“You follow your passion, and when you have a purpose behind it, everything becomes a little bit clearer.” —Nancy Rimbergas
Clean beauty isn't just another Instagram hashtag—it's a real movement that starts with actually caring about what we're putting on our skin. Every lotion, cream, or serum is like a tiny decision that ripples out, affecting not just our body, but the whole planet. We're not just buying products anymore; we're voting with our dollars, pushing brands to be real about their ingredients, and showing the beauty industry that we want something better.
Nancy Rimbergas is the co-founder of Earth Based Body, a purpose-driven skincare line that harnesses the potent, scientifically backed ingredients native to the Sonoran Desert. By prioritizing local, non-toxic ingredients and maintaining a commitment to transparency, she aims to bridge the gap between natural wellness and high-performance beauty.
Tune in as Justine interviews Nancy about her inspiration and challenges behind creating a clean, non-toxic skincare line, the unique healing properties of Sonoran Desert ingredients, the importance of local sourcing and ingredient transparency, how to balance creativity and business strategy in product development, entrepreneurial lessons learned in starting and scaling a business, and the power of relationships and community in business growth.
Meet Nancy:
Nancy Rimbergas is a Chicago native drawn to the mythical desert from an early age when visiting with family. Her connection grew with each visit, and she finally took the leap and moved to Arizona to experience the desert every day. True to her maximalist vibe, she now lives the Earth Based Body lifestyle with her husband, surrounded by an obnoxious amount of original artwork collected through their travels.
Connect with NextGen Purpose:
Episode Highlights:
01:14 Crafting Natural Skincare
07:05 Clean Beauty: A Personal Mission
10:02 Product Development and Ingredient Selection
13:15 Packaging with Purpose
16:06 Challenges of Starting a Business
20:24 Prioritizing Relationships OVer Rapid Expansion
Resources:
💲Discount
Get a 15% discount when you shop at: https://earthbasedbody.com/collections
Use code: EI15
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Nancy Rimbergas: (00:02):
You too. I'm so excited.
Justine Reichman: (00:05):
Oh, me too. And guess what I got here. We
were trying it this morning.
Nancy Rimbergas: (00:14):
What do you think?
Justine Reichman: (00:17):
I like this rose water and bergamot.
Nancy Rimbergas: (00:24):
We want it to just be like fresh without
nondescript. But some people arelike, is this like bergamot? I'm
like, well done.
Justine Reichman: (00:36):
My partner, he was like, oh, I don't like
bergamot. And then he tried it.He's like, oh, it's not heavy.
Nancy Rimbergas: (00:41):
No artificial colors or fragrances so
everything kind of rings true ina pure way.
Justine Reichman: (00:49):
Consistency. When you put it in your hands,
feels a little like powder does.
Nancy Rimbergas: (00:53):
It's soft without being greasy. And I
always say like you can dosomething, like open a door
(02:08):
after you put on hand cream,what a concept.
Justine Reichman: (02:15):
I like the consistency of powder. No, I
think so too. And you were inwhat? The beverage area?
Nancy Rimbergas: (02:27):
So that's where I cut my teeth, so to
speak. And yeah, took a realhard left turn like, hey, let's
join a more competitive industrythan even that was. But you
know, we follow your passion,and when you have a purpose
behind it, everything becomes alittle bit more clear.
Justine Reichman: (02:47):
And I also think that there's a lot of
skills that you get running abeverage company that are
transferable supply chain oroperational, all sorts of things
And when you're using organicproducts, the conversation of
shelf life and all thesedifferent things come into play,
(03:09):
just as they do in beverages.Because you want to be able to
maintain the integrity of anatural product, or a good
product that doesn't have toomany different things. And
equally, wanted to be shelfstable, at least for a while, so
people can utilize it.
Exactly. And it was interestingtoo with turning industries,
(03:34):
it's this weird haze comes over,and I almost forgot some of
those skills that I had untilsomebody reminded like, didn't
you just sell into Costco? I'mlike, oh, yeah, that was me. I
forgot. Like, okay, cool. How dowe approach that? Instead of
coming from a place of yourdeficiencies, or I'm not an
(03:55):
esthetician, and just kind ofplaying into your strengths of
like, no, but I still know whata great product is. And I can
help you serve a purpose. And asdesert dwellers here and
everywhere, we believe hydratedskin is a right, not a
(04:16):
privilege.
So we have the Rose Glow. I loverose, not just because my
(05:15):
grandmother's name was Rose. Soyou have the Rose Glow, which is
the hand cream. Which to me,like I said, feels like powder.
I could still touch my phoneafter.
Nancy Rimbergas: (05:28):
Nice and soft. I sometimes find myself petting
my hand if it's on, it's alittle soothing mechanism as
well. And people sometimes haveadverse reactions to the word
rose because they're afraid ofsmelling like their grandma or
whatever that is in their head.We use rose water, which
naturally softens your skin, sothat's where the rose comes
(05:50):
from.
Justine Reichman: (05:51):
Of course, we have the Cactus Crush here,
which is a natural body creamwith prickly pear hyaluronic
acid and organic shea butter. SoI'm curious because I know you
(06:19):
came from beverage, what wasyour process to come up with the
ingredients and the formulas forthese?
