USA
Cassidy Green November 5, 2020
Former New Yorker, Kendra Kolb Butler, a 20-year beauty industry veteran who led sales, marketing, and public relations at leading global luxury beauty companies, decided to make a major lifestyle change. Butler and her husband, accompanied by her baby and German Shepard, took the courageous step of moving to the mountain-coated town of Jackson Hole, Wyoming where she started her own clean, sustainable, and wildcrafted beauty company, Alpyn Beauty.
Immensely successful, Alpyn Beauty takes its inspiration from the landscape that surrounds it. While many find the mountainside climate unforgivable, Kendra Kolb Butler took inspiration from it. She discovered how the luscious, juicy plants of the Jackson Hole mountains remained resilient in the face of the harsh climate. This sparked an idea within Butler. Why not source these plants to develop a sustainable and wildcrafted skincare line? Now, with over five luxury products, Butler has created the first skincare line for women that sustainably harvests wildcrafted ingredients straight from the mountains of Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Mood of Living: Where did you grow up?
Kendra Kolb Butler: I grew up in Wilmington, Delaware
MoL: Where did you go to school and what did you study?
KKB: I went to West Virginia University where I studied Communications
MoL: What was your occupation prior to creating Alpyn Beauty?
KKB: Before Alpyn Beauty, I worked in the beauty industry for over 20 years at leading beauty brands.
MoL: What initially inspired you to go into the beauty industry and create Alpyn Beauty? Did you always want to start your own business?
KKB: I have always been a beauty junkie, so diving into the beauty industry was a no-brainer for me. Soon after I moved from New York to Jackson Hole, WY, I started to miss the beauty industry again. I started planning my own clean beauty apothecary, Alpyn Beauty Bar. I noticed very quickly that my clients were dissatisfied and not seeing results they needed for their active lifestyles and the harsh mountain climate. I was sitting in my backyard looking at the wild, hydrated, juicy plants in the mountains and started wondering, how has the natural flora evolved to survive (and thrive) in a place that was wreaking havoc on everybody else’s skin. When I discovered that skincare ingredients were growing naturally all around me, I began studying wildcrafting and the rest is history.
MoL: What were some of your biggest challenges when first creating Alpyn Beauty? What are some of the challenges you face now? What have you learned from these challenges?
KKB: I don’t think we were prepared for how quickly the concept took off. There was a lot of work to do and many positions to fill, so my business partner and I wore many hats in the early days—we still do. You have to have a large amount of humility as an entrepreneur. You have to be willing to roll up your sleeves and do anything and everything to help the business grow. Every task is important, whether it’s sending out a UPS package, or negotiating with a major retailer.
MoL: Alpyn Beauty is known for their practice of wildcrafting plants. What exactly is wildcrafting? When did you first learn about it? How is wildcrafting different from how other companies source their materials?
KKB: Wildcrafting is the practice of harvesting plants from their natural, or wild, habitat. When done sustainably and with respect, only the fruit, flowers or branches are carefully removed, and the living plant is left healthy and intact. Wildcrafted ingredients, and especially the mountain grown botanicals Alpyn Beauty uses, are more resilient and nutrient-rich than conventional farmed ingredients because wildcrafted plants have evolved to withstand Jackson Hole’s cold temperatures, heavy snow fall, low oxygen levels and so on. They’re nature’s miracle!
MoL: Sustainability and clean ingredients is at the forefront of Alpyn Beauty. What inspired this passion for clean and sustainable beauty? What is clean and sustainable beauty? Has it always been important to you?
KKB: I’ve always been a big believer in using things the way nature intended them to be. The less processed and purer, the better. Once I moved to Jackson Hole, my appreciation and respect for nature grew tenfold. To me, clean, sustainable, and wildcrafted skincare means we are responsibly sourcing ingredients directly from nature.
MoL: What SDGs do you implement in your business that are helping in the positive transformation of our world?
KKB: We are always learning more and more about sustainability and aiming to improve the brand. Alpyn Beauty is invested in giving back. We wildcraft from Jackson Hole, and we donate to bio-diversity restoration projects in Grand Teton National Park through our partnership with 1% for the Planet. Most recently, we started carrying a Net Zero Plastic Footprint through our partnership with rePurpose Global. We calculate the volume of plastic Alpyn Beauty uses and we fund the equivalent volume of low-value plastic waste to be diverted from landfills and the ocean to be recycled. Beyond our latest initiative, we’re always aiming to do more.
MoL: What does sustainability mean to you? Do you practice a sustainable lifestyle outside of the beauty world? If so, how?
KKB: Living in natural settings, I think it is so important to preserve the beauty of the world. I’m regularly amazed by how beautiful Jackson Hole is – from the plants to animals and beyond. It’s crucial that we protect the earth so it stays livable not just for wildlife but also for humans. Outside of beauty, sustainability is so important to me and my family! My husband and I are teaching our kids sustainable habits.
MoL: Before creating Alpyn Beauty in Wyoming, you enjoyed a life in Manhattan, NY. When and why did you decide to move to Wyoming?
KKB: My husband and I got to a point where we just knew that we needed a drastic life change. I remember the day we made the decision. That morning I was driving, and I heard somebody say on the radio “sometimes you have to jump off the cliff and build your wings on the way down.” I took that as a signal from the universe. We both quit our jobs the next day, despite our friends and family telling us that we were crazy. But it was a “life is too short” kind of moment—how were we ever going to know if we didn’t try? And it felt so temporary at first, like a reset. We wanted to just get away from the stress of the city and live in nature and breathe fresh air for a bit. Almost five years later, here we are, still in Jackson Hole! It just felt right.
MoL: How has the move to Wyoming influenced you as a person and your business?
KKB: Before the move, I was stressed out and tired. I truly feel being in nature has healed me spiritually and physically. Even my creativity has grown so much here. I get my best ideas when I’m outdoors in the beauty of nature, whether I am wildcrafting, hiking, or just enjoying the views.
MoL: Do you have any advice for someone who is trying to break into the sustainable and wildcrafted skincare/beauty business?
KKB: I think the best advice I took was “just start doing it.” Essentially, if you have an idea, put pen to paper and get moving! I just focused on one thing, took one day at a time, and just slowly but surely started chipping away. Once you’re on your path, connect with the people you know to work together. Network as much as you can. It is so important because you never know who will want to collaborate with you, be able to help you in a pinch, and so on. Always showing appreciation and graciousness goes a long way in the beauty industry.
MoL: How can every individual help to preserve the environment?
KKB: I am a big believer in the 3 R’s – reduce, reuse, recycle. These small actions really do help so much in your individual life, and if you can, I’d also recommend mindfully shopping from brands and stores that also implement the 3 R’s.
Photography courtesy of Alpyn Beauty
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