August 5, 2025 • 39 mins
"I think one of the biggest things to convey to anybody who wants to start a business is know what you're good at, know what you like, and know what you're not good at, and then outsource that. Because that's going to help get the business to where you wanna go." —Arielle Moody
Ever wonder if you’re settling for “good enough” when you could be living—and choosing—so much better? If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by the choices you make for your body, your business, or your family, this episode is your permission slip to trust your gut, question the status quo, and demand more from what you put on your skin and into your life.
Arielle Moody, a seasoned beauty industry expert and co-founder of Mama Sol, turned her personal quest for safe, effective products into a thriving business that puts wellness and integrity first. Her journey from industry insider to innovative entrepreneur brings a fresh, no-nonsense perspective on why what’s inside—both products and people—matters most.
Hit play for a candid look at how intentional living, ingredient transparency, self-belief, and values-driven choices shape everything from entrepreneurship and family business to work-life balance, clinical testing, and creating wellness products that truly multitask.
Meet Arielle:
While pregnant with her first child, shocked by how many toxic ingredients were lurking in everyday products, and after trying dozens of natural mineral sunscreens, Arielle was determined to create one that 1) didn’t make her immediately want to wash her face, and 2) didn’t leave a white cast on her skin. Oh, and it needed to be something she looked forward to using daily. No biggie.
As Mama Sol’s product development whisperer, Arielle has been immersed in the beauty industry her entire adult life. Starting as a beauty sales trainer for Smashbox, Dr. Perricone, and Bite Beauty, then rising to become the head of product development for Skinn Cosmetics and, most recently, the head of sales for a leading cosmetics packaging and formulation company, she’s always known one thing—that she would one day create her own product, something truly different that had never been seen before.
Connect with NextGen Purpose:
Episode Highlights:
03:19 Fulfilling a Long-Time Dream
06:16 Inclusive Formulations and Non-Nano Zinc Oxide
13:41 Bootstrapping and Business Growth
18:30 Work-Life Balance
21:20 Ingredient Philosophy and Product Development
28:11 Family Dynamics and Business Challenges
31:20 The Mamasol Expert Series Podcast
Resources:
Book
Infinite Possibilities: The Art of Living Your Dreams: https://a.co/d/3wGFDX0
Discount
Get a special discount when you shop at: https://www.shopmamasol.com/
Use code: EssentialMama15
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Justine Reichman: (00:00):
Good morning, and welcome to Essential
(03:46):
Ingredients. I want to welcomeour friends, our guests,
(06:56):
Arielle, and everyone tuning intoday. We're so happy to have
you here. We're so happy toinvite Arielle, and have her
share her journey and story withyou about Mama Sol, a little
about Arielle. She developedthis product while she was
pregnant. It became out of aneed for something that she
really wanted in that time. Shedrew on her background in beauty
(07:17):
where she was for many years hada lot of experience. I think
you're really gonna enjoyhearing from Arielle. I think
she's got a lot to share withus, and a lot for us to learn
about how we choose ourproducts, and what the essential
ingredients mean for that.
So welcome, Arielle.
Arielle Moody: (07:33):
Thanks for having me.
Justine Reichman: (07:35):
Oh, I'm so pleased to have you here. I'm so
pleased to learn more about yourproduct. I'm excited to learn
about your journey. It's sofunny, because when I hear these
stories, I was pregnant and Ihad this idea, or I moved and I
needed to figure this out, likeit comes from a sense of desire,
want, need, void, and theability that you had to connect
(08:00):
it with your background inbeauty. It was amazing how lucky
is that. That might not be thething, but it's the ability to
see the connection. And I thinkthat sometimes, we forget about
that. We forget about what weknow and how to leverage it, and
that we can do that too. So ifyou would maybe just tell
(08:21):
everybody about Mama Sol.
Arielle Moody: (08:27):
Again, thanks for having me. So when I started
Mama Sol, I was five monthspregnant with my first son. I
started researching ingredientsto avoid when you're pregnant or
nursing, and the list was solong. And sunscreen was by far
the most toxic category that Ihad seen. Specifically at the
time, oxybenzone was found inabout 90% of sunscreens on the
(08:49):
market, and it was found to bein breast milk. It was
destroying coral reefs, causingskin allergies and cell damage.
And I thought, why is this inour sunscreens? So this was in
2017 when I first startedresearching. I started buying
dozens of mineral sunscreens,looking for ones without
(09:11):
oxybenzone that were a mineral,and they all just left a white
cast. Smelled like coconuts.Made me feel greasy. And so when
I couldn't find what I waslooking for, I hired a chemist
and created on my own.
Justine Reichman: (09:24):
Awesome, that's amazing. And what's most
amazing about that is that youactually decided to do something
about it. You're not just like,oh, I'm gonna let me see what I
can investigate. Let me find thebest product. When you saw this
void, you decided to take thatleap of faith. So I ask, were
you always an entrepreneur?Because I know that you worked
(09:45):
in the industry for a lot ofdifferent brands. But working
for somebody and being anentrepreneur is two totally
Arielle Moody: (09:54):
I worked in the beauty industry for over 15
different things.
years. I've worked for brandslike Smashbox, Dr. Perricone,
and Bite Beauty. I was then headof product development for the
number one brand sold on HSNcalled Skin Cosmetics. And then
from there, I became VP of Salesfor leading beauty packaging and
(10:16):
formulation companies. So Iessentially worked with brands
to help them launch their lines.I always knew, I would say since
the age of 16 that I was goingto start my own business. I knew
it was going to be in the beautyindustry. My mom teases me to
this day like, I never met a 16year old that knew what they
(10:40):
wanted to do more than you. ButI just knew that this was my
path, and it actually startedwith a psychic reading, which I
can get into.
Justine Reichman: (10:51):
So curious, when you went down a psychic
reading, did you were youlooking for answers on something
in particular?
Arielle Moody: (11:00):
That's a whole nother story. I've always been
into psychics, and I'm also veryinto manifestation, breath work
and wellness, and so that's likea huge passion and part of our
brand. But when I had thispsychic reading, at the time, I
(11:25):
was actually sketching makeupbrand ideas because I started
out my job, my career as amakeup artist, so I thought that
that was going to be my path.But what ended up happening is I
ended up having this psychicreading, and she says to me, no,
you're gonna start a cleanskincare brand. And she said,
it's going to be reallysuccessful. I see it on Access
(11:47):
Hollywood. I see it all over themagazines. She compared it to
The Honest Company. Well, threeweeks after we launched, we were
featured on Access. It wasorganic. Of course, was kind of
nuts it. I don't think that thepsychic reading led me in that
direction. It just validated itwhen it did come right to me.
Justine Reichman: (12:12):
That's super interesting. Well, that isn't a
whole nother conversation, but Iam curious. How you got to the
psychic? Why you went to thepsychic? I know that she helped
validate the idea, but did yougo because you were looking for
validation because you werecurious?
Arielle Moody: (12:31):
It actually had to do with my dog at the time.
So I had her come in for acompletely different reason. And
then in addition to whatever Iwas asking her to help me with
my dog at the time, she feltcompelled to tell me what she
saw for my future. And ofcourse, yes. Who isn't curious
(12:53):
about their future and whattheir path should be? So I
definitely asked, what do yousee? What do you see me doing
with my career?
Justine Reichman: (13:02):
Well, I'm so glad you shared that with me.
We'll have to circle back onthat psychic post-podcast,
because I am really curious. ButI do want to give you the
opportunity, because I think ourguests would be curious. I want
(13:24):
you to talk to them about thestruggles you had, if you had
struggles to serve people withdifferent skin tones. How you
tackled that head on in yourformulation? I think it's
important that it's beenaddressed. I think that it's
(13:46):
important, it's a differentiator.
Arielle Moody: (13:51):
Yeah, for sure. Being inclusive was extremely
important to us. We tested ourformulas on all different skin
tones. This is the thing. Zincsunscreen on very dark skin
tones may sometimes leave aslight white cast. I never want
(14:12):
to be absolute when I say that.But our sunscreen is pretty
superior than others that I'vetried. Let's say that zinc
dispersions have significantlyimproved. Technology surpassed
so much of what used to be inthe 80s and 90s when people look
(14:35):
like ghosts, right? So it's verydifferent now. And there's ways
to really mitigate that whitecast in formulations today, so
we're really lucky. I'm gladthat I waited because innovative
technology has come out aroundnon-nano zinc oxide.
Justine Reichman: (14:53):
So for those that are tuning in, maybe not
familiar with non-nano zincoxide, can you talk a little bit
about that? Why things arechanging? Why that's an
important part of theconversation?
Arielle Moody: (15:08):
Yeah. Non-nano just means the particles aren't
so small that they're going topenetrate into the bloodstream.