Nancy Rimbergas: (06:39):
Creating beverages is a whole other ball
of wax because there is so manydifferent levels of maintaining
carbonation. Those things wereway more interesting to me, and
(07:07):
I did not have the technicalskills for that. So it was more
me observing and absorbing whatthat whole process was, but also
(07:28):
just being aware of theingredients themselves. At that
point, it was more of what wasthe shelf life. How do we make
this a craft beverage that cansit on the shelf and last, and
(07:58):
still deliver the same taste?Carbonation levels, all those
things. When it came to theskincare, it almost was a lot
easier. Because being in thedesert, our backyard is the
(08:27):
Sonoran Desert, and there'sthese native plants and minerals
that we had access to.Literally, we're down the street
a cactus farm. Down the streetis where we get our prickly pear
(08:57):
juice, for instance. Andcelebrating what we have is the
whole purpose behind it. Thatbrings joy because we get to
share all these ingredients withpeople everywhere. And these
(09:27):
ingredients are also just happento be like the longest living
plants in the world. They'realso the most hydrating plants
(09:47):
in the world.
Justine Reichman: (09:49):
You move from the Midwest. This was new
information for you, I imagine.You're now learning about the
Sonoran Desert, and you'relearning about all these plans.
So how did you take thatinterest, and who did you lean
(10:12):
into to create the product?Because you were interested in
it, but I imagine tha you had todo some research, or surround
yourself with some other expertsso that you're able to build or
(10:33):
create a product that is bothimpactful, creates change in the
skin. Beneficial, and maybe canshow some studies or something
because there's so many productsout there.
Nancy Rimbergas: (10:53):
It's all about relationships. And every
venture, every project that I'vehad in my whole life and just
kind of thinking about it beforeour chat today, I was like, wow,
I've been really fortunate. Ihave so much gratitude for
relationships. I did start thebrand because a friend of mine
that I've known since highschool was diagnosed with
(11:15):
melanoma second time. So thatstarted my journey, and it came
from a passion of wanting tohelp her. And then in turn, I
was able to learn all this aboutnatural skin care and how much
your skin's absorbing.
Justine Reichman: (11:32):
When you said it was the inspiration from your
friend who had melanoma for thesecond time, was it about
creating something to preventmelanoma? And were you thinking
that this was going to besomething with an SPF to prevent
the sun, or was it theingredients? I'm curious what
was the impact of your friend'sillness, and how it manifests
(11:56):
itself in the product?
Nancy Rimbergas: (11:58):
Absolutely. So it came from the ingredients.
She was kind of leading thatdiscussion too about how much
toxicity we can absorb in ourskin. And it never occurred to
me, it's the largest organ. Wecan take in 60% of what we apply
topically to our skin. I let hereducate me to a point, and then
(12:23):
diving into it. SPF isdefinitely a part of her life. I
was focused more on theingredients, making sure that
they were wholesome, good, cleanand non toxic. So that's where
that kind of conversation led.And then my husband actually was
working with somebody who waslooking to expand her line of
(12:48):
skincare, so we connected. AndChristina is now our 50/50
partner, and she was aspassionate about the formulation
side of creating only natural,non toxic ingredients. I was
fortunate enough to partner upwith somebody who was an
encyclopedia, who has grown upin the area, who knows these
(13:11):
ingredients, who sufferedherself from different skin
ailments and wanted to havesomething that was clean, that
was effective as all get out andbeautiful. So I got to be on the
sales and marketing and brandcreation side of it. And then
working in synergy with her ofcreating the lineup that we have
(13:36):
and making sure it's served apurpose. So it did come back to
relationships of just being opento it, knowing I wanted to take
action, and then manifesting thewhole partnership.
Justine Reichman: (14:12):
So now she's a co-founder and she brings to
the table the experience ofcreating products, is what I
understand. Is that correct?
Nancy Rimbergas: (14:24):
Absolutely. She's like, I want to be in the
lab. I want to do the math. Iwant to figure these things out.
Justine Reichman: (14:33):
Awesome. So when she did that, she's done
this before so it's not herfirst time at the rodeo. There's
been a lot of questions aroundnatural products, the impact and
the efficacy of them. What didyou do to address that as you're
building this product? And youwant a beautiful product, you've
(14:53):
got great ingredients. But youwant to be able to let people
know that X percent of people,when using this, we'll do blah,
blah, blah, right? So tell me alittle bit about how you pulled
that together, and what you didto communicate and educate
consumers around that?
Nancy Rimbergas: (15:12):
Sure. When we started, the number one kind of
pushback is a lot of people, ifhaving a natural ingredients, or
it being vegan or cruelty free,if that wasn't their number one
concern, it usually was, how isthis going to make me look glowy
younger, like fill in the blankof what that was. So it's
(15:33):
definitely something weaddressed well. People think
that something made in a labwill automatically be more
powerful, will automaticallygive you this different result,
but we remind people thatscience is pulling from what
(15:55):
nature already knows. So it'snot vice versa. Nature is not
trying to catch up, we've beenevolving. So it's really talking
about the ingredients andtalking about how they're
different, how they're made, andwhat they naturally provide in
terms of benefits. And thenweaving together those
(16:16):
ingredients, and that's theformula. How can you best
combine ingredients and onlydeliver the amount that your
skin can actually take in? Thatwhole process was just the lift
(18:35):
of education. And sometimes, itwas literally trying it, getting
it on people's skin.
