Today we’d like to introduce you to Christine Glaser
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I started making natural cleaning products with essential oils for my husband and me when we lived in a teeny tiny apartment in Culver City (close to Los Angeles, California). As my knowledge of essential oils grew, my formulations started to include skin care items as well.
I have an entrepreneur’s soul, and once I had products that WORKED, I felt drawn to sharing them with others and began selling them on Etsy (which I had previous experience with in selling my artwork).
Though I was working a 9-5 at UCLA, I would wake up hours early to work on my site, my product labels, and marketing. I would write customer thank you notes and print shipping labels on my lunch breaks, and set up our apartment for product photography sessions during the weekends…yup, fully obsessed with the process!
When we moved back to St. Louis to be closer to our families, my skincare side gig was slowly growing and evolving. After having our first child, it became clear that staying home with our daughter was the only option that made sense for us, and the ‘hobby’ nature of my Etsy business kicked it up to full-blown business mode.
I created websites during naptimes, learned different marketing strategies through webinars while making dinners, and took business strategy courses on carefully planned self-care days.
Fast forward through another daughter being born, three house moves (in three years), and an aromatherapy certification later, I had managed to build the successful business of my dreams…from home…and it got my family through the craziest time our history (2020).
My handmade skincare business, which started as a hobby, was now my complete vision.
But still, I wanted to do more.
It was HARD building something from nothing, and I didn’t have any mentor to follow in my specific industry. It took WAY longer than it should have. I vowed to change that for others.
My K-12 education degree peeked its head out from under the dust bunnies to URGE me to teach what I had learned. With systems and processes in place, I was determined to provide an easier roadmap to fellow skincare makers who wanted to make a space of their own online.
And thus, DIY Skin Care Business was born – a learning and support hub that shares my step-by-step natural skin care recipes and a growing number of tutorials on business branding, marketing, and operational details with other handmade entrepreneurs.
I am more passionate than ever before about my business, and I can’t wait to see where it goes from here!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
While my story makes it seem like a nice, linear process, it most definitely was not.
I struggled, pretty significantly, with postpartum depression after both of my pregnancies, which took a toll on my energy levels, motivation, and support systems. Strangely enough, there were times when my business was also what helped pull me through those hard years, giving me a goal to reach for and a to-do list that I actually had control over.
During this delicate time, I took online courses from individuals who were NOT in my industry, which didn’t always steer me in the correct direction.
One vivid (and quite bumpy) memory is of an e-commerce coach who had me follow a step-by-step process to (supposedly) skyrocket my sales. At this point, I was receiving about 20 sales a day, which we NEEDED as a family, as my husband had just stepped into entrepreneurship as well. Very unfortunately, at this same time, he had a hernia which left him out of work for weeks. No PTO. No work in the pipeline. Zero.
Somewhat desperate to ramp it up, I implemented the suggested changes from this coach…and it took my business COMPLETELY off the online map. Zero again.
You may call it insanity, but after some well-deserved tears, it was back to the drawing board to figure out what had gone wrong.
Every problem has an answer. If other small-batch, handmade sellers could make it work, you betcha I was going to also.
And I did. (As an aside, this experience was a huge motivator in starting my own coaching business, so others in my industry wouldn’t have to experience our rollercoaster situation.)
The beauty of selling handmade items is that you get incredibly loyal customers. More than half of my sales are from individuals who have been with me since 2012, and they literally got me through this slump and built my business back up by gifting my products, slinging referrals, and spreading the love of my natural products.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Treesnail Wellness?
Treesnail Wellness is a handmade business that is focused on holistic skincare, which simply means thinking about the WHOLE person rather than just the surface.
Through small-batch, plant-based skincare products that WORK (and not to mention the best lip balm you will ever experience), our goal is to introduce individuals to the idea that skin care is so much more than a product.
Everything about your lifestyle has an impact on your skin health. Quality of sleep, stress levels, hydration, and exercise all work together and communicate through your skin.
There are other resources available on Treesnail Wellness, aside from traditional skin care products, to help our audience understand this connection and make some easy adjustments to their daily routines.
As a certified aromatherapist, essential oil specialist, and organic skin care maker, I couldn’t be more proud of the information that Treesnail helps to get out into the world. This natural approach to living isn’t being discussed in many doctors’ offices, yet it is the most PROACTIVE way for us to feel better and have a more joyful life experience.
The information on the Treesnail Wellness website is constantly being added to – I hope the readers here will check it out and keep returning for more helpful tips as they broaden their understanding of the skincare and wellness connection.
What makes you happy?
My family. My forever-supportive husband. Our two daughters who bring me joy and push me to grow every day. My mom and dad who have always believed in whatever I’ve wanted to do and have been constant cheerleaders and confidence-boosters (even with my not-so-bright ideas). My mother-in-law and father-in-law who are constantly showing up with love, understanding, and compassion. My brother and sister-in-law who keep my life fun, connected, and full. My niece and nephew who are just as precious to me as my own kids.
These are my people and my happiness.
They bring joy to every event and holiday (and really, every weekend), bring squeezes to soften the tears, and all the lessons when life gets truly complicated, confusing, and downright bogus.
My business brings me supreme happiness too, but it wouldn’t exist without my family being there for me when it was and IS being built.
I am the luckiest to be born into and married into the family I have.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.treesnailwellness.com
- Other: https://www.diyskincarebusiness.com
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