
#840: Join us as we sit down with OSEA Founders – Jenefer & Melissa Palmer, the powerhouse mother-daughter duo behind the iconic family-owned clean skincare brand, OSEA Malibu. Since day one, OSEA has remained committed to put their values into...
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Lauren Everts
The following podcast is a Dear Media production. Hey everybody. Before we get into the show, for those of you that are in Los Angeles, traveling to Los Angeles or looking to travel to Los Angeles, join the Dear Media team and host on May 17th in Los Angeles for the Dear Media Edit. A live wellness experience. A day of curated conversations and immersive experiences with your favorite Dear Media hosts and leading voices in health and wellness. Explore what it means to truly feel good inside and out. Tickets are on sale now@dearlymedia.com events. We'll put it in the show notes. We do these events regularly. We've done our IRL events. They're always incredible people. Always have a great time. So if you're in the LA area or getting ready to travel there on May 17, check them out again. That's dearmedia.com events. She's a lifestyle blogger extraordinaire.
Michael Bostick
Fantastic.
Lauren Everts
And he's a serial entrepreneur, a very smart cookie. And now Lauren Everts and Michael Bostick are bringing you along for the ride.
Michael Bostick
Get ready for some major realness.
Lauren Everts
Welcome to the Skinny Confidential. Him and her.
Michael Bostick
What a full circle this is. I have been a fan of this brand, Osea, for like 10 years. If you go back on the Skinny Confidential blog, you can see me talking about this brand when I was a bartender. I truly am such a fan and it was so fascinating meeting the founders, Jennifer and Melissa, and interviewing them. They are a mother and daughter team. And in this episode we talk about the multifaceted journey of the wellness brand osea. We talk about clean beauty, holistic health practices, stretch marks, the vagus nerves, stress relief, personal anecdotes, wellness rituals, and the brand's evolution. If you're someone who's into wellness, health and business, this episode is for you. Let's welcome Jennifer Palmer, the founder of osea, and her daughter Melissa, the co founder and CEO of osea, to the him and her show.
Lauren Everts
This is the Skinny Confidential. Him and her.
Michael Bostick
Okay, you're going to kick us off with a little good energy. Do that. What do we do? We take this. This oil?
Jennifer Palmer
Yeah. We're going to take the vagus nerve oil and we're going to do a vagus nerve activ activation. And the vagus nerve is the tenth cranial nerve. And it helps reset and calm the parasympathetic nervous system in case any of us are stressed, which I think in case just on that random.
Michael Bostick
Open your mouth, Michael.
Jennifer Palmer
Yeah. And then as we do it, I'm gonna kind of just do a very short little breathing exercise. And the Fragrance was designed to lift consciousness, which is what I do with all of our scents. And it's all pure essential oils.
Michael Bostick
Done.
Lauren Everts
Amazing.
Michael Bostick
Okay, you'll have to go to YouTube to watch us because this is a good one, guys.
Lauren Everts
Okay, so I put it on.
Jennifer Palmer
Rub it between your fingers. Take a deep breath. I think your microphone now smells like vagus nerve. All cell and just. And a cleansing exhalation and then just. The vagal nerve pathway is the longest nerve in the body. It goes all the way from the brain to the gut. So rub it behind your ears, down the sides of your neck. I like to put it under my nose, kind of on my pulse points. And what's extraordinary about the vagus nerve is that 70% of the neuro impulses actually originate in the gut. So whenever you feel like you have a gut feeling, that's your vagus nerve talking to you.
Michael Bostick
Oh, my vagus nerve is always talking to me. It doesn't. Shut the fuck off.
Jennifer Palmer
I'm with you.
Michael Bostick
My husband and I both do this thing to my son called Shakies every night where we shake his chest to.
Lauren Everts
Like, describe it a little better. We'll just like, shake it.
Jennifer Palmer
There is something about shaking, baby.
Michael Bostick
No, no, no, no. It's not like that. Explain where she just grab him and.
Lauren Everts
Just shake him around. We rub his chest, like, just to, like, calm him down and give him.
Michael Bostick
A little just like vibration. And it's supposed to relax their nervous system. And he asks for it every night. So I'm going to put this on my hands tonight and give him shakies.
Jennifer Palmer
Perfect.
Melissa Palmer
That's the perfect way to use it.
Michael Bostick
And Michael, don't get any ideas because Michael's going to probably ask me. I have something called vago, vascal, vasco, vagal. This probably would help me when I'm getting any kind of shot or needle or iv, huh?
Jennifer Palmer
Definitely. It's super calming.
Michael Bostick
I love it.
Jennifer Palmer
Yeah.
Michael Bostick
Okay.
Lauren Everts
This is really the.
Melissa Palmer
To my success. Bring my mom to anything I do and do a vagus nerve exercise first.
Michael Bostick
And yeah, she's like, don't talk to me until you do your vagus nerve exercise.
Lauren Everts
Jennifer, you do have a very calming voice, I must say.
Jennifer Palmer
Thank you.
Michael Bostick
Welcome to the show.
Jennifer Palmer
It's such a thrill to be here.
Michael Bostick
We're excited to have you. Melissa, what was it like growing up with someone who is so passionate with wellness? Like, what do you remember when you were little?
Melissa Palmer
Okay. When you were talking about the Shakies? I was starting to think about some of my bedtime rituals. We did Mantras, visualization. We fell asleep. I remember my favorite thing my mom would do is like, talk to every part of my body. We'd say goodnight to my toes, to my ankles and move through the whole body. We meditated and affirmations. I mean, it was, in hindsight, the best childhood possible. At certain times I was so embarrassed because we were like the hippie natural family. But it was an incredible childhood.
Michael Bostick
I need to take some notes because right now we go under a blanket and tell ghost stories.
Melissa Palmer
Scaring the shit out of my kid.
Michael Bostick
And shaking them before they go to the bed.
Jennifer Palmer
That's really quite a combo.
Michael Bostick
They love it.
Melissa Palmer
We slept outside a lot.
Michael Bostick
Oh, that's good for your nervous system, right?
Melissa Palmer
Yeah, we slept outside, but that was like a little adventure. Not scary, but so fun. We had like mattresses on our deck and slept outside most nights with down comforter.
Jennifer Palmer
Let me give you a pro birthday party tip. Especially for little boys. The best birthday party you can throw is just have them all sleep outside. We used to bring out the TV and they'd play video. I mean, watch videos and watch just. They were out there by themselves. They could eat popcorn and cookies and throw it all over. Everyone was happy.
Melissa Palmer
And she says, watch videos. Cause there was no cable and the TV was. No, we didn't have TV once every couple months.
Michael Bostick
No. Haven't you heard? They're bringing back low sensory TV TV show that I put on for my kids now is Arthur. It's like from, like. It's so good for kids to watch. Like, Clifford. Have you heard this?
Jennifer Palmer
Yeah, of course.
Michael Bostick
Yeah, yeah. I'm like, no Coco Melon. Sorry. Here's Arthur.
Melissa Palmer
Come back.
Jennifer Palmer
Yeah, yeah.
Lauren Everts
Even though we look like we're 20 years old, maybe not that young. I remember the VHS, the DVDs, all the stuff you remember, compact disc players.
Michael Bostick
I also remember when did you guys start to see a space in the clean beauty world? Because I feel like your brand is one of the first to market and had tapped into something intuitively way before these other brands.
Jennifer Palmer
Well, the word clean beauty did not exist when we launched. It was called Green Beauty. And in fact, I had the best tagline ever, Osea Green. When it was just a color because it tied in that we used. We were seaweed based. And it was really tough in the beginning because I had to explain to people why the products weren't pink and they weren't in plastic. I mean, there was. And why they didn't smell like synthetic perfume. And it was just a whole different landscape then. And people would say, why are you doing this? And I said, because I know I'm right. I mean, I saw the vision. I knew where we were going. I've always been lucky. I see things much farther down the road than most people.
