If someone would have told me five years ago when I started Primally Pure that my one-woman show would grow into a company that employs 30-some people, has a spa at its headquarters and ships packages to hundreds of thousands of people all around the world each year, I would have laughed – seriously.
From the beginning, I was wildly passionate about getting clean products into the hands of as many people as I could and educating women (and men!) about clean living and therefore empowering them to lessen their bodies’ toxic loads in a variety of ways.
I had no business experience and not a clue what I was doing during the early years, but I was passionate and persistent. Giving up was never an option – and that type of mindset goes much further than all the resources, connections and money in the world.
So here’s a quick look at what went well, what didn’t go so well, and what’s ahead in the next half decade!
THE GOOD STUFF
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EVERYTHING was bootstrapped. Okay, I didn’t really have a choice here (my husband and I had just quit our jobs and moved in with his parents and siblings to get his business – Primal Pastures – up and running). But looking back, I’m so grateful that I started Primally Pure with nothing.
I thought I was a hard worker already, but hard work took on a whole new meaning when I became an entrepreneur. Twelve-hour days were the norm during that first year when I was making skincare products in my kitchen, shipping them in another room of our house, doing customer service and influencer outreach at the kitchen table, etc.
I drove around to coffee shops to pick up old newspapers and magazines and used a Costco paper shredder to cut them into tiny pieces to stuff our packages with. I wrote addresses on packages by hand. I had our product labels printed on sheets of sticky paper at FedEx, and used a cheap paper cutter from Hobby Lobby to cut them by hand.
It was crazy. And often times more work than it needed to be. But I did what I knew how to do at the time instead of waiting for the perfect solution for everything that had to get done.
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Education was (and still is) everything. With a background in copywriting, I knew the importance of educating and building trust with my audience early on, and I took that seriously. If someone trusted us enough to subscribe to our newsletter or follow us on instagram, I was determined to provide the best possible product education and general clean living education I was capable of giving.
Today, content is still a big deal to us. It’s a team effort now (and our Content Creater, Courtney – also our Holistic Esthetician – oversees the big picture) and I’m proud of how we continue to serve our community with meaningful information.
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Quality has always been critical. I told my team at the beginning of 2020 that quality is our word for the year – quality of ingredients, quality of products, quality of service, quality of content, quality of design, packaging, etc.
We haven’t always been perfect in each of those areas. But we’ve always done our best, and are constantly building to a new “best”. And right now we have more resources and people than ever devoted to developing a better version of our best!
For example, we’re currently in the process of doing an ingredient audit. One by one, we’re sifting through our ingredients/sources to see if anything can be swapped out for a higher quality alternative. We’re also doing a formula audit to see if any improvements can be made to existing products in the areas of scent, texture, or efficacy. We’re developing new ways to better serve our customers and are re-working some of our content and email flows to provide more valuable information.
I’m so excited to zero in on quality this year with my team, and can’t wait for you guys to experience the results!
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I didn’t plan for success. I never expected Primally Pure to grow beyond me making products in my kitchen. And in the beginning, I was so excited and grateful whenever someone wanted to work for me but didn’t think through how to be a good boss or what those working relationships would look like. I handed out fancy titles too early on, because I never expected us to be large enough to hire a qualified [fill in fancy title here].
I made lots of decisions that worked fine in the moment but not for the long haul. For far too long I found and used ingredient sources that only sold their stuff in tiny quantities, and I would do silly things like make 8 batches of 4 deodorants at a time instead of just making larger batches.
I played small because I was too caught up in the day-to-day chaos to think any bigger.
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I didn’t prioritize education/growth. The early days, months and years were filled with a lot of tears. Every challenge that came up with an ingredient, an employee or a customer felt like the end of the world.
A lot of this was inexperience, but it was also a lack of understanding what it meant to be an entrepreneur. I didn’t have any insights on how to make tough business decisions, what to do when I faced an obstacle with someone on my team, or basically how to react whenever anything didn’t go how I expected it to.
I didn’t realize that there was this world of books, podcasts and events where people who had done this before were sharing what they had learned.
