Meet Staci Barrett

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Staci Barrett. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Staci below.

Hi Staci, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
Finding my purpose was a journey. The LĀ SOL Collective brand was born out of a combination of frustration and excitement.

Frustration that I could not find a truly clean sunscreen product for my family. I was looking for one product for the face and body, something that didn’t get in my kids’ eyes in the water, didn’t become ineffective after an hour in the pool or ocean, didn’t have the hormone-disrupting or cancer-causing chemicals, didn’t make you look like a white ghost, and didn’t feel greasy. I also wanted to make sure it was not just reef-friendly but was reef safe as we care about the environment. Oh and something that didn’t cost $50 for 2 oz.

I realized I was looking for the unicorn of sunscreen products and that’s when I got excited. Being in advertising for 30 years and having a best friend since we were 8th grade who has been in the beauty industry for her whole career – I got the idea for us to partner on a new clean beauty wellness brand. It took me three years to convince Angela to go for it and another two to find the right formula.

We were set and in June 2022 we launched with just one product. We now have five products and are in development of an exciting new clean tanning water, hopefully launching in 2024.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
We are a Newport Beach-based self-funded beauty and wellness brand. We are committed to spreading the word about the truth behind the clean beauty trend.

Our mission is to provide beauty products that are safe for your body and the environment. Lots of brands claim they are safe, but when you look a step deeper you realize they are not. For example, many sunscreen brands say they are “mineral-based” which might be true as their core active ingredient is zinc or titanium oxide BUT they then also add in ingredients like Oxybenzone, Avobenzone, Homosalate, or Octisalate which are all proven bad for your health. Also, brands say they are “reef-friendly”, but do they pass the Hawaii Care Act as officially “reef safe” like LĀ SOL Collective?

The goal of LĀ SOL Collective and our product is to take the hassle out of looking at every ingredient. When you buy from us, you know we have tested everything that goes into developing the product, we would not produce something we wouldn’t put on our kids and ourselves.

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

We’ve paid thousands for a beauty event that didn’t yield one viable contact. We over-purchased our first order and were left with thousands of units that were about to expire. We hired strategists to help us, only to realize we were the ones with the ideas but just didn’t know how to express it. You need to be ready to make mistakes that cost you time and money. Its going to happen. And everything will be okay.

Success comes in looking at the long game. Constantly ask yourself, “what do you want consumers to say about your brand five years from now” and let that guide and motivate you. Don’t be afraid to fail, you learned something – take that learning and do better.

What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?
The most impactful thing my dad did for me was to show me grit with a side of compassion.

My father was a teacher and high school football coach who put himself through law school while my brother and I were toddlers, had a successful law firm for 20 years before being elected a judge for his final years before retirement. He did all that but still found the time to throw the softball with me, buy me a cute pair of expensive jeans my mom would never have done and send me sneaky checks while I was in college to help me pay for my dog’s vet bills.

I always knew he worked hard for our family, we weren’t rich but we did just fine. He would take on cases if someone was really in need, no matter how much they had to pay him. In fact, he helped one family out in exchange for popsicles. Yes really, we had a ton of these Mexican watermelon and coconut popsicles one summer.

My Irish-born husband says I am an American optimist because I always tell him I’m not afraid of short-term failure, things will work out just fine. My dad gave me that. It was all those pro bono cases that led to a group of judges taking him aside one day and telling him to run for judge as they would all vote him in. He didn’t take on those cases expecting anything, but being a good human and lawman gave him the opportunity to be a judge, which he absolutely loved.

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