Michael Bostick
I mean, it was really. Michael, the brand has been around for how many years?
Jennifer Palmer
29 years.
Michael Bostick
Okay. And the fact that you have been doing it in glass when all this microplastic shit's coming out about how we have microplastics in our brain and you were doing it in glass. And not only that, you. You're right. It's. It doesn't smell super fragrant, which is why I've always been so attracted to the brand. It's. It smells natural and just really like clean and pure. And it's crazy that you guys did that 29 years ago.
Lauren Everts
How did you grow up? And when did you get switched on to this way of living?
Jennifer Palmer
Well, that's a great question. I was really born into it. My grandmother was one of the very first women chiropractors. She graduated over 100 years ago from 1919 from chiropractic school.
Michael Bostick
Wow.
Jennifer Palmer
I was always raised with this awareness of what wellness and I mean, down to special order non hydrogenated peanut butter. We were very particular about how we ate. I used to think that every grandmother walked in the front door and adjusted your neck. Until I met Michael Carney's grandmother and said, why didn't you get an adjustment from her? You know? So I grew up in it and my grandmother was really a weeder in that space in that she did iridology, she did juice fasting, and it's how I was always raised.
Michael Bostick
It's so cool. It's really. To me, I'm so into non toxic and clean living and just. I don't want it to be overwhelming because I feel like some people go so far and it gets fanatical. But I also want to continue to improve on it all the time and just make little changes and tweaks.
Jennifer Palmer
That's a great philosophy because I just turned 70 this year. And so it's really exciting. Oh, great. Thank you. And it's all about those small daily decisions that you make, because I've been doing those for over 50 years. So just that those tiny little choices you make every day, there's a very powerful cumulative effect.
Michael Bostick
Yeah. Like when I first met Michael, he was brushing his teeth with Old Spice.
Jennifer Palmer
That's interesting.
Michael Bostick
And putting Windex in his hair and using Lysol wipes on his hands.
Lauren Everts
It's interesting when I Think about the beginning of this show, which was almost a decade ago now, compared to how I live now. It's very different.
Michael Bostick
How so?
Lauren Everts
Well, I mean, just, I think again, we. Our generation came up in a time when a lot of these kind of new age, synthetic, artificial products came out. And, you know, it was all built on scale and mass production and, you know, the cheapest ingredients possible. And I think most parents, maybe unlike you, that's just what was in the stores. You know, like, I think the exercise that I go through now with our parents is getting them to get back to the way of living that may be the way that you've lived. Right. And they're so used to buying these grocery store and drugstore products that are harmful for us in many cases, or where in many cases there's better and healthier alternatives and getting them off that. But I was, I was a, you know, product like many other people of, of that market in that, in that time.
Michael Bostick
It's like, do you want some Windex with your lucky charms?
Lauren Everts
For me, that the, like, after having so many of these conversations drilled in my head, it's. It's like, okay, you're going to continue to use these products, but if there's a better, healthier alternative that exists, why would you not take that path?
Jennifer Palmer
Absolutely. Yeah.
Michael Bostick
So what was the first epiphany and product that you started with? And was there an epiphany before the product? Like, how did the brand come to fruition?
Jennifer Palmer
Well, I had always. I'm allergic to synthetic fragrance. So it had always been really difficult for me to find or use any product. So I was. I really was not a product consumer because everything gave me a headache instantly, you know, and now I understand it was the phthalate fragrance carriers, et cetera. And so in the early 80s, I was part of a wellness meditation community, and I was responsible for renovating this large spa complex. And I wanted to do treatments and facials, but there really wasn't anything out there. And that's when I saw the gap in the market. And, you know, I was in my late 20s and I started to see a few little fine lines. So I was becoming very interested in skincare as well.
Michael Bostick
And.
Jennifer Palmer
And I realized I reached into my childhood experience of that. My grandmother swam every day of the year in the ocean. And she lived, no, let me just say she was not living in California. She was living in New York. She swam in the Long Island Sound.
Melissa Palmer
She was one of, we think, one of the very first polar bear clubs in the country. And she swam close to 300 days a year. Her definition of a bad day was that the ice was too thick to get in.
Jennifer Palmer
Yeah. Because occasionally it would freeze and she just couldn't chop through. And I saw. I mean, that was just part of our family mythology that the ocean is healing. And I mean, God forbid, if I went to visit my grandparents in November, I'd have to go down to the beach and get in the water. And it was cold. And there's even a picture on our website and it looks like they're standing in sand, but that happens to be snow because it's black and white. So when I was at the spa, I thought to myself, definitely has to be ocean based. But then I had spent time as a child living in Switzerland, and we were taken on these incredible field trips everywhere, including the perfume fields of Grasse. So I learned about essential oils before they even arrived in the States. And so I thought, what if I created this synergy between pure essential oils and seaweed? And I would have the best of land and sea. And so the first product I ever made was in 1982 called Essential Hydrating Oil, and I've used it every day since.
Michael Bostick
When you first launched the product, were people excited about it or did you have to, like you mentioned, you had to explain, but did you have to really, like, nail it in their head for them to try it or did they like it right away?
Jennifer Palmer
I wouldn't say excited, but at all.
Melissa Palmer
Doing the sales. When we launched in 96, we first launched in retail stores in LA in Fred Siegel.
Michael Bostick
Oh, my gosh.
Melissa Palmer
Which was like the place to be. And we got totally lucky, launched there. And I was doing our sales in the late 90s, and I got things like, why is this in glass? Why doesn't it smell good? And it was very niche at the time. I mean, clean beauty wasn't even a term that's wild.
Jennifer Palmer
And people used to say. Then we started hearing, you know, this is a great product, but your packaging is terrible. I know. And we spent years on that, years and years. So I actually kind of. It became part of my selling tactic. I would hold up a bottle and I'd say, look, we spent all the money on the ingredients, not the packaging. Even though I always knew our packaging was beautiful, timeless and in glass. And then about maybe 10 years ago, people started saying, oh, you don't have to apologize. It's not that bad. Now people buy it because they love the packaging.
Michael Bostick
Was the packaging this.
Jennifer Palmer
It's all always been the same.
Michael Bostick
People didn't like this nice, beautiful thick glass matte bottle.
Melissa Palmer
More than the packaging, the logo, the brand message, the tagline, everything is truly the same since 1996. I love looking back at our 96 first brochure and I would gladly hand.
Michael Bostick
It out today if there's entrepreneurs who are listening. And I just wanna know for my own product line, what, how, what has been the evolution of the brand over 29 years from how you guys have exploded from social media? Like, talk about the whole evolution over 29 years is a long time.
Melissa Palmer
It's a long time. I mean, I think so much of it is a reflection of my mom and I's perfect balance as a team because my mom is an incredible visionary and was unwavering in her commitment even when I was like a teenager, let's be honest, and being like mom, let's, let's put this in plastic. Like, let's make this more sellable. She was unwavering in her commitment to the integrity and the vision of the brand. Now I realize I'm so lucky that she was so clear and so much of that aspect of the product, the quality of the product, the quality of the ingredients has been just core to what I've gotten to do, which is to grow the business and explode the brand. All fundamentally based on this product that is driven by results and clean, pro, clean ingredients that actually work.
Jennifer Palmer
And we would never be where we are without Melissa Palmer. I am so proud of her. And I mean, it's a dream to, I mean, look, we're a mother daughter team, so of course we have those typical mother daughter things, but it's a dream to have the privilege of working with my daughter and seeing her evolution. And so often parents, when parents see their children become adults, they don't get to see their children in the world. And I get to see my daughter in the world every day and I get to share my parts of that world with her and it's, it's just incredible.
Melissa Palmer
And most days she loves it.
