MDW had the opportunity to chat with Freckle Farm Organics founder, Juliana Kuzminova. Read below for more!

What inspired you to start your own business, and how has that initial inspiration evolved as your company has grown?

I was inspired to start the organic skincare brand due to health challenges I began to experience that led me to turn to clean beauty and motivated me to apply my knowledge of the healing nature of plants and my biotech/pharmaceutical industry experience of many years to research and develop high performance, organic, natural skincare products.

It was 2009 and I was living in NYC, working full time in the pharmaceutical industry and enrolled full time in a master’s program. I started experiencing sciatic pain and inflammation due to stress and my lifestyle choices. Western medicine couldn’t find anything wrong and could only offer pain management, but without a cure or reason for my pain, I was encouraged to take control of my health and make major lifestyle changes in pursuit of healing my body. I started to practice yoga and made changes to what type of food I was consuming and the products I used on my body and at home in general. Back then I did not find organic skincare brands that were luxurious, and I decided to make my own products. I wanted to create products of high quality and without filler ingredients, that I would often find in other products. I completed my certification in Anti-Aging Skincare Formulation and Certification in Organic Skincare from Formula Botanica, and this knowledge set me on a path to create the most luxurious and effective products for myself that I could fathom.

I packed my products with organic, high performance, plant-based ingredients that are full of vitamins, omegas and minerals to improve the skin’s appearance and health. I also wanted to ensure that the products were not just full of vitamins and minerals but were also uplifting to my inner being, and I added exquisite essential oils that would stimulate sacral and heart chakras and thus have a beneficial effect on creativity, self-esteem, intuition, self-love and sexuality to bring out beauty within. I also infused the serum with 24k gold for its benefits for skin, high vibrations and luxurious look and feel.

I shared my products with my friends and family first and they loved them as much as I did and encouraged me to start selling them. Freckle Farm Organics was born in 2011 from that passion for natural beauty and spiritual alchemy. Freckle Farm Organics is an organic skincare and lifestyle brand. Spiritual alchemy guides us to work from within, to experience that in the physical world.

When using my products it felt as if I was performing a ceremony to honor my body and spirit, and I rekindled the love for myself, including my freckles that I always wanted to remove. Hence, I named my brand Freckle Farm Organics, intending to share my products to inspire women to love their individuality, to love themselves inside and out.

At first, my inspiration for the skincare brand was to make products for myself and to have an Etsy store where I would sell my handmade, natural, organic products, however the brand organically grew over time and so did my dream for the brand. I now wanted to market my products to high end department stores and boutiques. Eventually, I closed my Etsy shop in pursuit of my new bigger dream. I opened my own online store and several other stores picked up our brand. Now our products on Amazon and are sold in several parts of the world. We plan to expand our product line and to continue to reach more people worldwide.

What are some of the biggest challenges you've faced as an entrepreneur, and how have you overcome them?

The first one that comes to mind is the ability to gain funding in the beginning stages to implement research for new ideas. I overcame this challenge in several ways. During the initial stages of starting the business, I self-funded. I continued to work in the pharmaceutical industry for many years until I felt comfortable making the switch. I also pitched the idea to family and friends that believed in my mission and would help grow the business. In my case I have a supportive sister and husband who invested in my business. In some cases, I used business loans and credit to come up with additional funds. Now, I can use a portion of the profits for continued expansion that including marketing, research and development for new products.

Another challenge I faced was being new in the industry and having to learn as I go and the feeling of being overwhelmed while also learning to be my own boss. It really helped me to stay disciplined and to continue to make progress daily. If it became overwhelming, I would work on what I could do now towards the dream to make progress. This helped greatly to take it one step at a time, limiting the feeling of being overwhelmed, as well as being flexible to change what doesn’t work and focus on what works well as I learned the business.

Having a support group and celebrating all your small wins is also very helpful. I connected with other Formula Botanica graduates, other clean beauty entrepreneurs I met along the way, such as Clean Beauty Collective by Cassandra McClure and, of course, Modern Day Wife where we can support, learn from and inspire each other as entrepreneurs and women.

Can you share a pivotal moment or decision that significantly impacted the trajectory of your business?

When I first came up with the product line, I realized that the name of one of the products was in the middle of being trademarked. At first it felt like a huge roadblock because we already had the labels printed and the pictures of the products taken and influencers were already reviewing them. To change directions, I would require more funding. It took some time and courage to pivot, by taking a step back to rename all our products and take a different approach. This would not be the only time that we would need to pivot, but it taught me that I had to be nimble and persistent if I wanted to succeed.

Another such time would come during the pandemic. The supply chain industry was having delays and I realized that it’s always necessary to have a backup plan for all the raw ingredients. This eventually turned out to be a good learning experience.

During this time, I also lost one of the partners who was my right hand and one of the biggest supporters for the business and best friend. We would always image doing this together, going to fancy events, having our own brick and mortar store, and this dream crumbled when I realized I would have to do this on my own. As they say, time heals, and with time all the synchronicities guided me to continue going, and I did. Soon after I was introduced by Cassandra to Modern Day Wife. I was delighted to see that the Modern Day Wife provided support for women in their business and personal lives, and the events provided a great way to connect, glam up and feel great and learn and empower each other which is everything that my partner and I dreamed of, and I saw this as another synchronicity to keep going.

In today's rapidly changing market landscape, how do you stay innovative and adaptable to ensure your business remains competitive?

Some of the ways we stay innovative and adoptable is by staying active on social media and staying on top of clean beauty trends to continue to bring innovative and effective organic luxury skincare to market. We also collaborate with like-minded women entrepreneurs to spread awareness of our products and market our products at events, by seeding goodie bags and giveaways that align with our mission and lifestyle. We do a lot of influencer collaborations, blogs, interviews and podcasts, which is another wonderful way to organically stay relevant.

What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs who are just starting their own journey?

You can manifest anything that your heart desires as long as you believe. That’s just how the law of attraction works. The secret is that you have to feel good about what you want to manifest for it to manifest and take action towards the dream. It can be challenging if the dream seems too big. However, my recommendation is to take it one step at a time and take small steps and action towards that dream and celebrate all the small wins. This feels a lot more achievable and realistic and you built up momentum with ongoing small wins. This builds a successful experience over time and gives confidence. With persistence, discipline, and the ability to be agile your dream will become a reality.

Keep up to date with all things Freckle Farm Organics @frecklefarmorganics!