Clean Beauty, Bold Business: How Citrine’s Melissa Lenberg Is Changing the Beauty Industry—From Soul to Skin

In this radiant episode of The Freq Show, Jaclyn sits down with Melissa Lenberg, the founder of Citrine Natural Beauty Bar — one of the first clean beauty destinations of its kind. They talk about building a soulful business from the ground up, the power of rituals, how Melissa detoxed her beauty routine, and the energetic side of entrepreneurship. Melissa shares her personal favorite products, how she protects her energy, and what it really means to glow from within.

🎧 Whether you're a clean beauty lover or a business owner looking to blend intuition with strategy, this episode is pure gold.

🌿 Mentioned in this episode: Citrine Natural Skin

Connect with Melissa Lenberg:

Website: citrinenaturalskin.com
Facebook (Personal): Melissa Lenberg
Facebook (Citrine): Citrine Natural Beauty Bar
Instagram: @melissacitrine
YouTube: Citrine Beauty AZ
Meet the Founder: Citrine’s Founder Page

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Melissa Lemberg
• 2:57 Creating the Citrine Experience
• 8:07 Curating Clean Beauty Products
• 13:07 Clean Beauty Red Flags
• 18:17 Discovering Heretic Perfume
• 30:07 Melissa's Entrepreneurship Journey
• 39:07 Navigating Business Challenges
• 47:11 Marketing a Clean Beauty Brand
• 53:43 Favorite Clean Beauty Products

Transcript

Jaclyn

Hello and welcome to The Freq Show I am so excited because today I have the founder of Citrine Melissa Lenberg with us did I pronounce your last name correct?

Melissa

You did!

Jaclyn

Ok good!

Melissa

Thank you! 

Jaclyn

And I'm so excited to talk with you I've been wanting to get you on the podcast

because you are a clean beauty guru.

Melissa

Yes thank you!

Jaclyn

You're welcome! 

Melissa

I will take that title!

Jaclyn

You deserve it you deserve it and you started citrine about 10 years ago 

Melissa

Actually I'm gonna be on year 13 in November. 

Jaclyn

That's amazing so you were ahead of the trend.

Melissa

Definitely! 

Jaclyn

By almost a decade essentially.

Melissa

Yeah I would say like I feel like obviously like around the time of the pandemic it's like when everybody like woke up right everybody was like making like sourdough and figuring out what was in their products and I feel like then Clean Beauty kind of got a little bit more mainstream we still have so much more to grow in the space but definitely I don't have to argue with people as much as I did you know 13 years ago.

Jaclyn

No people really are getting it. 

Melissa

People get it even if they it's not their thing they still get it you know what I mean. 

Jaclyn

Yeah so yeah well I went into your store it was last week or the week before and it was such an experience and I use the word experience because I want to differentiate from all other beauty stores first of all the aesthetic is so clean and peaceful and normally I'm somebody who's very sensitive to overstimulation and I walk into your store and it is so. Did you hear that? 

Melissa

Oh that's you! 

Jaclyn

It's me! 

Melissa

But you know what that's funny cause that's my same alarm in the morning. 

Jaclyn

Really I was like what is going on it doesn't usually come to my iPad I usually have it on silent anyways your store is such a beautiful experience because it's so differentiated from other makeup stores and I don't want to dog on anybody but in general when I walk into a makeup or a beauty store I'm completely overwhelmed. 

Melissa

Right!

Jaclyn

By multiple people coming up to me the smell which automatically gives me a headache and I walk in and I want to get out as soon as possible when I walked into Citrine I was like I could live here and I love it so much the way that you have it laid out is so beautiful and thoughtful and intentional and then Nayeli is that am I pronouncing her name right.

Melissa

Yep.

Jaclyn

helped me so much and what I found again to be such a differentiator was she really wanted to know what my concerns were and if I really needed anything she wasn't pushy she was so helpful and she was so educated on every single product. 

Melissa

Yes! 

Jaclyn

And I have I'm a person that has a lot of questions around clean beauty. 

Melissa

Sure 

Jaclyn

And so it was just the most fantastic experience I could have expected. 

Melissa

Well I love to hear that of course I feel like when I design so this is actually like my third space at the Biltmore.

Jaclyn

Is it. 

Melissa

Yeah so we just moved into this space last may it looks very similar to our previous space which we were in for 8 years but I think about like what I want right I always put myself in like the client's shoes and No. 1 like beauty has been my thing forever you know what I mean and so with that I when I would go into stores and have so many choices sometimes again I would get overwhelmed so I wanted to have enough of a curation there but I also want my girls to be experts and so we can't have 100 brands in there you know like some of my other competitors like now they're like getting close to like 100 brands so I don't say yes to everything I'm very intentional with our curation I have to love the product even if it's not like something like let's say something for acne skin which I don't have you know I still have to like love it love the brand story the founder the product the just everything about it to bring it in otherwise it's sales and I didn't sign up for sales I signed up to like empower women through beauty products you know what I mean and so we won't care we won't carry it and then with the space I wanted something that felt very like even though I'm very much into natural, like I love luxurious stuffs.

Jaclyn

And that's exactly how it feels. 

Melissa

And I wanted something that felt very luxurious and very modern but at the same time you know like we have we go get flowers every week.

Jaclyn

It's soft modern it's very soft modern. 

Melissa

Yeah so we it just it feels good it's a space where you feel good and I'm glad that you say experience as well too because that is something that the girls get trained on is giving everybody what's called the Citrine experience and we really do we want you to come in and have an experience in the store that is what sets us apart is that we will take the time and really get to know you and I feel like that's why so many of our clients I mean. 

Jaclyn

Repeat clients. 

