My New Motto: "Life is Hectic. Wear Eye Cream."
I recently became acquainted with Carley Weissert, an industrious young mom of one who is trying to build a business. Besides being industrious, Carley is the kind of girl who... loves pumpkin-flavored everything and doesn't care who knows it. Carley is a senior director with The Beauty Counter, a cosmetics company that is the brainchild of Gregg Renfrew, a retail executive who has embraced the cause of cleaner cosmetics. The company's purpose is to get safer cosmetics in the hands of as many people as possible. They use no harmful ingredients in their products because they believe that women can be beautiful and healthy. What a novel idea...
Once I heard about the company's noble purpose, I wanted to help promote the company. Real talk, their products are natural and effective. I've been using their eye cream for several weeks and I can attest that the products work well! As luck would have it, Carley emailed me. We talked. I liked her. So, I decided to share her story with all of you. Below is some information about Carley. Once you learn more about her, and the products she sells, I'm sure you'll want to place an order so here's the link, The Beauty Counter.
(Seriously, the eye cream is amazing! It's got a great texture that just melts into every crease so that you have a more youthful look.)
An Interview with CarleyWeissert
Fun Facts
1. Chocolate or vanilla? Chocolate, for sure!
2. Hometown? Pittsburgh
3. Interesting Pittsburgh Fact: I've run the Pittsburgh Half Marathon twice... Does that count?
4. Favorite restaurant meal? I'm a dessert girl, and I love a good milkshake from Burgatory!
5. How did you meet your husband? We were at a brother and sister's New Year's Eve party--he was friends with the sister, and I was friends with the brother. We ended up hitting it off that night, became friends, started to date three years later, and here we are today!
6. Childbirth experience positive or negative? I had a wonderful childbirth experience! I delivered at The Midwife Center and absolutely loved the care I received there.
Career
1. What makes you passionate about beauty? As women, we shouldn't be expected to compromise our health in the name of beauty. Whether you enjoy going au natural or wearing a full face of makeup, I think every woman deserves to know the products she's using are safe!
2. Greatest career success? After just two and a half months with Beautycounter, I've been promoted four times and now rank as a Senior Manager. I'm pretty proud of that!
3. Greatest career challenge? Getting work done can be a challenge with my 10-month-old crawling all over me! This interview alone took three attempts and about two hours to complete, ha!
4. What excites you about being a working mom? I have amazing flexibility with my company, which I love! I can also grow my business as I please, so the freedom to get creative and work it on my terms are exciting for me.
5. If you hit the lottery would you still work? Probably! Not quite as much, though I'm only working part-time hours right now as it is. I do love the challenge of it though!
6. What is the most exciting thing going on in your career right now (favorite product, etc.)? Our holiday collection is out right now, which I'm mildly obsessed with--the palettes are gorgeous! My team is also on fire right now and growing pretty quickly, which is so much fun!
Family
1. Has being a mom met your expectations? To be honest, my only real expectations for motherhood were perpetual exhaustion and infinite love. I'd say both of those are definitely being met! I'd love a full eight hours of sleep, but I wouldn't trade my babe for anything.
2. Do you have an overall parenting philosophy? If so, what is it? I have a more natural, holistic approach to parenting and lean toward the "attachment" style. Whenever I'm making a choice about how to deal with a particular situation, I always ask myself how I'd want to be treated in that scenario. I also think it's important to remember there's always a reason a baby is upset. Just because they can't use words to tell us or we don't know what the reason is doesn't mean it doesn't exist! I'm also a big breastfeeding advocate--I'm still nursing my 10-month-old and have no plans of stopping anytime soon!
3. How do you and husband make time for one another? We need to get better at doing this, quite frankly! Dates don't happen all that often. However, we do unwind almost every night by catching up on some television--we're big fans of American Horror Story (this season is terrifying me!) and This Is Us, which is partially based in Pittsburgh!
Work/Life Balance Secrets
1. What's your daily routine like? I'm up around 7am and out the door at 8:30am most days--I do a lot of mommy-and-me activities, and most of them are in the morning! Getting adult socialization and regular exercise are important to me, and I accomplish both through my Fit4Mom Stroller Strides in the South Hills and mommy-and-me yoga classes at Yoga Innovations in Bethel Park. If I don't have errands to run afterward, afternoons are typically spent at home with Kennedy. She plays and I (try to) get some work done! Dinner usually happens between 5-6pm, her bedtime is 7pm(ish), and I'm usually asleep by 10:30pm. Then we do it all over again the next day!
2. What do you do about child care? I work from home with the exception of events, so I'm lucky to not have to worry about childcare! My daughter can often accompany me to events, and if she can't, my husband is on solo daddy duty. If we both want some time away, we've got all of her grandparents in a 15-minute radius!
3. Favorite meal to cook for your family on the run? I tend to keep things pretty basic with chicken, broccoli and rice--I just switch up the spices! I also like to make stuffed peppers on occasion; they're pretty simple and very tasty!
4. How did you make being a working mom work? I take it one day at a time and remind myself that I can't do everything all the time. Having realistic expectations for myself makes all the difference in the world, especially for my stress level.
5. Do you think it is possible to do it all? I guess this kind of plays off the previous question, but I don't think you have to do it all. I think it's possible, but often times at the cost of your health or sanity. I'd rather have a pile or laundry to do or a sink full of dishes and my happiness--but to each their own!
Advice for young women (can be a quote saying or more): "Do your thing and don't care if they like it." --Tina Fey
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