enough sleep: Our bodies need rest each day; it might be 7–10 hours depending on our daily activity level. We need time to reset, which also helps with detoxification and allows us to be able to conquer the next day ahead. Sleep deprivation is a leading cause of depression, weight gain, stress, and even food cravings. If you can, go to sleep an hour early or don’t set an alarm clock to see how many hours your body needs to be at its peak operational level.
5. Eat your veggies: they’re just good for you.
If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?
Learn the benefits of kindness and grace. We live in a society of instant gratification where we just want answers here and now and no one is allowed any mistakes or imperfections. Kindness and grace can teach us how we can treat each other better without being judgmental while understanding and accepting our differences. Each of us is unique and we need to celebrate those differences by embracing them and not creating situations that divide us into groups of the same likenesses. It’s good for our wellbeing to give as we are meant to be giving creatures. Yes, so many of us see giving as a form of sacrifice.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?
1. You must wear many hats running your own business until you can hire out the pros. When you are a start-up, especially bootstrapping like Rustic MAKA, you prioritize how and where you spend your budget and what you can do in-house. At the very beginning, we did everything ourselves, from printing labels, bookkeeping, manufacturing, labeling, packing orders to customer service and wholesale repping. We still do a lot of it ourselves but while we grew, we had to learn to give up control and let go of the tasks that can be trusted to others.
2. Social media algorithms are always changing. What worked 5 years ago on social media or what’s trending 6 months ago can and will change next week. That’s just the nature of this beast and there’s no way around it. You can try to take courses, master classes but at the end of the day, your authenticity and your own voice is what will attract your customers to your brand. There’s no magic plan or secret formula to get “famous” online, unless you have an unlimited budget and can hire one of the Kardashian sisters. By being consistent and doing what you love will win over customers that will stay loyal to your brand.
3. Don’t grow for the sake of growing. Expanding a business should always be a well thought out plan. Adding products or services to your offerings will only bring you more work, stress and sleepless nights, and who wants that? Concentrate on your niche and what makes you stand out from the competition. Trends come and go, and you should keep up on new and exciting advancements and new technologies, but don’t get distracted by going into a rabbit hole of creating something that is not in line with your overall vision. Less is more.
4. Failing to know your customer. If you don’t know who your customer is, how can you sell it to them. Spell out in detail who that person is, know their likes, their dislikes, their shopping habits, interest, and hobbies, how they spend their time and with who. Where do they shop or how do they like to spend their money? Are they affiliated with any specific causes or social movements? It all plays an important role in how you present your brand and your future expansion and growth.
5. You will get tired…and it’s ok. Life and work balance takes practice and cannot be mastered, and it should not be attempted. Knowing when to take a break will provide a new perspective, maybe even spark new ideas and the inspiration for what to do next or how to do something better.
Sustainability, veganism, mental health and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?
Sustainability means a lot more to us than making efforts in terms of packaging or ingredients. This has been on the forefront for us in the last few years as we see how it is impacting our environment around us. At the peak of ecommerce, consumerism, and immediate availability of many exotic ingredients it’s evident to us that some resources are being mishandled or overused. While we search for innovative, new materials we see a need to improve how they are sourced and who’s responsible for the production.
Also, we want to break the stigma of talking about bodily functions. We are very open and welcome talking about sweating and body odor to normalize it and not make it a taboo subject anymore. Our hope is that this will lead to creating open and honest conversations about keeping your mind and body healthy.
How can our readers follow you online?
RusticMAKA.com
Instagram/Facebook: @RusticMAKA
Thank you for these fantastic insights!
Women In Wellness: Kasia Rothe of Rustic MAKA On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.