Justine Reichman: (19:07):
I think that everyone has a different value
(19:29):
system and chain. So yourvalues, as the owners of these
companies, and we want toinvestigate them. We know that
you're really interested in theingredients. You're really
interested in keeping thefootprint small, and keeping it
local, and sourcing local. And Ithink that everybody has their
(19:50):
thing, and that's yours. And Ithink that there's so many
people that resonates withbecause they care about their
health, their wellness and theplanet. And this is impacting
health, wellness and the planet.Because you're working locally,
your carbon footprint is less.But like food, you want the
taste is king. And impact isking. I just think there's a
(20:19):
variety of ways to get there,and I'm not here to dictate to
anybody to better understand whoyou are and what helps you make
your decisions to inspireothers. You're inspired by your
friend who wanted to make sureshe had really clean products on
her body because she didn't wantto take in the toxins. From what
(20:40):
you're saying, that locality isimportant. And using what's in
your backyard, so to speak, isimportant. And understanding
that helps us understand alittle bit more about you and
your choices. And I look at thepackaging, and it's so pretty.
Talk to me about your packagingand what you guys were thinking
(21:02):
as it relates to sustainability?
Absolutely. Again, trying tomake the best choices we can
with what's available. So thetubes that you have are made
from sugar cane. So that wasjust another choice. It's
recycled cardboard, it's soyink. Anything we can do to kind
of reduce our impact. And it'sall about that energy exchange.
(21:28):
Maybe you can see some of this,but I am an art collector
because I have no artistic skillwhatsoever. So the designs that
you see, one of our customers isa watercolor artist so she
created nine paintings for usbased on our ingredients. And
(21:48):
we've infused that onto ourpackages, so you get to carry
around a little piece of artwith you. So it's not just
drawings or a digital creation.There's nothing wrong with that,
but it's kind of a furtherexpression. We want our products
to show that they're burstingwith these beautiful ingredients
that we have, and we couldn'teven contain them. So that's
(22:11):
what you see on
(28:19):
What differentiates you is thatyou're in that location, and you
can lean into that. So for thosefolks that are not in your
(28:46):
location, but in differentlocations. You got your
inspiration for a friend andyour surroundings. What are the
top three things that you wouldrecommend to those founders and
viewers tuning in today to lookin front of them, just to make
sure that they're payingattention to what's in front of
(29:07):
them.
Nancy Rimbergas: (29:08):
So starting local and celebrating something
(30:12):
that is special to you, thatinspires you, that expresses
some of your values. Just startwith your heart, and then the
rest will spell itself out andreveal itself to you. Trust my
gut, but also, trusting data isanother thing. So a lot of times
(30:36):
as entrepreneurs, we can leadwith emotion, because it is a
part of us. It is somethingwe're super passionate about,
and that can sometimes cloud ourdecision making and our
judgment. So if you feel likeyou're going down, lean back
into the data.
Justine Reichman: (32:09):
Oftentimes, people are working around the
clock. People are doing allthese things. It just feels like
a little less, because you'redoing it for yourself. It is my
experience. If I have to do itfor somebody else, it's not
quite as motivating forme.That's how I feel, and why
I'm an entrepreneur. You're notthe first person to go from a
(32:30):
day job to then having their ownbusiness. I can imagine we have
other founders and viewers thatare tuning in today that might
say, what was it like? And howdid you have the confidence and
the drive? Did you always knowyou were an entrepreneur?
Nancy Rimbergas: (32:46):
I did not at all. I very much enjoy somebody
giving me vacation days andknowing what the system was. And
sometimes, being able to leavework and not carry it with you,
sleep on it, and all thosethings. I did know I always
wanted to have something of myown. I always had the thought
(33:10):
process when I was working andtelling the story of other
beverage brands. I knew I wantedto tell a different story that I
can control, that I didn't haveto have approved, and all those
things. So I guess I always hadthose control. And also, the
creativity of writing storiesfrom being in school. Looking
(33:32):
back, it's all very clear. Thatwasn't my ambition.
Justine Reichman: (33:54):
As an entrepreneur, though, you have
to be everything in thebeginning. The finances, the
ingredients. You gotta be thelab person. You gotta be the
designer until you figure outwhat you're doing and where
you're going from doing sales tonow doing all of it. What was
(34:17):
that like? How did you feeldoing that?
