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Women In Wellness: Gena Griffin of Sun Patch On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Try to get at least a little bit of sunshine every day. There are benefits to getting sun for our mental and physical health and even a small amount can make a difference. Just ALWAYS wear sun protection. Always.

As a part of my series about the women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing

Gena Griffin grew up in Florida and started her career in the competitive world of real estate. Despite finding success in that field, she decided to take a risk in order to follow her passion and start her own company, Sun Patch. Through Sun Patch, she has developed the first-to-market, patented UPF 50+ Silicone sunblock patches. She now resides in sunny Laguna Beach, CA with her husband and 3 kids and their new puppy Cody.

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?

I started out in the corporate real estate world where I worked for 20 years but towards the end, I was on the lookout for something more creative. I have always been interested in fashion and the beauty industry, but I knew that I wanted to do something that had a purpose. It took me years to realize that my obsession with skincare could align with my religious belief in sun protection — Sun Patch was born.

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?

Not so much a story but a habit. I started reaching out to mentors and people that I think a lot of people would be intimidated by. Through my connections over the years, I would just pick up the phone and call successful women in various industries who did what I wanted to do. I don’t know if I would have been comfortable enough to do that earlier in my life. My takeaway was that I knew my own story, but that time on the phone was to listen to their story. I had an hour of this person’s time, and I wanted to spend it listening and asking questions.

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?

The biggest mistake I made was delaying our launch because I was being a perfectionist. All my friends who wanted to buy our product kept asking me what I was waiting for. And to be honest, I was being overly critical of everything and looking back I could have easily launched 6 months sooner. If there are not things you want to work on and improve when you launch, then you’re launching too late.

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?

I have always been passionate about skincare, but I want to help raise awareness about the impact that the sun has on our health and skin overall. I’m the only mom at the pool who wears a rash guard, but my kids notice that I take sun protection seriously and I think it’s important for the next generation to grow up understanding that. Take care of your skin because health, beauty, and wellness are all connected. When you feel great, and you feel strong from your heart, then your beauty naturally shines.

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. Coffee, Creamer, Stretch. Those things in that order really set me up for a good day. I feel less stressed, I sit a little taller, and feel better overall.
  2. Power down your phone at 8pm — wait to turn it back on until 8am. That really helps me be present in the mornings. Otherwise, I’m checking my emails right when I wake up. No thank you.
  3. Listen to uplifting podcasts. My favorites at the moment are Biz Chic, Breaking Beauty, and Skinny Confidential.
  4. Create a little ritual. Every day at 2pm I have a cup of coffee and a chocolate bar. It’s small, but it’s a little moment in my day that I look forward to and it helps give me energy for the rest of my day.
  5. Try to get at least a little bit of sunshine every day. There are benefits to getting sun for our mental and physical health and even a small amount can make a difference. Just ALWAYS wear sun protection. Always.

If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?

It’s a movement that’s already in the works but it would be Skin Positivity. In the past with skincare, it has been all about having perfect skin and there was this implied shame if you have blemishes or imperfections (which we all have). I think it’s important to love our skin, and to want to take care of it because we know it’s already beautiful as-is.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?

  1. Stay true to yourself and your vision and your brand. If you steer away from your vision and it doesn’t work out you will always be bummed by that, but if you stay true to yourself and your voice, you won’t regret that.
  2. Don’t worry about competitors or copycats/knockoffs. Copycats only help my SEO (Yay!) but ultimately, I want my main focus to be on what I’m doing and creating.
  3. Have balance with social media. Obviously, it’s important and has allowed me to interact with people and build a community, but I no longer obsess over it. It’s only a tool — it’s not everything.
  4. Don’t neglect reviews and word-of-mouth. When I first started, I didn’t really make getting reviews a priority. I’ve since changed that and now we have no ego when it comes to asking for them — they’re important!
  5. The hard work is worth it. That’s pretty much it.

Sustainability, veganism, mental health and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?

Environmental changes is a big one for me. Living in Laguna Beach, there is a big sense of caring for where we live and the planet as a whole. That’s why Sun Patch has partnered with Eco Drive to offset our carbon footprint. A portion of purchases goes towards planting trees to help save our climate. Check them out!

What is the best way our readers can follow you online?

Follow us on Instagram: @sun.patch

Thank you for these fantastic insights!

Women In Wellness: Gena Griffin of Sun Patch 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.