Eco-friendly, healthy skincare isn’t just necessary for adults, and the green entrepreneur behind Good for You Girls is taking pains to care for young women by creating skincare that’s better for the planet and better for human health. Find out what inspired Kim Grustas and her colleagues and how they are changing the face of skincare for young women.

Can you tell us about Good for You Girls? What’s your green business all about and how is it working to make the world greener?

Good For You Girls is the leader in all natural and organic skin care for girls. Free of chemicals our products are vegan and gluten free and contain 70% organic ingredients.  Our products are manufactured in the USA in a low carbon footprint facility and every effort in manufacturing is made to reduce our environmental footprint. Our site aims to educate and inform about ingredients to avoid and the beauty of natural options. As the mothers, with six daughters between us, we created Good For You Girls because we could not find any products we felt were safe, effective or age appropriate for our own girls.

Why focus on young girls? Why should they be concerned about healthy, green skincare? Do you find young women already well-educated about these issues?

Girls are much more green and naturally savvy then their moms were at this age. When a girl is first looking for skincare it’s the perfect age to show her how beautiful and effective properly formulated skincare can be. Even more importantly emerging research suggests that chemicals found in traditional skincare can effect hormone development in girls entering puberty.

You look out for young women – how to you measure success of your product line?

Being the first natural skincare line for girls has not been easy. Many retailers were not ready to give us shelf space. Surprisingly it was the larger natural product retailers who understood that this demographic provides a wonderful opportunity to teach and to establish a new customer who can count on them during all stages of their development.  Our website allows us to reach those customers who might never have the opportunity to find us in a store. True success to us is hearing the real life stories from moms and girls about how the products have made a difference in their lives.

Is marketing to young women different than that to adult women?

We actually don’t market to girls. As moms we are very sensitive to the amount of advertising aimed at our children. We speak to moms directly just as we would want marketers to speak to us. Moms are an important part of the purchasing decision and helping teach their daughters healthy skin care habits. Their trust is of the utmost importance to us.

What mistakes have you made that you would advise other starting social entrepreneurs to avoid?

Don’t get sidetracked. I can easily spend hours of every day fielding calls from companies who would gladly take over our social media for a price.

To us it is important that our site and every word of our social media come from us. My advice is don’t give it away, take the time to learn it. Hire someone internal to help if need be but your message needs to be from the heart and cannot be farmed out. Knowledgeable sources are instrumental but your core message is uniquely yours.

How do you find ingredients and packaging materials that are greener and healthier? Do you aim to use green shipping methods as well?

We are constantly researching packaging and materials that are greener and healthier. We do a great deal of shipping and consolidate as much as we can.

Are there any mistakes that you made on this entrepreneurial journey that you would like to share with other green entrepreneurs?

We have certainly made mistakes and I’m sure will make more. We consider this part of the learning process. My advice is to be sure you maintain controlled growth. Know what you are capable of manufacturing and supporting. Grow at a rate you can maintain so you always have the ability to readjust strategy as you need to. Remember, no one else cares about your business as much as you do.

Do you warehouse your merchandise, or do you dropship? Do you do anything to minimize the footprint of your shipping?

We utilize a shared warehouse environment which allows us to control as much of our footprint as we can.

If you Dropship, what advice do you have on selecting and negotiating agreements with Dropshippers?
In setting up a drop ship arrangement it is important to understand how many steps you will have to take to fill that order. Automation is key and the fewer steps the better. We have several online partners whose websites automatically generate mailing labels and deposits. Once we receive these automated e-mails orders are often filled and shipped same day.

What platform did you choose to power your eCommerce website?

We use a company called authorize.net for our e-commerce transactions. We have been very satisfied with them.

What advice would you have for other aspiring green and social entrepreneurs?

Make a plan but be willing and agile enough to change strategy if needed for the benefit of your business. Align yourself with likeminded individuals who share your passion. They can be a tremendous source of wisdom and courage.

Keep in touch with Good for You Girls via Facebook and Twitter.