Melissa

Well and they've made friends like I every time like we have an event like a founder will come in or whatever we'll have a master class and somebody will literally almost every time message me after I'm so glad I came to the class tonight I was a little nervous to come cause I was coming by myself but I literally made a friend and we're going to coffee next week or we're doing something. 

Jaclyn

I'm not surprised. 

Melissa

You know because you're around like minded people right and when you when all that is happening it's just. 

Jaclyn

It's magic! 

Melissa

It's all in alignment. 

Jaclyn

Well and I think there's a frequency there you know this is called The Freq Show yes based on frequency but immediately when I walked in there was that frequency happening yeah so next question is as you bring in new brands and as you touch and feel things how do you decide what to bring into the store and what not because it is so beautifully curated. 

Melissa

Thank you! 

Jaclyn

Yeah! 

Melissa

Yeah so I have I have my curation process I get a lot of product. 

Jaclyn

I'm sure.

Melissa

I mean a lot of product so the first thing I do is I usually will look at an ingredient list right because that's if it's not meeting our criteria in terms of that then there's no sense to go any further. 

Jaclyn

Absolutely! 

Melissa

So usually I'll look at I'll look at the ingredient list kind of look up the brand or if they've sent me something with their products I'll kind of go through that and then from there I I deviate up amongst the team people try different products I mean even last week there's a nail polish brand which I haven't carried nail polish in forever cause I just I don't think that there's anything good that's natural with nail polish to be honest. 

Jaclyn

It's hard! 

Melissa

It's very hard but I got sent a brand and so you know we're all back there trying the nail products we're all it's so it's me it's my team it's a team effort and then the ingredient list and then from there then we go into if that's all meeting our criteria then it's like okay do we like this on the shelf is this giving the vibe is this giving the vibe. 

Jaclyn

Because everything on your shelves are so pretty. 

Melissa

Is this something I would want sitting in my vanity you know what I mean 

Jaclyn

Because it all matters.

Melissa

It all matters because it's a frequency right yeah beautiful things on your thing then you wanna use them and makes you feel beautiful so we go through that whole process and then from there if we were wanting to move forward then that's when I like get into conversations and I really like to make sure that I'm in alignment with the brands and the brand founders and what our mission is because I really look at it as like a total partnership and so that's how we do it

Jaclyn

That's so beautiful so for listeners who maybe are dabbling in clean beauty but aren't totally educated what are ingredients that are an absolute no for you because before we even started rolling we talked about kind of different tiers of clean beauty so what is like I will never use this put this on my body some of those ingredients 

Melissa

Yeah I mean there's so many I mean I would be here forever but you know for me what I really what I really look for like the the top offenders we'll just call them right so nothing with artificial fragrance yeah like just absolutely it's a no people will start to argue with me on this point which is 

Jaclyn

Not me! 

Melissa

Which is actually something very new recently of different things and I think there's another clean beauty retailer who started to carry products with artificial fragrance because they say that they're being transparent about it just for me it's just a no it's just a no 

Jaclyn

It's such an endocrine disruptor 

Melissa

And even you know companies out there they'll be like yes we do have artificial fragrance but it's all phthalate free and I'm like but how do you know like let's just really get into it so how do you know so it just for me it's a no 

Jaclyn

Okay! 

Melissa

So anything with fragrance unless it's abstract because some people will say like a if if your products from the EU they'll be labeled as fragrance perfume on there as long as it has the abstract and tells you that it's from essential oils then we're all good there 

Jaclyn

Yeah absolutely! 

Melissa

so fragrance talc you know like anything 

Jaclyn

Talc is yeah 

Melissa

Because you don't know you have no idea again there then you know the big ones you know sulfates parabens but though a lot of companies have really already gotten that out so those would be like the big things I feel like that are easy as a consumer to kind of look for on a label 

Jaclyn

Yeah that decrease your toxic load 

Melissa

Exactly!

Jaclyn

I think about it like that you know how big is my toxic load like we said before we started rolling 

Melissa

Totally 

Jaclyn

We're not gonna be able to be perfect we live in an environment that unfortunately has a lot of toxins but but in as much as I can decrease my toxic load so that it's not building up in my system I wanna do that right but I also wanna look and feel good 

Melissa

Exactly 

Jaclyn

Yeah and when I was at your store last week I got so excited by multiple products but one of them in particular was Heretic Perfume 

Melissa

Oh yes 

Jaclyn

So I am such an olfactory kind of gal OK I love scent but I'm super specific about non toxic stuff like I have a non toxic candle burning it's just eucalyptus oil and I think coconut wax or something but when it comes to things I'm putting on my skin especially pregnant I'm even more strict and so throughout my pregnancy I've primarily just been wearing essential oils that I like which is great but then when I found heretic through you I was like this is a whole new world these perfumes are incredible and I've smelled a lot of clean perfumes I have been interested in them since probably 2017 and so I've gone through all kinds of different lines different scents but nothing has really stood out to me they've all been kind of like I don't mean to be mean but like a first try product like somebody is making it and they're like well this is clean and this works but nothing that envelops your senses and feels like this could be my signature scent and I'm that kind of woman I'm like I want my signature bag my signature look my signature scent my signature lip and the heretic perfume particularly pistol whip 

Melissa

I was like pistol whip 

Jaclyn

Oh my gosh well and I love floral citrusy kind of stuff and this is very floral so I bought a kit it was like their floral box it is amazing 

Melissa

Yeah so Douglas who he is the owner the brand founder and he's the perfumer he he's got an incredible nose and he the way that he's done this and I will tell you so in his line most everything is very clean whatever he has made a couple other scents that are not and but he but those are not on our shelves so just just FYI on that but 

