Meet Rachael Pontillo: Holistic skincare author, educator, formulator, and consultant

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rachael Pontillo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rachael, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I am someone who is multi-passionate, who really does best when I have the freedom to explore different interests, and innovate on my own terms, within my own guidelines and deadlines. I never found fulfillment in the various jobs I’d held in Corporate America before I had children. My husband and I had always agreed that I would go back to work when our children were in school, but I knew that I wanted to be a present parent like my own working mom was, and that hiring outside childcare was not something we were comfortable with. All the existing job opportunities that were available to me at the time were either not consistent enough work, required hours that were not flexible enough for what I needed, or would have required me to compromise my values or goals.. That just wouldn’t work for me. So I decided to start my blog, which was about holistic skincare–a topic that not many people were writing about at the time–and see where that went. Within just a couple of months, I started attracting attention from the aesthetics industry, and was invited to write for their journals. As I continued my own journey progressed with my skin and health, I decided to pursue different continuing education opportunities to create opportunities to use my growing platform as a way to help people who struggled with skin issues like I did. It started with a health coaching practice, which morphed into coaching plus custom skincare formulation, which then progressed to me teaching skincare formulation, and so on.

What should our readers know about your business?
I actually have two businesses: Holistically Haute Inc. which houses my Create Your Skincare Pro family of online courses, in addition to other skincare courses, and my skincare brand consulting services. The other is The Nutritional Aesthetics® Alliance, which is a professional organization dedicated to advancing an integrative approach to healthy skin. We offer a membership program, as well as a practitioner training program: The Certified Nutritional Aesthetics Practitioner® Training Program for aestheticians, nutritionists, health coaches, and other skin wellness practitioners. What sets me apart the most is that I offer live classes and personal mentoring opportunities to my students in both companies. Most online course providers offer a bunch of prerecorded or downloadable content and group forum with limited support. I am passionate about higher education and continuing education, and highly value the teacher/student relationship and classroom experience. So while my courses do contain downloadable and pre-recorded curriculum, I offer weekly, or twice monthly live virtual classes with my students. This way I can gauge their progress, and adjust the curriculum and lesson plans according to meet their needs. Because of this, my courses are organic, and are tailored to the needs of the students, rather than the students trying to fit into a static structure that might not be a good fit for how they actually learn. I got to where I am in my business through dedication, willingness to invest in my own education and business through trainings and hiring mentors and support when needed; and never giving up. It has not always been easy. I did not start these businesses with the help of large investors, nor did I have a lot of my own start-up money. I did it mostly myself, and reinvested revenue back into the business. It was not easy, and new challenges always present themselves as my businesses grow. COVID 19 brought unexpected challenges to my businesses as well. But I was able to adapt my offerings, as well as my marketing–and I also was smart with my spending and budgeting–and because of that, my businesses will make it through. The main lessons I have learned along the way are that collaboration is great, but it’s important that the people with whom you are collaborating are on the same page, have skills that complement mine but are ones that I don’t necessarily already have, and that they have the same level of commitment that I have. I also learned to be careful who I trust, and to protect my intellectual property. Unfortunately, not everyone who appears to be ethical is. I also learned to only ask for help from people whose opinions I value, and who are qualified to help with what I need help with. I also learned the importance of planning, organization, and planning for the unexpected both with my time and finances. What I want the world to know about my brand and my story is that you are not alone, and that if you choose to go all in for yourself and your business, amazing things will happen. We’re all in this together, and Mother Earth knows best. Maybe your quest for safe and effective skincare solutions have felt like an uphill battle until now. No more. My businesses offer space where you’re validated for knowing that magic happens when you trust Mother Earth’s guidance toward botanicals and away from reaction-causing chemicals. This is the place where you won’t be “the only one–” you’ll be part of a like-minded holistic skincare community who speak the same language as you. You’ll marvel that these are “People who get me! Who talk about skin the way I do!”

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I live in Philadelphia and love the restaurants, theaters, and museums. Instead of approaching the city from the highway, I’d take them in through Fairmount Park, down the Schuylkill River, and into Center City on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. I’d show them some of my favorite art galleries and historic spots like Elfreth’s Alley in Olde City, walk through the historic neighborhoods in Society Hill, and maybe grab drinks and appetizers at some of the swanky spots in Rittenhouse Square. I am proud to be a member of the oldest women’s club in the United States, and one of the premier business clubs located on the top floor of a skyscraper–both have amazing food, so we’d definitely dine there. I adore the Philadelphia Museum of Art, so that would have to be one of the destinations. Outside of the City, we could also enjoy the shops and restaurants, and Morris Arboretum in Chestnut Hill, and hike the trails in Fairmount Park by the Wissahickon Creek.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I dedicate my shoutout to my husband Joe. Without his support and flexibility over the years–and his trust in me that even my wackiest sounding ideas would somehow amount to something real that would help our family–I would not have been able to make this into a viable business.

Website: www.createyourskincare.com and www.nutritionalaesthetics.com

Instagram: instagram.com/rachaelpontillo and instagram.com/nutritionalaesthetics

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/rachaelpontillo

Twitter: twitter.com/hhaute and twitter.com/TheNAAlliance

Facebook: facebook.com/HolisticallyHaute and facebook.com/NutritionalAesthetics

Youtube: www.youtube.com/HolisticallyHaute

Other: Clubhouse @rachaelpontillo

Image Credits
Julia Lehman