Non-nano zinc in my opinionreally is important for sprays,
because you can inhale the zinc.So with lotions, it's not as
dangerous to use nano zincoxide. But in addition, non-nano
(15:30):
zinc oxide is also better forthe environment because it gets
into our waterways, and it canpenetrate all types of things.
But we don't want it to. But Ialso think it's important for
your listeners to understand thedifference between mineral and
chemical sunscreen. So if youdon't mind me just explaining
(15:54):
that for a minute? Zincsunscreen, you want to think of
it like a physical shield thatsits on top of your skin
physically blocks UV rays frompenetrating your skin. Chemical
sunscreen has to be applied 15minutes before you go out in the
sun, and it's going to absorbthe UV rays, and then convert
(16:18):
them into non dangerous phrase.So that is the difference. The
biggest difference is thatchemical sunscreen is much more
likely to end up in yourbloodstream. So we can't ever
say that mineral sunscreen willnever, zinc oxide will never end
up in your bloodstream. It'sextremely unlikely, because it
(16:41):
sits on top of the skin, andit's also just not as
detrimental for endocrinedisruptors and for your hormones.
Justine Reichman: (17:03):
I think what I'm curious about is, I want to
start at the beginning, and Iwant to start where you had all
this experience. You wanted tocreate something that you would
want to use. Because when youwere pregnant, you didn't want
to use those, for myunderstanding, right? You didn't
(17:23):
like what was in them. Youdidn't want to put that. You
didn't want that to go into yourbloodstream. You didn't want to
have the impact that it mighthave both on you and on your
baby. So when you decided to dothat, and from your experience
(17:47):
with all those differentcompanies, how did you use that
experience to be able to buildMama Sol?
Arielle Moody: (17:59):
It helped me immensely, because I learned how
to create a product. So I helpedcustomers find their packaging.
I helped them create theirformulas. I work directly with
ingredient suppliers andchemists, so I learned from the
ground up how to get a conceptto market. I didn't have the
(18:26):
experience in the marketing.That's not my wheelhouse, so I
had to outsource that. So Ithink one of the biggest things
to convey to anybody that iswanting to start a business is
just know what you're good at,know what you like. Know what
you're not good at, and thenoutsource that because that's
really going to help escalate,and get the business where you
(18:46):
want it to go.
Justine Reichman: (18:47):
We can't know everything. I think it's really
important as a founder to beable to surround yourself with
the different experts, and knowwhere you need to lean in, and
where you need to bring in thosepeople to help you with the
things that are not necessarilyyour core competency, or going
to hinder you, because you'regoing to take too much time to
be able to learn that process,or that skill. And I know that
(19:10):
oftentimes, building a businesscould be very scrappy, and it
can be very hand to mouth andall these different things. So
when you started your businessand you realized that you did
not have the marketingexpertise, how did you decide to
integrate that into yourbusiness? What was the landscape
that you were looking to build?
Arielle Moody: (19:33):
So you got to be clear on your go-to-market
strategy when you're launching abusiness. So our original
go-to-market strategy, wethought was going to be straight
into retail. But what we learnedvery quickly was it's not as
easy as you think to get rightinto retail. Our formulas, we
can talk a little bit about thembecause that's actually what led
(19:55):
us into the market that we'recurrently in. Our formulas smell
like a set hint of lavenderessential oil, and it encourages
you to take a deep breath witheach use. And one of our
taglines is, if sunscreen and aspa day had a baby, and so what
that led us to was spa. And sonow, we're currently sold in 11
(20:17):
Four Seasons. We're in FairmontHotels. We're in a ton of height
and spas, and resorts, and thatled us into our market, which is
spa. And that really dictatedour marketing strategies around
wellness and relaxation, andthen also where skincare needs
sun care. So that really helpeddictate our marketing strategy
(20:42):
for Mama Sol.
Justine Reichman: (20:44):
That totally makes sense, and you're working
on that, and you're doing allthat. But you realize that maybe
you're not the best person,let's just say, to do the
marketing strategy, to figure itout. You got the overall idea,
you got the vision for it. Sowhere were you in the business
when you decided, okay, I needto bring this person in.
Arielle Moody: (21:05):
We always had somebody that was helping us
with our social social media,but we didn't have somebody
really overseeing all of ourmarketing strategies, meaning
like our email blasts, not alsoincluding social media events,
influencer outreach, all ofthose things was something that
we really didn't have. And so Iwas at a networking event, and I
(21:27):
met our CMO there, and I went tothis event to talk about
manifestation. I had gone to theevent, and I set an intention
before going, as I do in everynetworking event that I go to. I
highly recommend everybodylistening to do the same. But I
said, I really wanted to meet myhead of marketing, because I
knew that's where we needed themost help. I have a co founder.
(21:49):
She's in charge of all theoperations and logistics. I'm in
head of sales and productdevelopment, but the marketing
really was this outlier. Weneeded help. So anyway, I met
her, and we immediately hiredher. She was so great. She used
to do run marketing for tendergreens, and so we really scooped
up a good one. And she's beenphenomenal. And she's been with
(22:10):
us now for over a year. Shereally helped our brand
awareness, I would say, themost. And really nailing down
the social media brandesthetics, and how we want to
look to all of the peoplevisiting us for the first time.
Justine Reichman: (22:31):
First of all, it's a beautiful product. All
the branding, it looks great. Ilove what you're doing with it.
And I think those were naturalnext steps. When you built your
business, when you started fromthe beginning, was this
something you're like, okay, I'mgoing to fund, or I'm going to
(22:52):
go raise money. Because I thinkthat plays a big role in
resources, how they getallocated, and how you can move
forward, and when you can movefrom scrappy to strategic.
Arielle Moody: (23:03):
Okay. I'm gonna get into something that I think
it's personal, and I think willbe very interesting to everybody
listening. So we are completelybootstrapped. We have no
investors except for thefounders. One of the founders is
my mom. She is a world renownedeye surgeon and laser cosmetic
(23:24):
surgeon, and so between her me.And then also my sister who's
our creative director. We havecompletely financed the business
on our own. Mainly, my mom hasbeen our main investor up until
this point. We are definitely ata point where we're considering
getting an outside investment.But for anyone that is starting
(23:48):
a business and in the samepredicament, what I would say to
them is, wait as long as youcan. You want to make sure your
valuation is going to be thebest. You want to make sure that
you have all of theopportunities lined up, and
maybe even converted before youbring in an investor. So for us,
(24:09):
the way that I've made this workis the Palisades Fire that
happen on January 7. On January3, I had actually quit my job to
go all into Monticello. So thatwas four days later that the
fires happen, for thoselistening. And I live in LA. So
(24:29):
when that happened, I said,okay, I'm going to get an
investor. I want an investor. Iwant an investor help pay my
salary, and then I can go allinto this business well. And
getting an investor takes a lotlonger than a couple months, of
course. And so I'm very seriousabout this business. I believe
in it with every ounce of mybeing. And so we decided to move
(24:52):
our family to Newport Beach.We're staying with my mom right
now. We're renting at our homein LA, and I am giving this a
full year of running out of ahome, and going all into the
business so that I don't have totake an outside investment right
now. So that I can be the one tojust put every ounce of my
(25:15):
energy into this business, andnot worry about getting a job.
I've been extremely fortunate.It was really, really hard to
move our whole family. I havetwo little boys, 4 and 7, to
take them away. There was manyreasons why we decided to do
this. It wasn't only because ofMama Sol, but I would say that
was probably 80% of thedecision. And so now, that's
(25:38):
where we are.
Justine Reichman: (25:39):
Wow, that's an amazing story. I'm so happy
that you shared that, because ittalks to your character, talks
to the ability to go all in, andwhat that means, and what you're
willing to give up. And if we'renot willing to give it up, who
else is going to be willing togive it up? And I always say
(26:03):
that at the end of the day, it'sthe founders that care the most.
It's the founders that are goingto work at 3:00 o'clock in the
morning, during dinner orwhatever. There's so much pride,
joy and ethics around building abusiness, especially when it's
(26:23):
your own. I commend you fordoing that, and your whole
family. What was that like foryou and your husband to decide
to do that?
Arielle Moody: (26:34):
It was extreme. It was devastating to leave. We
left initially because the smokewas so bad, and I got sick for a
month from the air quality. Sowe had to leave initially, but
we weren't planning to leavelonger than a couple weeks.
Maybe a month. What turned intoa couple weeks to a month,
turned into a year. And it wasreally hard. I never felt like I
(26:56):
got to say goodbye, a truegoodbye to my neighbors and my
friends. And because it happenedso quickly, we were forced out
of it, which I believe was thisdivine intervention in the
universe. It pushed me out. Itforced me to do this. Because if
it hadn't happened, if this firehadn't happened, I would still
be living in my home in LA. Iprobably still having two jobs
(27:20):
so that I could do Mama Sol. Andbecause I don't have two jobs,
our sales are up 165%.