Jaclyn

I love that you curate 

Melissa

Yeah we we really we curate and Douglas knows my standards I mean he's just he's an amazing human and the way that he I mean it's just he was at the store about a year ago and I got to meet him in person and really talk to him about his whole process and he's just he's phenomenal so his line and then it's interesting because I was telling him so when Citrine first started I was actually a I actually blended essential oil fragrances in there so that's how I started that's where the Beauty Bar comes from cause otherwise I dropped the Beauty Bar but it's just been a part of my name so I've kept it 

Jaclyn

I love that

Melissa

So yeah so I was in a little space and we had essential oils in there and I had like four different bases and then you could add other essential oils to it and make it make your own your own scent your own signature scent but at the time again we're talking 13 years ago almost right so people were just like not quite into it yet yeah I think if I did it now it would probably would go over really well but I don't have an interest in bringing it back but I got into that so just his process and everything is amazing and so yeah I mean and I'm looking for other cause for a long time we were really limited with fragrance because there just wasn't anything there just wasn't a lot and like you said I mean I've smelled a lot of people will send me natural perfumes and they smell good but then you know and I mean again heretic I feel like is

Jaclyn

I'll hold it up for the people watching on YouTube too

Melissa

It's great and I would say it depends on the fragrance I have some that can last on me for hours upon hours and then some will evaporate you know faster just depending on but other brands that I've tried they're gone within like 30 minutes you know what I mean 

Jaclyn

And then you spend a lot of money on a bottle that just evaporates that it's crazy 

Melissa

It's just you know whatever so yeah so I'm really glad that you've got to experience heretic 

Jaclyn

Oh my gosh 

Melissa

We're looking for other perfume lines there's a couple other on my radar and just trying to figure out which one is the perfect to bring back 

Jaclyn

Have you smelled Henry Rose 

Melissa

Yes I have smelled Henry Rose I smelled it and instantly my nose was like I'm just not sure if this is really what they say it is I'm just being honest yeah 

Jaclyn

Oh totally this is the place 

Melissa

And so I feel like I would need to dig deeper I've heard I've heard mixed reviews on it 

Jaclyn

I have too I have too and I like a couple of their scents but again there's something about who is the guy that Douglas 

Melissa

Douglas Douglas 

Jaclyn

His nose is incredible 

Melissa

Yes cause these don't smell these don't smell like natural perfumes 

Jaclyn

Not at all 

Melissa

Real perfume 

Jaclyn

They smell like real perfume and they envelop the senses 

Melissa

Yes 

Jaclyn

It's incredible 

Melissa

And I've never had a headache I've never anything that's like usually my No. 1 I'm like oh no this is like I instantly get that reaction like you said when you go into a lot of other beauty stores you instantly get that oh my gosh it's you know like 

Jaclyn

It's awful 

Melissa

Cause once you kind of detox from that it's 

Jaclyn

Then your body knows 

Melissa

Your body knows your body truly does know I've never had a reaction with any of his so yeah we'll see what's next 

Jaclyn

Yeah oh I can't wait to see what you do I went to a very popular store recently that had clean perfumes and I smelled one and I was like oh this is beautiful and instantly got a headache and instantly yeah instantly and I was like this isn't really clean 

Melissa

No 

Jaclyn

No so okay let's talk about another brand that you carry that I fell in love with last week and this is the thing I feel like I know a lot about clean beauty not as much as you do obviously but because I love makeup and I've been wearing makeup a long time and I've experimented with so many brands I had never heard of fitglow never even heard of it and then when Nayeli was like sampling some stuff I was like you gotta be kidding me I need everything in this line it's amazing how did you find them

Melissa

So I found them oh my gosh how long have I carried Fit Glow probably at least 8 or 9 years so she's a smaller brand and she's Canadian but she is out of the US now and she's just one of those people that I feel like has stuck true to her roots so everybody in clean beauty that you see now that's big was Indie at one point in time okay so even like 

Jaclyn

Like Indie Lee 

Melissa

Yeah well in like Indie Lee but also like the the ones I'm really talking about makeup now that I've really like Ilia Cosmetics like I've been with them the whole evolution so it's so very different to see and so when you get that kind of funding and when you get that kind of you know marketing and stuff behind you a couple things changed I think those brands have done a really good job at sticking to their ethos however you know are they the same level of like we were giving levels before we started of like clean clean you know like no they're not I'm just being honest thick low clean like I love that the purest that you can get yeah so like 

Jaclyn

But the performance is beautiful 

Melissa

Yeah the lip serums are phenomenal 

Jaclyn

That's what floored me because I have a lot of clean products where the performance is really good but they're not what I would call super clean 

Melissa

Sure yeah absolutely I mean Fitclothe lip serthat you got I mean that is like 

Jaclyn

I got three of them 

Melissa

Yeah that's like our No. 1 like lip serum in the store people love love love them 

Jaclyn

It's so beautiful 

Melissa

So and even like people that I know that aren't into clean that have tried them like they love them too like they're just it's a phenomenal product she really has hit it out of the park with that so she's somebody that I think just like you know she doesn't nobody's funding her like she does what she wants to do and there's no pressure so 

Jaclyn

That's a totally different frequency brought into the brand 

Melissa

Totally different frequency brought into the brand and just as an entrepreneur and a business owner doing it that way you know but truth be I mean if FitGlow wanted to be the next Illya could they sure but would things need to change yeah probably a little bit 

Jaclyn

yeah it's like any big takeover from 

Melissa

Exactly 

Jaclyn

Another product and then I wanna ask you some entrepreneurship questions but again I just like I don't mean to 

Melissa

You had never heard of May Lindstrom 

Jaclyn

No 

Melissa

What 

Jaclyn

No 

Melissa

I can't believe that 

Jaclyn

And again I am such a skincare product junkie not only beauty products like you should see my beauty product drawer I'm sure it doesn't rival yours but I have a lot of stuff but with skincare I am super specific like you are yeah I love that you are even stricter with skincare 

