Meet Anna Person

We recently connected with Anna Person and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Anna, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?

Work ethic isn’t hard if you love what you do. It’s often a natural byproduct of having a deep passion for your work.

I’m not necessarily passionate about skincare itself, but I am passionate about business ownership and solving problems efficiently.

Still, I do recognize that my work ethic is a little bit insane. I am currently a full time Mechanical Engineer and Business Owner. I have had a strong work ethic even in things I did not have passion for, like engineering school, working at a gym in college, etc. I would like to think that this work ethic stemmed from being raised by two amazing parents who modeled hard work for my sister and I daily.

I grew up in a small business family. My parents own a manufacturing business. I grew up hanging out there and working there from the time I was old enough to sit up on my own.

When I graduated college with my engineering degree, I tried working for someone else. I spent 7 months working as an engineer at an aerospace repair station. I just couldn’t do it. Working for someone else just isn’t for me, and I think I knew that from a very very young age. I remember being 5 years old and saying, “I want to grow up and do what dad does. I want to be my own boss and engineer, just like dad.”

My mom was an extremely involved, hands-on, stay at home mom. In elementary school she was in charge of the Parent Association. She was always volunteering to go on field trips. She was head of the Choir Boosters and Volleyball Boosters. She was constantly involved in the best way. Any time she took on a project, she went all-out. She taught me never to do things half-way. Even with her involvement in our school and social lives, she still managed to prepare the most amazing and nourishing meals for our family each night. We always ate dinner together, even on the busiest of nights.

My dad was the one who really showed me the kind of business owner I wanted to be. He isn’t the kind of boss who sits behind his desk all day and takes month-long vacations. He’s the kind of boss who is never at his desk or on vacation. He’s sweeping the floor. He’s assembling parts that need to go out to the customer the next day. He’s coming in on weekends to make sure the customer has what they need. When he speaks about his employees in public, he says things like “She works WITH me”, not “for me”.

I was taught so many valuable lessons by both of my parents that can be applied to life and business. If I make a commitment, I better follow through, whatever it takes. If someone wrongs you, let it go, don’t burn bridges. If you’re being paid to work and you run out of things to do, pick up a broom and sweep. Find something to do besides standing around. If you see something that needs done, do it. There’s no such thing as, “that’s not my job”.

These things defined work ethic for me before I even knew what the words “Work ethic” meant. They truly set myself and my sister apart from our generation.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I work a full-time 9-5 as a mechanical engineer at Assembly Specialist, my family’s manufacturing and assembly business. My dad started the business 45 years ago, and I still get to work with him daily. My husband, mom, and brother in law also work at the business. Many people ask me, “when will you leave your full-time job for your business”. My answer is never. I hope to own Assembly Specialist someday.

In July of 2022, I opened Root Apothecary. An online marketplace selling hand crafted nontoxic skincare manufactured by us, Root Apothecary, as well as other items made by other small businesses. In the beginning, the plan was to really highlight the other small businesses I was selling, but people flocked to my products and never looked back. Now over 90% of our sales come from our Root Apothecary branded products, which are all formulated by me, and hand made by myself and my very small but growing team.

I started Root after my journey with holistic/functional health. Growing up I had a lot of health problems. I was constantly being dismissed or worse, mislead by doctors. It wasn’t until I started doing my own research and studying that I learned how to heal from my chronic debilitating pain. I did for myself what my doctors refused to do.

A big part of healing was cutting out toxic products from my day to day life. Did you know that women put an average of 168 different chemicals on their body each day? When I realized this was contributing to my health problems, I tossed ALL of my conventional products immediately. I’m talking makeup, perfumes, lotions, deodorant, hair care, skin care, everything.

I then spent a small fortune on what I thought was non-toxic alternatives. It turns out that these companies were just greenwashed! Their products were no better than the ones I had just tossed, but they were marketed and advertised as if they were “clean”.

I was so frustrated that I had just wasted more money on products I couldn’t use. Once I did more research and found brands that were ACTUALLY clean, I was sticker shocked! $300 for a 2 ounce jar? No way I’m paying for that. So I decided to start researching skincare formulation and I honestly fell in love.

With my science, engineering, and manufacturing background, I was able to quickly hop into the seat of “formulator”, whipping up my own products that I honestly loved more than anything I had ever purchased (even the toxic stuff!). And I knew exactly what was going into my products. I was in love!

I saw a need in the market space for an AFFORDABLE, clean skincare company. I also realized that I really wanted to own my Dad’s business someday, but I missed all the beginning steps of getting the business off the ground and running. Most of the time when you see kids come in and take over their parent’s established business, it doesn’t take long until they’re well…..out of business. In my opinion, it’s because those first one to two years in business is where you REALLY learn what it takes. I didn’t want to become a business owner without ever having experienced this for myself. I wanted to go through those hard ships, learn those lessons, make those mistakes and have to fix them myself.