Justine Reichman: (27:25):
Congratulations.
Arielle Moody: (27:26):
Thank you.
Justine Reichman: (27:30):
It's extremely personal. You really
share the heart of yourbusiness, how dedicated you are,
and it's really inspirationaland aspirational. Because when I
sit there and I think about it,there's something so special
about a founder and how theybuild their business. Not to say
(27:52):
that somebody's going to getfunding isn't inspirational.
That is inspirational. It's acompletely different mindset,
and maybe even trajectory. Butit doesn't have to be. And I
think it's really important forthose that are listening today
and tuning in to take somethingfrom this, to say, you know
what? I can invest in mybusiness too. I can be clever,
(28:14):
and I can figure it out. Maybethey don't have a house to rent
or something like that. But tothink within themselves what
they have tap into theirresources so they can make sure
to give it all that they have.There's so many options, and
that's what I got out of that, Iguess.
Arielle Moody: (28:30):
Yeah. I think the moral of the story is, for
me, at least it was now ornever. nything to make this
happen had to happen now,because I don't want to look
back and have any regrets. Andso if you have the opportunity
to go all into your business,don't wait for the timing to be
right. That's my biggest,biggest lesson I want to leave
(28:54):
with your audience. Because Ihad two jobs for, I want to say
five years while I started thisbusiness. We launched two years
ago, but I started the businessmany, many years ago, and I have
never had the chance to justfocus on Mama Sol. I was always
distracted, and I had two kidson top of it. And so I kept
(29:15):
waiting, and waiting, andwaiting for the timing to be
right. And then I finally justsaid, no, this is the time. And
then look what happened? Lookwhere we are. We've won three
national awards in the lastthree months. Our body sunscreen
just won Best Body SPF fromShape magazine. Our tint, our
(29:36):
100% mineral tinted lip oilsjust won Best Lip Gloss with SPF
from New Beauty, which is one ofthe top beauty publications that
you can receive an award from.And then we also just won Best
Tinted Lip Oil from Shop TodayAwards, The Today Show. We're
rolling, and we're reallyexcited. The sky's the limit
(29:58):
right now for us.
Justine Reichman: (30:02):
You moved in January, right? It's July now.
It sounds like the ability to beable to just do one job, and I
don't say just one job and doingtwo jobs. What do you think the
(30:24):
three biggest benefits you havenow that you can spend and focus
your time specifically here?
Arielle Moody: (30:32):
Oh, my God, there's so many. It's endless. I
would say, first of all, thework life balance that I have
now before I left my job, I wasso spread thin that I wasn't
being the best mom that I couldbe. I didn't have enough time to
spend playing with my kids. Iwas working around the clock so
(30:53):
that I could work my 9 to 5 job,and then do Mama Sol. And so
now, being able to do that, I'mable to go get my kids from
school at 3:00 o'clock. Or homesick from school, I can be with
them. There's so many thingsthat have changed in my life, in
(31:14):
my personal life. Number two,I'm now able to travel. It's
been my dream to travel for MamaSol. And now, I'm going all over
the country, and out of thecountry. I'm going to Mexico in
October for a Spa Conference.I've been all over the country
this past year showcasing andexhibiting at trade shows, Spa
(31:38):
conferences. I would never havebeen able to do that if I had
another job. So that in itself,I would say, has been the number
one game changer for me, becausethat's what has allowed our
business to grow because I'mmeeting so many leads at these
trade shows. And then I wouldsay, my mind doesn't feel
(32:02):
cluttered. My mentalwellness,I'm so much happier. I
am able to focus on meditationevery single morning. Probably
the number one change in my lifehas been my commitment to
myself, and really believing inmyself, and believing in my
(32:23):
purpose. I've read so many booksabout manifestation, about
changing, rewiring your brain. Ican share those recommendations
with you and your listeners,because they've been a life
changing for me.
Justine Reichman: (32:39):
I would love that. And if you don't want to
do it now, we can include thisin our newsletter as a little
bit of a dig deeper section justto encourage people to learn
more.
Arielle Moody: (32:50):
I can share one book that I think it gets people
started. It's called InfinitePossibilities by Mike Dooley.
That is what got me so intomanifestation and changing the
way that I think. I would saythat if anyone reads anything
(33:11):
for their next book, pick thatone up.
Justine Reichman: (33:13):
We'll make sure to add a link for it in the
show notes, so that people can,after they listen to the
episode, get the book, see whatyou're talking about, learn
more, be curious. There's somuch to unpack here, and there's
so many things that I want to goover. I want to talk about the
family connection for thebusiness. I want to talk about
(33:34):
working behind the scenes, andthe things that maybe you're not
willing to compromise on. Sothere is so much. I want to go
back to a little bit aboutthings you're not able to
compromise on, and then we'lljump to the family dynamic, and
what that looks like now. Bothbefore you took your time off,
(33:54):
and as well after. So let's justdig in right now. And if you can
tell me a little bit more aboutthe ingredients, anything that
is a deal breaker for you,something that you won't
compromise on that reallydifferentiates you from others.
Arielle Moody: (34:09):
I would say the number one thing that
I'm curious, just
differentiates us is we arecompletely silicone free.
Silicones tend to clog yourpores, and they are not
biodegradable, so they're notgreat for the environment. Our
brand is super sustainable. Soevery decision we make, it has
to be okay for Mother Earth andfor mamas. Our original tagline
(34:33):
when I launched the brand wasfor all mamas, Mother Earth
included. And so every singleingredient is vetted to be safe
enough for pregnant or nursingwomen, and safe enough for our
environment. So silicone suspendzinc oxide. So many formulators
consumer. also going to protect your skin.
use this to create stableformulas, and it's an easy way
(34:55):
to do it. It's a reliable way todo it. But it's not the best way
to do, in my opinion, because Ifeel like we can do better. I
want every ingredient to benourishing to the skin. It took
me five years to develop thatfirst formula, because it really
hadn't been done before.Silicones in sunscreens, that's
(35:18):
just the way it is. And when Ichallenged my chemist to make it
without, it was hard, and ittook a long time. But now, we
figured it out. And I would saythat that's probably the number
one thing that differentiates usfrom others.
(35:39):
And then finally, the lip oil isgoing to plump the look of your
(37:55):
lips with sesame seed oil. Andit also hydrates the lips with
so many amazing oils. It hassunflower seed. It has vitamin C
and E. It has borage oil,primrose, castor seed oil. So
what I want you to take fromthat is that everything in the
line is multitasking. It hasmore than one purpose.
Justine Reichman: (38:16):
I don't know about you, but I'm at my best
when I'm multitasking. Soclearly, the products are too.
Arielle Moody: (38:24):
Yeah, for sure. I'm so glad you just mentioned
that you're at your desk, andthat made me think about the
people who talk about notneeding to wear sunscreen every
day because they're maybesitting in front of their
computer. Well, guess what? Oursunscreen actually blocks blue
light from your screens anddevices. So it's blue light from
your screens and devices, andblue light from the sun actually
(38:44):
causes hyperpigmentation. And sowhether you're indoors or
outdoors, you're gettingprotection.
Justine Reichman: (38:50):
Well, that's really good to know. Because the
truth is, coming from New YorkCity, you would think that I was
in the sun less, but I was inthe sun more. I was in the sun
more because you're goingeverywhere, and you're walking
there. You're not in your car ina small town in California where
you need to drive everywhere,right? Or I drive around with my
(39:11):
top down in the summer becauseit's nice. And always at the
beach. I don't go to the beachhere because, well, you've been
to San Francisco, it's cold. Ialways think, oh, I'm not even
out there. I don't need to putthat on. But the truth is, I sit
here in front of my computer onRiverside having conversations
like this all day long so thatwe can have a great podcast, and
(39:35):
so that we can have people usethe platform. And now, I realize
that I should be usingsunscreen.
Arielle Moody: (39:42):
Even just sitting next to a window, your
windows are not blocking the UVrays, and so it's really
important to protect your skinwhether you're indoors or
outdoors. I have a mini podcaston my own. I just interviewed a
world renowned dermatologist,and he was just going out on a
walk for five minutes a day,that caused cumulative damage.
(40:05):
You're not realizing that thatis going to wreak havoc on your
skin. So the other thing that Ithink people don't realize is
that, even when it's cloudyoutside, you need to wear
sunscreen because there's adifference between UVA and UVB
rays. So UVB rays are the onesthat burn, and UVA are the aging
(40:27):
rays. And those ones penetratedeeper, it causes melanoma and
aging. They're not going tonecessarily burn your skin, but
they're there, and they'redangerous. And so even when it's
not sunny, even when it's nothot outside, you still need to
be wearing sunscreen everysingle day.
