Latest / Beyond Fulfillment Podcast / Redefining Cosmetics: Creating Waterless Hygiene Solutions for Neurodiversity w/ Nathalye Balistrire

Transcript

Redefining Cosmetics: Creating Waterless Hygiene Solutions for Neurodiversity w/ Nathalye Balistrire · Beyond Fulfillment Podcast

• 0:04
  I see there are people with disability.
• 0:06
  I see there are people there with a lot of potential in a society that is not ready to living in the level that they are prepared for.
• 0:16
  What happens when a therapist sees a problem no one else is willing to solve and decides to build the solution herself?
• 0:24
  In today's episode, I sit down with Natalie Balustray, a licensed professional counselor, entrepreneur and mental health innovator who immigrated to the United States from Venezuela.
• 0:37
  With no English, no connections, and an unshakable drive to build a better life, Natalie will share how her work with neurodivergent clients inspired her to create an entirely new product category, Mental health cosmetics, designed to restore dignity for
• 0:56
  those that the system has left behind.
• 0:58
  If you believe business can be a force for good and that the best ideas come from lived experience, you don't want to miss this one.
• 1:06
  As always, if you found value from this content, please like and subscribe.
• 1:12
  All right, Natalie Balustraer, welcome to Beyond Fulfillment.
• 1:17
  Thank you so much for inviting me and giving me the chance to talk about something that I want to make in visible because it's invisible, but I want to give you light.
• 1:28
  So these struggles.
• 1:31
  Yes, we're excited to have you here Natalie.
• 1:34
  And just so the audience to set the stage.
• 1:37
  We met a couple months ago at CosmoProf Miami and I was really taken back by your story and what you're doing and so I thought we have to have you on the show to really spotlight this because this
• 1:49
  really epitomizes what it's like to be an entrepreneur.
• 1:52
  And the more I learned about you, I was even more impressed because you came to this country from Venezuela 17 years ago.
• 2:00
  You spoke no English and you've basically been an entrepreneur that whole time and really, really built yourself up from, from that point.
• 2:11
  And now you've got a very mission based business that you're launching and you're excited to to share with all of us and really make an impact for those out there.
• 2:20
  So if you could, for everyone, can you just talk about your backstory and how you got here and then what you're doing now.
• 2:27
  I'm almost to United States because I going get married something that don't work.
• 2:32
  But my vision was to study actually I want to becoming psychologist and working with the community.
• 2:41
  That's always my my passion.
• 2:44
  I was able to do it here in the United States and I own to this country everything that I am right now an independent, successful woman and onto this country I came here.
• 2:55
  I know how read and write Eng, but however I Had to learn how to speak English.
• 3:01
  So I started taking jobs.
• 3:03
  My first job was I want to be a hostess.
• 3:06
  But they give me the buzzer, clean the table because I don't speak English.
• 3:11
  But in three months, my manager hear me to talk.
• 3:19
  I was talking English and he called me to hang office and say, here is your hostess uniform.
• 3:27
  And I think since that day I've been unstoppable.
• 3:33
  Love it, love it.
• 3:35
  Okay, so that was your really first success.
• 3:38
  I mean, learning to speak English within just a couple short months of getting here and actually getting the chance to have a customer facing role with that first job you had since you got over here.
• 3:49
  That was really the springboard for what you've done thereafter.
• 3:53
  And then I guess thereafter you built a successful therapy practice.
• 3:57
  Is that right?
• 3:58
  Yeah.
• 3:58
  Then, then you know, enroll.
• 4:00
  When I feel that I was have strong English, I enroll at a school.
• 4:06
  Also very grateful for the enroll.
• 4:09
  Enrollment, enrollment people they helping you to understand you can do this.
• 4:14
  He really believed on me and I did it.
• 4:18
  It's not easy, especially when you speak another language.
• 4:23
  But when you lost something and have passion about something that overcome everything when you have that drive.
• 4:30
  So I, I did, I did.
• 4:31
  I'm starting studying psychology.
• 4:35
  Then I did my master.