Michael Bostick
I hope that I get to work with my daughter like this. I hope she comes to me and she's like, mom, I want to do with what you do. That would be so fun.
Lauren Everts
I, you know, I told you before we started, like, I ran a business with my father for a long time and it was great while we were in it, but there's obviously moments of growing pains. It's, it's probably strange for a parent to see their child start to go into adulthood and then start to maybe try to have equal, if not greater say in some cases in the business, and you're like, wait a minute. I'm the parent. I know better. But at the same time, you got to listen to the good ideas. That was at least me and my dad's relationship. And then later in our case, you know, having me leave the company because I wanted to. I wanted to go off like it was. When I look back now, I'm so grateful for that time because to your point, if I would have just left and gone off and done a bunch of other stuff, I would have lost all that time. And our relationship's closer than ever. So it's a special thing. I hope my kids at some point want to do something with us.
Jennifer Palmer
I hope so, too, because the two of you are such a dynamic duo. And how you're going to at least get one kid, you're going to have three kids. I guarantee I'm putting a lot of money on it. If you want to bet that you will at least have one child and probably two, who do you think they're.
Michael Bostick
Going to want to work with me?
Lauren Everts
Here's the way you do it. You make it a competition. You pit them against each other, and it's like a succession.
Jennifer Palmer
Michael Weinson.
Michael Bostick
Michael's taking notes on success. Succession. His ringtone, succession. Kids, wake up to that alarm clock. I'm like, cut it out.
Lauren Everts
I'll be like, ooh. Towns is looking a little bit more favorable today.
Melissa Palmer
Let's just say in the past couple years, I've definitely been winning with all the growth in the business. But I would say my journey with OSEA really has been in two chapters. My first chapter I'd call my adolescence.
Jennifer Palmer
I would second that.
Melissa Palmer
That was. It was really just my mom and I, my stepdad, we were in our garage. And this was really the first 15 years of OSEA. We. We spent the first 15 years as a really small business. We sold in a little bit of retail almost exclusively in these beautiful spas. So the plus was we got to fly around to, like, the Four Seasons Bora Bora and teach them how to do a facial.
Jennifer Palmer
Four Seasons Maldives.
Melissa Palmer
Loved that. But we were a small business. We grew healthily every year. And I was early 20s, like, had never had another job, except all of my teenage jobs that I had because we were a family that always worked.
Jennifer Palmer
She delivered newspapers.
Melissa Palmer
I did a bunch of hustles going. But I had a lot of frustration, similar to what you were saying of, like, mom, let's grow it this way. Let's do that. But I didn't know what I was talking about. Then I left for a couple of years.
Michael Bostick
Good though. That's good.
Melissa Palmer
It was hired one employee who's still with us to work in our garage and I helped some start and build a hula hoop dance and fitness company.
Michael Bostick
Cool.
Melissa Palmer
And it was, I like to describe it as going to business school. I grew it into, grew into do a couple million in sales, a place we still were, hadn't gotten to and learned at the perfect moment about D2C influencer, how to sell things online. And then I came back to the business 10 years ago and I had something very different to prove. And, and at that point that was really when our growth started to take off. And that's a whole separate chapter of our growth. But also on the personal side, I came back with a totally different understanding and I think our relationship really shifted at that point.
Michael Bostick
Sometimes you have to step outside of it and go work somewhere else and see different energies and different dynamics and power dynamics and then come back fresh with a whole new landscape.
Melissa Palmer
I attribute that shift entirely to where we are now.
Michael Bostick
Yeah, you mature.
Jennifer Palmer
And it was amazing because she came back and she was so stealth and so brilliant. First she said, you know, I'd like to do the redo the website. And I said please, because come on, what do I, I didn't know anything about websites. Well, not only did she redo the website, she taught herself coding. So she, she, she really dove in deep. And then all of a sudden we started selling on the website and she was so early on with Instagram and we would work with micro influencers, or rather she would work with micro influencers and I would cheer her on from the sidelines and then her next one was, you know, maybe I should work a little bit in wholesale. Went into wholesale, blew it up. Maybe I should help a little bit with production. Got into that every aspect of the business and then at one point she said, you know, I'd like to be the CEO. And my comment was, I thought you already were. So it was a really natural, organic, beautiful way.
Michael Bostick
When did the business explode numbers wise? When you came back in?
Melissa Palmer
Yes, definitely. So my first year back and I really love to share the story of our long and slow growth with entrepreneurs because I think there's this, this story that's really promoted of like fast overnight growth and it takes a long time to build something and you know, 29 years in, in I think our 19th year we had a million in sales and wow, that was, that was our first year.
Michael Bostick
It's. Well, you didn't have social media, though, like we did. You did have social media.
Jennifer Palmer
It would have been faster, but still.
Michael Bostick
That perseverance you put in the work to get there.
Jennifer Palmer
And we were always profitable. Like, people would say, is this a lifestyle brand? And I said, yes, it's my lifestyle brand.
Melissa Palmer
And people were always shocked we were profitable, but that's how we lived.
Lauren Everts
Like, funny enough, before this whole venture, raise exorbitant amounts of capital world, like, that's how you had to run a business.
Melissa Palmer
Absolutely.
Lauren Everts
And that's the world that I came from too. I remember when I started doing this and we, you know, started, I was like, well, you need to run a profitable. Because we see all sorts of companies that come through these doors. They're like. And it's always like, well, I need to raise capital so that one day I can get to this. I'm like, well, at what point do you, like, start making money?
Jennifer Palmer
Yeah, yeah.
Lauren Everts
I mean, like, a lot of. I think that's really critical for anyone thinking about a business. Like, the first thing you should think about is like, how do you actually generate a profit so that you're not beholden to just raising exorbitant amounts of capital over and over and over to.
Melissa Palmer
Build a healthy business?
Jennifer Palmer
Yeah. When someone started talking about burn rate, I was like, what does that mean? What does that mean? I couldn't even understand the concept.
Michael Bostick
So what do you attribute the infusion of social media to? The big bump?
Melissa Palmer
So I would say it was a combination of so many things. And in these 10 years, obviously, I've really pushed our growth. And I think it really started with building a website. We were 99% a wholesale business prior my mom and I took phone orders. So building a website was the first moment. And then using social, like, in the early days of Instagram, it gave us a level of access and visibility that we'd never had before. And I think so much of that initial growth was all about just getting to things a little bit faster, like affiliate marketing, influencer marketing. That was like, oh, let's collab. That's what we said in the days. And using pr. And from there, I started to really build up our online presence, and then we went into retail. So I also came back with a new appreciation for a lot of my mom's mentality of, like, let's grow slow and do what we're good at. So we started to create a lot of initial buzz the first few years, and then retailers started coming to us. And I actually said no for many years. And in 2020 we ended up. Well, 2020 was the year of all insanity. In the end of 2020, we ended up going into Ulta. And that was a big shift in our distribution and visibility because all of a sudden, we were available in thousands of stores across the country. But fundamentally, that growth was based on D2C.
Michael Bostick
That's really interesting to talk to you guys, because so many brands, like, they launch with a retail partner right away. And I. I have the same mentality as you is I wanted to be sort of the tortoise in the Tortoise and the Hare.
Jennifer Palmer
Oh, oh, oh. That is my motto. I've been saying that for years because I always say, look, we know who won the race between the tortoise and the hare.
Michael Bostick
Yes, we do.
Jennifer Palmer
And I was telling people 25 years ago, I am the tortoise, because I knew when I was sitting in our garage, it was a very nice garage. It was in Malibu, but it was still a garage. Right. I knew that I was building a global brand. I always knew. I created the logo, the design, the concept, because I knew osea had the legs to be a global brand. And that's. That's my big expression. My other favorite expression is it's a Buddhist, Zen thing is slowly, slowly catch a monkey.