Nancy Rimbergas: (34:20):
I would say, Justine, that ignorance is
bliss, number one. And justhaving confidence that I'm like,
(34:45):
I could figure this out. I'm agrown up. And again, doing it
with a purpose and a passionbehind it makes everything go
(35:15):
away. And like you said, it's somuch different when it's
something you own versus workingfor somebody else. It was just
(35:46):
knowing the things you don'tknow, being vulnerable enough to
ask for help and gettingyourself in the rooms to be able
(36:15):
to ask the questions and justhear from a place of humility
again. Oh, I'm gonna have toplan for that as well. And then,
(36:46):
what are the steps for me? Whatis the one thing I can do today
that I can control? And thenknowing I have to stretch and
(37:16):
finding those things out. Butyeah, entrepreneurship will
teach you how small things youcould feel, or how much you
(37:45):
don't know. And I think the keyis being okay with it from the
start. I can't be expected to bean expert in 10 different
(38:16):
fields. I can tell you what myzone of genius is, and either I
know I need help with a newhire, or I need help with a
(38:45):
coach, or I need help with mysuppliers. And being okay asking
those questions. I call itbursting your bubble soon
(39:14):
faster, right? Because itbecomes like this all
encompassing place and spacethat can feel really lonely. So
(39:41):
the more you can add to yourcommunity, the easier it will be
knowing you're not the only onegoing through it.
Justine Reichman: (40:11):
Just want to go back to the beginning of this
journey for a second. So onething that's really challenging
for people, and I could seepeople wanting to ask is, how do
you know if you should invest inyour own company, or what made
you choose to do one or theother? Did you fund your startup
at the beginning? Or did you goraise money? And why?
Nancy Rimbergas: (40:34):
We self funded, and we remain self
funded at this point. So I thinkhaving the partner that I did
from the jump, and knowing thatthere was a process in place,
that was enough of a cushion inmy brain of like, okay, if she
(40:57):
can take on half of this where Ihave very small amount of
knowledge outside the beverageindustry, then I know my skill
set. I know what I can control.For lack of a better term, I had
faith in my skills and herskills. I'm like, okay,
(41:17):
together, we can do this. Sothere it is definitely a leap of
faith, but the faith comes fromthe skills that you already
have, and knowing where you wantto end up. I feel like one of
the most important things is,what is your big dream goal? And
next question, how do you backinto that?
Justine Reichman: (41:41):
Do you see yourself in three or five years?
Nancy Rimbergas: (41:45):
It's been a huge interesting, like plot
twist along the way. So myoriginal dream was ending up at
a Sephora and in Ulta, and beingin North Nordstrom and that
whole darling thing. What feelsgood to us is our online
business and selling direct toconsumers, and being able to
(42:07):
know them intimately and havethose relationships, that's what
feels great to us. So we'redefinitely open to those
opportunities, but it's not thedefinition of success for us
anymore. We want to build thisonline business and keep scaling
it up in a way that issustainable for our lives, for
(42:27):
the ingredients that we'reusing, and it no longer is a
billion dollar company thatwe're trying to build. And that
feels great because we want ourlives first, and then the
opportunity second. So ourdreamy dream is sharing this
(42:48):
knowledge, sharing theseproducts, being able to serve
our audience, have thoserelationships and do the things
that we set out to do. And yeah,that really is the dream. Now
it's changed.
Justine Reichman: (43:03):
It is a prosperous online business. How
many SKUs do you have?
Nancy Rimbergas: (43:13):
12 right now. We don't have plans right now
for any additional, so we'rekind of like rocking our core
collection and kind of seeingwhat happens. What we've done is
offer different kind of giftingopportunities, because that's
what our customers have beenasking for. How can I share this
(43:36):
little piece of the desert andshare it with people that are
visiting, with people who areacross the country? So we're
offering different options thatway, really focusing on seasonal
care, and what your skin needsseason by season. So yeah, it's
really just about the educationpart of it. And just celebrating
(44:00):
what we have, and kind ofpausing in a way of like, okay,
what actually is working? Andsetting new kind of goals,
parameters and benchmarks.
Justine Reichman: (44:11):
How do you evaluate that?
Nancy Rimbergas: (44:14):
Sales is the number one evaluator. But we
(44:38):
also show up at live events. Wehave the online business, and we
(45:15):
do have wholesale as well,especially in spa locations like
(45:49):
a Canyon Ranch in Miraval thatare here in Arizona.
Justine Reichman: (46:18):
Nancy, thank you so much. For those folks
that want to learn more aboutthe product or be able to buy
it, where's the best place forthem to go?
Nancy Rimbergas: (46:29):
Sure. earthbasedbody.com. On socials
as well, Earth Based Body. But Iwould love to offer your
listeners a little discount too.15% off their first online
purchase, we'll set up a code.How about EI15?
Justine Reichman: (46:50):
Sounds amazing. Nancy, thank you. Our
viewers will be super excited.It's a great product. I love the
way that I can walk away anddon't feel greasy, or have to
wash my hands. You know howsometimes when you put face
cream on, I always wash my handsafter because I feel like it's
going to get on everything. Withthis, you put it on and you just
(47:11):
go.
Nancy Rimbergas: (47:13):
That was our plan. And it has some light
deflectors too, so you have alittle mineral veil. So check it
out. Check it out in the sun.