Once I discovered this, my mindset shifted from “why is this happening to me” to “what is this teaching me?”. I/PP still face many challenges today, but now I feel much more prepared to take on whatever comes up because I’ve prioritized learning and have sought out mentors who help me to feel empowered and less alone in this.
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The deodorant tube disaster of 2017. I’m taking a deep breath as I dive into this next part because this was SUCH an intense part of our journey. Okay. If you’ve been with us for awhile, you may remember when we re-branded our deodorant a few years ago. It was all planned out perfectly. Our new tubes were scheduled to arrive at the beginning of November. We were going to launch the new tubes (and introduce our brand new charcoal deodorant) at the end of the month on Black Friday.
The newsletters were designed and scheduled. The social media posts were all planned out. The influencers we work with were all prepared to spread the word. Facebook + instagram ads were set up. There was no turning back!
Except…that Black Friday was quickly approaching, and our brand new tubes had yet to arrive. But our international supplier assured us they would arrive in plenty of time, so we weren’t too worried.
To give some background, this was our very first international packaging order. We were unfamiliar with the shipping and customs processes, and there was a lot of confusion and miscommunication along the way. By the time we were supposed to launch the tubes on Black Friday, we were certain they would arrive any day. (And that our awesome team could have several new batches of deodorant made to fill the tubes with and then ship them out to customers in no time.)
So the promo happened and it. did. amazing. People were so excited about our new tubes! We sold far more than we had anticipated. But YOU GUYS – we still didn’t have the tubes in-house. Thankfully, we ran other promos over the weekend for different products and still had plenty of work to do in just fulfilling those other orders.
One week went by. No tubes. Another week. No tubes and lots of emails back and forth with our international supplier, trying to sort out what had turned into a customs disaster. About two and a half weeks after we had “launched” our new deodorant tubes, the tubes themselves finally arrived in perfect condition.
The deodorant tube disaster of 2017 isn’t something I’m proud of, but we got through it and our gracious customers stuck with us and were patient with the delays (thank God!).
- We’re expanding our headquarters – again!
- We’re hiring!
- We just brought on a full time natural product formulator! (P.S. if you have a new product idea you’d like her to work on, please share in the comments below!)
- More than ever before, our focus is on you. We’re working on several initiatives this year to give you a better, more personalized skincare experience! You guys are going to love what’s ahead, and we’re sharing it first with our email family (if you’re not already a part of it, you can sign up here).
THE NOT-SO GOOD STUFF
A LOOK AT WHAT’S AHEAD
Today, this girl who started out fully expecting to run PP out of her home for the rest of her life has big dreams for the future! Here’s a quick look at what we’re working on.
Thanks for reading and supporting this journey! None of this would be possible without you guys! I’m forever grateful for your support and look forward to continuing to serve you for many years to come.
So incredible to read the PP journey and see how far you have come. Your story is an inspiration to all aspiring entrepreneurs out there! As a loyal PP fan, I am SO excited to see what this year and all the years ahead have in store for you! Thanks for creating a community so great to be apart of, and products that truly are life changing! xo
Thank you so much for all your products and your vision! Your products have changed my life. Between primally pure and flo living I am reversing the effects of my PCOS. I’ve tried everything from fancy Obagi, Sturm ect. But nothing has worked as effectively and gently to my skin and endocrine system as primally pure ! If you guys ever have a giveaway for your spa session keep me in mind lol!
Wow, SO incredible to hear about how our products have helped to reverse your PCOS! Thank you so much for sharing – and definitely stay tuned for spa giveaways in the future. 🙂
Brittney! Thank you so much for the sweet comment. We’re so grateful for your ongoing support! XO
All the best for continued success! Really do enjoy your products. I would personally love to see a beef tallow balm/lotion moisturizer with magnesium chloride added for body (and even face). The less products I feel I have to use the better!
I’m also a fan of cleansing balms over oils and soap. Would personally love to see one made without sunflower or safflower oils as main ingredient(s). Take care and thank you!
This post is maybe my favorite one. I was smiling and nodding the whole time. So much wisdom in it. Bethany your story! This company! Thank you for sharing more about this journey, it’s so fun to watch you and PP grow and cheer from the sidelines. And so excited for all that’s to come!
Thank you so much for sharing! Very inspiring!