Michael Bostick
I am, like, so aligned with everything you said. And when I launched the blog 14 years ago, I had this same mentality. I was starting a blog to build a brand, and that's how I've approached product. And I have to be honest with you, when I talk to people who come on with the product, it's very opposite of what you guys are saying. And it's been hard for me to relate because I want to be the three little pigs and build a house of brick. And people just want it up, they want it fast, they want it quick. And my thing with retail is, like, I wanted to put the brand out there, D2C, get the customer feedback, adjust slowly, make sure everything's right, make sure that they love it, and then I'll see what the right retailer is. We've had a product line for four years, and I still don't have, like, a retail partner. And I. When I hear this story, like, you're reflecting back to me on how I want to run my own brand.
Lauren Everts
It's funny, even when you talk about, like, in the seat that I sit in in this company now, as you can imagine, you have so many people saying, like, well, based on what you guys have learned doing this, like, what's. How do you do that fast? Like, what's the fast track? I was, that's the wrong question to start when you're creating anything. Right. Like, and you guys know this if you're thinking about like just like pick on influencer marketing. How many people did you guys work with 10 years ago that you still work with now that are even still around? You know what I mean? Like there's very few that actually have the staying power to last. And I think it's because of this like need it now, get it fast, get rich quick mentality that I think prohibits a lot of people from finding true success over, over their life.
Melissa Palmer
I know one person who we talked to 10 years ago who featured our body oil on their blog who's still around, which is you, Lauren.
Michael Bostick
Me.
Melissa Palmer
I've been a fan for a long.
Jennifer Palmer
Time and you knew.
Melissa Palmer
I think that approach of slow, slow build is so wise.
Michael Bostick
I mean listen, it works the other way too. I don't want to shit on the other way. I just know I'm committed to the vision and I know what I'm building and it might take me a little bit longer, but I want to do it really right or I won't enjoy the process.
Jennifer Palmer
Exactly. And for me it's all about following the vision. I mean to me, I truly believe that OSEA chose me and I'm here to follow the vision. And it's also, I think more pleasurable. It's more of a yin a approach.
Michael Bostick
Yeah.
Melissa Palmer
And I'm here to drive the revenue.
Jennifer Palmer
Amazing.
Michael Bostick
I get it, I get it.
Lauren Everts
But I, there's a, there's a combination. But I think like starting with the mentality that you're building a quality long term business or thing or venture is it's the foundation in order to make all the right decisions that then you can make later. Where if like your whole thing is like how do I go viral, how do I do it fast? You're going to make poor decisions.
Melissa Palmer
And it's all fundamentally informed by the most important thing we do, which is the quality of product. And to your point of taking all those years to really intimately know our consumer, we made our product our number one. And the product is really what drives all of our growth. Because our customers come back, they put our body oil on and they feel it, it's different. There's something different. And the product is where I think you take the time.
Jennifer Palmer
And I'll tell you what's different about the body oil. And first of all, there's been so many copycat body oils and launched in the market in the Last three to four, five years. If you'll notice, they're all kind of a golden color, et cetera. Well, we make the andaria algae body oil by using andaria algae, which is an aggressive invasive species of seaweed. We figured out how to cut it at the right angle. We soak it in big barrels of botanical oils for four to six months. We filter it out, we add essential oils. And what happens during that soaking process is that the polysaccharide walls of the algae or seaweed break down and infuse the oil with minerals, which gives it a texture unlike any other body oil. And I think that we've. I think that we really launched the body oil market. I mean, obviously there were body oils before, but that's. It's one of our signature products.
Michael Bostick
It's annoying, though, when people come on the podcast, the founders, and start talking about my products that I like at my house, because all of a sudden, they go missing. He does this. I've had this body oil, this algae body oil, for 10 years. I've used it through all my pregnancies. I don't mean to brag. I have a lot of things in pregnancy. I do not have stretch marks. Ask Michael. Absolutely.
Lauren Everts
This is kind of messed up. You've been having this for 10 years, and I.
Michael Bostick
You don't listen to me. You listen to other. I'll be like.
Lauren Everts
I'll be like, ah, listen, let me do everyone a favor here for the uneducated in the room, which is me, if I were to start using this body oil, what will it do for me?
Jennifer Palmer
Well, first of all, it's gonna make your body art look beautiful and help.
Michael Bostick
Maintain that crusty tattoo that's falling off. Put some body oil on a man.
Lauren Everts
And what else will I.
Michael Bostick
Your muscles look bigger.
Jennifer Palmer
Because listening, Michael, it might even improve your sex life. Who knows?
Lauren Everts
Oh, sold. Sold.
Michael Bostick
Careful, he's gonna rub it everywhere.
Melissa Palmer
Well, we hear that.
Michael Bostick
Okay.
Lauren Everts
Is it safe to run?
Michael Bostick
Okay.
Lauren Everts
But really, like, so when people are using this, what are they trying to accomplish?
Jennifer Palmer
It helps with. Obviously, it helps with hydration and moisturization of the skin.
Michael Bostick
So you don't have healthy skin.
Jennifer Palmer
It gives you a glow, which, you know, like, look, I'm 70. I have wrinkles. But when you use botanical oils on your skin, at least you glow along with your wrinkles. And it's also just going to create a great protection barrier on your skin as well. As Andaria has so many different applications. You know, it's been said. I mean, we're very limited as to what kind of claims we can make. But if you look at the data on andaria, it will help stimulate collagen. It's firming, it's tightening and improves the skin elasticity.
Michael Bostick
By the way, these products have been around him. I have your lotion, I have your oil. I have the face oil oil and you have not gotten your fingers into it. He not yet.
Melissa Palmer
The use upgrade is about to increase by about 3x.
Michael Bostick
This is the way that I use it personally. What I like to do is I like to dry brush for three minutes.
Jennifer Palmer
Yes.
Michael Bostick
I do this 100. I have to dry brush and stimulate the skin. Like I learned exactly how to dry brush to open the lymphatic system. And then I take a freezing cold shower for three minutes. And then I get out and I use your body oil on my body. And I'll use my body sculptor because I have the skinny confidential dry brush and body sculptor. I use it with the oil.
Jennifer Palmer
Perfect.
Michael Bostick
And that has helped me the oil and the body sculptor break up cellulite on the back of my legs. I know you guys can't say anything. I'm just saying I can say this because this is my own experience. I use the oil to really get in there and, and, and break up because I have cellulite on my legs after three kids. And that really helps. So that's my favorite way to use it. And then I also like your oil at night when I look like a wet ratio when I go to bed.
Lauren Everts
That's what it is.
Michael Bostick
That's right. It is a green oil. I don't know what it's called.
Jennifer Palmer
It's great. It's the andaria algae body oil.
Michael Bostick
But no, there's a face one that I use too, that comes with like.
Melissa Palmer
A hyaluronic C serum.
Michael Bostick
Okay, that's, that's our facial serum. Okay, so those are the two products that I've been ride or die for. Literally for 10 years. I've used those products.
Lauren Everts
Just wait till you see me get out of the shower tonight.
Michael Bostick
He's like glistening. It's like Gaston from Beauty and the Beast. I can't.
Jennifer Palmer
And you know, for crepey skin, for stretch marks, it's so fun. I was at a dance party last week and this woman came up to me and she pulled up her shirt, which I. Oh, that's interesting. And she said, look, I don't have stretch marks because of you. So she just had a baby.
Lauren Everts
And how did you discover this substance? Like, how did you, how did you know about this?
Jennifer Palmer
Well, I Knew about seaweed because when my. What the kind of the origin story of seaweed was, my grandmother was a chiropractor, and she was very much a type A personality and healer. And she had injured herself and was bedridden, and nothing was helping her. And she had a dream one night that the ocean and seaweed would heal her. And she was a tiny little woman, and she demanded that my grandfather carry her down the beach, down the street to the beach. It was Bayside, New York, and it was January, and no one argued with her by the way he put her in the water. She collected seaweed. She felt better within a few days of doing it. And actually it was extraordinary. Her hair, which had been going white, started to reverse course. And that's.