• 4:36
  Then you have to do your practicing until you becoming a licensed professional counselor.
• 4:42
  Unless here in a state of Colorado taking you like a six year to be able to, you know, obtain a license.
• 4:50
  Okay, all right, so you go through that process, you get your license, you start your practice and then what happens next?
• 4:59
  No, you know, I created my practice because when I was studying psychology is was based in a model and I call it a cultural model based in Cauchy culture.
• 5:16
  Because all the big names in psychology, they was people, they have a specific culture.
• 5:23
  And I'm noticing that that model will probably not apply to the, you know, bilingual and bicultural.
• 5:32
  It don't apply to other type of culture like mine.
• 5:36
  In that moment I was Hispanic, a Latina.
• 5:41
  So what I did was I making sure if mental health therapy has to be successful, we have to really do that transfer.
• 5:52
  Be presenting yourself as a bilingual and as a bicultural to be able to helping people cross that bridge and have a successful treatment.
• 6:04
  But you have to be able to guide them.
• 6:06
  You have to be able to.
• 6:07
  I do family therapy.
• 6:09
  Family therapy with kids speak English and the parents in Spanish.
• 6:13
  And I do the translation between both.
• 6:15
  So it's a gap there that my model, my therapeutic model cover which is a bilingual cultural piece and the bilingual because I always believe that mental Health therapy had to have these elements as a cultural and as a
• 6:33
  language to be successful treatment.
• 6:38
  Okay.
• 6:39
  All right.
• 6:40
  And then so as you're you're implementing this this bilingual bicultural mental health therapy, you you notice some issues that ultimately led to the products that you've created.
• 6:51
  Is that right?
• 6:52
  Yes.
• 6:54
  So my special I am over a shivered person.
• 6:58
  I'm a life challenge and always I took challenge in my life and I really was any anytime that I was getting better in my job or having more knowledge or you know, certifications and took always working with complex
• 7:15
  cases cases that challenged me as a therapist and me it helped me grow as a therapist.
• 7:22
  And in.
• 7:23
  In this challenge I becoming I I really.
• 7:31
  Neurodivergent individuals and understand the potential that these kids have through how society failed in many aspect because it's not ready a society for this kid.
• 7:45
  They are hypersensitive or thinking so quickly and they are in a.
• 7:51
  In a.
• 7:52
  In a world that threat them.
• 7:55
  So because we don't have that for them it's a lack of understanding.
• 8:00
  Many of them fail and we call people with disabilities.
• 8:04
  But I don't see there are people with disability.
• 8:07
  I see there are people there with a lot of potential in a society that is not ready to living in the level they are prepared for.
• 8:18
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• 8:25
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• 8:49
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• 8:55
  So if you're ready to partner with a 3PL that actually gets your brand, visit easy dc3pl.com okay, so let's talk about that too because like society has failed them.
• 9:10
  I mean talk about some of the the challenges they run into and how like how society is not supporting them in the way that I guess you feel it needs to.
• 9:25
  Well, you know I believe the statistics starting showing that we have more and more neurodivergent individuals.
• 9:33
  And I think in always being like that, however it was ignored or always no was a voice to actually say okay this person have hidden brain is wired different like schools.
• 9:53
  The curriculum at a school for these kids all we have to need accommodations.
• 9:58
  Normally the school have a special education or have the Regular education.
• 10:05
  Many of the kids, they are neurodivergent, they are genius, they are smart.
• 10:14
  So they don't fit in the special education.
• 10:18
  However, they don't fit in the regular school either because there may be so many hours for them or it's too boring for them to learning in that way.
• 10:31
  Always we have to be.
• 10:32
  We have to make accommodations for them to be able to success in an academic curriculum that don't help into then just develop their potential because they are great artists, great mechanic, have a mechanic brain that they can building
• 10:51
  stuff.
• 10:53
  So we missing this of falling into the cracks of the system because we don't have a.
• 10:59
  The proper education building for neurodivergent individuals.
• 11:05
  Okay, all right.
• 11:06
  So working with.