All of these things coupled together lead to the opening of Root Apothecary. I never meant for it to get as big as it has. It started out as a business I was running out of my parents kitchen (my production area), and their upstairs linen closet (my shipping “warehouse” LOL). Now just shy of two years since opening, we have purchased a building and are also leasing a space for a warehouse and retail combination.

We have had multiple customers switch from bigger, more expensive, natural skincare brands to ours, telling us that our quality is unmatched. Our return customer rate is a whopping 52%. We have never spent a dime on Ads. Our business has spread by word of mouth and meaningful connections.

The customer base I have built is absolutely amazing. I feel like I am really more of a friend to most of them than anything. I talk with my customers daily on socials (@root.apothecary), and I have really gotten to know and like many of them! I’ve had “marketing experts” tell me that I need to stop treating my business’s social account like my own. I’m often on stories telling people about my day to day life, sharing about my dog, and giving behind the scenes details. I strongly disagree with the “experts”. I like connecting with my customers. It helps me get a better sense of who I am creating these products for.

We have some huge and exciting launches coming up this summer. I can’t share too much about them yet, but they are definitely worth sticking around to see! You can follow along on instagram @root.apothecary

Besides being an engineer and the owner of Root Apothecary, I have a few more irons in the fire.

I am in school for functional nutrition. I share information about health and wellness on Root’s instagram, but I also have an entire page dedicated to these topics (@annalynne.person). I plan to release 3 cookbooks, 3 exercise programs, and an ecourse surrounding period pain next year.

Lastly, I have started a new business called True Threads (@true.threadsco) that is really more of a passion project. True Threads is a limited release apparel company, specializing in collaborative releases with influential personalities, particularly those who champion faith, freedom, and holistic wellness, amplifying their voices and truths through our unique apparel. We want this apparel to spark conversations surrounding truth when you’re wearing it in line at a coffee shop, or out to dinner with friends.

We also wanted to give influential personalities, big or small, the opportunity to put their truths on apparel. We will offer creators we collaborate with to either keep a portion of the profits, or donate them to the charity of their choosing (so long as it aligns with our values). This is just my way of getting to spread God’s love with others, whether that be through a tshirt you read walking down the sidewalk, or a donation to someone in need. True Threads will tentatively have it’s first release in July 2024.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

1. Surrounding myself with people who are smarter and more experienced than me. You will never grow if you are the smartest in the room.

2. Learning how to learn. Engineering school taught me that I can teach myself literally anything. In engineering school, you’re not really taught very much in class. You’re given a general synopsis of differential equations, calculus 4, physics 3, thermodynamics 2, fluids, and vibrations. You’re expected to go home and learn how to actually apply these high level concepts on your own. This gave me the confidence to pick up a book on any topic and master it. It just takes work ethic and dedication. Anyone can do it so long as you have those two things.

3. Keep your eyes focused on you. If you’re successful, people are going to knock you off, copy you, bash you, and more. If you worry about them, you’re doing yourself and your business a huge disservice. Now, this doesn’t mean let them get away with it, but what it does mean is let it go. Don’t pay any mind to your competition or what they’re doing. It’s a lot easier to stay original and avoid imposter syndrome if you’re not paying attention to anyone but you. I heard this story once and it really stuck with me. When microsoft was asked what their next goal was, they said “be better than apple”. When apple was asked the same question, they said “Be better than we were yesterday”. That’s the lesson.

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?

I get asked this question a lot, coupled with “HOW do you get so much done???”

I think this skill was really developed in my school years. I was a student athlete, so balancing a busy schedule was always something I had to do. Here are my top tips for being overwhelmed.

1. Get it out of your head and onto paper (or the notes app in your phone). Make that to do list!

2. Categorize your to-dos. For example, wearing as many hats as I do, my categories look like this: Purchasing, Customer Service, Emails, Orders, Marketing, Photoshoots, etc.

3. From there, I assign each task an estimated time of completion and I highlight the tasks that take priority. This helps me focus on completing what NEEDS to be done, instead of jumping to something that’s easier or more enjoyable to do.

I also enjoy taking breaks to hang out with my husband, my dog franklin, family and friends. Prayer always helps. Playing piano or guitar or singing helps calm my nervous system. I have also downloaded an app on my phone that blocks work related apps like instagram and Gmail after 7PM each night so I don’t feel like I have to answer a customer right when they message. These things have helped with work/life balance.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.root-apothecary.com
• Instagram: @root.apothecary
• Other: @true.threadsco
  www.trth.us
  @annalynne.person