Michael Bostick
He's done sober.
Jennifer Palmer
We've never heard stories like that. I think it was the cold ocean water with the seaweed on top of it. But. But that's why they continue to swim every day of the year.
Melissa Palmer
So cold plunging before.
Michael Bostick
Was it the minerals in the sea mixed with the minerals with the seaweed?
Jennifer Palmer
I think absolutely. The cold mineral water, along with the additional seaweed. Cause at that time, there was seaweed on the beach.
Melissa Palmer
And the trace elements of the water.
Michael Bostick
Can I say something really random? Okay. So you know how the seaweed has those popper things that you pop? What are those? Is that seaweed?
Jennifer Palmer
Yes, that is seaweed.
Michael Bostick
That is how I assess. Inspire my skin to look.
Jennifer Palmer
Yes.
Michael Bostick
Which is so weird that. That this, the ingredient, makes your skin look like those poppers. Do you know what I'm talking about?
Melissa Palmer
I do. And that jelly substance, it's like a. That is the same sort of texture that you'll see in our serum. That's the serum that. That gel is what we use as a base even in the treatments of our facial. And it's the foundation of what we use for our products.
Michael Bostick
It makes to me so much sense. It's so full circle. That. And also, if you look at Japanese people, of course, their skin is so beautiful. And what do they eat? A lot of seaweed. There's a. There's a. There's a. A jelly on it. That. That's how I want my skin to look at all times, I think instead of, like everyone saying glass skin. No, I want seaweed skin.
Jennifer Palmer
Yeah, exactly.
Melissa Palmer
And that main ingredient we use, andaria algae. It's actually wakame. And Japan is like the largest consumer of it because they eat it every day.
Michael Bostick
Michael's the fourth Japanese.
Jennifer Palmer
Are you?
Melissa Palmer
No.
Lauren Everts
But you get irritated when I say it on the show. Because she says that in the audience. I say it too often.
Michael Bostick
No, but it's all.
Lauren Everts
I say it because my grandmother was a full Japanese woman and I like to play to pay homage to her. Once she brought a lot of that kind of stuff into the house. I remember being a kid and she was always. She had like a different diet than the rest of the house sometimes that she was, you know, always doing these different things. But she lived to like 95, 96. And she looked perfect.
Michael Bostick
Perfect, yeah.
Lauren Everts
For forever.
Jennifer Palmer
And it's the minerals in the seaweed. And seaweed is the richest source of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, trace elements. And dry skin or dehydrated skin lacks minerals. So when you begin to remineralize your skin, that's when the magic starts.
Michael Bostick
You guys need to make a hairspray. Like if, if, if there's so many benefits for the hair. We need a spray for the hair. And also I need something to replace his. God knows what it is that he sprays. He looks like. He looks like one of those cartoon characters when he sprays his hair and it spray. I stopped spraying so I can throw it away today. I just want to confirm.
Lauren Everts
I don't, I haven't.
Michael Bostick
I don't use a hairspray. I can throw away all the hairspray.
Lauren Everts
I don't use a hairspray. Go find one. Go find one.
Jennifer Palmer
Okay, great. I'm glad we worked that out.
Lauren Everts
Stay a little longer. We'll work some other things.
Michael Bostick
You talked about your list list with men when you were choosing one. One on my list is no hairspray. Okay, but you guys should make a hair.
Lauren Everts
Pull out my list that I have.
Melissa Palmer
It's like also, when you get out of the ocean, your hair just looks incredible.
Jennifer Palmer
Right?
Michael Bostick
Even like, because you said there's all those minerals from the seaweed that like helped your grandma's hair reverse the change.
Jennifer Palmer
Yeah.
Lauren Everts
I know this sounds like this is like a full tangent, but I am woo woo in some kind of ways where, like whenever I think about my diet or the way I should live, I always just think about like how our ancestors used to have to live. And if people don't realize that we come from the sea.
Jennifer Palmer
Right, of course. Yeah. We're composed of sea water, saline.
Lauren Everts
And if ever I'm in an area where I've had a few too many drinks and I wake up in the morning and there's a beach there, I move back into the ocean like a creature and I float around in there and I come out Reborn. Do you know what I mean? Anyone that's ever like, oh man, I don't feel good in the morning. If you go into that ocean water first thing in the morning, you will be fine the rest of the day.
Jennifer Palmer
100%. No one's ever gone to the beach and walked in the sand or swam in the water and said, oh, I feel worse. Everyone feels better.
Michael Bostick
What are some things that you're seeing that are on trend right now that drive you both nuts with the skincare industry?
Jennifer Palmer
Well, you know, I think a lot of people have just jumped on the so called clean bandwagon. And you know what? There is no real definition of clean beauty. It's people just kind of make it up. A lot of brands will just formulate according to retailers requirements as to what their definition of clean beauty is. I mean for us, we take this really seriously. We have for the last 29 years, we have, well, we call it the no no list, but honestly it's more like the no no, no, no no no list.
Michael Bostick
What's the no no no no list?
Melissa Palmer
It's our internal list.
Michael Bostick
I know, but like what's the things that people can look out for for in their own products?
Melissa Palmer
So to give you a sense of what it looks like at our company, it's we believe it's the longest one out there and if anyone's is longer than this, we'd love to talk to them because there's more we could learn. But we have a list of 30,000 plus ingredients that we have eliminated from all of our products.
Michael Bostick
You guys share that on your website.
Melissa Palmer
Honestly, I would love to make it.
Michael Bostick
If I could go on there and look at that. To me that for me that's the main selling point.
Melissa Palmer
We also have reasons like we've hired scientists, we have researchers of why we don't use them. Of course it includes everything banned in the eu, The Sephora Clean list, the Credo Clean list, the Japanese, every country. But there are so many other things and it is a living, breathing document. So that informs to the point on hair products. Everything just takes us a really long time because it's harder to make a product when you're very limited on the ingredients. But that is the core, core of who we are.
Michael Bostick
What are the top 10 things that you're like no way. Like get it out of your house.
Melissa Palmer
Well that actually is probably how I would answer my thing. I don't love right now in beauty, which is probably controversial to say, but I think that fragrance is highly on trend and it's Just all this synthetic fragrance and it's creating this expectation of fragrance that it's long lasting and we use it, essential oils and natural fragrance, which just doesn't have the same staying power, but it doesn't have all the endocrine disruptors and everything in there. And so fragrance, for me, synthetic fragrance is number one.
Jennifer Palmer
Absolutely. And it just permeates everything. There's just. We live in this over sensory load of synthetic fragrance. And you know, fragrance is key to human survival. And when you, when the nose is smelling all these synthetics beyond being endocrine disruptors, it's toxic. There's no other way to put it.
Michael Bostick
Well, I've even found that it can actually affect your unborn baby and more so if you're having a boy, you know, also.
Lauren Everts
What?
Jennifer Palmer
Well, yeah, like with penises. I mean, like, let's talk about penises. I mean the world, we don't need smaller penises in this world.
Michael Bostick
Do you think the smaller penises is coming from the fragrance?
Jennifer Palmer
Who knows? I mean, there's been some data to suggest that.
Lauren Everts
You know, it's funny, like what you asked. One of the ways that like it's changed, like we have gotten. We've eliminated pretty much every synthetic fragrance in our life.
Michael Bostick
There's a couple things though, and let me give you some examples. When you send your clothes to the dry cleaner.
Melissa Palmer
Yep.
Jennifer Palmer
Yeah, natural dry cleaner is better.
Michael Bostick
It's really hard to find here. If anyone knows of a natural dry cleaner in Austin, please DM me. I've had a really hard time. They say green, you know, dry cleaning. That doesn't mean, that doesn't mean natural.
