Leslie Deeann Mower: More than skin-deep.

• Author: Christopher, Elisha
• Position: People

If you can pronounce the words propylene glycol, fluorocarbon and bentonite, congratulations! But if you can locate these words on the bottles of your skincare products, you may as well wash your satisfaction down the sink along with your beauty regimen. It took many years of learning and research, as well as some painful adolescent and adult acne, for Leslie Deeann Mower to realize she was seriously harming her skin just by using everyday skin-care products that she had assumed were safe.

It was in 1992 that Mower and her husband, roes, started mixing healthcare products in their home, eschewing products they considered harmful. Ironically, they had just emerged from owning their own commercial chemical company, Newbrite, which provided chemicals for hotel chains, grocery stores and restaurants. After conducting some research, Mower realized that many of the harmful chemicals they were manufacturing were also ingredients in products she was applying to her face, using in her hair, or rubbing on her skin. From this harsh discovery, Neways International was founded--a company that prides itself on its safe, effective natural healthcare products. Mower, a 55-year-old mother of seven and grandmother of eighteen, is the founder. CFO and COO of the multi-million-dollar Salem-based company.

Mower grew up in Sandy, attended Jordan High School, put herself through beauty school and nursing school, and gained the knowledge and determination needed to succeed in her current line of work. At 18, she began working with the Salt Lake City Police Department on their narcotics squad. "I had a couple of incidents that were pretty scary, and I was young and impressionable," she says. But it was this experience, along with many others, that strengthened Mower's determination to persevere and eventually become the first woman ever to grace the cover of Tycoon magazine. "Dee Dee," her mother once said to her, "You cannot nave the world." But why...