Meet Alison Rojas Metcalfe | Founder of Salud

We had the good fortune of connecting with Alison Rojas Metcalfe and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Alison Rojas, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
My thought process behind starting my own business was less about logical thought and more about a inner awareness. Had I let my logic make the decisions, I probably would have stayed at my corporate job in sustainable fashion. My work took me around the world and into the specialization of design, product development, sustainable sourcing, and chemical management. It was after investing 10 years in the area of sustainable and ethical fashion that I realized my full time job was about preventing toxicity in all forms – chemicals, to business practices – from entering the supply chain. If I dedicate this much of my life to clothing that sits on top of our skin, what about the products that get absorbed into our skin? That’s when I decided to start my own product line with the intention of creating a vertically built supply chain for skin care that is gentle on our body and on our planet, called Salud.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Salud was created to empower people to be gentle with themselves, so they can be gentle on the planet. It seems like one of the easiest foundations of a business to stand upon. But my tender heart picked up on the fact that many people don’t feel empowered enough to stand for themselves, let alone this massive planet.

Salud started out with a small apparel line that was made in Los Angeles at a woman-owned factory in 2015. I feel like it was a period of time for me to transition back into being creative after 15 years working in the development side of the fashion industry. It was a 6 pc collection of organic denim, hemp and organic cotton blends. I was working with a very familiar supply chain and offering clean beauty products from various brands, including a small-batch, organic skin care collection by Melissa Vines in Franklin, Tennessee that I was personally using over the past two or three years.

In 2017, Melissa’s skin care collection was introduced on saludshoppe.com and sold out every month. I remember writing to Melissa and asking if I could re-order product a week after getting my shipment and she would either have inventory or be waiting for ingredients to arrive – all while being a full time mom with a baby at home. Two years of sales later, I got an email from her. She let me know she wanted to transition to being focused as a mom full time and wondered if I would be interested in buying the formulas to carry under the Salud brand. I made one phone call after. I called my Mom and said I had a limited production budget for the next season of my apparel line for Salud, or I could buy these formulas and bring the product in-house. She confirmed my intuition, put it all into the skin care collection. Not only did I buy the formulas, I had to introduce myself to a new supply chain and order all the bottles, design labels and order all the ingredients to start batching with a set of instructions from Melissa to guide me before my last order from her sold out.

There was a brief period after that where some version of imposter syndrome crept in, but the more I realized I am quite literally one of the pickiest people I know. I am a proud quality, well, snob. I will always pay more for better and would never even consider carrying something I didn’t actually want to use or wear myself. So I saw this merge as a deep reverence for our stories joining together. She was trusting me and I would trust the path forward.

The rest of 2019 was spent figuring out the skin, beauty and body care space. By 2020 I had done my homework. I signed up for my first trade show for February, the Indie Beauty Expo in Los Angeles, where buyers from all over the world came to scout new natural and clean skin care, beauty and body care brands. It was known as the place to find under-the-radar brands that knew sustainability and design. I spent my next big chunk of budget for show fees, giveaway samples, display, hiring assistants, Airbnb and meals. We went all out. It was amazing to walk the show and see brands like goop on display. It was energizing to be in this new-yet-familiar industry. It felt fresh and people loved that I came from a background in sustainability, product and design. Buyers were thrilled. Any lack of confidence before then was completely restored by the end of the show, all we had to do was wait for the seasonal orders for Spring that would come beginning later that month into March of 2020. Then, just as quickly as it built up, it was all on hold – the entire industry would come full stop for the lock downs due to the pandemic. I just remember thinking, that would have been so fun to see it work out, but I guess that’s the end of that road.

Thankfully, our family friend, Trevor, who owned a spa in the Bay Area and was my first wholesale test, came to me in April and suggested I sign up for Faire. He believed spas like his would need to rely on e-commerce to stay alive. So I signed up, sent out my direct link and within 24 hours, I was getting wholesale orders of people who met me at the show and wanted to carry the product online. I had to time to celebrate because every single week thereafter I was shipping or batching wholesale orders non-stop, on top of the direct orders that were already high traffic. This went on for the entire remainder of the 2020 through 2021 all while setting aside time for my son (then in 4th grade) and his remote learning. It was a complete blur. I had a beautiful angel of an assistant who was there with me the whole time, her name is Astrid. She became part of our pod and our Salud family.

Towards the end of 2021, I received a direct email from a rep at Peeba, a Faire-aligned agency built to serve the greater Asian indie boutique industry. Sunny, my now rep, asked if I would be interested in being in their pilot program since sustainable skin and body care was one of their fastest growing areas during the pandemic. I never admitted this publicly at that time, but I always knew I wanted Salud to be a global brand with roots in California. From my pinterest analytics, I could see where people were searching for organic products and it wasn’t in the USA (outside of some key cities like Asheville). The Salud customer was global and I wanted to meet them. I signed up and within that first week I was shipping my first order to Hong Kong.

I don’t think many of us could have anticipated the kick in the gut that 2022 has been for small businesses. After the highs of the revenue from previous years, we were now facing enormous increases in costs from the supply chain. Delays weren’t a problem like they were previously, it was now about shipping costs and inflation. Every month this year, businesses have had to made decisions to either choose margin erosion or pass on the cost increases to our customers. There is no right answer, but most people I spoke with about my collection would tell me they will pay whatever price I need to be at to stay in business. When you have DTC and wholesale channels like Salud, we are all interconnected. I decided to hold on price as long as possible to keep the product attainable.

