THE ART OF THE SLOW BUSINESS.

• Author: McDonough, Laura

It's not all about growth. The owners of Good Medicine Beauty Lab chose a more sustainable (and more enjoyable) business model instead.

Good Medicine Beauty Lab is a third-generation skincare company based in Southern Utah and owned by Alicia Overton, Karen Hudson, Cris Coombs, Lara Wright, and Whitney Dunn, As I learned more about the five partners and their shared business philosophy, common threads of sustainability came together on nearly every topic of conversation. These women have created the ultimate sustainable business by clarifying and committing to their reason for being, valuing relationships over everything, honoring the source of their ingredients, and conveying their deeper connection to customers and their local community.

Clean beauty has become a booming industry in recent years and shows no signs of slowing down. But for Good Medicine Beauty Lab, clean beauty isn't a new concept; it was the fundamental idea that catalyzed the brand years ago. Inspired by the medicinal properties of unique desert plants, the skincare line was initially founded in the 1960s by a family-owned spa in St. George. "Our rich history in spas has been a huge influence on how we make our products and create accessibility and affordability," says partner Alicia Overton. Beyond the products, the value of self-care aligns with the brand's purpose to incorporate wellness, love, self-care, and wildness, and creates a strong sense of customer loyalty.

The Good Medicine Beauty Lab brand somehow manages to be time of-the-moment and timeless, enchanting and utterly sensible, all at the same time. If you're curious to find where their products are made, you won't find a manufacturing plant or office building. True to their name, Good Medicine Beauty Lab products are personally handcrafted in a lab by the five owners, who describe their daily operations as something out of a dream: early mornings are spent harvesting local ingredients out in the surrounding wild desert, and afternoons are for creating and mixing in the lab. The genuine excitement and passion in their voices made me determined to understand their secrets to success because I knew they couldn't be spared from ubiquitous business realities and challenges.

While their exact formula for success simply can't be replicated, I found a few key ingredients to share: business principles focused on sustainability that were inspired by the brand's history and products themselves.

Relationships are fundamental in creating a positive work environment, and the energy in the work...