Meet Kristie Mather of Tilvee in Golden

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristie Mather.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I have been fascinated with botany since I was a young girl. My parents moved us to the country when I was 7. We started a big garden, shopped at a health food store, ate all organic foods and used natural remedies. It was our way of life. When I went to college, I fell in love with my botany, chemistry and ecology courses and when I got a job at a small health food store in town, I started to really appreciate how the science behind plants could result in a natural product formula that could improve people’s health. I started to delve into the uses of various plants as natural remedies, I experimented with growing and extracting plants and concocting formulas. I gravitated to topical products, especially after learning that even the “natural” skincare products still had some not so natural ingredients in them, mainly the preservatives. I purchased some formulating books and decided to make my own formulas that were even more natural than what was available on most health food store shelves. The store owner started coming to me with customers who had tricky skin conditions and I would develop concoctions to help them. It was a fun and educational process.

Eventually, the store started selling some of my tried and true products. That is when I started to mentor with the store owner on the business side of things, how to source ingredients, how to put together costs and markups, basically how to start a small business for myself doing what I love. That is how it began for me! I spent a greater part of 10 years educating myself on plants and formulating while honing in my formulas and selling locally. I then launched Tilvee in 2009 and immediately started to sell on a national level. I launched a website (that my sister Salina helped me build), hired employees and sales reps so that we could get the products out in the marketplace on a larger scale. My sister Tamara took on managing production and together we learned how to scale up our batches and processes, that was quite a fun and exciting challenge.

We started to host store training at the lab, team builds and educational events. It was a fun and interactive way to spread awareness about the importance of natural ingredients in skincare and which ingredients to avoid. Today we have two labs, one here in CO that I run and one in FL that Tamara runs. We go back and forth between labs and collaborate as we keep growing. It is a constant evolution that I absolutely love. Our children have been involved in the business which truly makes it feel like a family business. The kids have been involved in everything from filling jars, shipping orders and labeling to handing out samples at events around town. Right now, we are in the process of building a new lab here in Golden that will enable us to increase production and efficiency. We are also in the process of building more sales teams as we expand our sales footprint.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I think a lot of businesses have similar struggles such as learning how to delegate. figuring out how to put together the strongest team, knowing which products to focus on, understanding the marketplace, etc. Those struggles usually have made me go deeper in that area, educate myself, surround myself with people who know more about the subject than myself and ultimately have helped me flourish.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
Tilvee is truly an extension of myself and my values. I myself live an eco-conscious life by choosing organic healthy foods, staying active, supporting businesses that are doing good for the world and producing a natural product and have good values. When making business decisions, I always have that in mind whether it is purchasing more eco-friendly packaging, using biodegradable shipping supplies or using natural cleaners in the lab. It all matters!

I am interested in how natural ingredients can be combined to make a truly natural end product that is also effective. That gets me excited! I do not compromise the health of our bodies or the environment by using ingredients that can be potentially harmful. I feel that my specialty really is in knowing natural ingredients and how to formulate with them. I have learned how to develop some very effective products using these beautiful all-natural ingredients from all over the world. What I love is that Tilvee offers completely natural products that are very effective and made with organic, fair trade and sustainably sourced ingredients. I am proud of that and I feel that sets us apart.

What were you like growing up?
I think I was pretty focused as a kid, I was pretty disciplined and liked to do things that gave me purpose. I liked the outdoors and spent a lot of time wandering the woods, drawing plants, learning various animal footprints and tracking them, learning about the life cycle of plants and making craft projects out of what nature provided us. I was very involved with my animals and horses became (and still are) a large part of my life. I dedicated most of my time to caring for, training and competing on horses. I also have always been interested in fitness and nutrition as well. It is very important to my well being and keeps me motivated!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.Tilvee.com
• Phone: 800-479-0758
• Email: kristie@tilvee.com
• Instagram: TIlvee Skincare
• Facebook: Tilvee Eco-Ethical Skincare
• Twitter: Tilvee

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