Justine Reichman: (47:22):
I want to thank our listeners and our
viewers for tuning in today.They are our family, they are
our friends, they are ourcolleagues. They are what keep
us going. I'm so glad that youguys got to meet our listeners
and our followers. Got to meetNancy today. She's an
inspiration. She built thisamazing product with her co
founder, really with the ethosof a better free planet, better
(47:45):
for us, and both with our healthand our wellness. So it's really
inspirational. I'm so glad thatwe got to chat and learn more
about that. I love to be able tobring our community into this so
that they can be inspired toinnovate. Not maybe in the same
space, but hear from you whatinspired you so that they can go
off and make their own change ordifference in the world. So for
(48:08):
those of you that tuned intoday, don't forget, if you're
not following us on Instagram,it is at essential.ingredients.
You can listen to our podcastwherever you listen to podcasts,
it's essential ingredients. Andfor those that love a video,
we're on YouTube at NextGenPurpose, so hope to see you
soon. See you here again nextweek. And Nancy, thanks again
(48:30):
for joining me today.
You too. I'm so excited.
Justine Reichman: (00:05):
Oh, me too. And guess what I got here. We
were trying it this morning.
Nancy Rimbergas: (00:14):
What do you think?
Justine Reichman: (00:17):
I like this rose water and bergamot.
Nancy Rimbergas: (00:24):
We want it to just be like fresh without
nondescript. But some people arelike, is this like bergamot? I'm
like, well done.
Justine Reichman: (00:36):
My partner, he was like, oh, I don't like
bergamot. And then he tried it.He's like, oh, it's not heavy.
Nancy Rimbergas: (00:41):
No artificial colors or fragrances so
everything kind of rings true ina pure way.
Justine Reichman: (00:49):
Consistency. When you put it in your hands,
feels a little like powder does.
Nancy Rimbergas: (00:53):
It's soft without being greasy. And I
always say like you can dosomething, like open a door
(02:08):
after you put on hand cream,what a concept.
Justine Reichman: (02:15):
I like the consistency of powder. No, I
think so too. And you were inwhat? The beverage area?
Nancy Rimbergas: (02:27):
So that's where I cut my teeth, so to
speak. And yeah, took a realhard left turn like, hey, let's
join a more competitive industrythan even that was. But you
know, we follow your passion,and when you have a purpose
behind it, everything becomes alittle bit more clear.
Justine Reichman: (02:47):
And I also think that there's a lot of
skills that you get running abeverage company that are
transferable supply chain oroperational, all sorts of things
And when you're using organicproducts, the conversation of
shelf life and all thesedifferent things come into play,
(03:09):
just as they do in beverages.Because you want to be able to
maintain the integrity of anatural product, or a good
product that doesn't have toomany different things. And
equally, wanted to be shelfstable, at least for a while, so
people can utilize it.
Exactly. And it was interestingtoo with turning industries,
(03:34):
it's this weird haze comes over,and I almost forgot some of
those skills that I had untilsomebody reminded like, didn't
you just sell into Costco? I'mlike, oh, yeah, that was me. I
forgot. Like, okay, cool. How dowe approach that? Instead of
coming from a place of yourdeficiencies, or I'm not an
(03:55):
esthetician, and just kind ofplaying into your strengths of
like, no, but I still know whata great product is. And I can
help you serve a purpose. And asdesert dwellers here and
everywhere, we believe hydratedskin is a right, not a
(04:16):
privilege.
So we have the Rose Glow. I loverose, not just because my
(05:15):
grandmother's name was Rose. Soyou have the Rose Glow, which is
the hand cream. Which to me,like I said, feels like powder.
I could still touch my phoneafter.
Nancy Rimbergas: (05:28):
Nice and soft. I sometimes find myself petting
my hand if it's on, it's alittle soothing mechanism as
well. And people sometimes haveadverse reactions to the word
rose because they're afraid ofsmelling like their grandma or
whatever that is in their head.We use rose water, which
naturally softens your skin, sothat's where the rose comes
(05:50):
from.
Justine Reichman: (05:51):
Of course, we have the Cactus Crush here,
which is a natural body creamwith prickly pear hyaluronic
acid and organic shea butter. SoI'm curious because I know you
(06:19):
came from beverage, what wasyour process to come up with the
ingredients and the formulas forthese?
Nancy Rimbergas: (06:39):
Creating beverages is a whole other ball
of wax because there is so manydifferent levels of maintaining
carbonation. Those things wereway more interesting to me, and
(07:07):
I did not have the technicalskills for that. So it was more
me observing and absorbing whatthat whole process was, but also
(07:28):
just being aware of theingredients themselves. At that
point, it was more of what wasthe shelf life. How do we make
this a craft beverage that cansit on the shelf and last, and
(07:58):
still deliver the same taste?Carbonation levels, all those
things. When it came to theskincare, it almost was a lot
easier. Because being in thedesert, our backyard is the
(08:27):
Sonoran Desert, and there'sthese native plants and minerals
that we had access to.Literally, we're down the street
a cactus farm. Down the streetis where we get our prickly pear
(08:57):
juice, for instance. Andcelebrating what we have is the
whole purpose behind it. Thatbrings joy because we get to
share all these ingredients withpeople everywhere. And these
(09:27):
ingredients are also just happento be like the longest living
plants in the world. They'realso the most hydrating plants
(09:47):
in the world.
