Kelly Casey of Natural Science Beauty: Top 10 Tips On How To Balance Running A New Business, Planning Your Own Wedding, & Prioritizing Self-Care
Today on the blog, we asked Kelly Casey, founder and creator of organic and wildcrafted skincare line, Natural Science Beauty to share her tips for infusing green beauty into a busy season of life and making self-care a forever staple in our day-to-day. We first started carrying Natural Science Beauty right around the same time that Kelly got engaged to her (now) husband Gordon and were curious to know how Kelly balanced planning their wedding, running a budding business, and maintaining self-care in her life. Below, Kelly shares her top 10 tips for doing just that.
When Jami and I met in January of this year, I was at my first ever Pop-Up event for Natural Science Beauty and newly engaged to Gordon. I was busy, overjoyed, and overwhelmed all at the same time, but mostly just excited for all that was to come. I had decided to plan my own wedding (as opposed to having any sort of wedding planner) and continue to work on building Natural Science Beauty. Although that may seem like an oddly specific combination of things to share tips on, the ideas below are applicable to a vast amount of life scenarios. My wedding was in August and looking back, I can most certainly tell you that I’m happy I didn’t take it all too seriously, and more specifically, take myself too seriously. Weddings (and life) are supposed to be fun and starting a business is supposed to be exhilarating and challenging (all you entrepreneurs out there know what I’m talking about!!), so I didn’t want to resist that it was a big life moment — I wanted to stay present in it and drink it all up. I surrendered to the fact that it was a lot to take on and just had fun with it, even though there was SO much to do, AT ALL TIMES. For about 6 months, I decided to take small steps forward every day and trust that I was being guided by something greater than myself! I definitely didn’t have everything “figured out” but the tips below are a good reminder that you don’t really need to.
1. Challenge Yourself To Feel Joy When You Feel Overwhelmed
There are so many stressful moments when you are taking on big opportunities, going for your dreams, working on something you’re passionate about, etc. So even when things are chaotic, stretching your joy muscle is huge! Life is too precious to take anything so seriously that it wrecks your attitude for hours or even days (I know this from personal experience, for sure)! When something hard comes my way these days, I have a number of tools that center me. Some of my favorites include: Lighting some sage/palo santo, burning some beeswax candles, buying myself a few stems of flowers at the market, diffusing some essential oils, putting on a face mask, eating coconut sugar-sweetened sugar, spritzing lavender water on my face, or taking a long steamy shower. I usually pick 1-2 things a day that make me feel super chill so that I feel emotionally fulfilled at the end of each day and ready to show up in the world, for whatever it throws my way next!
If you find yourself really at the end of the ropes, feeling like you just can’t deal, it’s probably a divine sign and time for you to:
2. Invite in All the Support You Can Get and Don’t Shy Away from Tasking Things Out To Those Who Offer To Help
Sometimes you need to hire on “the professionals” — the wedding planner, the hair & makeup artist, the florist… or in non-wedding terms: the nanny, the gardener, the assistant etc. Whatever it may be, do it, if you can financially do so! Time and stress-wise, it is always good to export tasks that you are feeling blocked on. If you can’t because of financial reasons or otherwise, you are in luck because you will get to experience the beautiful miracle that is connecting with your loved ones and witnessing your community in action. Having the help of Gordon and I’s community was what made our wedding the sacred moment it was! We absolutely could not have done it without them and it was so freaking magical to see all of it come together because of everyone’s hard work. I am typically someone who likes to try to take everything on and forgets to ask for help or take it when it's offered, so this wedding opened my eyes to the fact that it is such an honor and positive thing to accept help! Welcoming it instead of pushing it away opens up room for bonding over the experiences shared and creates opportunities to shower love on those who are there for you in any capacity you can!
3. Remember What It Is All About & Embrace The Craziness
My small business is devoted to my customers and putting meaningful, high-quality products into the world. Our wedding was all about gathering and pouring love out onto our community. Centering myself in that truth makes the difficult times or frustrations feel way less intense. The bigger mission, the WHY in life is so good to focus on.
I’d also like to add that face masks are the answer to most dilemmas.
