Meet Trailblazer Sarah Villafranco

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Villafranco.

Sarah, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
The punchline: I thought I was an East Coast ER doctor, but it turns out, I’m a Colorado soapmaker!

After ten years of practicing medicine in the emergency department, I realized I was putting out fires instead of helping people change their daily health habits, which is the only path to longterm health. After losing my mom to pancreatic cancer when she was only 64, I felt especially passionate about finding meaningful ways to empower people when it came to their wellness, long before they had to land in an emergency room.

Shortly after my mother died, I took a local class making soap and fell completely in love with the science and art of it. When I did my homework (two years of it) about the products we use on our skin every day, and how those ingredients are impacting our health and the planet’s health, I knew I could combine my passion for healing with my newfound love of soapmaking. I developed a line of skincare products and took a huge, fine-smelling leap of faith. Osmia launched in 2012.

Since then, we’ve grown into a healthy business making beautiful, natural skincare. More importantly, I have an incredible team (we’re over 20 people now!) and we are sharing education and inspiration on our various platforms to help people change their daily habits in a way that will shape their lives over time. It’s exciting and rewarding to see how eager people are to live in health and joy and to help them do so with a softer impact on the earth.

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?
Smooth? That’s hilarious. I just got really good at hanging on for the ride. From failed formulations to figuring out how to scale up production to hiring the right team, there have been potholes and obstacles at every turn.

My two biggest pieces of advice for anyone on an entrepreneurial journey are these: be resilient, and trust your gut. You will fail more times than you will succeed, and you have to learn to look at each failure right in the eye and say “Well, thanks for that lesson”. You also have to know that your instincts are usually on point – when you ignore them, you’ll likely regret it.

We’d love to hear more about Osmia.
We make natural and organic skincare products in the mountains of Carbondale, Colorado. All of our formulas were created by a physician (me), and we’re known for our incredible scents, and for helping people learn to communicate more successfully with their sensitive or problematic skin.

As a brand, I’m really proud of our transparency and quality standards. It also makes me impossibly happy that we plant a tree with every order, thanks to our partnership with One Tree Planted. Since we launched the program in 2018, we’ve planted almost 30,000 trees.

In the beauty world, I’d have to say that our position on aging sets us apart. We’re all for supporting healthy, beautiful aging, but we’re not interested in an anti-aging marketing angle, even if our products often have that effect. We want to live long and lovely lives, crows feet and all.

Which women have inspired you in your life?
My mother, because she was the perfect blend of intelligence, elegance, and hilarity.

Madonna, because she has spent four decades reminding me that there’s no easy way to do something hard.

Michelle Obama, because… she’s Michelle Obama.

Ellen Degeneres, because she makes me laugh, and she uses her superpowers to do great things for others.

And my two daughters, because they constantly remind me to enjoy the moment, and they stand firmly in their Chuck Taylors in this complicated, confusing world.

Contact Info:

• Address: Osmia Organics
  2607 Dolores Way
  Carbondale, CO 81623
• Website: www.osmiaorganics.com
• Phone: 970.510.6610
• Email: info@osmiaorganics.com
• Instagram: @osmiaorganics
• Facebook: @osmiaorganics
• Twitter: @osmiaorganics

Image Credit:
All photos property of Osmia

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