FREDA Women: Sarah Wright Olsen

Last week, Sarah Wright Olsen took over our Instagram for the day while on her family vacation in Targhee National Forest, Jackson Wyoming and Idaho. We love the way that Sarah adventured in The EDA and we loved getting to know her better. Read on to learn more about Sarah. 

Please tell us who you are and what you do?

My name is Sarah Wright Olsen. I am a Mother of two Wyatt 5 and Esmé is 2, an actor and an entrepreneur. I Co-Own Yourzenmama.com with Teresa Palmer. And I Co-own bāeo: a plant based skincare line made with organic ingredients to nourish your family and protect our planet. 

Can you tell us more about Bāeo and how you started it?

Bāeo was started by three mamas. We found ourselves going through very similar experiences in varied phases of our Motherhood Journey. We wanted to find products that were safe, organic, and plant based to use for the whole family but we couldn’t find anything that checked all of the boxes.  Our partner Sara made balms in her kitchen and would send us things to try and they far surpassed anything we could find. We kept running into the same issues: a product would be organic but didn’t work or had a weird smell. The products that smelled amazing or worked great would be full of fragrance and chemicals.  

We saw this empty place in the market that we wanted to fill with products that checked all of our boxes.  As three mamas with growing families we worked together for years to formulate and create a line that would be just as effective and safe for parents as it would be for newborns.  

We have five products; Bare Face: a soothing face balm, Bare kiss: our lip balm, Bare suds: a shampoo / body wash, Bare butter: an all over moisturizer (I personally use this on my face and body every day) and Bare booty: a balm for the bum you can use all over (perfect for diaper rash or a barrier cream, but it is not medicated so you can use it all over with its soothing essential oils).

What is your long term vision for Bāeo Baby?

Our long term vision for bāeo is to continue to make products the whole family can use. We believe in simplicity.  We want to make life easier, cleaner, and safer for our consumers and the planet. You shouldn’t have to wonder what's in your products you should be able to read the back of a product and know, "I am using a balm with avocado oil, sunflower oil, calendula etc. I know those are amazing oils for the skin and I know it is safe for the family.” We also love that with bāeo you can travel with very little products and have the whole family covered. I can not live without bare butter. I use all the products but I have found that it is my favorite moisturizer for my face and body. My kids love the smell and love using it after bath before bed.  

How do you balance both acting and Baeo Baby? 

I feel very lucky to have started this company with my friends. We always have each other's back and when one of us is out of town/working/traveling with our families and we fall behind the other will pick up the slack.  We are a very small operation so when you see IG posts or email blasts they are coming from one of us. We hand write notes to every customer, we pack and ship from our little Santa Monica office, we have an operations manager who is in our office everyday.  I just finished shooting a show for Netflix in Toronto, If I didn’t have these amazing partners and our OP manager I wouldn’t be able to do it. 

 

Being a female entrepreneur is a powerful thing. Can you please share a few words of wisdom/advice to someone that wants to start her own company? 

I remember before I had children when I was focused on my career alone I searched for other passions in life and felt like it was hard to balance more than one thing.  Then when I had my first baby I learned very quickly how mothers do so much. Your time is so limited that you have to focus on very small moments. I also found my passion through my kids. 

Starting a business is daunting when you are on your own. I give MAJOR props to the women who have done this alone.  I personally didn’t know where to start when I came up with ideas in my head. With my partners we all found our stride, places where we really blossomed in the business.  For me, having no business background it really helped to have other women to work with. I am also SO incredibly grateful to friends who have their own businesses who offered contacts, support, words of advice and encouragement.  It made us feel like we were a part of this very nurturing group of women all on the same team. 

 Words to live by?

My father-in-law always says “happiness is the journey”. We really try to live by that in our family.  Enjoying the days and the time together in the present. Celebrating all the little accomplishments in life.  Appreciating the small beautiful days, things and moments.

FREDA is also founded and run by two women, so we'd love to hear what makes your partnership work so well?

We are very different which is a huge plus.  We all bring something unique to the table. Sara lives in Washington and is a creative “jane of all trades.”  Anna hates numbers and handling the “business” side of things but she is amazing at it. This is where her type A shines! I am also a creative and I love doing our social, email blasts, and working on our creative projects.  We all brainstorm and work on marketing and make future goals. We have to keep each other in check in a very open way because it’s hard to balance it all sometimes and things are forgotten. We have found that the Wunderlist App works great for us to help keep us up to date on all our projects. Our business hasn’t even been open a year so honestly we are still learning and failing and learning and trying every single day. This is something we had to learn quick.  We will make lots of mistakes along the way, it is how we handle them, how we shift and what we take away from those mistakes that will help us to grow. 

What are you most proud of?

I am most proud of my kids. This sounds a bit cliche but I see so much light in them.  They have the ability to lead their lives with love and empathy and I hope that as we grow as parents we can help nurture and support all the magic that we see in them.  They blow me away every day and I love that I get to spend so much meaningful time with them. 

 

 

What are you reading right now?

I  am rereading Permission to Parent: How to Raise Your Child with Love and Limits by Robin Berman MD and Lights All Night Long: by Lydia Fitzpatrick 

What are you listening to?

I just listened to Oprah’s super soul conversations with Brene Brown: the anatomy of trust. Being in Idaho, we love to go to all the local music and outdoor concerts. I just bought an album from Michael Batdorf and it's some awesome folk music.