Justine Reichman: (09:49):
You move from the Midwest. This was new
information for you, I imagine.You're now learning about the
Sonoran Desert, and you'relearning about all these plans.
So how did you take thatinterest, and who did you lean
(10:12):
into to create the product?Because you were interested in
it, but I imagine tha you had todo some research, or surround
yourself with some other expertsso that you're able to build or
(10:33):
create a product that is bothimpactful, creates change in the
skin. Beneficial, and maybe canshow some studies or something
because there's so many productsout there.
Nancy Rimbergas: (10:53):
It's all about relationships. And every
venture, every project that I'vehad in my whole life and just
kind of thinking about it beforeour chat today, I was like, wow,
I've been really fortunate. Ihave so much gratitude for
relationships. I did start thebrand because a friend of mine
that I've known since highschool was diagnosed with
(11:15):
melanoma second time. So thatstarted my journey, and it came
from a passion of wanting tohelp her. And then in turn, I
was able to learn all this aboutnatural skin care and how much
your skin's absorbing.
Justine Reichman: (11:32):
When you said it was the inspiration from your
friend who had melanoma for thesecond time, was it about
creating something to preventmelanoma? And were you thinking
that this was going to besomething with an SPF to prevent
the sun, or was it theingredients? I'm curious what
was the impact of your friend'sillness, and how it manifests
(11:56):
itself in the product?
Nancy Rimbergas: (11:58):
Absolutely. So it came from the ingredients.
She was kind of leading thatdiscussion too about how much
toxicity we can absorb in ourskin. And it never occurred to
me, it's the largest organ. Wecan take in 60% of what we apply
topically to our skin. I let hereducate me to a point, and then
(12:23):
diving into it. SPF isdefinitely a part of her life. I
was focused more on theingredients, making sure that
they were wholesome, good, cleanand non toxic. So that's where
that kind of conversation led.And then my husband actually was
working with somebody who waslooking to expand her line of
(12:48):
skincare, so we connected. AndChristina is now our 50/50
partner, and she was aspassionate about the formulation
side of creating only natural,non toxic ingredients. I was
fortunate enough to partner upwith somebody who was an
encyclopedia, who has grown upin the area, who knows these
(13:11):
ingredients, who sufferedherself from different skin
ailments and wanted to havesomething that was clean, that
was effective as all get out andbeautiful. So I got to be on the
sales and marketing and brandcreation side of it. And then
working in synergy with her ofcreating the lineup that we have
(13:36):
and making sure it's served apurpose. So it did come back to
relationships of just being opento it, knowing I wanted to take
action, and then manifesting thewhole partnership.
Justine Reichman: (14:12):
So now she's a co-founder and she brings to
the table the experience ofcreating products, is what I
understand. Is that correct?
Nancy Rimbergas: (14:24):
Absolutely. She's like, I want to be in the
lab. I want to do the math. Iwant to figure these things out.
Justine Reichman: (14:33):
Awesome. So when she did that, she's done
this before so it's not herfirst time at the rodeo. There's
been a lot of questions aroundnatural products, the impact and
the efficacy of them. What didyou do to address that as you're
building this product? And youwant a beautiful product, you've
(14:53):
got great ingredients. But youwant to be able to let people
know that X percent of people,when using this, we'll do blah,
blah, blah, right? So tell me alittle bit about how you pulled
that together, and what you didto communicate and educate
consumers around that?
Nancy Rimbergas: (15:12):
Sure. When we started, the number one kind of
pushback is a lot of people, ifhaving a natural ingredients, or
it being vegan or cruelty free,if that wasn't their number one
concern, it usually was, how isthis going to make me look glowy
younger, like fill in the blankof what that was. So it's
(15:33):
definitely something weaddressed well. People think
that something made in a labwill automatically be more
powerful, will automaticallygive you this different result,
but we remind people thatscience is pulling from what
(15:55):
nature already knows. So it'snot vice versa. Nature is not
trying to catch up, we've beenevolving. So it's really talking
about the ingredients andtalking about how they're
different, how they're made, andwhat they naturally provide in
terms of benefits. And thenweaving together those
(16:16):
ingredients, and that's theformula. How can you best
combine ingredients and onlydeliver the amount that your
skin can actually take in? Thatwhole process was just the lift
(18:35):
of education. And sometimes, itwas literally trying it, getting
it on people's skin.