Thank you for reading, Ruby!
Aw friend, you’re the best and your support means so much to me! Glad this post made you smile…I’m sure you can relate to certain aspects as well! Excited to hopefully connect and dream together more this year! XO
Thank you so much! Amazing suggestions – currently working on replacing the sunflower oil in some of our products with better options. Stay tuned! 😉
I’m always amazed at women who are creating something out of nothing! I’ve loved every one of your products I’ve ordered. Keep up the awesomeness!
Thank you so much Shelley! I appreciate your support!
I would love to see makeup, specifically, a foundation.
Thanks for your suggestion, Shelley! We don’t currently have makeup on our radar, however, we’ll definitely add it to the wish list. 🙂 In the meantime, we love Ilia and 100% Pure for foundation makeup products. XO
Okay, first, what an incredible journey!! Thank you for sharing. I’m so inspired!! Your deodorant is the only toxin-free deodorant I can trust to get me through a workout.
I would LOVE to convince my husband to make the switch too, but it’s pretty rough on his armpit hair. If you have any tips for men.. I’d love to hear. (I’ll check over the website after sending this as well.) I’m not sure how you could formulate it to glide more easily onto hair, but I’d love to see it in the future!! Thank you for doing all you do. <3
Hi Hilary! I actually do have a tip (from my husband)! He has always said that swiping up is key. That way the deodorant will work with the armpit hair and not against it. Let me know if this works for your hubby too!
Such an incredible story! I would love to see SPF in the products or just a sunscreen. Also, tinted moisturizer or BB/CC cream!
Great suggestions, thank you!
Keep up the good work!! I would love to see a natural hair shampoo bar, good for traveling, and to cut down on all the plastic use.
Love it! Thanks so much for the suggestion!
I’ve been using your charcoal deodorant for over a year now . It’s is the only natural deodorant I’ve tried that actually works and it’s works well. I’ve recommended this to everyone. Thanks for making products we can trust as well as enjoy.
So glad, that’s amazing. Thank you for your ongoing support!
Hi. First off let me tell you how much I love Primally Pure!! The cleansing oil is life saver for my skin during the winter months here in Maine. I would love if PP carried a gentle body scrub in a fabulous energizing. It would be perfect to wake up dull skin. Thanks for all you do!
I am a customer for life. Started with the deodorant and fell in love with it and multiple other products. I’d love to get a discount on products but it looks like only influencers have this opportunity. Am I missing something?
That is so cool to hear – thanks so much for your ongoing support! Many of the influencers we work with have sharing codes for their fans which are accessible to all but only for the first-time purchase. Feel free to reach out to us at hello@primallypure.com if there has been any confusion! XO
I just want to say I absolutely love your products! I was so hesitant to use an oil cleanser but now I am so glad I did. I use the oil cleanser for normal skin and I am obsessed with its wonderful scent. I seriously find myself washing my face an extra time just so I can take in that beautiful scent. It’s my little moment of relaxation during my busy day. I also use the heal and tone spray everyday as well- another scent that is just amazing. Your deodorant was the only one that actually worked for me after trying dozens. And your soothing serum is top of the line as well. I love knowing that what I put on my face everyday is safe and natural. I would love if you had another product with the same scent as the oil cleanser for normal skin (maybe an essential oil blend or a hand cream??) Keep up the awesome work and thanks for being such an inspiration to all of us making our own path out there!
Best. comment. ever. Thank you – love hearing about how our products are making a difference in your day to day life! And love the suggestion about making more products with the same scent as our cleansing oil. I agree that it’s heavenly!
Bravo to you and PP’s journey! I remember driving to the farm to pick up my deodorant order from you back in the beginning stages. 🙂 Amazing to see you and the company thriving. Best wishes on what lies ahead.
Thank you so much Amy! Your support means the world!
Would love to see a body butter with CBD oil in it!! That stuff is amazing!
Ohh love that idea! We’re adding it to our “dream product list” 😉 XO
Please come out with a face wash bar without coconut oil! It makes me break out but it’s sooo hard to find!
Hi Tricia, Thanks so much for sharing your suggestion! We definitely want to help make skincare products that our customers love and will add that to the list! XO