• 11:08
  With the neurodivergent individuals that you do and really seeing firsthand like the true genius and the pot and what.
• 11:18
  What these.
• 11:18
  These people are capable of and then seeing how I guess society is set up.
• 11:23
  What did that lead you to do?
• 11:26
  Well, the first science.
• 11:27
  The education piece.
• 11:29
  The education piece to working with parents, to coaching them to building a new way to communicate it.
• 11:36
  Because the communication with the Zonzo is different, more simple, less emotional to be able to be success.
• 11:45
  And they understand more structure.
• 11:49
  Like for example, you can tell like talking about a testy child that you tell them, hey, we're going to the store.
• 11:58
  But that vague statement is a trigger for anxiety.
• 12:04
  But if you tell this child, hey, we're going to the store for two hours, they are thus facilitating then regulating themselves.
• 12:14
  That's just a simple example.
• 12:16
  So yes, I'm coaching parents to helping their kids have a better instruction or follow direction in a better way.
• 12:25
  But definitely parents need coaching to, you know, working with this population.
• 12:33
  Okay, all right.
• 12:34
  And then you ultimately created your cosmetic line that you're now bringing to market, which is called Mind Raw Melt Mental Health Cosmetics.
• 12:46
  Am I saying that right?
• 12:47
  Yeah, that's perfect.
• 12:48
  And it's the first line that say cosmetic bring together cosmetics and mental health.
• 12:58
  Because one of my crusade or my dream is that we go into a supermarket and actually see a mental health product like for the diabetes, like a is for other part of our body.
• 13:14
  We have a numbers of products and cosmetics to fill that needs, especially for people with typical brains.
• 13:25
  And so we're continuing calling cosmetics cosmetics and have a big brand for cosmetics.
• 13:34
  Like we use makeup.
• 13:36
  And.
• 13:37
  And my question was why we don't have this for these kids taking therapy outside the doors of the offices and actually starting normalizing in normal life in supermarkets and business where they feel more welcome and feel more understanding
• 14:02
  they are also having a position there.
• 14:06
  In my quest to becoming pioneer and with cosmetics and mental health I do a lot of research and I see how many mothers and chats they found some product they helping their kids.
• 14:25
  But they guessing all the time in the market what can be helpful for their kids.
• 14:32
  And many of my.
• 14:34
  The 70% of my intervention as a mental health counselor for people with neurodivergence was something that people the cosmetics market ignore is the hygiene.
• 14:49
  When people have a mental illness.
• 14:51
  When people are hypersensitive they one thing they're feeling is hygiene.
• 14:58
  That's how we meeting.
• 14:59
  Remember.
• 15:00
  You don't know some people people have struggling with hygiene and that is.
• 15:07
  That's it that that is the voice.
• 15:09
  It's not just showing a product that say for hygiene.
• 15:14
  But it's a product that talking about making this invisible struggling for many many families and many many people have a voice have a representation and starting normalize this in society.
• 15:28
  And challenge the cosmetic industry to actually starting also pay attention to this.
• 15:35
  Okay.
• 15:37
  Yeah.
• 15:37
  So let's.
• 15:38
  Let's get into the product specifically because when we met like that's how we got into a long conversation.
• 15:45
  When you told me about the sheer number of people that were too too depressed to shower.
• 15:51
  And the.
• 15:51
  The stats you gave me blew my mind.
• 15:54
  And then you 1.
• 15:55
  One of your signature products for your line basically addresses that where it's a.
• 16:00
  It's a showerless.
• 16:01
  It's a waterless soap.
• 16:03
  Is that.
• 16:03
  Is that right?
• 16:04
  It's a body wash which is waterless.
• 16:07
  You they don't have to rinse.
• 16:11
  And one of the purpose purpose of this product is helping and improve hygiene.
• 16:20
  We kept it online to taking a shower every single day.
• 16:24
  Because the water the process even the open the hand for the water income.
• 16:32
  It can be a chair.
• 16:34
  And normally they needed more support and they depending on the caregiver for many more years than somebody with a typical brain.
