Resilience is a beautiful thing. What happens when the path to the pursuit of your dream is blocked? These roadblocks are always disheartening but it’s how you respond that matters most.
Some people see obstacles as solvable puzzles and are reinvigorated by the thought of victory. Others see them as threats, shutting down in anger, fear and uncertainty. This distinction is important because it’s your perception that shapes your course of action.
Our Founder and CEO, Leah Garcia, is the portrait of female tenacity and we couldn’t be prouder to share her story of overcoming in celebration of International Women’s Day.
Grappling with unexpected setbacks
At only 28 years old, Leah was diagnosed with Bell’s Palsy — a condition that causes weakness of the facial muscles, resulting in the paralysis of one side of the face. For a young, ambitious woman, it was a difficult time as her doctors warned her that even after the drooping resolved, and the muscles regained their strength, the resulting asymmetry would worsen with age.
Confidence was weighing on her as she started noticing signs of premature aging. But instead of accepting defeat and allowing setbacks to derail her dreams, she set out to explore life, and in the process, re-engineered the aging process and identified the need for performance beauty products that could produce real change.
Reclaiming her power & seizing opportunity
Before “Eat, Pray, Love” was a thing, Leah traveled with the same intention. Her path took a unique turn, in that she started racing mountain bikes competitively–and winning championships! As a professional athlete, performance training and nutrition was paramount. It didn’t take long to connect the dots and realize the same high-quality care affected skin and hair. After meeting with a pioneering microbiologist specializing in wound healing and tissue regeneration and trying his prototype — an elastin replenishment formula — she was amazed by her results. She noticed a remarkable improvement in her skin elasticity and tone, along with a radiant glow that put a little extra “sass” in her step.
Leah wanted to make these discoveries accessible to everyone by creating a unique personal care line capable of reversing past environmental damage, prolonging that coveted youthful plumpness and supporting the body’s natural ability to stimulate the replenishment of elastin.
The birth of a brand new brand with bold solutions
Her signature brand, NULASTIN® delivers on all these fronts while defending against matrix protein damage caused by aging, stress, sun exposure, weight changes and other factors. Every product is cruelty-free and her entire line is performance-based, scientifically-tested, ethically-derived and guaranteed to deliver transformative results.
As Leah’s business continued to grow, stress was taking its toll. The overwhelm from nurturing a startup company, coupled with menopause, introduced a new challenge: hair loss.
Her hair was falling out in chunks. She remembers having a bald spot on the top of her head nearly as wide as a silver dollar. So what did she do? She fast-tracked the product launch of the now customer favorite, award winning HAIR Vibrant Scalp Treatment.
“What can I conquer today?”
This is Leah’s first thought when she wakes up every morning. She didn’t back down when the unexpected happened and nothing could dissuade her from her goals. The glass half full, sunny disposition that is Leah doesn’t really believe in defeat. As cliche as it sounds, she believes, “obstacles are opportunities, and it’s just part of the journey.”
We’re inspired every day by her story because she accepted tough circumstances with grace, faced and felt her emotions head-on, stayed flexible and found meaning in the struggle. Now that she’s realized her dream of bringing this incredible active cosmetic blend to market and sharing her innovative elastin regeneration technology with people everywhere, she’s looking ahead to new summits.
Ask yourself what you can conquer today. You might be amazed by the results.