Justine Reichman: (40:44):
Wear sunscreen all the time, whether
you're inside at your computer,window, in a car, or taking your
dog for a walk.Message received.We were sitting here talking
about your products, how youdeveloped, and the role that
your mother had, and herresearch that really played and
had an impact on it,specifically around the face
(41:07):
cream, and the impact it couldhave on eyes. So now, I want to
talk about your sister. You're acreative director, and the
impact that she's had on thecompany.
Arielle Moody: (41:17):
My sister is my best friend. I'm so so lucky to
have her. She goes with me toevery single trade show, and I
just don't even know what Iwould do without her. She's our
creative director. She's createsall the artwork for all of our
packaging, our website, for alot of our social media. She is
the most generous. She givesback so much of her time to the
(41:43):
brand. She's actually part ownerof the brand, and she's between
me, my mom, and my sister. Weare a fearsome trio.
Justine Reichman: (41:52):
It sounds like small, but mighty. Does she
also work another job?
Arielle Moody: (41:59):
She's a freelancer on the side. She's
also a children's book author,and she is also a healer. She
does Reiki and breath work forothers as well. Her children's
(42:19):
book actually relates very muchto what she does with healing.
It's very cool, and I lovehaving her perspective because
we're all so much into wellnessat Mama Sol, so it really helps
balance the team.
Justine Reichman: (42:32):
I know it's balanced, and I know you guys
are a great close knit family.What are some of the challenges,
though, of working in a familybusiness? Maybe you could just
name three.
Arielle Moody: (42:47):
My mom's the financer, so I think that's been
hard. I'm constantly having toexplain a lot of decisions, why
I'm making certain decisions,and why we need more money for
this or that. It's hard. It'snot like I'm asking a bank. I'm
(43:10):
asking my mom. I'm very closewith her, but there's a fine
line. You don't want to put astrain on your personal
relationship, so you have to becareful how to navigate that. So
we, fortunately, have anextremely strong relationship,
and really nothing could breakus. So even when we've gotten
(43:31):
into it about the business and Iget frustrated with her, we
always come out the other endwith a nice hug.
Justine Reichman: (43:37):
That's great. And so what are some of the
tools that you've used to makesure that you manage that
expectation or thatrelationship, and make sure that
you don't do anything tocompromise it?
Arielle Moody: (43:53):
I think getting our CFO heavily involved, we've
set boundaries on the financing,so we have agreements in place
now. In the beginning, it waskind of a free for all because
she's also a founder, and we allwant this business to succeed so
we're putting in as much moneyas needed. But we also that when
(44:19):
something isn't working, Icommunicate it with her, and we
pivot immediately. And she'sbeen right about a lot of
things. Everything from our metaads to social, checking me at
times and saying, is that goingto get us the ROI? Because if
it's not, then we need to cutit. She's a really nice business
(44:44):
acumen, and she an investor inmany other businesses as well.
So that's really helped me,because I'm learning from her.
Justine Reichman: (44:52):
That's nice. I know that working with family
can be challenging, but it canalso be really amazing. I've
worked with my family as well. Iworked in my mom's business for
a while, and that was achallenge, too. My biggest
challenge was what to call herin front of people. I know it
sounds silly. What do you callyour mom if you're in front of
(45:13):
people?
Arielle Moody: (45:15):
I just say mom.
Justine Reichman: (45:17):
So if you were talking to clients or a
potential Spa or four seasons,you'd say, mom, come here. I
wouldn't do that. Maybe becauseI was so young, like I was in my
20s, right? And it just feltlike I needed to stand on my two
(45:37):
feet. I don't know. I just foundthat really hard sitting in a
meeting with five people. Like,excuse me, I wouldn't even say
her name.
Arielle Moody: (45:52):
I probably don't say mom is often when I'm in
front of others, but I stillcall her mom. I couldn't imagine
calling her anything else. Sheprobably prefer that, because I
used to call her name mom somany times. You probably prefer
being called, excuse me.
Justine Reichman: (46:11):
I'm really pleased that you shared that,
because I think family dynamicsand how people work together can
be challenging. So understandinga little bit about how you guys
navigate that, I think is greatfor our listeners and our
viewers, so thank you forsharing that. I know that you
mentioned it, but I also wantedto tap into it. You have a
podcast. Can you talk to us alittle bit about your podcast?
Arielle Moody: (46:33):
Yeah, it's called the Mama Sol Expert
Series. And every month, I havea expert come on that
specializes in something inwellness, whether it's a
hormone. We had a functionalmedicine doctor, we had a
dermatologist, we've had apsychic,we've had a breath work
(46:53):
specialist, and we've had amanifestation coach. We actually
even had a child psychiatristand psychologist from Stanford
come on. So anything to do withwellness for yourself and for
your family, I interview.
I'll say something that hasresonated with me since it was
Justine Reichman: (47:10):
That's really interesting. I think of you in a
way that says, okay, I trustthese because they were created
by a mom, and that seemstrustworthy. And then, of
course, you bring together allthese other people with insights
on how to tap into our abilityto be mindful of these things,
(47:34):
and make sure that whether it'sa product that we're using,
whether we're spending our daymeditating, tapping into
ourselves, or just taking careof ourselves, I don't know if
I'm explaining it right, but itjust seems like it's all related
(47:55):
already, but it's all comingfrom Mama, like the mom. It just
said to
seems like it's trustworthy. Youand I are on the same page. And
if you want to hear that person,so do I, becauseeverybody trusts
their mom.
(48:50):
Yeah. I definitely think so. AndI just love the ethos of it, and
where it comes from. I think itcomes through from the beginning
to the end. From the infancy ofit, to the creation of the
product, to all the resourcesthat you're putting together.
(49:14):
And it's a trusted product.Everything we hear from you is
about the efficacy of it, what'sin it, the research that was
done for it. Your mom who's adoctor does research on one end
so that it can be integratedinto this in another way, to
another multi purpose function.
Arielle Moody: (49:34):
Our formulas were tested on over 100 people.
50% whom have sensitive skin,and we've had zero skin
reaction. So this is safe. We'vedone clinical trials. This is
safe for people who hassensitive skin. The body
sunscreen can be used on kids.The face and the lip is for you,
maybe for your teen daughter asthey would love it too. We've
(49:58):
tried to think of everything.
Justine Reichman: (50:02):
I love to hear that you're doing trials,
and I know that trials are oftena little aspirational for many
people because it's expensive todo. I'm just curious, what was
the impetus for you guys to doit? Given that you're self
funded, it became a prioritybecause you did it. Can you talk
to me a little bit about that?
Arielle Moody: (50:24):
Well, if you don't do some type of clinical,
like a dermatologist test, thenit would concern me, for people
trusting, whether or not it'ssafe for sensitive skin. You
can't claim anything as safe orsensitive skin unless you put it
through the testing. That was areally important claim for us.
(50:45):
Because one of the one of themost amazing testimonials we
received was from a mom whosedaughter had eczema, and she was
an infant at the time, andcouldn't find a sunscreen that
didn't flare up her eczema. Andshe tried Mama Sol that I gave
it to her, and she said thatthis was the first sunscreen
(51:05):
she'd ever used that didn'tflare up her eczema. It was so
life changing for her at thetime because she was rarely
taking out her daughter outsidein the sun because of not being
able to find a sunscreen thatshe could use. You hear
something that it's like, okay,I'm so glad I did put it through
that testing.
Justine Reichman: (51:24):
I think it makes it's really meaningful,
and it just adds to the efficacyof the product, especially when
you hear that. I have a terribleissue with any products that I
put around my eye. When I sayany product, it could be eye
makeup, eye cream or mascara. Soas a result, I really stick to
(51:48):
what I know that works. I don'twear a whole lot of eye makeup
ever. And then when I do try it,it always happens. My eyes get
puffy, and they get watery, andjust can't do it. So the
ingredients in these productsare really integral. What's
(52:10):
really important is that you canrely on this product, because
there's so many products outthere that impact us in
different ways. I love the factthat your mom with her dry eyes,
I don't have dry eyes, but thatis one of my biggest complaints
with things that I put around myeyes.
Arielle Moody: (52:33):
I'm excited. I would love to have you after you
try it to report back. Let meknow.
Justine Reichman: (52:37):
I will. Remind me the name of your
podcast so we can make sure thatpeople that are tuning in today
can also make sure to download,like and subscribe to your
podcast.
Arielle Moody: (52:47):
So we actually are just on YouTube right now.
It's Mama Sol Sunscreen. It'scalled Mama Sol Expert Series on
YouTube, but you can find usunder Mama Sol Sunscreen. You
can really follow us onInstagram at shopmamasol,
M-A-M-A-S-O-L. and then you canget us on our website, at
(53:11):
shopmamasol.com. I'm so excitedto share a promotion for your
listeners, a promo code. It isEssentialMama15.
Justine Reichman: (53:22):
Thank you so much for that. We'll make sure
to share that. We'll make sureto tag you in our YouTube video
so that people can go to yourYouTube videos too.
