The Beauty of Balance

We live in a busy, fast paced, ever changing world. Everyone wants a piece of you and so many of us feel spread too thin, constantly.

Balance is something that seems to be a hot topic amongst my friends and acquaintances. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I can't think of another friend (entrepreneur or not) who hasn't verbalized struggling to balance family, career... just life in general lately.

Lately, I've been examining people I perceive to be happy and asking myself "Why?" (I have a degree in anthropology, so this stuff is fascinating to me!)

One thing I have found to be true:
Some of the the happiest, most enthusiastic and fulfilled people I know are entrepreneurs, in control of their own destiny.

On the flip side, some of the most down and out, distraught, stressed people I know are  also, entrepreneurs.

Bottom line: Entrepreneurship is HARD.

It is stressful to not know where your next paycheck is coming from. Once you grow past "wearing all the hats in your business" and build up to having a team of employees, rent for your business location, insurance, the taxes that come along with employees, property and everything else, the stakes become even higher.

You have to bring in the deals to pay these people and bills-- it's not just your paycheck at stake. It can most certainly be overwhelming at times. I've been there; I know the feeling first hand and it isn't pleasant.

One thing I also know... those happy, fulfilled entrepreneurs I mentioned earlier? They have something the others don't. Their secret? Balance.

Balance is personal; it does not have the same definition for everyone. It can look different, and that's OK! For my husband (our CFO at The Grapeseed Co.), balance means waking at 5AM to surf Rincon before work. Ahem, here's my post on facebook after an early wake up call this morning...

5AM. No alarm goes off... First (enthusiastic) words, "Wanna go surfing? It's going to be epic today!" I've been happily waking at the crack of dawn the greater portion of my life, but plunging in icy winter water in the dark will never be fun to me. And off he goes with a huge smile; have fun Pete! Maybe if we were in warm Caribbean waters I'd be in."

This is how he warms up after- filling gallons of hot water to rinse with before work. I think it's nuts, but am all for whatever makes ya happy!

 For me, it means the freedom to work when passion and ideas strike, and to follow my drive and excitement. Sometimes that leads me to working at odd hours, which actually prompted this post today. My morning walk ended up leading me to Grapeseed at 6:30AM to work on an awesome new project for a major retailer. It was quiet, nice to be there totally alone, and amazingly productive. I blasted music, danced around and got a sh*t load done! All is good since this doesn't even feel like work to me, and without being an entrepreneur I probably wouldn't have this kind freedom. It's so liberating! It is my balance, and I am so thankful to do what I love.

One of my loves at Grapeseed... concocting new fragrance blends at our Scent Bar!

When we moved to our new location in downtown Santa Barbara this past fall, I wanted to bring the spirit of balance into our workspace and store. We often get comments from customers, people that come in to interview for a job and even delivery folks that there are "good vibes" in our store, and it just feels like a place you want to be...
These words frame our entryway:

And to follow this concept, I'm going to be doing more of what I love, and launching a new business! Nothing brings me more joy and excitement then having a great idea, creating something and bringing it to fruition. Teaching has always been my first love, was the root of my first company, and is where my formal education background is. This culminates in launching Cultivate Your Niche on a broader scale this spring. I will be introducing online programs based on my 1:1 consulting to teach you how to build the business of your dreams!

Believe it or not, this is part of my master plan to bring more balance to my life, and zone in on doing even more of what I love. Everyone deserves and can have more balance and peace in their life. Everyone can be an entrepreneur.

So... What do you love? What do you want to do? What's your balance look like?

May you all work towards your beautiful balance (whatever that looks like) each and every day!

cheers,
Kristin

P.S. You can follow the launch on our CYN facebook page here. Our dream team will be releasing programs on the website this spring and I will also be taking on a few more 1:1 consulting clients this summer... stay tuned :)

How does The Grapeseed Co. turn wine waste into organic skin care?

We often are asked, "How do you create botanical beauty
from the byproduct of wine?"

   

Watch how we turn local, antioxidant rich red wine waste into amazing natural skin care, right here in Santa Barbara, California!

VISIT THE GRAPESEED COMPANY STORE & SCENT BAR

21 W. ORTEGA STREET

in DOWNTOWN SANTA BARBARA

HOURS

MONDAY - FRIDAY 10:30-6pm

SATURDAY 10:30-5pm

Join Us SATURDAY! The Grapeseed Co. GRAND OPENING Celebration: 21 W Ortega St. downtown Santa Barbara

We can't wait to celebrate this beautiful new space with you all! We have closed both the Carpinteria Warehouse Store and the Carrillo Store to open this wonderful new flagship store, with everything in one place! Check out how we create your favorite botanical beauty from wine, from the grapeseed to the bottle.

See you there Saturday, cheers!

How I Did It...The Story Behind Starting The Grapeseed Co.

I was incredibly honored to be asked to tell my "How I Did It" story on 
Maria Shriver's inspiring website, Architects of Change. I'm republishing the article here on Green Skincare Blog with my sincerest thanks to my amazing sister, Anna Fraser, who edited my life story down to 900 words when I couldn't seem to cut anything out! Here's the raw and honest truth on How I Did It...

I became an accidental entrepreneur at 14. Competitive swimming was my life at that time, and what started as a confirmation service project teaching an eight year old girl with Down Syndrome how to swim ballooned into a real business.

