Meet Albert Mattheis

We had the good fortune of connecting with Albert Mattheis and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Albert, what is the most important factor behind your success?
The success behind anything in life really comes down to: Do you care enough to be great?

I care about what we’re doing. People have a right to not poison themselves with toxic skincare products and I want them to have a widely accessible alternative.

“If you wouldn’t eat something, don’t put it on your skin.”

When I started making soap it was originally just for myself, friends, and family. I couldn’t find a single healthy soap on the market that didn’t have harmful ingredients.

Even when I would buy “natural” soaps from Etsy and small shops, I discovered they still had pseudo-healthy ingredients like synthetic fragrance or sunflower oil and I couldn’t stand it.

Our skin is the largest organ on our body, absorbing 60% of whatever we put on it.

Yet most Americans lather themselves with whatever synthetic detergent is on grocery store shelves without thinking twice about it. These soaps are wrecking our skins natural barrier, and introducing chemicals into our bloodstream that disrupt our hormones and can even lead to diseases.

Not enough people are talking about this, and I firmly believe consumers have the right to know what they’re putting in their body.

So when my life’s work is creating clean products with only using Aloe Vera and Beef Tallow, it doesn’t feel like work. It feels like making a difference, even if the dent is smaller than I’d like it to be – for now.

So that’s my secret weapon. If you don’t truly care about something- if you don’t have that “obsession” – you’re not going to be able to put in that extra effort. Those 16 hour days that a business requires to become successful won’t happen.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I really wanted to use a soap with as little ingredients as possible, and there was not a single clean one on the market.

Aloe Vera and Beef Tallow are two products that have amazing benefits for your skin, and I was really intrigued by the idea of being able to make soap with just those two. When i realized it was possible, that was a really awesome moment for me.

I was working in 60 hour weeks in tech consulting at the time, and would make soap and sell at farmers markets in the few hours in the evening I had free after work.

It would have been exhausting doing both if I was not passionate about the mission.

I knew I had a tough decision coming up. I loved building hard things with good people, but I eventually it became impossible to ignore that the consulting hours were too long for how little the end work resonated with me (especially when compared to my new venture) and I knew it was time to go all in on soap.

Obviously that’s a big leap – But you have to prioritize. Life is short. If it’s not a hell yes, it’s a no.

Not to say it has been all roses since: there are a lot of challenges in running a business.

Especially as a one man shop, it took me some time to adapt to being responsible for everything.

I’m the marketing guy, but also the sales guy, the product guy, the inventory guy, supply chain. So it goes.

The inevitable stresses between different departments become somewhat humorous when I realize that when I am in a tough situation, and want to blame someone else, it I can only blame myself

(Sales me loves to compartmentalize and say “wow, the inventory guy is really holding us back” when we run out of Tallow Balm)

Luckily, this is a good problem to have. And we are getting better every day.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
When I first moved to San Diego, I was hosting visiting friends every weekend for a year – I dialed in a tight itinerary.

My go-to is the seals at La Jolla Cove and hiking Torrey pines.

Being from the East Coast, the geography is very different from what we are used to.

I also recommend the San Diego Safari Park and getting tacos at Oscars.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Shoutout to anyone who selflessly dedicates their time to educating others.

There are countless people I could shout out who have helped me along my journey but I’m going to go with Bobby Parish and @solbrah

His YouTube videos on toxic ingredients in store products like soap opened my eyes to a lot of things and I wouldn’t be where I am without him

(This section is great by the way. Important to shoutout people making a difference)

Website: www.aloetallow.com

Instagram: @aloetallow

Twitter: @aloetallow