• 16:44
  They is used to do.
• 16:46
  You know go going to do to shower.
• 16:48
  Not everybody is the same.
• 16:50
  Some of my clients love water.
• 16:53
  Others know and they just okay.
• 16:57
  One of the principle of test shower is they is a lightweight to reduce the over sens over sensory issues.
• 17:08
  It disappear under the skin.
• 17:09
  It's like a lotion and kill the bacteria for the other helping them to.
• 17:15
  You know.
• 17:16
  If we have a.
• 17:18
  Because this is a battle and a struggle for people having a proper hygiene.
• 17:24
  They let's see the.
• 17:26
  If the kid taking.
• 17:29
  They have to be assisted to taking four showers a month now with this product they can reduce to one shower and they can become more independent because they can take in a small towel clock, put it on a
• 17:45
  song.
• 17:46
  I have a song sample of the bottle here.
• 17:49
  And you can put it on it right now here.
• 17:53
  And they can do this.
• 17:55
  It's warm, it's not cold.
• 17:58
  Because that's something they making them rejecting other type of products and disappear out of skin.
• 18:07
  And the smell is important to helping psychologic and making a fresh sense.
• 18:16
  So the caregiver feeling like their kids smell good.
• 18:19
  So that helping a lot to them because they bottle this.
• 18:24
  I know right now many people battling hygiene for the kids.
• 18:31
  Okay, so you've got this therapy practice.
• 18:36
  You're seeing all these issues.
• 18:39
  You're seeing these people that are not functioning well in society because the way things are set up and how they're different and whatnot.
• 18:50
  And you gave us some examples of the brain and the hygiene and how that all fits together.
• 18:56
  So now you have this idea to create this product that can solve this issue and really like you said, make people feel welcome.
• 19:04
  Make this segment of people feel welcome and really provide solutions for them.
• 19:08
  What's the process been like of actually creating a product like this and bringing it to market?
• 19:14
  David, becoming from the field of mental health just, you know, learning about all the line in the state that I am like a Colorado and learning about this and then becoming a business because you have to be business
• 19:32
  and going to the business into the sale into the PR into the marketing was a big struggle for me.
• 19:42
  I thinking may do this change and becoming a businesswoman or entrepreneur first took for me a personal growth.
• 19:57
  I have to grow personally to be able to understand this field.
• 20:01
  This field is big, it's challenged and it's taking a lot from you learning you're gonna make mistakes.
• 20:11
  You're gonna make a mistake in your first order like I did it and dealing with you dealing with a lot of a lot of challenge that you know, it's not easy to overcome and the feel of self when
• 20:28
  you're coming from another field.
• 20:30
  So one thing that keeping me alive is still because it's times that I want to run away and say, you know what, I can do this.
• 20:39
  It's not for me I'm being crying.
• 20:44
  I think the essence of learning that is making you stronger.
• 20:51
  If you don't quit, if you keeping belief on you have that faith and then drive Sometimes you're not gonna have it, but the next day you back into you will overcome and success that.
• 21:06
  And I was watching your podcast and because I'm looking for Inspiration.
• 21:13
  Many times when you're feeling like a.
• 21:15
  You feeling like you're making a mistake like you did in Northern or $50,000 and this battle is not working.
• 21:23
  And because the labels are grown.
• 21:26
  That's actually true.
• 21:28
  And you back again.
• 21:31
  The thing is taking action and continuing going if that is your desire.
• 21:37
  When you believe in something.
• 21:38
  I believe this is a life purpose and I'm gonna continue until I success.
• 21:46
  Okay.
• 21:46
  Wow.
• 21:47
  So, so so many powerful principles you.
• 21:53
  You hit on in that.
• 21:54
  In that last little bit.
• 21:55
  So.
• 21:56
  So first of all, when you talked about the.
• 22:00
  The journey of going through this where there's times where you want to run away and you've been crying and you want to give up and you're like.
• 22:09
  And then you.
• 22:10
  The mistakes, where is that right?
• 22:12
  Like a $50,000 worth of product that came out wrong and it basically you can't.