Across the local community, people asked me to teach their children, so I started a swim school in my parents’ backyard the following summer. With the help of my father (an attorney), mother and sister (also swimmers), we developed an entirely word-of-mouth business that grew to over 200 families each summer.

The swim school taught me valuable lessons at a young age: how to teach effectively, manage time, manage challenging personalities, and run a business with family members. I made good money and was able to save, a lot. I hung up my swim goggles after college and moved back to Boston for graduate school and began my career in education (also the first time I wasn’t working for myself).

I hadn’t thought much of the significance of not working for myself until meeting my future husband, Peter, who shared with me his dream to fix up his boat and sail to the Caribbean. Excited to join this adventure, I quickly and unequivocally said “yes!” Dating changed from restaurants to trips to West Marine, emptying our wallets as we learned to outfit a sailboat for cruising.

Our tiny ship Harmony, right before selling it in the Caribbean

We wired electric systems to run off of solar panels, sewed sail covers and installed our own head (read: toilet), and countless other dirty work to prepare for life at sea. It was challenging, but we loved it -- working for ourselves and building our dream. Less than a year later, we quit our jobs and set sail from Salem, MA to the Caribbean.

What first seemed like hitting pause on my career proved to be my greatest adventure and foundation for future entrepreneurial endeavors. Our two year voyage on the tiny sailboat deepened my understanding of our impact on the earth -- we conserved energy, water, and resources every moment of every day. I became acutely aware of how much water we consumed, how much trash we made, the energy needed to run our systems, and what a luxury fresh food was.

Problem-solving was part of our every day and sailors are much like entrepreneurs-- savvy, creative and welcoming to other like-minded birds. Through chats at docks and boatie bars, and research whenever we got near an internet cafe, we found solutions that were very green and DIY.

THE SEED THAT STARTED GRAPESEED CO.
Stores weren’t commonplace among the remote islands we sailed to, so I started making skin care products from cooking oils we had aboard and native fruits and plants. Thus began my fascination, research and formulation of natural ingredients, personal care products and ultimately, The Grapeseed Company.

We landed in Santa Barbara after our sailing adventure, and began to appreciate wine and the age-old process of creating it. We saw winemakers throwing away grapeseeds after crush each fall.

I started researching benefits of red wine grapeseeds and thought, “How about creating skin care from the wine maker’s byproduct?” We set out to turn trash into treasure.

NEGOTIATING MY WAY
With $2,000 left from my swim school savings, I started Grapeseed Company with just three hand-made products -- scrub, massage oil and lip balm. It evolved from personal use and gifts to selling at local artisan fairs.

During that time, I negotiated a deal with my employer to start working part-time. I first went down to 80%, then 50% over three years from my career in elementary Special Education. Juggling my day job and dream job made me a “part-time entrepreneur” and I was getting half-assed results. I’d have a taste of success at Grapeseed, then have to abandon it to go back to my day job.

NO ROOM FOR FAILURE
Fear of failure, financial hardship and stress kept me from going all in with Grapeseed. And I was unhappy in my day job, feeling like there was nowhere to grow or go.

Not unlike the last time I’d stepped out of my career and onto the sailboat, I knew I had to leave for a new adventure...and that I was probably a little crazy to do so.

But the stakes were even higher -- I gave up my tenured job and steady salary just after we’d purchased our first home and the economy tanked in 2008. There wasn’t much room for failure, which was exactly the fire I needed to succeed.

I started working from home full time and hired our first employee in 2009. Within a year, we negotiated free sublet space from a business that had and an extra office and kitchen, but six months later, they needed that space back.

So in July 2010, I signed the lease on our first store in Santa Barbara. A year later, we opened a second store and new manufacturing facility in Carpinteria, CA and have been honored as the fastest growing company of the year by Savor the Success, participated in celebrity gifting with The Artisan Group at the Oscars GBK Gift Lounge, released 16 new products, formulated a spa line for a new Orient Express resort and launched over 40 products in Whole Foods Markets.

manufacturing and packing our first 6-figure wholesale order at the new warehouse

LESSONS FOR SUCCESS
I am most proud of the amazing team we built (now seven strong!) and that we’ve continued to self-fund growth through multiple revenue streams.

The Grapeseed Co. Team (minus CFO Pete) Summer 2013

I’m a DIY girl, so one of the most important things I’ve learned is that no one can do it alone; it takes a solid team to build a stellar company.

Empower your employees to be as excellent as the brand you’ve built. If they feel invested and empowered in your company’s growth, the sky is the limit!

Another important lesson is to view everything as a learning experience. Successes, failures -- it doesn’t matter; there is an important learning opportunity and sometimes it takes someone else to help you realize that.

Nourish and appreciate relationships that give you solid, helpful, constructive feedback. Building a business from the ground up is extremely hard work; be realistic about what you can handle and embrace learning something new every day.

I’ve learned so many amazing lessons (the hard way) building Grapeseed and am excited to launch a new business this summer, Cultivate Your Niche. This is my passion project; teaching others the lessons we’ve learned the hard way to develop niche, artisan products and create, launch and grow the business of your dreams!

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Kristin Fraser Cotte is the founder and CEO at The Grapeseed Company, creating botanical beauty from wine made fresh in Santa Barbara, California. The Grapeseed Company's niche products and unique business model have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Health, The LA Times, Shape, Women's Health, Edible Magazine and more. This summer Kristin is launching Cultivate Your Niche to teach others how to create, launch and grow the business of your dreams.