Inga Tritt of Original Sprout: Five Things You Need To Know To Succeed In The Modern Beauty Industry
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Never give up. If someone tells you no, knock on every door until somebody says yes. Don’t stop!
As a part of our series about “Five Things You Need To Know To Succeed In The Modern Beauty Industry”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Inga Tritt-Yater.
Inga Tritt is a Serial Mompreneur, Brand Builder, Health & Wellness Expert and top Beauty Influencer with 20+ years of experience in product innovation, brand management, and business consulting. She has built award-winning multi-million-dollar brands that shaped the beauty industry — and empowered thousands of women along the way.
Her story begins after beauty school graduation when she learned all the ins and outs of salon management as a high-profile master stylist. In her mid-20s, after discovering no bank would give her a loan, Inga bought her first hair salon on Mastercard in Santa Barbara, CA and evolved it into a full-service spa with a celebrity clientele. She soon opened her second spa and mentored aspiring beauty stylists.
A self-created millionaire by age 33, Inga knew the title of her next story chapter — motherhood. It’s why she sold her salons and started a family. After her daughter was born, Inga realized there were no clean, safe, all-natural (and effective!) hair and bath products she felt comfortable using on little Maya. So, she leveraged her industry experience and created them. In 2003, the Original Sprout company was born.
Today, Original Sprout is a leading brand that has grown to a global reach, and whose certified vegan and all-natural family-friendly hair and skin products are sold in well-known grocery chains, natural food stores, farmers markets, family resorts, and salons, including Sprouts Farmers Market, Whole Foods, Regis Salons, Lassens, Disneyland , and Harrods.
Ask Inga about her professional journey, and she’ll tell you she walked alongside a powerful tribe of women who organically built brands and a thriving fan community base. Her mission: To empower women to be better and do better.
Inga continues to grow the brand to meet ever-changing consumer demand. She speaks globally about beauty, health, and wellness, and inspires thousands of women through national interviews, publications, TV appearances, and conferences.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
When I was a little girl, my mom didn’t have lipstick or high heels. She would wear basic clothing and would hide her body. I was inspired by my great grandmother who did have high heels, makeup, party gowns, etc. However, the makeup stole me since I realized how it could make you feel prettier and lively. I was brought up in a salon, so as a child, I was intrigued by my surroundings. I soon became obsessed with masks, and would even go down to my local creek in Montecito, CA and experiment with different plants and dirts and create my own masks.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
My most interesting story that has happened to me is when the Royal family discovered my Original Sprout products and bought them at Harrods of London where the Queen of England shops. Before my creation of Yater Actives, I was the creator and CEO of Original Sprout. Kate Middleton thanked me in People Magazine for making healthy, safe products for babies.
Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Are there takeaways or lessons that others can learn from that?
In the last 20 years, I found out that the cosmetic industry is run by men who don’t even use the products that they have made. The beauty industry is male-dominated and I am here to create good trouble for women in the world of cosmetics. People can be fooled by advertisements and buy products that claim to work and don’t. This makes people lose faith in product performance. The German in me does not allow for products to not be perfect. The first time I saw success was when began traveling abroad and meeting many influential people that loved my products When people come to me and raved about how well my products worked for them, it motivated to make more great products for great people. I want the world of beauty to come together to create healthy products that work for the consumers and our planet.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person to whom you are grateful who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I am grateful for my husband, Lauran Yater, who has been my biggest supporter, which inspires me to be more innovative and think outside the box. I grew up on the fringe of society and was an outcast who felt like she didn’t belong. Lauran showed me love and empathy and I realized that there is so much good in so many people and this is why I stay focused on how to help others.
Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. The global beauty industry today has grown to more than a half a trillion dollar business. Can you tell us about the innovations that you are bringing to the industry? How do you think that will help people?
I am bringing innovations from the earth and plants. The difference is how we age our masks and activate them before shipping. They stay in a cool, dark place, and they’re aged until they’re cured. We use MicroSilver BG, a non-skin penetrating and natural preservative in all our products. We don’t use fillers, artificial colors, parabens, or plastics. We only use recyclable glass and plastic. Our products are 100% vegan, cruelty free, gluten-free, MicroSilver BG, and is naturally preserved. Our mission is to help others feel good about the way they look and feel, so they live their best lives.
Can you share 3 things that most excite you about the modern beauty industry?
1. I’m excited that more women are gaining recognition for their work in the modern beauty industry.
2. There’s a lot more creativity going on with hair, skin, and nails. There’s more innovation and new products, and this excites me since that’s how my brain works. Many of my relatives are inventors.
3. I like that finally, people of all shades and hair types are being embraced in the beauty industry.
Can you share 3 things that most concern you about the industry? If you had the ability to implement 3 ways to improve the industry, what would you suggest?
- Revamp the FDA to test products on the market to make sure they’re safe. Companies that keep their ingredients a secret since so many toxic ingredients are used in this industry and the consumer should have the right to know what they’re putting on their body.
- Children and teens are heavily influenced by social media and feel inferior. They’re told they need surgeries and products to alter their bodies in order to be accepted. I want people to understand that the beauty industry should lift up and embrace all people.
- I would get rid of petroleum.
- I would get rid of photoshop and make it so companies had to show un-edited skin and real before and afters of their products. People need to see the real results of the products they are consuming.
You are an expert about beauty. Can you share a few ideas that anyone can use “to feel beautiful”?
Every morning and night, you should have your best skincare routine in place. Make sure to stick to it. Also, focus on one aspect of yourself that you love.
Here is the main question for our discussion. Based on your experience and success, Can you please share “Five Things You Need To Know To Succeed In The Modern Beauty Industry”. Please share a story or an example, for each.
- You need to have social media.
- Your social media has to be done correctly or else you won’t get results. Work with the right people.
- Always work with people you trust.
- Always remember that fashion is cyclical. Always be ahead, never behind. Always be yourself and remember you have the freedom to be yourself.
- Never give up. If someone tells you no, knock on every door until somebody says yes. Don’t stop!
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
Always remember kindness and empathy. Helping people feel better about themselves adds positively that we are so in need of today. Always look for the positive and never focus on the negative.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Leave them wanting more.” This quote was relevant to me in life since people love my products and want more.
How can our readers follow you online?
Website: https://www.yateractives.com
Instagram: yateractives
Facebook: Yater Actives
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.
Inga Tritt of Original Sprout: Five Things You Need To Know To Succeed In The Modern Beauty… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.