Life is fleeting. Pamper yourself! Buy yourself flowers. Diffuse essential oils in your space. Put a face mask on and kick back to watch a movie. Delight in life’s simple pleasures, know that everything will get done eventually, and that the crazy times are an inevitable part of it all!
5. Create Nutrition-Packed & Simple Meals
If you want your glowiest glow in life (trust me, you do), a big part of it is nutrition! My favorite flexible, customizable food theory to follow is by Kelly Leveque! I love her concept of eating protein, fiber, greens, and a fat at each meal. I think it is a super approachable way to keep my mood up and my skin happy. If you’re feeling totally lost as to what you should be eating, having a Naturopath on your team is a total game changer and highly recommended to get clear on what your body thrives off of! We are all different, but eating the earth’s whole foods is nourishing to everyone!
6. Make Movement & Exercise A Huge Priority
The more our physical bodies flow, the more our minds are centered + productivity can flow. It’s all about variety too— some days can be focused on stretching and breathing, while other days can be focused on dancing wildly in your room, getting some HIIT in, or a walk/run outside. Personally, weight lifting has been one of the biggest transformative pieces in my life these last few years. Whatever type of movement suits you, do it and and do it often! When we have a lot going on, our inclination can be to throw everything “nonessential” out the door and devote our time to worrying, fixating, and focusing on our to-do’s. This is really just a sign that you need to get yourself moving! Stagnant energy is no good and exercise of any sort unlocks so much good in our lives!
7. Take Early Mornings and Late Evenings for Yourself
Quiet morning energy offers us a great time to devote to drinking lemon water and tea - grounding ourselves in a new day. It can be a great time to burn Palo Santo and meditate. It can be an awesome time for a morning run or some morning yoga. Morning time is great to devote to nurturing and nourishing your senses in any way you can before the rest of the world comes alive. Use it and enjoy it however you like!
Late evenings are a great time to wash the day away and pamper yourself for getting through it all. I love taking a bath and using Field Trip Body Scrub to keep my skin dewy and soft. After I get out the shower I do a full-body moisture treatment with Home Base Body Balm. Nurturing myself in that way a few times a week before I go to bed relaxes me and makes me feel complete for the day --ready to dream as opposed to staying up overthinking. I also love a nighttime beverage too — of the non-alcoholic variety :) Something like a chamomile tea, an aloe vera shot, or turmeric elixir with almond milk.
8. Transform Your To-Do List Into An Actionable Calendar
I remember my fiancé gently encouraging me to make a 6-month plan for my business before the craziness of wedding planning took over and I’m so glad he did because it was such insightful advice! In busy seasons, there will be so many things coming at you, grabbing your attention, and pulling you in different directions, so having your calendar to catch them all and put them in one place makes a huge difference! Writing it down helps us to get clear on what we're spending time on and inviting into our lives -- and where there is extra time for fun — and to me it’s all about accomplishing all the things and finding time for all the fun!
Speaking of which…
9. Find Days Where You do Something Totally Out Of The Box That Has Nothing To Do With Your Usual Routine
There is something SO magical about totally switching up your routine and doing something unexpected. Shaking things up reinvigorates your senses. Try a green beauty DIY at home, go to a rock climbing gym, have a picnic in the park… anything that you don’t usually make time to do but are drawn to — do it and don’t think about your everyday obligations for even a second!
10. Be Very Present Always
This one is fun because it makes life so much more simple: To be very present in whatever we're doing, with whomever we are with!! Make the most of your moment — extract it for all of its worth and you’ll find yourself being guided by your intuition, to be where you need to be, when you need to be. Divine timing as I like to call it.
Thinking about the past, “future tripping”, comparing your situation with other people’s situation, and overdoing multitasking are all best to avoid, sweet one!
And this part is for all my perfectionists out there (very much so, me): once you've made a decision, don't look back! Be happy you got through the task and move on! It’s so easy to look at other options and compare, but if you’re tapping into your intuition to make decisions, there’s no reason to doubt!
There you have it!! I hope these tips nourish you and bring you insight into infusing even more self-care into your life! This Saturday, October 27th, I would love for you to join me and the Echo Natural Beauty Ladies for an open house style Meet The Maker with Me and lots of sampling of Natural Science Beauty Products!
*All photos by Kelsey and Talon of Feather and Twine, based out of Austin, Texas.