• 22:19
  Can't use it right and all those things.
• 22:23
  So what when you go through all that and you feel like giving up?
• 22:27
  Because so many entrepreneurs listening I'm sure can relate to those moments where the mind is just attacking you like this isn't going to work.
• 22:33
  What are you doing?
• 22:35
  You know all that.
• 22:36
  But yet you.
• 22:38
  You go, you go through those experiences and you've kept going and you're still, you're still here, you're still moving forward.
• 22:45
  Like how did you overcome those tough moments?
• 22:49
  I believe that you have to give permission to yourself to feel like you losing in permission.
• 23:01
  We use that as a therapist as a way to.
• 23:04
  We say you have to give it to yourself.
• 23:06
  Permission to be sad.
• 23:07
  I give myself permission to go through this.
• 23:12
  But the only thing that keeping me going is the faith.
• 23:16
  I have faith and that helped me a lot and looking for other people experience and they feel that and when you found somebody they've been going through what you're doing, what you actually happen to you and you see
• 23:32
  they success and they making big things and they change the world.
• 23:38
  You say you know what like it now?
• 23:42
  I say I will do this until the end and I will not stop.
• 23:48
  And then my product is selling right now.
• 23:51
  No, we actually enhance the product right now.
• 23:54
  We developing other.
• 23:55
  Other products that coming online like the deodorant for neurodivergent individuals like dental hygiene.
• 24:04
  I I will not stop.
• 24:06
  I thinking I'm out of the that face where you feel like a wow.
• 24:12
  I'm putting on my money my money here.
• 24:14
  I'm investment on this.
• 24:16
  And I don't know.
• 24:17
  You don't know if it's gonna happen or not.
• 24:20
  But the Big thing that I learned in here was be patient and the product is gonna have their moment.
• 24:29
  You have to just keeping going.
• 24:30
  I annoy my mom and dad.
• 24:33
  I miss.
• 24:33
  I have a step back and I'm taking stick back to back.
• 24:39
  Stronger than never again.
• 24:43
  Okay.
• 24:43
  Wow, that's remarkable.
• 24:45
  Right?
• 24:46
  Just have it having that perspective too after.
• 24:48
  Right.
• 24:49
  Like you said, the setbacks and you know, dealing with the just the realities of launching a cosmetic line, particularly one that's such a.
• 25:02
  It's so different.
• 25:04
  Right.
• 25:04
  Like I've.
• 25:05
  I've not seen anything like it or heard of anything like it.
• 25:07
  So you're.
• 25:08
  You're literally creating a new.
• 25:09
  New category so to speak in a huge established industry.
• 25:16
  So talk about like the.
• 25:18
  The.
• 25:19
  The feedback that.
• 25:21
  That your product.
• 25:22
  That you've got on your products from, you know, from.
• 25:25
  From these neurodiver.
• 25:30
  To me that will be actually.
• 25:33
  That is the one of the validation that the formula is working.
• 25:42
  And see then actually reducing these bottles at the house is to me is everything because I do it to my.
• 25:54
  My clients.
• 25:55
  They're working on that.
• 25:56
  Just monitoring how they doing this, how creating independence for kids or you know, young adults or adults that they can use the product and be more independent with their hygiene.
• 26:09
  Because I give it to you an example that a client that you know, it's was so depressed, don't have any energy for even go to the shower and this.
• 26:23
  They feel shame and they feel bad because the provider who come into helping this individual, they still conscious.
• 26:32
  I gonna smell bad.
• 26:33
  I know clean.
• 26:35
  I know been taking a shower and they feel embarrassing for that and they have to always apologize.
• 26:41
  I'm sorry, you know, I don't be able to take a shower or I don't.
• 26:45
  I can't have energy for that.
• 26:46
  But this is going to.
• 26:47
  Eliminating that barrier when they return and give it to them that dignity to feel good about.
• 26:56
  You know, I'm cleaning it, but I don't have to take in the shower.
• 26:59
  I can get a mold towel and just my neck part of my body that I think that I will need it.