Lauren Everts
Dry cleaning businesses are kind of a.
Michael Bostick
Good like so also, I'm gonna call you out. You got the cars washed today. I'd like to wash them with Branch Basics.
Lauren Everts
Okay, fine.
Michael Bostick
It smells like a Christmas tree.
Lauren Everts
Mostly like, you know, I find it personally offensive when people wear perfume and cologne around me.
Michael Bostick
Talk about your story.
Lauren Everts
Some people don't like it.
Michael Bostick
Yeah, you have a story.
Lauren Everts
What's my story about?
Michael Bostick
You have someone, you know, that wears an exorbitant amount of perfume around you.
Lauren Everts
Oh, no, I'm not gonna tell the story.
Michael Bostick
Okay, so there's a person that comes into our house to do something in our house that the perfume is like. It smells like one of those shops in the airport that you walk by that has all the tax duty free perfume.
Lauren Everts
But it's, it's absolutely absurd. It smells, it smells like they just went up and down an aisle and sprayed them with everything they could Find. But what it. What I don't think people realize. And I'm not. It's like, not a personal attack, but I think a lot of people. You get so desensitized to smell. You're masking so many things, and then you're ignoring your body's signals. So I've said for years, like, I don't wear deodorant. I haven't wear deodorant in 10 years.
Jennifer Palmer
We don't wear deodorant.
Lauren Everts
And what I feel like, well, what do you do about smells? I'm like, well, you don't smell. And if your body does smell, it's an indication. It's trying to tell you something that you need to fix.
Melissa Palmer
You can learn so much through the smells. Like, yeah, the smell. My. I mean, my smell changes. I know if I've had too much coffee, I have to shift things.
Jennifer Palmer
Yeah.
Lauren Everts
If I. If I eat poor or I. Or I drink things that I shouldn't be drinking, I'm gonna smell, but. But day to day. And I think what happens in life is we start to smell things that we don't like to smell. And so in order to. To get away from that, you mask with these synthetics. But then the issue just continues to grow and grow and grow without you noticing it.
Michael Bostick
Even. Michael and I were looking at houses the other day, and, like, you can smell cleaning supplies that they use in.
Melissa Palmer
The house, it gives you a headache immediately.
Jennifer Palmer
That's what I love about an N95 mask, is that I wear them into, like, I love to look at new homes for design ideas. And most of the time, I have an N95 in my purse. If I start to smell odors, I put it on.
Michael Bostick
The only problem with that is. Is that it touches your skin and it's pressing into your skin. I go, you want to go down a rabbit hole? Call me.
Jennifer Palmer
Okay, I'll go down a rabbit.
Michael Bostick
I don't know. Can we just, like, can we just ban cleaning supplies?
Melissa Palmer
I think so too. And. Or just ban scented cleaning supplies as a start. Because even if you make one switch in your daily life in a regular grocery store, you could just go buy Tide without fragrance, and you're in such better shape.
Michael Bostick
Well, here's also something interesting that if you take. If you start removing toxins and then you go into, like, a drugstore, you feel so overstimulated. Like, even we went to BUC EE's, and it's like, I love Bucky's, but it's so much stimulation with theirs. The candles that are like the. The cupcake scented, pumpkin spice, genki candles, candy aisle. And you're just like the light. It's like so much stimulation.
Lauren Everts
It is strange, though, when your body fully detoxes from that when you're not around a lot. Like, the other day I got in an Uber and they had whatever kind of plug in they had, and it. It was so bad. And I'm like, not trying to be a baby about this, but I got home and I felt like it was stuck inside my face. You talked about blowing my nose over and over to get it out and it wouldn't go out. And I was just thinking, like, what kind of product exists that has that much stickiness?
Michael Bostick
I made him sleep outside in my.
Lauren Everts
Do you know what I mean? Like, it cannot be good for the human body to be having that stuck like that.
Jennifer Palmer
And here's the. To me, everyone is missing the true point of scent, because the beauty of scent. When I formulate, because I was a healer before I started this, I did cranial work, I did shiatsu, I did acupressure. But my real passion was more cranial osteopathic healing touch. But the beauty of fragrance, true, like a pure natural scent or essential oils, is that you can track it in the body. And when I formulate, I do it to lift consciousness, because scent can actually elevate consciousness when it's formulated and done correctly. Scent triggers the hind brain, the most primitive part of the brain, so it can bring back memories. So scent can be a beautiful thing. And it's been fully adulterated. And I loathe synthetic fragrance.
Michael Bostick
I like your products because when I put them on, the smell is fresh. I can't explain it. It's not.
Lauren Everts
This doesn't bother me at all.
Michael Bostick
No, it's not aggressive. You know what I mean? Like, there's an aggressive scent when you're wearing something synthetic.
Jennifer Palmer
Yes. It's because this is lifting of your energy. And the other part of our products is that when I formulate, I had this crazy idea because so much of cranial touch is working with intention and observation. So I thought to myself, what if I focus formulated with intention to lift consciousness, would people notice? It was kind of just my own little game I played with myself.
Michael Bostick
I notice.
Jennifer Palmer
I know people notice.
Michael Bostick
I do notice that they behold the.
Jennifer Palmer
Bottle and they notice.
Michael Bostick
Well, also, like the weight of the bottle, the way it feels. It's very grounding.
Melissa Palmer
I've taken so much of that same philosophy of raising consciousness, elevating consciousness into the way that we run the Business. And so much of it is through the products, through scent and elevation of your mood. But where I approach it with the consumer is through kindness in every interaction we have with the consumer. And what's so what. I'm so proud of, taking this wisdom from my mom, that I've been able to build this business to do over 100 million a year in revenue while staying completely focused on our mission of building kindness and raising consciousness from every place that we interact.
Michael Bostick
I bet the customers that you attract have the same vibration and frequency.
Melissa Palmer
Totally. And one of the things my mom also does is meditates on the brand. And she gets me. We meditate on the products and visualize.
Michael Bostick
You and I are like, we have to hang out.
Jennifer Palmer
I've already decided that. I mean, just get that hairspray out of the house and I'll come over.
Michael Bostick
The car wash and the dry cleaner I'm working on.
Lauren Everts
What if we actually need to practice a little bit less kindness and just tell people they smell terrible and we need to get rid of whatever they're wearing?
Melissa Palmer
Well, that's probably the way that we could be kind. Yeah, I can see that being very clear.
Lauren Everts
This is going to hurt at first when I tell you that you smell.
Jennifer Palmer
I am poisoning yourself.
Lauren Everts
But at the end of it, your penis will grow.
Jennifer Palmer
Yes.
Melissa Palmer
Or the next generations of your family.
Michael Bostick
If you want a bigger penis, stop with the fragrance. That's synthetic, you know.
Melissa Palmer
Thanks for saying it.
Michael Bostick
Yeah.
Melissa Palmer
Someone needed pull that clip.
Michael Bostick
Put it everywhere.
Lauren Everts
That's going to be the clip. It's going to. It's going to going to be you two and it's going to be me leading. I'm just kidding.
Michael Bostick
Carson, have you decided to throw away your cologne yet? Carson doesn't wear clone, though. I don't find anything when you're pregnant. Look the out. I can smell it from a mile away. Anything that smells. I'm like a bloodhound dog. I'm like, what is that? I am one of those people that maybe is a little passive aggressive. I'll open the door and like, go like this.
Melissa Palmer
Oh, I get into that scented Uber, open every single window and stick my head outside.
Jennifer Palmer
Now you want to hear my favorite hack on international flights, when they start rolling out the cart and trying to sell the duty free perfume, I stand up and I announce I have asthma. And then I start coughing.
Michael Bostick
Oh, my God, I'm so inspired. I'm pinning that to my Pinterest and.
Jennifer Palmer
I'm like, I don't want to have an attack. And everyone just freezes. And that's it. No. Nobody sprays perfume.