Melissa

Yes 100% 

Jaclyn

But this product is incredible and it smells so amazing it's the Jasmine Garden Botanical Facial Mist and I use it as a setting spray and as a toner it is magical 

Melissa

It is magical 

Jaclyn

How did you find her 

Melissa

So May Lindstrom I have carried really since inception she is another brand that is you know there's no funding there's no backing or whatever so 

Jaclyn

She's doing her own thing 

Melissa

She's doing her own thing so we had her in the store forever and then in the pandemic times she actually pulled out of all of her wholesalers and because she manufactures her own product I have 

Jaclyn

Wow so I so from start to finish 

Melissa

Yeah so I've been to her studio I have seen these products being made I have gotten to witness everything yeah and so she just is somebody that she the she got into this because she was herself on the other end of the lens which I see a lot of times there's a lot of people like that even like Rosemary from RMS right she was 

Jaclyn

She's great 

Melissa

She was a makeup artist doing all the Victoria Secret models and then seeing like how makeup would irritate their skin and whatever so there's always like that kind of story behind things so same thing with May she like grew up and just was needing to make all these potions cause she had all these like skin issues and she healed herself and then again was a makeup artist and was somebody behind the lens and so got into making her own stuff and it I mean her her brand for me so I know we're talking now and you're about to have your baby but there's something about her her brand because it is truly like that natural you know it's very like earthy grounding but at the same time like you smell the Jasmine garden is like very like sexy 

Jaclyn

It is it feels like a ritual

Melissa

It is a ritual 

Jaclyn

You know when I use it I want to stop and just breathe for a minute and smell it and I love products like that because we are so busy so overstimulated you run a business I run a business we have children it's like this all the time and when I find a product that naturally makes me want to stop and breathe I'm like I gotta get that cause I need it 

Melissa

100% yeah and so when I was postpartum like that was like I used her products I put on like her honey MUD mask and I do like that and like her her facial oil it was like literally the only thing that made me feel human because it was like it was truly like we're talking about frequency now is truly grounding me in my body right 

Jaclyn

And nourishing you 

Melissa

Yeah because when you just had a baby you're like I feel like you're outside of your body so it was like you do it was like bringing me back in and I could really really enjoy the products so yeah 

Jaclyn

Okay so for the postpartum women, as far as May Lindstrom goes what are the three products I have to have that I'm gonna take to the hospital with me and just be prepped after I have the baby 

Melissa

Yeah so you're gonna do the Jasmine garden you're gonna do the blue cocoon and then you're gonna do the honey MUD 

Jaclyn

Okay I will get all of those done 

Melissa

Yes yeah the blue cocoon is amazing it's a it's a bomb and it's got blue tansy oil in there it's extremely calming healing calming so everything from the skin to the mind to whatever I mean I even used it on my daughter when she was like probably 2 months old and had eaten something and had like a food reaction and her cheeks got super red and I put the blue cocoon on and like within 20 minutes it was all gone

Jaclyn

I love that it's called Blue Cocoon, that, yeah, that feels like something that's perfect for postpartum 

Melissa

Yes 100% 

Jaclyn

Okay so I wanna talk to you about entrepreneurship yeah what made you want to start Citrine 

Melissa

So I am a native to Arizona but I did 

Jaclyn

That's rare

Melissa

I did leave here so grew up here went to high school here went to cosmetology school and then left did the whole LA thing for a while so lived over there did makeup over there and then through my own personal health journey that's what brought me back home okay and then I was working for my dad kind of taking a break and then I'm like I this is I like beauty is everything like I mean like at 11 

Jaclyn

You can tell from your social media and everything you do you love what you do 

Melissa

I love what I do 

Jaclyn

Yeah it is who you are 

Melissa

It is yes it's it's part of me for sure and so I was like what am I gonna do here like I I'm not working on there's no sets here there's no whatever and then that's when I had already gotten into more natural in terms of like food because ironically when I moved to LA at 18 I lived right next to a Whole Foods so that's just like where I would go get my groceries like not even like putting the two and two together and got really into that but then when I moved back here I started to understand more about what was in beauty products 

Jaclyn

Wow! 

Melissa

And so then 

Jaclyn

It's such a slap in the face that was it like 

Melissa

Yeah 

Jaclyn

Such a shock 

Melissa

And so I started curating like stuff for myself like what am I switching over to from this whatever like I'm talking about like you know I'm like a 20 year old girl and I will save every penny I have to go buy LA Mer which was you know that I found out was just mineral oil and crap so it's like 

Jaclyn

But great marketing 

Melissa

But great marketing and so it's like what am I replacing that with and so like through my own journey of doing that I was like I need to share this with others like maybe this is something and then I drove to Sedona and I had a little download moment and I literally it can you know you know how it is when things are in alignment it just comes like so easy so I was like I'm gonna have a store I'm gonna call it Citrine like that's gonna be it 

Jaclyn

It's a perfect name too 

Melissa

Yeah that's that's just that's it and then I'm gonna go down I'll find space so I did I found space at the built more they were doing local stores and it was in something called the Union so I had a 200 square foot space was my very first store there and I opened in November and obviously citrine is that's the birthstone for November which is also my birthstone so just like it all came you know came together and then after my first year of business it was like okay 200 I mean my space was like not much bigger than this you know 

Jaclyn

For a lot of products yeah tiny 

Melissa

I so it was like okay and then we just expanded and expanded and expanded so 

Jaclyn

Yeah well you seem like you have done it so beautifully and so in such a a a state of flow but obviously entrepreneurship is hard so what do you attribute the guts that you had to start it to because so many people will get that download in Sedona or elsewhere but then sit on it and not do anything so what is it about you that was like no I'm gonna follow through 

Melissa

I feel like it's my work ethic it's like who I am so I just for people that wanna be an entrepreneur I tell them you have to love it it can't just be like a good idea that you think is gonna make you money because you're gonna have to work that baby for those first few years like nobody's business and so if you just think it's a great idea to make you money could it work sure but probably it's not gonna be you've got to really find something that you're passionate about and that you're willing to put in the work for thankfully when I started my business it was before you know my daughter and so I was there seven days a week you know 10 hour days easy and willing to do whatever I needed to do to 

Jaclyn

Make it work 

Melissa

Make it work now I know not everybody has that luxury so it's like it it's gotta be a passion it truly truly has to be a passion.