Justine Reichman: (19:07):
I think that everyone has a different value
(19:29):
system and chain. So yourvalues, as the owners of these
companies, and we want toinvestigate them. We know that
you're really interested in theingredients. You're really
interested in keeping thefootprint small, and keeping it
local, and sourcing local. And Ithink that everybody has their
(19:50):
thing, and that's yours. And Ithink that there's so many
people that resonates withbecause they care about their
health, their wellness and theplanet. And this is impacting
health, wellness and the planet.Because you're working locally,
your carbon footprint is less.But like food, you want the
taste is king. And impact isking. I just think there's a
(20:19):
variety of ways to get there,and I'm not here to dictate to
anybody to better understand whoyou are and what helps you make
your decisions to inspireothers. You're inspired by your
friend who wanted to make sureshe had really clean products on
her body because she didn't wantto take in the toxins. From what
(20:40):
you're saying, that locality isimportant. And using what's in
your backyard, so to speak, isimportant. And understanding
that helps us understand alittle bit more about you and
your choices. And I look at thepackaging, and it's so pretty.
Talk to me about your packagingand what you guys were thinking
(21:02):
as it relates to sustainability?
Absolutely. Again, trying tomake the best choices we can
with what's available. So thetubes that you have are made
from sugar cane. So that wasjust another choice. It's
recycled cardboard, it's soyink. Anything we can do to kind
of reduce our impact. And it'sall about that energy exchange.
(21:28):
Maybe you can see some of this,but I am an art collector
because I have no artistic skillwhatsoever. So the designs that
you see, one of our customers isa watercolor artist so she
created nine paintings for usbased on our ingredients. And
(21:48):
we've infused that onto ourpackages, so you get to carry
around a little piece of artwith you. So it's not just
drawings or a digital creation.There's nothing wrong with that,
but it's kind of a furtherexpression. We want our products
to show that they're burstingwith these beautiful ingredients
that we have, and we couldn'teven contain them. So that's
(22:11):
what you see on
(28:19):
What differentiates you is thatyou're in that location, and you
can lean into that. So for thosefolks that are not in your
(28:46):
location, but in differentlocations. You got your
inspiration for a friend andyour surroundings. What are the
top three things that you wouldrecommend to those founders and
viewers tuning in today to lookin front of them, just to make
sure that they're payingattention to what's in front of
(29:07):
them.
Nancy Rimbergas: (29:08):
So starting local and celebrating something
(30:12):
that is special to you, thatinspires you, that expresses
some of your values. Just startwith your heart, and then the
rest will spell itself out andreveal itself to you. Trust my
gut, but also, trusting data isanother thing. So a lot of times
(30:36):
as entrepreneurs, we can leadwith emotion, because it is a
part of us. It is somethingwe're super passionate about,
and that can sometimes cloud ourdecision making and our
judgment. So if you feel likeyou're going down, lean back
into the data.
Justine Reichman: (32:09):
Oftentimes, people are working around the
clock. People are doing allthese things. It just feels like
a little less, because you'redoing it for yourself. It is my
experience. If I have to do itfor somebody else, it's not
quite as motivating forme.That's how I feel, and why
I'm an entrepreneur. You're notthe first person to go from a
(32:30):
day job to then having their ownbusiness. I can imagine we have
other founders and viewers thatare tuning in today that might
say, what was it like? And howdid you have the confidence and
the drive? Did you always knowyou were an entrepreneur?
Nancy Rimbergas: (32:46):
I did not at all. I very much enjoy somebody
giving me vacation days andknowing what the system was. And
sometimes, being able to leavework and not carry it with you,
sleep on it, and all thosethings. I did know I always
wanted to have something of myown. I always had the thought
(33:10):
process when I was working andtelling the story of other
beverage brands. I knew I wantedto tell a different story that I
can control, that I didn't haveto have approved, and all those
things. So I guess I always hadthose control. And also, the
creativity of writing storiesfrom being in school. Looking
(33:32):
back, it's all very clear. Thatwasn't my ambition.
Justine Reichman: (33:54):
As an entrepreneur, though, you have
to be everything in thebeginning. The finances, the
ingredients. You gotta be thelab person. You gotta be the
designer until you figure outwhat you're doing and where
you're going from doing sales tonow doing all of it. What was
(34:17):
that like? How did you feeldoing that?
Nancy Rimbergas: (34:20):
I would say, Justine, that ignorance is
bliss, number one. And justhaving confidence that I'm like,
(34:45):
I could figure this out. I'm agrown up. And again, doing it
with a purpose and a passionbehind it makes everything go
(35:15):
away. And like you said, it's somuch different when it's
something you own versus workingfor somebody else. It was just
(35:46):
knowing the things you don'tknow, being vulnerable enough to
ask for help and gettingyourself in the rooms to be able
(36:15):
to ask the questions and justhear from a place of humility
again. Oh, I'm gonna have toplan for that as well. And then,
(36:46):
what are the steps for me? Whatis the one thing I can do today
that I can control? And thenknowing I have to stretch and
(37:16):
finding those things out. Butyeah, entrepreneurship will
teach you how small things youcould feel, or how much you
(37:45):
don't know. And I think the keyis being okay with it from the
start. I can't be expected to bean expert in 10 different
(38:16):
fields. I can tell you what myzone of genius is, and either I
know I need help with a newhire, or I need help with a
(38:45):
coach, or I need help with mysuppliers. And being okay asking
those questions. I call itbursting your bubble soon
(39:14):
faster, right? Because itbecomes like this all
encompassing place and spacethat can feel really lonely. So
(39:41):
the more you can add to yourcommunity, the easier it will be
knowing you're not the only onegoing through it.