Arielle Moody: (53:31):
Yeah, that's great. If you want to learn more
about that psychic, she's onthere.
Justine Reichman: (53:35):
I do want to learn more about that psychic.
There's a lot of things I wantto learn more about, but that's
for another day, and anotherconversation. I want to thank
you for joining us. I want tothank our guests for tuning in
today. This is jam packed withso much information, enabling
people to make better decisionsfor themselves around this
product, and around any product.Because understanding what
(53:59):
you're putting on your face,whether it's entering the
bloodstream or not, and lookingat those ingredients really
impact us and how we respond tothem. So I think this is really
an opportunity to take a pauseand read the ingredients in
whatever you're using. So thankyou again for those tuning in to
(54:20):
the podcast. Don't forget thatyou can watch us on YouTube. If
you would prefer to see thevideo podcast, that's at
Essential Ingredients. And ifyou're not already subscribed,
don't forget to subscribe to ourpodcast at Essential Ingredients
with Justine. And you can followus for different behind the
scenes tips and deeper dives onour Instagram at
(54:43):
essential.ingredients. Thanks somuch for tuning in.
Good morning, and welcome to Essential
(03:46):
Ingredients. I want to welcomeour friends, our guests,
(06:56):
Arielle, and everyone tuning intoday. We're so happy to have
you here. We're so happy toinvite Arielle, and have her
share her journey and story withyou about Mama Sol, a little
about Arielle. She developedthis product while she was
pregnant. It became out of aneed for something that she
really wanted in that time. Shedrew on her background in beauty
(07:17):
where she was for many years hada lot of experience. I think
you're really gonna enjoyhearing from Arielle. I think
she's got a lot to share withus, and a lot for us to learn
about how we choose ourproducts, and what the essential
ingredients mean for that.
So welcome, Arielle.
Arielle Moody: (07:33):
Thanks for having me.
Justine Reichman: (07:35):
Oh, I'm so pleased to have you here. I'm so
pleased to learn more about yourproduct. I'm excited to learn
about your journey. It's sofunny, because when I hear these
stories, I was pregnant and Ihad this idea, or I moved and I
needed to figure this out, likeit comes from a sense of desire,
want, need, void, and theability that you had to connect
(08:00):
it with your background inbeauty. It was amazing how lucky
is that. That might not be thething, but it's the ability to
see the connection. And I thinkthat sometimes, we forget about
that. We forget about what weknow and how to leverage it, and
that we can do that too. So ifyou would maybe just tell
(08:21):
everybody about Mama Sol.
Arielle Moody: (08:27):
Again, thanks for having me. So when I started
Mama Sol, I was five monthspregnant with my first son. I
started researching ingredientsto avoid when you're pregnant or
nursing, and the list was solong. And sunscreen was by far
the most toxic category that Ihad seen. Specifically at the
time, oxybenzone was found inabout 90% of sunscreens on the
(08:49):
market, and it was found to bein breast milk. It was
destroying coral reefs, causingskin allergies and cell damage.
And I thought, why is this inour sunscreens? So this was in
2017 when I first startedresearching. I started buying
dozens of mineral sunscreens,looking for ones without
(09:11):
oxybenzone that were a mineral,and they all just left a white
cast. Smelled like coconuts.Made me feel greasy. And so when
I couldn't find what I waslooking for, I hired a chemist
and created on my own.
Justine Reichman: (09:24):
Awesome, that's amazing. And what's most
amazing about that is that youactually decided to do something
about it. You're not just like,oh, I'm gonna let me see what I
can investigate. Let me find thebest product. When you saw this
void, you decided to take thatleap of faith. So I ask, were
you always an entrepreneur?Because I know that you worked
(09:45):
in the industry for a lot ofdifferent brands. But working
for somebody and being anentrepreneur is two totally
Arielle Moody: (09:54):
I worked in the beauty industry for over 15
different things.
years. I've worked for brandslike Smashbox, Dr. Perricone,
and Bite Beauty. I was then headof product development for the
number one brand sold on HSNcalled Skin Cosmetics. And then
from there, I became VP of Salesfor leading beauty packaging and
(10:16):
formulation companies. So Iessentially worked with brands
to help them launch their lines.I always knew, I would say since
the age of 16 that I was goingto start my own business. I knew
it was going to be in the beautyindustry. My mom teases me to
this day like, I never met a 16year old that knew what they
(10:40):
wanted to do more than you. ButI just knew that this was my
path, and it actually startedwith a psychic reading, which I
can get into.
Justine Reichman: (10:51):
So curious, when you went down a psychic
reading, did you were youlooking for answers on something
in particular?
Arielle Moody: (11:00):
That's a whole nother story. I've always been
into psychics, and I'm also veryinto manifestation, breath work
and wellness, and so that's likea huge passion and part of our
brand. But when I had thispsychic reading, at the time, I
(11:25):
was actually sketching makeupbrand ideas because I started
out my job, my career as amakeup artist, so I thought that
that was going to be my path.But what ended up happening is I
ended up having this psychicreading, and she says to me, no,
you're gonna start a cleanskincare brand. And she said,
it's going to be reallysuccessful. I see it on Access
(11:47):
Hollywood. I see it all over themagazines. She compared it to
The Honest Company. Well, threeweeks after we launched, we were
featured on Access. It wasorganic. Of course, was kind of
nuts it. I don't think that thepsychic reading led me in that
direction. It just validated itwhen it did come right to me.
Justine Reichman: (12:12):
That's super interesting. Well, that isn't a
whole nother conversation, but Iam curious. How you got to the
psychic? Why you went to thepsychic? I know that she helped
validate the idea, but did yougo because you were looking for
validation because you werecurious?
Arielle Moody: (12:31):
It actually had to do with my dog at the time.
So I had her come in for acompletely different reason. And
then in addition to whatever Iwas asking her to help me with
my dog at the time, she feltcompelled to tell me what she
saw for my future. And ofcourse, yes. Who isn't curious
(12:53):
about their future and whattheir path should be? So I
definitely asked, what do yousee? What do you see me doing
with my career?
Justine Reichman: (13:02):
Well, I'm so glad you shared that with me.
We'll have to circle back onthat psychic post-podcast,
because I am really curious. ButI do want to give you the
opportunity, because I think ourguests would be curious. I want
(13:24):
you to talk to them about thestruggles you had, if you had
struggles to serve people withdifferent skin tones. How you
tackled that head on in yourformulation? I think it's
important that it's beenaddressed. I think that it's
(13:46):
important, it's a differentiator.
Arielle Moody: (13:51):
Yeah, for sure. Being inclusive was extremely
important to us. We tested ourformulas on all different skin
tones. This is the thing. Zincsunscreen on very dark skin
tones may sometimes leave aslight white cast. I never want
(14:12):
to be absolute when I say that.But our sunscreen is pretty
superior than others that I'vetried. Let's say that zinc
dispersions have significantlyimproved. Technology surpassed
so much of what used to be inthe 80s and 90s when people look
(14:35):
like ghosts, right? So it's verydifferent now. And there's ways
to really mitigate that whitecast in formulations today, so
we're really lucky. I'm gladthat I waited because innovative
technology has come out aroundnon-nano zinc oxide.
Justine Reichman: (14:53):
So for those that are tuning in, maybe not
familiar with non-nano zincoxide, can you talk a little bit
about that? Why things arechanging? Why that's an
important part of theconversation?
Arielle Moody: (15:08):
Yeah. Non-nano just means the particles aren't
so small that they're going topenetrate into the bloodstream.
Non-nano zinc in my opinionreally is important for sprays,
because you can inhale the zinc.So with lotions, it's not as
dangerous to use nano zincoxide. But in addition, non-nano
(15:30):
zinc oxide is also better forthe environment because it gets
into our waterways, and it canpenetrate all types of things.
But we don't want it to. But Ialso think it's important for
your listeners to understand thedifference between mineral and
chemical sunscreen. So if youdon't mind me just explaining
(15:54):
that for a minute? Zincsunscreen, you want to think of
it like a physical shield thatsits on top of your skin
physically blocks UV rays frompenetrating your skin. Chemical
sunscreen has to be applied 15minutes before you go out in the
sun, and it's going to absorbthe UV rays, and then convert
(16:18):
them into non dangerous phrase.So that is the difference. The
biggest difference is thatchemical sunscreen is much more
likely to end up in yourbloodstream. So we can't ever
say that mineral sunscreen willnever, zinc oxide will never end
up in your bloodstream. It'sextremely unlikely, because it
(16:41):
sits on top of the skin, andit's also just not as
detrimental for endocrinedisruptors and for your hormones.