In the much bigger picture, I believe businesses like Salud are getting set up to have an incredibly strong foundation for future growth. Businesses intended for the future will be intentionally launched, socially beneficial, environmentally responsible and thrive creatively. These past few years put us through a super compressed phase of perseverance and resilience and I believe it’s the catalyst that will set sustainable businesses up to thrive.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
After living in NYC in my 20’s while attending Parsons School of Design, I learned that the best way to host someone from out of town, is by foot.

Day 1: North County

AM:
+Tea at Communal off South Tremont Street for their Matcha Latte and grab a seat out in the front to people watch before heading over to the Annex where they sell Salud products along with other highly curated, locally made brands. It’s just a short walk to the pier to watch the surfers from above and stare into the clear blue ocean water before grabbing lunch at the fresh fish market below.

PM:
+ Afternoon walk over to Landmark Plant Co to get a big breath of plant life and ask about any plant baby problems and Rising Co for more locally made designers, like All Species.

+Dinner reservations at the The Rooftop Bar off N. Meyers St. for tacos, chips and guacamole and delicious mocktails and cocktails and the only ocean view amongst a hip scene of cultural movers and shakers.

Day 2: Carlsbad

AM:
+ Breakfast at French Corner on Coast Highway 101 for their Breakfast Crepes and Lavender Matcha Latte, bask in the sun while listening to french music in the comfort of quaint tables for two plus pups or strollers.

PM:
+Afternoon drive over to Leaf to be transformed to a Indonesian-inspired paradise of stones, incense, books and home goods for the spiritually aligned.

+Dinner later at Le Papagayo, the second location that was recently opened and famous for the locally renowned tapas menu. A merge of discerning locals and vacationers blended into a high vibe, spanish inspired, atmosphere.

Day 3: Encinitas

AM:
+ Breakfast at GoodonYa for a Veggie Bowl and Peach Kombucha

+ Walk up to the Meditation Garden to visit the koy fish ponds and find a bench at the top of the hill overlooking the ocean to unwind and let the ocean breeze calm you.

PM:
+ Four Moons for Day Spa massage treatments and an energy clearing with Diane.

+ Broadstreet Donuts stop-over for their Churro Cronuts that crunch with every sugar crystal bite.

+ Pre-dinner stop at Threadspun to visit Heidi the owner and see her high end assortment of local, Fair Trade brands.

+Dinner at Valentina’s in Leucadia to enjoy their savory Steak Frites, Tapas and Paella dishes in the modern meets spanish inspired dining room.

Day 4: La Jolla Shores

AM:
+ Drive down to La Jolla Cove to snorkel with the (friendly) sharks
+ Breakfast burritos

PM:
+ Lunch at Shorehouse Kitchen for a delicious salad and fries.
+ Dinner in the beautiful back patio at Piatti’s La Jolla where twinkle lights wrap the mature trees and you are greeted with warm break and the most delicious garlic aeoli dip.

Day 5: Balboa Park

AM:
+ Museum of Man, Natural History Museum and the San Diego Museum of Art . If you time it right, locals can get in free during the first Tuesdays or Thursdays of the month.

PM:
+ Lunch at Prado to take in the architecture and families coming in from all over the world.

Day 6: Glen Ivy Spa Day

All Day: Take a road trip into Temecula which is only about an hour and a half from Oceanside. Get the Grotto upgrade to the day pass that includes all access to the underground grotto, mineral baths and outdoor swimming pools. Definitely add on a massage or facial treatment before lunch and just bask in the sun or float in the pools for the rest of the afternoon.

Day 7: Beaches

No trip to San Diego is complete without a day at the beach. My absolute favorite beaches are Fletcher’s Cove in Solana and South Carlsbad at the Campgrounds. Both have restroom access and long stretches of sand to set up chairs and an umbrella.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Melissa Vines, mother, herbalist and aesthetician, for formulating a highly coveted, gentle collection of products that she sold in her home town of Franklin, TN and asking me to take over her legacy under the umbrella of Salud.

My husband Ryan and son Nico, for making space in our life (especially our home) for this enormous vision. During the pandemic, my husband would come home from working as a plumber, change into his workwear for Salud and run deliveries both locally and to shipping centers so I could manage remote learning with my son. His commitment to our family and unwavering support is a strong foundation for this whole experience. To my son, for his optimism and dreamy ability to believe in what I can do as his Mom.

Kristin Forbes, business marketing manager, for scouting me at a tiny pop up at Rais Case and inviting me to an event hosted by Mainstreet Oceanside that included press opportunity and truly launching the collection as a relevant local business.

Karin Trevino of Bowie x James and Heidi Ledger of Threadspun, for welcoming me to Leucadia with a shared retail space. Meeting customers and getting feedback in person while batching in a back studio there, truly allowed me to harness the beautiful energy for the Salud product extension into clean beauty.

Fati Feeney of The Lomas Brand for coaching me as I launched wholesale sales with global retail spaces. Her friendship, support and vision for the brand coupled with her fiery initiations helped me see the power in my experiences.

Peta Kelly and her book, Earth is Hiring. It was the launch of my career as an entrepreneur in social and environmental responsibility.

Last but not least, my family and team at Salud. For allowing me to lead a life of creativity and optimism, even when it seemed like there were more stable paths to take. Mom, Dad, Rick, Marci, Astrid, Alex, Amparo, Jessica, and Dean.

Website: saludshoppe.com

Instagram: @saludshoppe

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisonmetcalfe/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SaludShoppe

Image Credits
Photography by: Dean Deleon