Justine Reichman: (40:11):
Just want to go back to the beginning of this
journey for a second. So onething that's really challenging
for people, and I could seepeople wanting to ask is, how do
you know if you should invest inyour own company, or what made
you choose to do one or theother? Did you fund your startup
at the beginning? Or did you goraise money? And why?
Nancy Rimbergas: (40:34):
We self funded, and we remain self
funded at this point. So I thinkhaving the partner that I did
from the jump, and knowing thatthere was a process in place,
that was enough of a cushion inmy brain of like, okay, if she
(40:57):
can take on half of this where Ihave very small amount of
knowledge outside the beverageindustry, then I know my skill
set. I know what I can control.For lack of a better term, I had
faith in my skills and herskills. I'm like, okay,
(41:17):
together, we can do this. Sothere it is definitely a leap of
faith, but the faith comes fromthe skills that you already
have, and knowing where you wantto end up. I feel like one of
the most important things is,what is your big dream goal? And
next question, how do you backinto that?
Justine Reichman: (41:41):
Do you see yourself in three or five years?
Nancy Rimbergas: (41:45):
It's been a huge interesting, like plot
twist along the way. So myoriginal dream was ending up at
a Sephora and in Ulta, and beingin North Nordstrom and that
whole darling thing. What feelsgood to us is our online
business and selling direct toconsumers, and being able to
(42:07):
know them intimately and havethose relationships, that's what
feels great to us. So we'redefinitely open to those
opportunities, but it's not thedefinition of success for us
anymore. We want to build thisonline business and keep scaling
it up in a way that issustainable for our lives, for
(42:27):
the ingredients that we'reusing, and it no longer is a
billion dollar company thatwe're trying to build. And that
feels great because we want ourlives first, and then the
opportunity second. So ourdreamy dream is sharing this
(42:48):
knowledge, sharing theseproducts, being able to serve
our audience, have thoserelationships and do the things
that we set out to do. And yeah,that really is the dream. Now
it's changed.
Justine Reichman: (43:03):
It is a prosperous online business. How
many SKUs do you have?
Nancy Rimbergas: (43:13):
12 right now. We don't have plans right now
for any additional, so we'rekind of like rocking our core
collection and kind of seeingwhat happens. What we've done is
offer different kind of giftingopportunities, because that's
what our customers have beenasking for. How can I share this
(43:36):
little piece of the desert andshare it with people that are
visiting, with people who areacross the country? So we're
offering different options thatway, really focusing on seasonal
care, and what your skin needsseason by season. So yeah, it's
really just about the educationpart of it. And just celebrating
(44:00):
what we have, and kind ofpausing in a way of like, okay,
what actually is working? Andsetting new kind of goals,
parameters and benchmarks.
Justine Reichman: (44:11):
How do you evaluate that?
Nancy Rimbergas: (44:14):
Sales is the number one evaluator. But we
(44:38):
also show up at live events. Wehave the online business, and we
(45:15):
do have wholesale as well,especially in spa locations like
(45:49):
a Canyon Ranch in Miraval thatare here in Arizona.
Justine Reichman: (46:18):
Nancy, thank you so much. For those folks
that want to learn more aboutthe product or be able to buy
it, where's the best place forthem to go?
Nancy Rimbergas: (46:29):
Sure. earthbasedbody.com. On socials
as well, Earth Based Body. But Iwould love to offer your
listeners a little discount too.15% off their first online
purchase, we'll set up a code.How about EI15?
Justine Reichman: (46:50):
Sounds amazing. Nancy, thank you. Our
viewers will be super excited.It's a great product. I love the
way that I can walk away anddon't feel greasy, or have to
wash my hands. You know howsometimes when you put face
cream on, I always wash my handsafter because I feel like it's
going to get on everything. Withthis, you put it on and you just
(47:11):
go.
Nancy Rimbergas: (47:13):
That was our plan. And it has some light
deflectors too, so you have alittle mineral veil. So check it
out. Check it out in the sun.
Justine Reichman: (47:22):
I want to thank our listeners and our
viewers for tuning in today.They are our family, they are
our friends, they are ourcolleagues. They are what keep
us going. I'm so glad that youguys got to meet our listeners
and our followers. Got to meetNancy today. She's an
inspiration. She built thisamazing product with her co
founder, really with the ethosof a better free planet, better
(47:45):
for us, and both with our healthand our wellness. So it's really
inspirational. I'm so glad thatwe got to chat and learn more
about that. I love to be able tobring our community into this so
that they can be inspired toinnovate. Not maybe in the same
space, but hear from you whatinspired you so that they can go
off and make their own change ordifference in the world. So for
(48:08):
those of you that tuned intoday, don't forget, if you're
not following us on Instagram,it is at essential.ingredients.
You can listen to our podcastwherever you listen to podcasts,
it's essential ingredients. Andfor those that love a video,
we're on YouTube at NextGenPurpose, so hope to see you
soon. See you here again nextweek. And Nancy, thanks again
(48:30):
for joining me today.
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