Justine Reichman: (17:03):
I think what I'm curious about is, I want to
start at the beginning, and Iwant to start where you had all
this experience. You wanted tocreate something that you would
want to use. Because when youwere pregnant, you didn't want
to use those, for myunderstanding, right? You didn't
(17:23):
like what was in them. Youdidn't want to put that. You
didn't want that to go into yourbloodstream. You didn't want to
have the impact that it mighthave both on you and on your
baby. So when you decided to dothat, and from your experience
(17:47):
with all those differentcompanies, how did you use that
experience to be able to buildMama Sol?
Arielle Moody: (17:59):
It helped me immensely, because I learned how
to create a product. So I helpedcustomers find their packaging.
I helped them create theirformulas. I work directly with
ingredient suppliers andchemists, so I learned from the
ground up how to get a conceptto market. I didn't have the
(18:26):
experience in the marketing.That's not my wheelhouse, so I
had to outsource that. So Ithink one of the biggest things
to convey to anybody that iswanting to start a business is
just know what you're good at,know what you like. Know what
you're not good at, and thenoutsource that because that's
really going to help escalate,and get the business where you
(18:46):
want it to go.
Justine Reichman: (18:47):
We can't know everything. I think it's really
important as a founder to beable to surround yourself with
the different experts, and knowwhere you need to lean in, and
where you need to bring in thosepeople to help you with the
things that are not necessarilyyour core competency, or going
to hinder you, because you'regoing to take too much time to
be able to learn that process,or that skill. And I know that
(19:10):
oftentimes, building a businesscould be very scrappy, and it
can be very hand to mouth andall these different things. So
when you started your businessand you realized that you did
not have the marketingexpertise, how did you decide to
integrate that into yourbusiness? What was the landscape
that you were looking to build?
Arielle Moody: (19:33):
So you got to be clear on your go-to-market
strategy when you're launching abusiness. So our original
go-to-market strategy, wethought was going to be straight
into retail. But what we learnedvery quickly was it's not as
easy as you think to get rightinto retail. Our formulas, we
can talk a little bit about thembecause that's actually what led
(19:55):
us into the market that we'recurrently in. Our formulas smell
like a set hint of lavenderessential oil, and it encourages
you to take a deep breath witheach use. And one of our
taglines is, if sunscreen and aspa day had a baby, and so what
that led us to was spa. And sonow, we're currently sold in 11
(20:17):
Four Seasons. We're in FairmontHotels. We're in a ton of height
and spas, and resorts, and thatled us into our market, which is
spa. And that really dictatedour marketing strategies around
wellness and relaxation, andthen also where skincare needs
sun care. So that really helpeddictate our marketing strategy
(20:42):
for Mama Sol.
Justine Reichman: (20:44):
That totally makes sense, and you're working
on that, and you're doing allthat. But you realize that maybe
you're not the best person,let's just say, to do the
marketing strategy, to figure itout. You got the overall idea,
you got the vision for it. Sowhere were you in the business
when you decided, okay, I needto bring this person in.
Arielle Moody: (21:05):
We always had somebody that was helping us
with our social social media,but we didn't have somebody
really overseeing all of ourmarketing strategies, meaning
like our email blasts, not alsoincluding social media events,
influencer outreach, all ofthose things was something that
we really didn't have. And so Iwas at a networking event, and I
(21:27):
met our CMO there, and I went tothis event to talk about
manifestation. I had gone to theevent, and I set an intention
before going, as I do in everynetworking event that I go to. I
highly recommend everybodylistening to do the same. But I
said, I really wanted to meet myhead of marketing, because I
knew that's where we needed themost help. I have a co founder.
(21:49):
She's in charge of all theoperations and logistics. I'm in
head of sales and productdevelopment, but the marketing
really was this outlier. Weneeded help. So anyway, I met
her, and we immediately hiredher. She was so great. She used
to do run marketing for tendergreens, and so we really scooped
up a good one. And she's beenphenomenal. And she's been with
(22:10):
us now for over a year. Shereally helped our brand
awareness, I would say, themost. And really nailing down
the social media brandesthetics, and how we want to
look to all of the peoplevisiting us for the first time.
Justine Reichman: (22:31):
First of all, it's a beautiful product. All
the branding, it looks great. Ilove what you're doing with it.
And I think those were naturalnext steps. When you built your
business, when you started fromthe beginning, was this
something you're like, okay, I'mgoing to fund, or I'm going to
(22:52):
go raise money. Because I thinkthat plays a big role in
resources, how they getallocated, and how you can move
forward, and when you can movefrom scrappy to strategic.
Arielle Moody: (23:03):
Okay. I'm gonna get into something that I think
it's personal, and I think willbe very interesting to everybody
listening. So we are completelybootstrapped. We have no
investors except for thefounders. One of the founders is
my mom. She is a world renownedeye surgeon and laser cosmetic
(23:24):
surgeon, and so between her me.And then also my sister who's
our creative director. We havecompletely financed the business
on our own. Mainly, my mom hasbeen our main investor up until
this point. We are definitely ata point where we're considering
getting an outside investment.But for anyone that is starting
(23:48):
a business and in the samepredicament, what I would say to
them is, wait as long as youcan. You want to make sure your
valuation is going to be thebest. You want to make sure that
you have all of theopportunities lined up, and
maybe even converted before youbring in an investor. So for us,
(24:09):
the way that I've made this workis the Palisades Fire that
happen on January 7. On January3, I had actually quit my job to
go all into Monticello. So thatwas four days later that the
fires happen, for thoselistening. And I live in LA. So
(24:29):
when that happened, I said,okay, I'm going to get an
investor. I want an investor. Iwant an investor help pay my
salary, and then I can go allinto this business well. And
getting an investor takes a lotlonger than a couple months, of
course. And so I'm very seriousabout this business. I believe
in it with every ounce of mybeing. And so we decided to move
(24:52):
our family to Newport Beach.We're staying with my mom right
now. We're renting at our homein LA, and I am giving this a
full year of running out of ahome, and going all into the
business so that I don't have totake an outside investment right
now. So that I can be the one tojust put every ounce of my
(25:15):
energy into this business, andnot worry about getting a job.
I've been extremely fortunate.It was really, really hard to
move our whole family. I havetwo little boys, 4 and 7, to
take them away. There was manyreasons why we decided to do
this. It wasn't only because ofMama Sol, but I would say that
was probably 80% of thedecision. And so now, that's
(25:38):
where we are.
Justine Reichman: (25:39):
Wow, that's an amazing story. I'm so happy
that you shared that, because ittalks to your character, talks
to the ability to go all in, andwhat that means, and what you're
willing to give up. And if we'renot willing to give it up, who
else is going to be willing togive it up? And I always say
(26:03):
that at the end of the day, it'sthe founders that care the most.
It's the founders that are goingto work at 3:00 o'clock in the
morning, during dinner orwhatever. There's so much pride,
joy and ethics around building abusiness, especially when it's
(26:23):
your own. I commend you fordoing that, and your whole
family. What was that like foryou and your husband to decide
to do that?
Arielle Moody: (26:34):
It was extreme. It was devastating to leave. We
left initially because the smokewas so bad, and I got sick for a
month from the air quality. Sowe had to leave initially, but
we weren't planning to leavelonger than a couple weeks.
Maybe a month. What turned intoa couple weeks to a month,
turned into a year. And it wasreally hard. I never felt like I
(26:56):
got to say goodbye, a truegoodbye to my neighbors and my
friends. And because it happenedso quickly, we were forced out
of it, which I believe was thisdivine intervention in the
universe. It pushed me out. Itforced me to do this. Because if
it hadn't happened, if this firehadn't happened, I would still
be living in my home in LA. Iprobably still having two jobs
(27:20):
so that I could do Mama Sol. Andbecause I don't have two jobs,
our sales are up 165%.
Justine Reichman: (27:25):
Congratulations.
Arielle Moody: (27:26):
Thank you.
Justine Reichman: (27:30):
It's extremely personal. You really
share the heart of yourbusiness, how dedicated you are,
and it's really inspirationaland aspirational. Because when I
sit there and I think about it,there's something so special
about a founder and how theybuild their business. Not to say
(27:52):
that somebody's going to getfunding isn't inspirational.
That is inspirational. It's acompletely different mindset,
and maybe even trajectory. Butit doesn't have to be. And I
think it's really important forthose that are listening today
and tuning in to take somethingfrom this, to say, you know
what? I can invest in mybusiness too. I can be clever,
(28:14):
and I can figure it out. Maybethey don't have a house to rent
or something like that. But tothink within themselves what
they have tap into theirresources so they can make sure
to give it all that they have.There's so many options, and
that's what I got out of that, Iguess.