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Jaclyn

So continuing on with entrepreneurship what is an obstacle that you experienced that was really hard where maybe it was a make or break situation where you're like I don't know if I'm gonna be able to keep the doors open but you were able to overcome that cause I know every single entrepreneur goes through that experience and so many people I feel like give up right when there's about to be a breakthrough so can you share an experience like that 

Melissa

You know I am beyond  I blessed that I really have never had that kind of issue except for pandemic times so that's the only time I can I can go to a story like that because up until then my business every single year had a minimum of like a 15% increase 

Jaclyn

That's amazing! 

Melissa

Which is great I mean I was I was working that sucker though let me tell you like I was really I was I was working that business but yes pandemic times I mean it was very hard and I made decisions during that time that I think I feel good about but at the same time as a business owner also regret a little bit I kept hindsight so I had I had a staff of 13 at that time 

Jaclyn

Wow 

Melissa

I was I had I had a lot of staff and half were part time half were full time so the part time people those were people that had worked for me previous had babies you know they they everybody wants to keep working at citrine you know so it's like they 

Jaclyn

I understand why 

Melissa

They were fine you know like to not work but I kept my whole full time staff on in reality I probably didn't need to and I was very loyal in that I wanted to keep paying them and do that which was a hard decision because so it's like what do you do these people have supported you and your brand and whatever and then so that was like that was a very hard decision to make do I would I make the same decision now I don't know but I did it and you know thankfully was able to get like PPP and some of that kind of stuff so that kept us a that kept us where we needed to and kept us afloat and I think that my time in LA working in like entertainment and all of that really taught me that as a business owner you may need to pivot quite frequently and I got really good at pivoting like every day I'm like what's the thing today what are we what's the challenge you know and so for me I look at problems and I like to solve them 

Jaclyn

like you've got like the perfect entrepreneurship personality 

Melissa

Yeah it's like what's the issue and okay so let's find a solution now like I don't sit in issues that like I don't sit in there long right like nothing good comes of it like it always no everything is always working out right so yeah I mean that's like my only real story with like something like that other than that it's really just I think as a business owner it depends what kind of business you're in but obviously I'm retail so I have my brick and mortar space plus I also sell online so it's like just finding ways that you can be as efficient as possible but also making sure that you're running as trim as possible 

Jaclyn

Efficiently 

Melissa

Yeah 

Jaclyn

Well it strikes me too that you have built such a an intentional team yes so I want to talk about leadership too you know I'm in a place now in our business where we need to we have an assistant but we need to hire another person I'm thinking it's probably gonna be an operations manager but how did you go about hiring your first employee what were you looking for and then how do you maintain that very high frequency feeling throughout the store when you've got multiple personalities 

Melissa

So for me I'm not your typical like leader in this category this is where like my spirituality like comes into place you know what I mean yeah 

Jaclyn

That divine feminine 

Melissa

Yeah so I really you know whether it's somebody that I'm hiring for the retail sales floor or even somebody in you know in marketing or whatever I really think about the person that I wanna hire and I put that intention out there and like here's my dream person here's what I want them to have and I really like I call them in I mean that's like obviously the very woo woo answer to give but I 

Jaclyn

No but 

Melissa

But I call them in and you know and not everybody is you know 100% perfect right 

Jaclyn

Well yeah who is myself included 

Melissa

But at the same time yeah you know we do I do a lot with my staff so we do like you know where we meet up and we do team bonding and you know we'll do nights where we make little flower mandalas and whatever so it's like the people have to be they have to be on your same level and what I've learned just throughout the years cause I was looking like at something this was like six months ago I think I've had almost 100 employees at this point 

Jaclyn

Wow 

Melissa

Over the years right yeah well 

Jaclyn

Yeah I mean over a 13 year 

Melissa

Yeah so I've had almost 100 employees is that you know for me especially with my business they have to be interested I can't just hire somebody that wants a job to sell and make money this has to be a girl that is loves what we do and even if it's not what she is currently doing in her routine is highly interested and wants to learn and evolve and is curious and yeah cause what we do is so fun 

Jaclyn

It's so fun 

Melissa

It's so fun 

Jaclyn

It is so fun 

Melissa

To come here and to come to citrine and be able to you know 

Jaclyn

I was there for over an hour 

Melissa

Yeah it's just it's it's a good time and you know every girl that I've hired that it you know that has gone on to do they always do greater things you know it's a great stepping stone for a lot of women too because they learn a lot because we we have so many different things going on it's not just like retail sales and it's like they get to see me doing the marketing aspect and you know the online store and social media and content you know like 

Jaclyn

But it seems like you really lead through passion you're so passionate about your business and about the products that that emanates through every other area and so it's probably very easy to know quickly when you're hiring somebody if it's a match or not 

Melissa

100% 

Jaclyn

Because you're on that frequency and if they're not a frequency match it.