• 27:08
  And they really don't have to go to the shower until while they are in this.
• 27:13
  In this phase of the mental illness going through.
• 27:19
  And that is one of the things that's one.
• 27:22
  One of the examples of many that I can give it to you.
• 27:27
  Okay.
• 27:28
  All right.
• 27:28
  And so would you look at this journey too, right?
• 27:31
  I mean coming to this country, speaking no English, going through school, getting your license, starting this successful therapy practice, being so affected by.
• 27:43
  By the clients and what you've seen that you're inspired to create this brand new category of cosmetics and then just go going through the harsh realities of trying to launch a business like that self funded and trial and
• 27:58
  error and mistakes and you know, continuing to persevere in all this throughout all this adversity.
• 28:04
  When you look back at the whole journey, what's been the best part of it for you?
• 28:10
  The learning process, the learning.
• 28:15
  Because even if in the moment of the learning process you falling apart when you put it on yourself together to becoming stronger and believe and the uncertain, the things that you don't know what's gonna happen and to me
• 28:38
  was belief in myself and what I thinking and to knowing that no matter what right now.
• 28:52
  I need a lot of education to place a position, a product.
• 28:56
  The only person that can create it and the only person who's going to push it forward is going to be me and my faith.
• 29:05
  And that is the best thing of this journey.
• 29:08
  That no matter what happen, you don't have any regrets.
• 29:12
  You did everything possible in your hands to creating this new something new to change and to provide something different in the industry.
• 29:23
  And that's to me for me is the best rewards that I can have in my life.
• 29:32
  Powerful.
• 29:33
  Okay.
• 29:34
  And so Natalie, where is the product right now in terms of the stage of the company and what's next for Mynra?
• 29:42
  You still new?
• 29:44
  I'm working right now and provide an educational commercial and I think it's going to be the first commercial that bring a segment of therapy therapy to go physical therapy.
• 30:02
  I want to break that barrier of mental health therapy has to happen in the office and a couch.
• 30:15
  I want to be able to be more accessible to people.
• 30:21
  That's why we call therapy to go just take it home and you can have it.
• 30:27
  So what is coming next is more educational marketing.
• 30:33
  Educational marketing in the develop of the next products online and online.
• 30:40
  So if you're going to Las Vegas com approved I will be there with the deodorant, the dental hygiene product.
• 30:49
  Okay.
• 30:50
  All right.
• 30:50
  And Natalie, if people want to get in touch with you, learn more about what you're doing, support your mission or reach out for any other reason, what's the best way people that can find you online?
• 31:03
  Well, we have a Myra Mental health cosmetics and you can put it on Myra and you can find us, you can see the webpage.
• 31:12
  My phone number is right there and they can talk to me.
• 31:16
  We have also a dedicated page for social impact.
• 31:21
  There's something that we're working to and yes, because the way how is creating the formulation waterless?
• 31:32
  We want to.
• 31:33
  For each dollar that we get for the bottle, we want to take it.
• 31:38
  This waterless body wash and the other products to kids and Warsong or refugees, they don't have the facility to have it maybe taking shower or they don't have the ability because of displayment to be proper clean.
• 31:59
  They can do a easy cleaning with our product.
• 32:04
  So Migrant Mental Health Cosmetics.
• 32:06
  You can find me on there.
• 32:07
  You can contact me for the page and my phone number is right there and it's still going straight to me.
• 32:15
  So you can call the phone number.
• 32:17
  I'm gonna answer the phone.
• 32:19
  Okay.
• 32:19
  All right.
• 32:20
  And we will link all that in the show notes for everyone as well.
• 32:23
  Okay.
• 32:23
  Thank you, Dave.
• 32:24
  I can say that it's a great space because I know we need inspire each other.
• 32:32
  Absolutely.
• 32:33
  Okay.
• 32:34
  Well, Natalie, thank you so much for taking the time to be here and sharing all this incredible wisdom from your journey with our listeners.
• 32:40
  We greatly appreciate it.
• 32:41
  Thank you so much, David.