Arielle Moody: (28:30):
Yeah. I think the moral of the story is, for
me, at least it was now ornever. nything to make this
happen had to happen now,because I don't want to look
back and have any regrets. Andso if you have the opportunity
to go all into your business,don't wait for the timing to be
right. That's my biggest,biggest lesson I want to leave
(28:54):
with your audience. Because Ihad two jobs for, I want to say
five years while I started thisbusiness. We launched two years
ago, but I started the businessmany, many years ago, and I have
never had the chance to justfocus on Mama Sol. I was always
distracted, and I had two kidson top of it. And so I kept
(29:15):
waiting, and waiting, andwaiting for the timing to be
right. And then I finally justsaid, no, this is the time. And
then look what happened? Lookwhere we are. We've won three
national awards in the lastthree months. Our body sunscreen
just won Best Body SPF fromShape magazine. Our tint, our
(29:36):
100% mineral tinted lip oilsjust won Best Lip Gloss with SPF
from New Beauty, which is one ofthe top beauty publications that
you can receive an award from.And then we also just won Best
Tinted Lip Oil from Shop TodayAwards, The Today Show. We're
rolling, and we're reallyexcited. The sky's the limit
(29:58):
right now for us.
Justine Reichman: (30:02):
You moved in January, right? It's July now.
It sounds like the ability to beable to just do one job, and I
don't say just one job and doingtwo jobs. What do you think the
(30:24):
three biggest benefits you havenow that you can spend and focus
your time specifically here?
Arielle Moody: (30:32):
Oh, my God, there's so many. It's endless. I
would say, first of all, thework life balance that I have
now before I left my job, I wasso spread thin that I wasn't
being the best mom that I couldbe. I didn't have enough time to
spend playing with my kids. Iwas working around the clock so
(30:53):
that I could work my 9 to 5 job,and then do Mama Sol. And so
now, being able to do that, I'mable to go get my kids from
school at 3:00 o'clock. Or homesick from school, I can be with
them. There's so many thingsthat have changed in my life, in
(31:14):
my personal life. Number two,I'm now able to travel. It's
been my dream to travel for MamaSol. And now, I'm going all over
the country, and out of thecountry. I'm going to Mexico in
October for a Spa Conference.I've been all over the country
this past year showcasing andexhibiting at trade shows, Spa
(31:38):
conferences. I would never havebeen able to do that if I had
another job. So that in itself,I would say, has been the number
one game changer for me, becausethat's what has allowed our
business to grow because I'mmeeting so many leads at these
trade shows. And then I wouldsay, my mind doesn't feel
(32:02):
cluttered. My mentalwellness,I'm so much happier. I
am able to focus on meditationevery single morning. Probably
the number one change in my lifehas been my commitment to
myself, and really believing inmyself, and believing in my
(32:23):
purpose. I've read so many booksabout manifestation, about
changing, rewiring your brain. Ican share those recommendations
with you and your listeners,because they've been a life
changing for me.
Justine Reichman: (32:39):
I would love that. And if you don't want to
do it now, we can include thisin our newsletter as a little
bit of a dig deeper section justto encourage people to learn
more.
Arielle Moody: (32:50):
I can share one book that I think it gets people
started. It's called InfinitePossibilities by Mike Dooley.
That is what got me so intomanifestation and changing the
way that I think. I would saythat if anyone reads anything
(33:11):
for their next book, pick thatone up.
Justine Reichman: (33:13):
We'll make sure to add a link for it in the
show notes, so that people can,after they listen to the
episode, get the book, see whatyou're talking about, learn
more, be curious. There's somuch to unpack here, and there's
so many things that I want to goover. I want to talk about the
family connection for thebusiness. I want to talk about
(33:34):
working behind the scenes, andthe things that maybe you're not
willing to compromise on. Sothere is so much. I want to go
back to a little bit aboutthings you're not able to
compromise on, and then we'lljump to the family dynamic, and
what that looks like now. Bothbefore you took your time off,
(33:54):
and as well after. So let's justdig in right now. And if you can
tell me a little bit more aboutthe ingredients, anything that
is a deal breaker for you,something that you won't
compromise on that reallydifferentiates you from others.
Arielle Moody: (34:09):
I would say the number one thing that
I'm curious, just
differentiates us is we arecompletely silicone free.
Silicones tend to clog yourpores, and they are not
biodegradable, so they're notgreat for the environment. Our
brand is super sustainable. Soevery decision we make, it has
to be okay for Mother Earth andfor mamas. Our original tagline
(34:33):
when I launched the brand wasfor all mamas, Mother Earth
included. And so every singleingredient is vetted to be safe
enough for pregnant or nursingwomen, and safe enough for our
environment. So silicone suspendzinc oxide. So many formulators
consumer. also going to protect your skin.
use this to create stableformulas, and it's an easy way
(34:55):
to do it. It's a reliable way todo it. But it's not the best way
to do, in my opinion, because Ifeel like we can do better. I
want every ingredient to benourishing to the skin. It took
me five years to develop thatfirst formula, because it really
hadn't been done before.Silicones in sunscreens, that's
(35:18):
just the way it is. And when Ichallenged my chemist to make it
without, it was hard, and ittook a long time. But now, we
figured it out. And I would saythat that's probably the number
one thing that differentiates usfrom others.
(35:39):
And then finally, the lip oil isgoing to plump the look of your
(37:55):
lips with sesame seed oil. Andit also hydrates the lips with
so many amazing oils. It hassunflower seed. It has vitamin C
and E. It has borage oil,primrose, castor seed oil. So
what I want you to take fromthat is that everything in the
line is multitasking. It hasmore than one purpose.
Justine Reichman: (38:16):
I don't know about you, but I'm at my best
when I'm multitasking. Soclearly, the products are too.
Arielle Moody: (38:24):
Yeah, for sure. I'm so glad you just mentioned
that you're at your desk, andthat made me think about the
people who talk about notneeding to wear sunscreen every
day because they're maybesitting in front of their
computer. Well, guess what? Oursunscreen actually blocks blue
light from your screens anddevices. So it's blue light from
your screens and devices, andblue light from the sun actually
(38:44):
causes hyperpigmentation. And sowhether you're indoors or
outdoors, you're gettingprotection.
Justine Reichman: (38:50):
Well, that's really good to know. Because the
truth is, coming from New YorkCity, you would think that I was
in the sun less, but I was inthe sun more. I was in the sun
more because you're goingeverywhere, and you're walking
there. You're not in your car ina small town in California where
you need to drive everywhere,right? Or I drive around with my
(39:11):
top down in the summer becauseit's nice. And always at the
beach. I don't go to the beachhere because, well, you've been
to San Francisco, it's cold. Ialways think, oh, I'm not even
out there. I don't need to putthat on. But the truth is, I sit
here in front of my computer onRiverside having conversations
like this all day long so thatwe can have a great podcast, and
(39:35):
so that we can have people usethe platform. And now, I realize
that I should be usingsunscreen.
Arielle Moody: (39:42):
Even just sitting next to a window, your
windows are not blocking the UVrays, and so it's really
important to protect your skinwhether you're indoors or
outdoors. I have a mini podcaston my own. I just interviewed a
world renowned dermatologist,and he was just going out on a
walk for five minutes a day,that caused cumulative damage.
(40:05):
You're not realizing that thatis going to wreak havoc on your
skin. So the other thing that Ithink people don't realize is
that, even when it's cloudyoutside, you need to wear
sunscreen because there's adifference between UVA and UVB
rays. So UVB rays are the onesthat burn, and UVA are the aging
(40:27):
rays. And those ones penetratedeeper, it causes melanoma and
aging. They're not going tonecessarily burn your skin, but
they're there, and they'redangerous. And so even when it's
not sunny, even when it's nothot outside, you still need to
be wearing sunscreen everysingle day.
Justine Reichman: (40:44):
Wear sunscreen all the time, whether
you're inside at your computer,window, in a car, or taking your
dog for a walk.Message received.We were sitting here talking
about your products, how youdeveloped, and the role that
your mother had, and herresearch that really played and
had an impact on it,specifically around the face
(41:07):
cream, and the impact it couldhave on eyes. So now, I want to
talk about your sister. You're acreative director, and the
impact that she's had on thecompany.
Arielle Moody: (41:17):
My sister is my best friend. I'm so so lucky to
have her. She goes with me toevery single trade show, and I
just don't even know what Iwould do without her. She's our
creative director. She's createsall the artwork for all of our
packaging, our website, for alot of our social media. She is
the most generous. She givesback so much of her time to the
(41:43):
brand. She's actually part ownerof the brand, and she's between
me, my mom, and my sister. Weare a fearsome trio.
Justine Reichman: (41:52):
It sounds like small, but mighty. Does she
also work another job?
Arielle Moody: (41:59):
She's a freelancer on the side. She's
also a children's book author,and she is also a healer. She
does Reiki and breath work forothers as well. Her children's
(42:19):
book actually relates very muchto what she does with healing.
It's very cool, and I lovehaving her perspective because
we're all so much into wellnessat Mama Sol, so it really helps
balance the team.