Melissa

Yeah and they and I have a standard right I have a citrine standard with my products and I have a citrine standard with my staff as well too so if you're not meeting that standard then you know it's not good for me it's not good for the business and it's not good for you either so 

Jaclyn

No it's not yeah and you want it to be a win win situation for everybody 

Melissa

Exactly 

Jaclyn

I feel like I am very good at detecting people's frequencies but I also have a tendency to want to bring people along and I'm learning the hard way that that's not the best use of my time but my heart you know wants to be very inclusive but I have trouble yeah having really good boundaries yeah you know 

Melissa

Having I've Learned those lessons as well too over the years and had to really take a step back and learn how to have the boundaries the standards and whatever and walk with that and I feel like that's what it just takes all the emotion out of it 

Jaclyn

Yeah which is so important so do you have like best practices in a binder and all of your expectations for people laid out 

Melissa

Yes we do 

Jaclyn

Yeah I think that that's such an important part of business that's kind of where I'm moving into my husband and I have been real estate investors for a long time and over the last year the design aspect of our business has just taken off which I'm so grateful for but now I'm going okay I need systems and and best practices because this just happened so quickly and I have been working so hard to make sure everybody's happy and all these projects are going and moving but I'm kind of running everything in the background and I don't wanna remove myself I wanna be in the business because I love it but I need to be more efficient and so having somebody like you say ok I'm leading with heart and I have 

Melissa

I have a standard and we have things that we have to follow and I will say too like as a small business owner like it's okay to not also have the whole playbook right away too you know what I mean 

Jaclyn

How can you 

Melissa

You can't so you know even just as situations come up it's a learn oh okay we need we need an SOP for that you know that would just make everybody's life easier you know whether you have two employees or you have 20 employees just makes everybody's life easier because then when the next person comes in it's like oh just so you know here's this this is how we do this 

Jaclyn

Yeah and it makes it so clear and takes the emotion out I love that okay so as far as citrine goes I wanna talk to you about marketing because you are so good at marketing 

Melissa

Thank you! 

Jaclyn

What is like the ethos around your marketing and when you first started I feel like this is a big step for any business when they start putting marketing dollars behind something versus just posting on social media like actually putting money into a plan whether that be SEO or ads or whatever what is your ethos behind your marketing cause your marketing is so distinct to citrine

Melissa

Yeah so  well one of the things I will say when it comes to marketing so right out the gate this was again almost 13 years ago so this was before social all of the things but I knew that I needed to collect people's email addresses even if they were just coming into the store I'd have them sign my little book it was very old school sign you know 

Jaclyn

But I love that 

Melissa

That you visited here and give me your email and whatever so getting emails getting phone numbers cause now SMS has become 

Jaclyn

Huge 

Melissa

It's huge it's so what we're finding with us so we've been doing email marketing forever honestly so 

Jaclyn

Your emails are so beautiful 

Melissa

Thank you yeah so I've been working with the same designer for like almost 10 years now and so it's it's fun because we she really gets me in the brand so she can visually put that to life cause I am not a graphic designer so email marketing is huge and it yes you have to pay for a platform but it's an amazing way to reach your customers and so as a small business owner and if you're somebody that doesn't have a lot of funds to work with out the gate that's a beautiful way to start same thing with like SMS creating those lists getting people's phone numbers but also making sure like SMS is one of those ones where unlike email you have to be really careful you're not getting too spammy so like 

Jaclyn

I unsubscribe very quickly these days 

Melissa

Yeah I mean so many people do there's so many options there's so many choices and people Vine to get your attention right that's just what it is so email super important and then when it comes to social media that is obviously that what people would say is free but nothing is really free because it takes your time it takes your effort and 

Jaclyn

And you're creating these beautiful videos that are yes that are edited and 

Melissa

Yeah we create a lot of different stuff but you know but even somebody that's getting started I mean there's so much I mean YouTube I mean everything is at our fingertips now it's so much different than when I started so you can go on and learn how to film your videos Professionally learn how to edit them professionally go on YouTube check it out and so I think being consistent on social media is something that is very important and figuring out there's there is so many platforms out there so really honing in on what your trade is and what that is gonna be so for us you know Snapchat TikTok that's a younger crowd I like TikTok but yeah it's it's fun we do it but it's not our main thing our main thing is Instagram Pinterest YouTube obviously people want information and we've been on Instagram the longest so figuring out like what's your niches and so it's like yes do all the social media but maybe figure out which two you really wanna excel at 

Jaclyn

That's a great advice 

Melissa

That are great for your industry and really tone in on those so for us what that looks like is we are making sure that we are putting out like a real or now it's going back to carousels so putting out something on Instagram every single day making sure that we have stuff in stories every single day and then our other thing like I said is Pinterest So making sure that we're putting up like 10 to 15 pins per day 

Jaclyn

Wow per day okay so I'm just learning about Pinterest now for just the not learning about Pinterest for the first time but like the back end of Pinterest and how to use it so 10 to 15 a day 

Melissa

A day 

Jaclyn

That is a lot how do you I no I think it's amazing I think it's amazing that you're doing that but can you walk me through a little bit like how you create that much content a day or do you hire all most of that out 

Melissa

So we will use we will OK so when we create content for Instagram I always tell people when you're creating any kind of content think about it as like a long game right like obviously we're recording a podcast right now how we'll be able to get tons of reels out of this right in addition like obviously I don't know that this would be a right thing for Pinterest but you know like this could go on YouTube shorts this could go on so many different things 

Jaclyn

And it does 

Melissa

Yes yeah so you can you can pick and choose different things out of there and then with Pinterest you know yeah they favor video so we can repost all of our tutorials over there as well too but then we do a lot of graphics like a lot of swap it out graphics and things of that nature too 

Jaclyn

So educational material 

Melissa

And graphics that people can put together and again just going back to like nowadays you can really learn how to do anything you can go on Canva and learn how to do that stuff so I have a marketing intern working for me right now for my issue and that's what she does she 

Jaclyn

That's amazing 

Melissa

She just does that 

Jaclyn

Ok

Melissa

Couple hours a week 

Jaclyn

Yeah I'm in my brain trying to organize how to time block because yeah you know again I'm about to have another baby and I know I'm about to get busier I have some new clients coming in and I'm wanting to have all of my systems in place while staying as consistent as I can with the podcast with the blog with social media 

