Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in skin care but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Sarah Vilenskiy, Founder of Blossom Essentials, located in Austin, TX, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

We make natural and clean hydration products focused on chronic dry and irritated skin. Our customers are typically people with skin diseases or very sensitive, dry, or irritation-prone skin.

Tell us about yourself

Blossom was developed out of a personal need for products that actually work long-term for my skin. I suffer from extreme skin dryness to the point where it often burns. I searched everywhere for products that would relieve my symptoms for longer than just a few hours, but I just couldn't find any. It was super frustrating - and I knew I wasn't the only one who felt this way! So I sought out to create my own products that would help people with chronic dry skin, and I knew an important part of that was using natural, hydrating ingredients and staying away from harmful or irritating chemicals.

I truly love what I do! Yes, there are plenty of hard days, but just hearing a customer tell their story of how our Blossom products changed their lives is truly everything to me and makes it all worthwhile.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Growing our business to 7 figures for the first time this year!

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

The mental toughness by far.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Let's normalize feeling shitty. We don't always need to put on a brave face and say things are going great venting is cathartic and almost necessary and having days where you just want to run away is completely fine because you come back after and carry on. It's actually much easier to tackle problems when you've had time to sit in the awfulness of it all. You say, "I'll give myself today to feel this way, and then tomorrow, I am going to fix this problem." Also, more often than not, people want to support you, so go to them and tell them your problems!
  2. Celebrate the small wins; small victories lead to big growth. It's hard to overlook the losses but very easy to forget the small wins as you always fight for the next milestone. But if you're not celebrating the small wins, you'll forget how far you've come and won't appreciate the journey, which is truly the most important part! I still remember how excited I was the first day we went live, and I heard the "cha-ching" go off on my phone. And now we are a 7-figure business, and I find myself stressing about growth more than actually enjoying the fact that we've sold millions of dollars worth of Blossom products this year alone. If you don't celebrate each milestone, you will lose sight of your goals and burn out or become unappreciative of all you've accomplished. If that happens, you will compare yourself to others who you consider more successful than you, and you will lose faith in yourself that you can achieve greatness.
  3. Don't compare your brand to anyone else's, and don't compare yourself as a business owner to anyone else. You are on your own journey with a different timeline and a different destination. You are moving at the pace you need to move, not anyone else's. You are doing great; just know that! Also, what most people don't realize, all those people you look up to were in the same position as you probably 5 years earlier; they just started before you. You will get there; just keep going!

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://tryblossom.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blossomessentials
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/try_blossom/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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