Welcome to Parentpreneurs: How do they do it?

By: Jen Wainwright

Entrepreneur: the owner or manager of a business enterprise who, by risk and initiative, attempts to make profit.

Parentpreneur: See above, and also juggles the day-to-day demands of parenting, provides income for one’s family and attempts to live out one’s dreams.

Welcome to Parentpreneurs: How do they do it?

 Her doctors told her not to use Proactive while she was pregnant – they said it was unsafe for her unborn baby.

While looking for alternative acne treatments, researching and learning…the questions became louder and louder in her mind.

“Why am I using something that could hurt a baby? Why do I use any product that can do damage?”

Fast-forward five years, and meet Trista Gilbert, parent of two daughters, Shyler, 5, and Mckinley, 2, and owner of Bare Basics by Trista. Committed to providing high-quality, natural products for skin and overall well-being, Gilbert says proudly, “You can eat everything I make. It might not taste very good, but it won’t hurt you.”

From Skeptical To “my biggest fan”

Starting a business wasn’t initially on Trista’s radar. The first product she created, “Rosemary Tea Tree Eucalyptus Soap” was simply for herself, in lieu of Proactive. Then she made a lotion or two, made a few gift baskets for holidays or birthdays…

Trista told her friends and family about her discoveries of toxic products and the natural alternatives she was finding, and suddenly friends and family members — and friends of friends and family members — began contacting her.

“It went from ‘Can I get more of that soap?’ to ‘I’ve got this rash…’ or ‘Do you have anything for headaches?’”, says Gilbert.

While interest in her natural products continued to grow, so did her knowledge of plant-based products – and so did her family. Upon discovering she was pregnant for a second time, Trista knew two things: One, a health condition she suffered from would guarantee lengthy bed rest and she wouldn’t be able to work; Two, a feeling was growing stronger within her that full-time work and full-time daycare for two children wasn’t the path for her and her family.

“It was a lot of sleepless nights, thinking about what I really wanted to do in life and how I wanted to raise my children,” Gilbert says. She talked with her husband Luke Gilbert about starting a business, officially selling the products she made.

“He was hesitant,” says Gilbert. “It’s a scary leap of faith at first. A change in income. But he saw that it could possibly give me an opportunity to stay at home with our kids, and what we could save on daycare…”

Gilbert says Luke was also “skeptical” and “not necessarily trusting of the products”, says Gilbert. But with an erratic work schedule and long, 12-hour-plus shifts, Luke often took Tylenol for headaches and regularly depended on a sleeping pill. Gilbert put her knowledge and products to work on her husband.

“Before he goes to bed, he puts lavender oil on his temples and the bottom of his feet,” Gilbert says. “He hasn’t taken a sleeping pill in years. For his headaches, I make a peppermint oil roll-on pen… Oh yeah. He knows the products work, and he supports my passion for them. He’s pretty much my biggest fan.”

 “It makes me feel good…”

Gilbert officially founded Bare Basics by Trista on Facebook in 2011. She offers pure, all natural products made with essential oils that have no fillers, chemicals, artificial preservatives or synthetic ingredients — soaps, exfoliators, face and body oils, lip balm, lotions and creams, ailment oils, bug spray and her newest product – chemical-free sunblock – will be available soon.

The first soap she ever made, Rosemary Tea Tree Oil Eucalyptus Soap, is still one of her top-selling products along with Sweet Orange Lavender Whipped Body Butter, Peppermint Eucalyptus Lip Balm and her Antiviral Oil during winter and sick-season.

Trista says having the courage to begin Bare Basics by Trista has, indeed, allowed her to work part-time and be a stay-at-home parent to her daughters. It’s also given her an outlet to reach out and truly connect with people, whether offering free foot soaks or facials to a local food pantry or charity event or assisting her customers directly.

“I have clients with fibromyalgia, eczema, migraines, acne…,” Trista says, “and customers that just don’t know how dangerous the products they use actually are. It makes me feel good to be helping people, and showing them that there is a better way to treat their skin, and themselves.”

Just The Facts: How Does She Do It?

• Bare Basics by Trista is a part-time job for Trista, and a secondary income to her husband’s full-time income. She plans to kick-start the business into full gear when both of her children are in school full-time and she’s completed her degree. (Yes, she’s a Parentpreneur and a part-time student at SVSU!)
• Trista relies on her Facebook business page as her website. Clients can message or call her, and she delivers or mails products. Her website, www.barebasicsbytrista.com, is currently under construction.
• Trista can keep prices low by purchasing pure, essential oils in bulk and at wholesale prices. She prefers Crafters Choice, and also incorporates Young Living and doTerra oils.
• She creates products at night, while her children sleep. Her work schedule is based on product need, and revs up when she is preparing for a show. She tries to schedule home/craft shows around her husband’s work schedule, occasionally her mother-in-law babysits and she has a babysitter on-hand if absolutely needed.
• Trista depends on word of mouth to promote her products, as well as home shows, craft and trade shows, and DIY shows she hosts to teach customers how to make plant-based cleaning products, laundry soap and a natural antibacterial spray.

To Aspiring Parentpreneurs:

Trista refers to herself as “pleasantly busy”, and says her decision to make Bare Basics by Trista her livelihood has been successful, all around.

“It’s hard, especially in the beginning,” says Trista, “and you have to put your heart and soul and dedication into your product and your business. But life is short. You have to ask yourself if you’re happy where you’re at. Running my own business, working from home while being with my children…I can comfortably go to bed at night knowing how I spent my day. I’m happy where I’m at.”

Are you a Parentpreneur in our Great Lakes Bay Region, or do you know someone who is? Reach out! Contact us at www.greatlakesbaymoms.com, and we can get in touch.

Jen is a freelance writer, parent to three, and she’s been a stepparent for over 15 years. She is well-equipped to discuss and write about the great, and the not-so-great, details of all-things-parenting. Along with spending quality time with her family, Jen enjoys music, chocolate, camping and relaxing. And laughing!