Melissa

Yep 

Jaclyn

And it's it can feel overwhelming but at the same time if you approach it like you're approaching it like hey I have a person to do this here's my expectation here and also we can pivot if we need to I love that it's not so much pressure not so stringent and strict 

Melissa

Well and I think too like as a small business owner you really and this is like obviously once you're a few years in you have to as much as you're gonna wanna still do everything because believe me I was there you're gonna have to really assess where your strengths are in the business and where your time is worth it and you need to outsource the rest of that whatever that looks like you know and there's so there are so many like college kids things like that that you can get that it blows my mind so I've had like three interns now over this last year and they don't want to mess up so whatever they you know they hold themselves to a very high standard I think it's we're seeing you know this next generation of kids and I think it's really cool because 

Jaclyn

Oh I'm so encouraged by that 

Melissa

Yeah they actually 

Jaclyn

Cause I've had some that they just don't care at all and that's been hard for me cause I care so much 

Melissa

They care this younger generation they care and they actually care more about ingredients and things like that as well too 

Jaclyn

Yeah 

Melissa

Like I mean I'm when I was 20 I wasn't caring about ingredients and like that kind of stuff whereas now like there's a lot of girls that do so I it there is a lot of hope in 

Jaclyn

That's a oh that's so amazing Ok now I wanna talk to you about some of your favorites like have to have products 

Melissa

Okay 

Jaclyn

Okay your favorite cleanser 

Melissa

Okay my favorite cleanser comes from Patika which is a French line that we carry and I love their oil in their foam cause I'm a double cleanse girl especially 

Jaclyn

You are 

Melissa

OK because I wear 

Jaclyn

Makeup 

Melissa

I wear makeup yeah so I love that and then usually in the morning I'll just I'll put on like some kind of mask I'll switch it up each day but definitely I love the patika oil and the foam 

Jaclyn

I was gonna ask you about oil cleansing because I primarily oil cleanse and I love it so much and I have my favorite brands but I I'm always interested in finding new stuff okay favorite toner 

Melissa

Oh probably the Jasmine Garden from May Lindstrom 

Jaclyn

It's so gorgeous 

Melissa

Yes 

Jaclyn

Favorite moisturizing serum cause we live in the desert and it's so freaking hot and I feel like moisture is constantly being taken from my skin 

Melissa

The Cypress Antioxidant Dew which is actually a brand that is here in Scottsdale 

Jaclyn

Really? 

Melissa

Yeah! 

Jaclyn

Yeah I mean I know you carried the line but I didn't know that they were yeah low OK 

Melissa

Yeah so chase she's the founder and she's here she's local she's amazing and so again I've carried her brand for since the inception really as well too 

Jaclyn

Wow OK favorite most moisturizer night and more and morning and night  

Melissa

Ayuna cream 3 

Jaclyn

Okay okay so specific favorite detoxification mask 

Melissa

That's gonna be probably the Ayuna bomb 

Jaclyn

Okay favorite moisturizing mask 

Melissa

Moisturizing mask I'm gonna go with May Lindstrom honey MUD 

Jaclyn

Okay oh I love a honey mask yeah they're so amazing aren't they 

Melissa

I love honey like just in general like I eat so much honey and I just think it's so good for your skin 

Jaclyn

Oh it's amazing 

Melissa

And the girl that I go see for facials she uses a honey mask and she does this like tapping thing with  lymphatic drainage after and 

Jaclyn

It'll take all of 

Melissa

Yeah 

Jaclyn

It'll clear your pores who is that can you share 

Melissa

Yeah I go see I see Jamie at Zyla 

Jaclyn

Okay 

Melissa

She's phenomenal 

Jaclyn

Because I have had a couple facials in the valley but I've had trouble finding people who use clean ingredients and then I found one and then she moved 

Melissa

Jamie is phenomenal there's there is a couple of other really great people that I've been to here that have had me in that is that are that are really have great ingredients and 

Jaclyn

Okay 

Melissa

And they're but Jamie's 

Jaclyn

Just she's your favorite okay I like 

Melissa

Jamie is like yeah if you go see Jamie you you report back you're gonna be like oh no Melissa now I'm addicted 

Jaclyn

I can imagine yeah I can imagine okay let's talk about makeup for a second again favorite foundation

Melissa

Favorite foundation 

Jaclyn

Or do you start with a primer? 

Melissa

I actually use more cause I have very dry skin and we're in the desert so I use more of an oil as a primer for me 

Jaclyn

Your skin is dewy and beautiful 

Melissa

Thank you for right now my favorite foundation is the Jane Iredale they just came out with their skin tuition which has 

Jaclyn

I've heard you talking about that 

Melissa

SPF 30 in it that's so great which is in the 

Jaclyn

Sune here oh my gosh the sun is just so harsh 

Melissa

Yes 

Jaclyn

I love where we live but the summer is brutal 

Melissa

It's beautiful 10 months out of the year 

Jaclyn

Yeah exactly okay what about bronzer 

Melissa

Bronzer would be the Westman atelier 

Jaclyn

Okay blush 

Melissa

Would be Kosas or RMS I go between the two oh yeah 

Jaclyn

RMS has some great blushes I haven't used Kosas blush but I saw you on a real using the Kosas blush and it looks so gorgeous on you so 

Melissa

A lot of color payoff 

Jaclyn

Okay I love a good color payoff 

Melissa

Yeah 

Jaclyn

What about concealer 

Melissa

I do the Jane Iredale in lighten 

Jaclyn

Okay eyeshadow and eye makeup what's like those products you can't live without 

Melissa

Okay so for me I love Ilia their warm necessary palette it just 

Jaclyn

I'm gonna have to get that 

Melissa

It's everything yeah you would love it 

Jaclyn

I love warm colors I need the warmth 

Melissa

You would love the colors so I actually even use the eyeshadow in there as liner I just wet an ankle brush for that so I don't really use like a separate eyeliner and then mascara I use the Jane Iredale Lash fixation 