Michael Bostick
I. I love that hack. Whatever works. I think that if, if you are.
Jennifer Palmer
I don't have asthma, by the way.
Michael Bostick
That's okay. Yeah, I love a fake asthma attack.
Jennifer Palmer
Yeah.
Lauren Everts
But, you know, like, I'll turn my.
Michael Bostick
Jasper air purifier up all the way if it's in my house.
Melissa Palmer
Yeah.
Lauren Everts
You know what's crazy, though? Like, I was just as you were. Like, remember they used to do it in the magazines where you'd open a magazine?
Michael Bostick
Yeah, they still do.
Lauren Everts
I opened one the other day and they had that and it like, almost. Almost took me out.
Melissa Palmer
I remember being younger and getting in trouble for having one of those in the house. Or like, not really in trouble, but. But like a scented candle.
Jennifer Palmer
Those. Oh, I just threw it out.
Melissa Palmer
Had to be removed immediately.
Michael Bostick
I would like to know, just maybe like, just Michael and I, as entrepreneurs, what your grand plan is? Do you guys plan on selling and if you do plan on selling, how do you hope to maintain the integrity of the business?
Lauren Everts
Or is this a family business forever?
Melissa Palmer
Well, I love that you asked those questions together because the first answer is, what's most important is maintaining the integrity of the business and the product. And we, you know, we are at the top of clean beauty and the pioneers of clean beauty. And it's having such a moment. And in 30 years ago, when clean beauty wasn't a thing, that's where we were. And in 30 years, I hope clean beauty is still trendy, but if it's not, that's just where we're staying. So that is fundamentally the most important part of our future. We get lots of inquiries, we talk to everyone. And if there was a partner that believed in that with us and could help us take our vision to the next level, might be interesting. But right now our primary focus is continuing to build the brand and to build awareness of clean beauty and these products. And the. Our products are sold right now almost entirely in America. So we have a whole world ahead of us. We just launched in Australia, Australia and New Zealand with incredible results. We're having fun.
Michael Bostick
I think we talked off air about how everything's happening for you and for me. And I think you guys are the same. If the sale makes so much sense and it's the right, it's the right frequency and it's, it's. It's something where you guys can come in and still have your hand on the business and the pulse on the product and the ingredients, then it'll be right.
Melissa Palmer
Exactly.
Michael Bostick
And if it's not. It's not. I think, like, sometimes the vision is just to go where it's supposed to go, and maybe you sell and maybe you don't.
Jennifer Palmer
And that's just what I said in the beginning, that we are following the vision. OSEA chose us, and we are following the vision. And actually, OSEA means ocean, sun, earth, atmosphere. It's the elements of life.
Michael Bostick
I love that. I very much align to a lot of what you're saying, and it's refreshing for me to have founders on the show where I can relate to them, because so often I hear, sell scale, aggressive, fast, go, go, go, go. It's like, that's not the. That's not what I want to build. And so I've had trouble relating to a lot of entrepreneurs when they're like, you need to know what you want to do in 10 years. It's like, I have to. I have to. I tell Michael. I have to wrap my head around things before I just move quick.
Lauren Everts
Well, like, the. The. For me, the real unlock in anything in life that you're doing as a business venture is when you realize that, like, the process in the journey is actually so much more fulfilling than the end. Right.
Jennifer Palmer
And the destination.
Lauren Everts
Yeah, it's like, they, like. I talk to so many people, and it's like, they're like, I want to sell this. I want to get this big pot, whatever it may be. And it's like, and then what? Right? Like, you work, like, you work your whole life to build this skill set and follow this passion and this mission. And then it's like, if the end is just so that you just have this big financial outcome, it's like, and then what? I think people don't ask them, like, what? I tell Lauren. One of the things I do in life and every. In every area of life, anytime I'm making a decision or thinking about something, I say, and then what? And if I don't have a good answer to that, I typically say it's a pass. And it could be anything. Like, if I give my kids pancakes with a bunch of syrup in the morning and that they're going to go nuts. So I just. I walk through. That's a bad example. But I just. I just think it's an interesting exercise because people typically, like, they focus on this one, one end goal, and they don't ask themselves, and then what? And this can be with dating. It can be with your business. It could be who you have, get married to your kids, anything. But people just, you know, they just Think that the destination is this. This glorious place. But you forget, like, anytime I look back, it's been the doing in the process that I have the most joy in.
Jennifer Palmer
It's. It's the journey, not the destination. And the journey is the present. And that's all that actually exists, is this moment. And the more that we can be present in the present, the richer and deeper life is. And then it makes the journey even more exciting and dynamic.
Melissa Palmer
And getting to grow a business with my mom that's so unwaveringly committed to our beliefs. Our team is. We have an incredible team of nearly 100 women who run the business, and we have gotten to just, like, it's such a journey of discovery. I feel like not only have I literally grown up with this business, but it's been such a path of evolution, a spiritual growth, everything. Of being someone different today for this business and for this mission than I was one year ago. Because it's just a new world, because it's so much bigger. And it's, I think, just as a family, to get to carry on the wisdom of all of the generations of women in my family. It feels like such a gift.
Michael Bostick
And we need a seaweed mist for the hair.
Jennifer Palmer
I agree.
Melissa Palmer
I'm gonna be honest. I have been saying this, so I'm really happy.
Michael Bostick
Yeah, we need it. I'm putting it out there in the ether. Let's do it.
Lauren Everts
You told me you were gonna reverse my graying hair.
Jennifer Palmer
No, but I did not say that. Come on.
Melissa Palmer
Here.
Michael Bostick
You can use it everywhere.
Lauren Everts
Okay.
Michael Bostick
If you get my drift. You can use it on all your grays.
Lauren Everts
I'm not there yet.
Michael Bostick
Let's do a deep breath with our vagus nerve oil.
Jennifer Palmer
Okay.
Lauren Everts
Before we go, thank you guys for coming on.
Jennifer Palmer
So much fun.
Lauren Everts
Right before we were going to get into tariffs, we ran out of time.
Melissa Palmer
Let's go.
Michael Bostick
That's on the next episode. Do you guys want to do a giveaway for a bunch of, like, maybe my favorite products?
Melissa Palmer
100 audience.
Michael Bostick
Okay, so all you guys have to do is follow Siamalibou on Instagram and tell us your favorite part of this episode. On my latest post, Auren Bostic. Thank you guys for coming on the show.
Melissa Palmer
Now will Instagram ban the word penis?
Lauren Everts
They've changed the things over there. They're letting everything fly. It's a new day on social media.
Melissa Palmer
This is a fun of working with everyone who says the craziest stuff.
Michael Bostick
Thank you for coming on the show.
Melissa Palmer
Thank you so much for having us. This was so fun.
Michael Bostick
Osea is giving you guys 15 off. Go get the body oil. That is the one. I'm telling you. That is what I use on my stomach. And I do not have stretch marks. I have loved this brand forever. Go to ocamalibu.com code skinny, you get 15 off. That's ocmalibu.com code skinny for 15 off.
The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast: The Truth About Clean Beauty & Skincare Ingredients Ft. OSEA Founders - Jenefer & Melissa Palmer
Release Date: May 9, 2025
In this engaging episode of The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast, hosts Lauryn Bosstick and Michael Bosstick sit down with Jennifer and Melissa Palmer, the visionary mother-daughter duo behind the renowned wellness brand OSEA. Spanning almost an hour of insightful conversation, the episode delves deep into the philosophy of clean beauty, the evolution of OSEA, and personal wellness practices that have shaped their journey.
Vagus Nerve Activation and Stress Relief ([02:05] - [05:00])
The episode kicks off with a unique wellness exercise led by Jennifer Palmer, where they engage in a vagus nerve activation using OSEA's essential oils. Jennifer explains, "The vagus nerve helps reset and calm the parasympathetic nervous system in case any of us are stressed” (02:10). This practice not only sets a tranquil tone for the conversation but also underscores the brand's commitment to holistic health.