Justine Reichman: (42:32):
I know it's balanced, and I know you guys
are a great close knit family.What are some of the challenges,
though, of working in a familybusiness? Maybe you could just
name three.
Arielle Moody: (42:47):
My mom's the financer, so I think that's been
hard. I'm constantly having toexplain a lot of decisions, why
I'm making certain decisions,and why we need more money for
this or that. It's hard. It'snot like I'm asking a bank. I'm
(43:10):
asking my mom. I'm very closewith her, but there's a fine
line. You don't want to put astrain on your personal
relationship, so you have to becareful how to navigate that. So
we, fortunately, have anextremely strong relationship,
and really nothing could breakus. So even when we've gotten
(43:31):
into it about the business and Iget frustrated with her, we
always come out the other endwith a nice hug.
Justine Reichman: (43:37):
That's great. And so what are some of the
tools that you've used to makesure that you manage that
expectation or thatrelationship, and make sure that
you don't do anything tocompromise it?
Arielle Moody: (43:53):
I think getting our CFO heavily involved, we've
set boundaries on the financing,so we have agreements in place
now. In the beginning, it waskind of a free for all because
she's also a founder, and we allwant this business to succeed so
we're putting in as much moneyas needed. But we also that when
(44:19):
something isn't working, Icommunicate it with her, and we
pivot immediately. And she'sbeen right about a lot of
things. Everything from our metaads to social, checking me at
times and saying, is that goingto get us the ROI? Because if
it's not, then we need to cutit. She's a really nice business
(44:44):
acumen, and she an investor inmany other businesses as well.
So that's really helped me,because I'm learning from her.
Justine Reichman: (44:52):
That's nice. I know that working with family
can be challenging, but it canalso be really amazing. I've
worked with my family as well. Iworked in my mom's business for
a while, and that was achallenge, too. My biggest
challenge was what to call herin front of people. I know it
sounds silly. What do you callyour mom if you're in front of
(45:13):
people?
Arielle Moody: (45:15):
I just say mom.
Justine Reichman: (45:17):
So if you were talking to clients or a
potential Spa or four seasons,you'd say, mom, come here. I
wouldn't do that. Maybe becauseI was so young, like I was in my
20s, right? And it just feltlike I needed to stand on my two
(45:37):
feet. I don't know. I just foundthat really hard sitting in a
meeting with five people. Like,excuse me, I wouldn't even say
her name.
Arielle Moody: (45:52):
I probably don't say mom is often when I'm in
front of others, but I stillcall her mom. I couldn't imagine
calling her anything else. Sheprobably prefer that, because I
used to call her name mom somany times. You probably prefer
being called, excuse me.
Justine Reichman: (46:11):
I'm really pleased that you shared that,
because I think family dynamicsand how people work together can
be challenging. So understandinga little bit about how you guys
navigate that, I think is greatfor our listeners and our
viewers, so thank you forsharing that. I know that you
mentioned it, but I also wantedto tap into it. You have a
podcast. Can you talk to us alittle bit about your podcast?
Arielle Moody: (46:33):
Yeah, it's called the Mama Sol Expert
Series. And every month, I havea expert come on that
specializes in something inwellness, whether it's a
hormone. We had a functionalmedicine doctor, we had a
dermatologist, we've had apsychic,we've had a breath work
(46:53):
specialist, and we've had amanifestation coach. We actually
even had a child psychiatristand psychologist from Stanford
come on. So anything to do withwellness for yourself and for
your family, I interview.
I'll say something that hasresonated with me since it was
Justine Reichman: (47:10):
That's really interesting. I think of you in a
way that says, okay, I trustthese because they were created
by a mom, and that seemstrustworthy. And then, of
course, you bring together allthese other people with insights
on how to tap into our abilityto be mindful of these things,
(47:34):
and make sure that whether it'sa product that we're using,
whether we're spending our daymeditating, tapping into
ourselves, or just taking careof ourselves, I don't know if
I'm explaining it right, but itjust seems like it's all related
(47:55):
already, but it's all comingfrom Mama, like the mom. It just
said to
seems like it's trustworthy. Youand I are on the same page. And
if you want to hear that person,so do I, becauseeverybody trusts
their mom.
(48:50):
Yeah. I definitely think so. AndI just love the ethos of it, and
where it comes from. I think itcomes through from the beginning
to the end. From the infancy ofit, to the creation of the
product, to all the resourcesthat you're putting together.
(49:14):
And it's a trusted product.Everything we hear from you is
about the efficacy of it, what'sin it, the research that was
done for it. Your mom who's adoctor does research on one end
so that it can be integratedinto this in another way, to
another multi purpose function.
Arielle Moody: (49:34):
Our formulas were tested on over 100 people.
50% whom have sensitive skin,and we've had zero skin
reaction. So this is safe. We'vedone clinical trials. This is
safe for people who hassensitive skin. The body
sunscreen can be used on kids.The face and the lip is for you,
maybe for your teen daughter asthey would love it too. We've
(49:58):
tried to think of everything.
Justine Reichman: (50:02):
I love to hear that you're doing trials,
and I know that trials are oftena little aspirational for many
people because it's expensive todo. I'm just curious, what was
the impetus for you guys to doit? Given that you're self
funded, it became a prioritybecause you did it. Can you talk
to me a little bit about that?
Arielle Moody: (50:24):
Well, if you don't do some type of clinical,
like a dermatologist test, thenit would concern me, for people
trusting, whether or not it'ssafe for sensitive skin. You
can't claim anything as safe orsensitive skin unless you put it
through the testing. That was areally important claim for us.
(50:45):
Because one of the one of themost amazing testimonials we
received was from a mom whosedaughter had eczema, and she was
an infant at the time, andcouldn't find a sunscreen that
didn't flare up her eczema. Andshe tried Mama Sol that I gave
it to her, and she said thatthis was the first sunscreen
(51:05):
she'd ever used that didn'tflare up her eczema. It was so
life changing for her at thetime because she was rarely
taking out her daughter outsidein the sun because of not being
able to find a sunscreen thatshe could use. You hear
something that it's like, okay,I'm so glad I did put it through
that testing.
Justine Reichman: (51:24):
I think it makes it's really meaningful,
and it just adds to the efficacyof the product, especially when
you hear that. I have a terribleissue with any products that I
put around my eye. When I sayany product, it could be eye
makeup, eye cream or mascara. Soas a result, I really stick to
(51:48):
what I know that works. I don'twear a whole lot of eye makeup
ever. And then when I do try it,it always happens. My eyes get
puffy, and they get watery, andjust can't do it. So the
ingredients in these productsare really integral. What's
(52:10):
really important is that you canrely on this product, because
there's so many products outthere that impact us in
different ways. I love the factthat your mom with her dry eyes,
I don't have dry eyes, but thatis one of my biggest complaints
with things that I put around myeyes.
Arielle Moody: (52:33):
I'm excited. I would love to have you after you
try it to report back. Let meknow.
Justine Reichman: (52:37):
I will. Remind me the name of your
podcast so we can make sure thatpeople that are tuning in today
can also make sure to download,like and subscribe to your
podcast.
Arielle Moody: (52:47):
So we actually are just on YouTube right now.
It's Mama Sol Sunscreen. It'scalled Mama Sol Expert Series on
YouTube, but you can find usunder Mama Sol Sunscreen. You
can really follow us onInstagram at shopmamasol,
M-A-M-A-S-O-L. and then you canget us on our website, at
(53:11):
shopmamasol.com. I'm so excitedto share a promotion for your
listeners, a promo code. It isEssentialMama15.
Justine Reichman: (53:22):
Thank you so much for that. We'll make sure
to share that. We'll make sureto tag you in our YouTube video
so that people can go to yourYouTube videos too.
Arielle Moody: (53:31):
Yeah, that's great. If you want to learn more
about that psychic, she's onthere.
Justine Reichman: (53:35):
I do want to learn more about that psychic.
There's a lot of things I wantto learn more about, but that's
for another day, and anotherconversation. I want to thank
you for joining us. I want tothank our guests for tuning in
today. This is jam packed withso much information, enabling
people to make better decisionsfor themselves around this
product, and around any product.Because understanding what
(53:59):
you're putting on your face,whether it's entering the
bloodstream or not, and lookingat those ingredients really
impact us and how we respond tothem. So I think this is really
an opportunity to take a pauseand read the ingredients in
whatever you're using. So thankyou again for those tuning in to
(54:20):
the podcast. Don't forget thatyou can watch us on YouTube. If
you would prefer to see thevideo podcast, that's at
Essential Ingredients. And ifyou're not already subscribed,
don't forget to subscribe to ourpodcast at Essential Ingredients
with Justine. And you can followus for different behind the
scenes tips and deeper dives onour Instagram at
(54:43):
essential.ingredients. Thanks somuch for tuning in.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!