Jaclyn

You like her 

Melissa

It's a tubing mascara so I've been on the hunt for the perfect mascara my whole life I feel like 

Jaclyn

Every woman has to try yours 

Melissa

And I just find like because it's a tubing mascara which there's I've never found a clean one it doesn't move it doesn't there's no 

Jaclyn

I love that 

Melissa

Bleeding there's no anything so it just stays it's phenomenal 

Jaclyn

Oh okay eyebrow product 

Melissa

Kosas 

Jaclyn

Really okay I'm gonna have to try it I've been using lawless and I like it I'm not like this is 

Melissa

This is it 

Jaclyn

This is the piece de resistance the you know the 

Melissa

The Kosa's brow products are phenomenal 

Jaclyn

Cause your brows are gorgeous 

Melissa

Thank you! 

Jaclyn

Okay lip product lip product 

Melissa

Lip product okay so I love Fit Glow for lip 

Jaclyn

Oh I'm just I'm like I need every color 

Melissa

I mean I go back and forth with liners with a lot of different brands but I love the Fit Glow 

Jaclyn

I have it 

Melissa

Lip serums they're great and then I recently did a collab with them and we came out with my own like signature color 

Jaclyn

Oh that's so cool you know what I think I saw that and then it completely slipped my mind but I'll have to try that too 

Melissa

I should bring it 

Jaclyn

Oh that's amazing okay so as we wrap this up I wanna say thank you so much for being here where can people find you

Melissa

Yeah so they can find me so at our physical space at the Biltmore we're right across from Ralph Lauren and then online they can find us we're citrinenaturalskin.com and obviously Instagram I just told you all the social media you can find us on every social media channel 

Jaclyn

Yeah yeah and I love your social media is so educational and fun which it's kind of hard to strike that balance yes fun and educational 

Melissa

And that's the other thing I will say just going back a little bit to content is like you just have to have fun like I just like you know you're gonna put out stuff sometimes and it doesn't perform and that's okay and then you look at what does perform and you go okay let's do more of that you have to try new things because if you don't then you get stuck and then yeah 

Jaclyn

Yeah and let I try to not be personally attached to any of that stuff you know and I think something that's been so grounding for me is having a child and going the most important thing in my life is my family 

Melissa

Yes 

Jaclyn

The business stuff is so fun I love it I love doing podcasting but I'm not attached to the outcome do I have goals absolutely do I have you know touch points going into those goals and what I want to achieve yes yeah but otherwise I am like I have everything I need right now and that basis makes me feel very brave to try different things 

Melissa

Yeah and you have to and you I tell people like look at like social media as just like a fun way of like putting stuff out there you can if it sucks take it down 

Jaclyn

Yeah 

Melissa

You know it's 

Jaclyn

It can be deleted 

Melissa

Yeah it's no big deal like people get so much so in their head about it so just if you just relax about it and just do stuff that you find is fun like it lights me up I love doing fun photo shoots like for glam bag 

Jaclyn

Oh and they're so fun I love it

Melissa

You know and I get super into it I'm like hell yeah I wanna go do that that's gonna be fun we're gonna go here we're gonna do you know like 

Jaclyn

And you brought your daughter recently to one and she was there like directing behind the scenes it's so I can see my son doing the same thing and it bringing them into it too and showing them what's possible I think is so huge 

Melissa

Yes 

Jaclyn

So people will know where to find you I'll put that in the show notes

Melissa

Thank you 

Jaclyn

And then what's next for citrine what can we expect from you 

Melissa

Yeah so people always ask that question they wanna know if I'm gonna open more stores I have no desire to open any more stores 

Jaclyn

So okay so the bespoke store the flagship is here 

Melissa

The flagship is here 

Jaclyn

We're so lucky 

Melissa

And then I you know we're continuing to grow our online presence and then I was working on my own brand prior to having my daughter 

Jaclyn

So see you doing that 

Melissa

And so you know right when I was ready to get back to it that's when 2020 happened so now I feel like 

Jaclyn

Slight delay 

Melissa

There's a there's a little pause there and that's okay things happen for a reason so I think I'm ready to get back to that 

Jaclyn

Oh I cannot wait 

Melissa

Our next step 

Jaclyn

Then you need to come back on the podcast 

Melissa

Yes 

Jaclyn

And we'll promote it and all of that let me know how I can help you in that regard 

Melissa

Thank you 

Jaclyn

Of course last question is if the listener can do one thing to raise their frequency today what would it be whether that's using a product or a ritual that makes you feel as high frequency as possible.

Melissa

Okay so I would say for me my biggest thing is to always just like you said let go and not be in control of the outcome so really surrendering in and grounding into your body so taking the time to really just nourish yourself in those bookends of the day even if you're a busy entrepreneur yeah like what am I what's five thing what what are five minutes I'm doing this morning you know like what am I doing and then same thing at night doesn't need to be like a 30 minute routine 

Jaclyn

No 

Melissa

You just take the time to connect with yourself 

Jaclyn

And allow your nervous system to calm down well Melissa thank you so much 

Melissa

You're welcome! 

Jaclyn

For taking the time and I cannot wait for this to air and again anytime you wanna come back you let me know 

Melissa

Okay! Sounds good 

Jaclyn

Okay!

Thank you so much for listening to The Freq Show with Sam Thurmond and me Jaclyn Steele Thurmond we would love to connect with you via our website beckonliving.com and on social media 

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Cheers to High Frequency Living!