Childhood Wellness Anecdotes ([05:15] - [07:00])
Melissa Palmer reminisces about growing up in a wellness-centric household, sharing rituals such as bedtime mantras, visualization, and meditations. She recalls, "My favorite thing my mom would do is talk to every part of my body. We'd say goodnight to my toes, to my ankles and move through the whole body” (05:15). These practices highlight the foundational role of wellness in the Palmer family.
Origins and Vision ([08:44] - [16:24])
Jennifer Palmer provides a comprehensive backdrop of OSEA's inception. Born into a family with a rich history in chiropractic and holistic health, Jennifer was inspired by her grandmother's dedication to wellness. She shares, "I saw the vision. I knew where we were going. I've always been lucky. I see things much farther down the road than most people" (07:12). This foresight led to the creation of OSEA in 1996, pioneering the green beauty movement long before "clean beauty" became a buzzword.
Evolution and Growth ([19:34] - [26:06])
Melissa Palmer outlines her journey within OSEA, emphasizing a two-chapter growth story. Initially handling a small, boutique business focused on high-quality spa products, Melissa later stepped out to gain broader business experience. Upon her return, she spearheaded digital transformation and social media strategies, resulting in significant brand expansion. She notes, "I came back with a totally different understanding and our growth started to take off" (19:34).
Defining Clean Beauty ([07:12] - [10:27])
Jennifer Palmer clarifies the evolution from "Green Beauty" to "Clean Beauty," emphasizing OSEA's commitment to purity and sustainability. She states, "We used seaweed and pure essential oils, avoiding synthetic fragrances and plastic packaging from the start" (07:12). This dedication positioned OSEA as a trailblazer in an industry now saturated with varying definitions of clean beauty.
The "No No No No List" ([40:15] - [41:19])
Melissa Palmer introduces OSEA's stringent internal guidelines, known as the "No No No No List," which excludes over 30,000 harmful ingredients. She explains, "We have hired scientists and researchers to continuously update our list, ensuring our products remain free from toxic substances" (40:15). This exhaustive approach guarantees unparalleled product safety and efficacy.
Industry Trends and Critiques ([40:05] - [42:23])
The discussion turns critical as Jennifer and Melissa address current trends in the skincare industry. They express concern over the diluted meaning of "clean beauty" and the rampant use of synthetic fragrances. Jennifer passionately states, "Fragrance is key to human survival, but synthetic fragrances are endocrine disruptors and toxic" (40:47). This segment underscores their unwavering stance against compromising product integrity for market trends.
Andaria Algae Body Oil ([31:21] - [38:28])
A significant portion of the conversation centers around OSEA's flagship product—the Andaria Algae Body Oil. Jennifer details its unique formulation: "We use andaria algae soaked in botanical oils for months, infusing it with minerals that provide a distinct texture and efficacy" (31:21). This meticulous process differentiates OSEA's body oil from competitors, offering superior hydration and skin elasticity benefits.
Personal Experiences with Products ([33:26] - [37:40])
Michael Bosstick shares his personal regimen using OSEA products, highlighting their effectiveness in maintaining smooth skin and reducing cellulite. He humorously mentions, "I have to dry brush and use the body oil to break up cellulite on my legs. This has helped me have no stretch marks" (33:26). These testimonials reinforce the products' real-world benefits and their integral role in users' wellness routines.
Digital Transformation and Growth ([16:24] - [26:06])
Melissa attributes OSEA's exponential growth to embracing social media and direct-to-consumer (D2C) marketing. She recounts, "Building a website and leveraging early Instagram influencer marketing accelerated our visibility and sales" (16:24). This strategic pivot allowed OSEA to transition from a niche spa product to a globally recognized brand.
Balancing Tradition and Modernity ([26:06] - [32:30])
While embracing digital strategies, OSEA remains committed to its foundational values. Jennifer emphasizes the importance of maintaining product quality and brand integrity amidst rapid growth. Melissa echoes this sentiment, noting, "Our growth is based on D2C strategies, but we never compromise on the quality of our ingredients or our mission" (26:06).
Slow Growth vs. Fast Scaling ([16:24] - [30:18])
The Palmers advocate for a slow and steady approach to business growth, likening their strategy to the tortoise in the classic fable. Jennifer remarks, "We are the tortoise because we knew we were building a global brand from the beginning" (16:24). Melissa adds, "Our focus on product quality and understanding our consumer has driven sustainable growth over decades" (30:18).
Profitability and Sustainable Practices ([23:35] - [24:31])
Contrasting with prevalent entrepreneurial trends of raising capital, OSEA prioritizes profitability. Jennifer shares, "We spent the money on ingredients, not packaging. Our profitability was always sustained because we focused on what truly matters" (23:35). This financial prudence ensures long-term sustainability without external dependencies.
Maintaining Brand Integrity ([52:03] - [54:10])
When questioned about potential business expansions or sales, Melissa asserts, "Maintaining the integrity of the business and our clean beauty mission is paramount. We're open to partnerships that align with our vision, but our primary focus remains on building the brand" (52:03). Jennifer reiterates the brand's commitment, stating, "OSEA chose us, and we are here to follow that vision" (54:10).
Global Expansion and Market Presence ([53:25] - [54:10])
OSEA has recently expanded into international markets like Australia and New Zealand, witnessing remarkable success. Melissa notes, "We just launched in Australia and New Zealand with incredible results. We're excited about the global opportunities ahead" (53:25). This expansion signifies OSEA's readiness to influence the global clean beauty landscape further.
Journey Over Destination ([54:56] - [56:19])
The episode closes with reflections on the importance of the entrepreneurial journey over the end goal. Lauryn emphasizes, "The process and journey are more fulfilling than the end result" (54:56). Jennifer concurs, "The journey is the present, and being present enriches life" (56:19). This philosophy not only drives OSEA's business decisions but also fosters a deeply fulfilling personal and professional life for the Palmers.
Final Remarks and Giveaway ([57:00] - [58:21])
As the conversation winds down, the hosts and guests share light-hearted banter about product usage and potential future offerings. Melissa announces a giveaway, encouraging listeners to engage with OSEA on Instagram for a chance to win products. The episode wraps up on a positive note, celebrating the symbiotic relationship between the hosts and the Palmer family.
Jennifer Palmer (07:12): "We used seaweed and pure essential oils, avoiding synthetic fragrances and plastic packaging from the start."
Melissa Palmer (40:15): "We have hired scientists and researchers to continuously update our list, ensuring our products remain free from toxic substances."
Lauryn Bosstick (54:56): "The process and journey are more fulfilling than the end result."
Michael Bosstick (33:26): "I have to dry brush and use the body oil to break up cellulite on my legs. This has helped me have no stretch marks."
Commitment to Clean Beauty: OSEA has been a pioneer in clean beauty, maintaining strict ingredient standards long before the term became mainstream.
Holistic Wellness Integration: The Palmer family's approach intertwines personal wellness practices with their business philosophy, fostering authenticity and integrity.
Sustainable Growth Strategy: Emphasizing slow and steady growth, OSEA prioritizes product quality and customer trust over rapid scaling and external funding.
Influence of Social Media: Strategic use of digital platforms has been instrumental in OSEA's expansion, allowing for direct consumer engagement and brand building.
Importance of Journey: Embracing the entrepreneurial journey over the final destination leads to more meaningful and sustainable business practices.
This episode of The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast offers a deep dive into the ethos of OSEA and the Palmers' dedication to clean beauty and sustainable business practices. Through personal stories, business insights, and a steadfast commitment to their mission, Jennifer and Melissa Palmer provide invaluable lessons for entrepreneurs and wellness enthusiasts alike.