When it comes to women supporting and empowering other women, today’s guest has it down to a science.
Using her own natural skincare line, she offers more than just the healing from her products.
She offers young women a path to financial freedom and today she’s going to tell us how.
Audrea Fink:
When it comes to women supporting and empowering other women, today’s guest has it down to a science. Using her own natural skincare line, she offers more than just the healing from her products. She offers young women a path to financial freedom and today she’s going to tell us how.
[INTRO]
Audrea Fink:
Hi, this is Audrea Fink here with Julie Holton and Kathryn Janicek and we are your Think Tank of Three. Our guest today is Monika Mathews and we’re talking all about empowering women through economic development.
Kathryn Janicek:
Monika is the founder and executive director of the Life Enrichment Group, a nonprofit whose mission is to provide guidance and support to youth and families through positive channels of education, performing arts and mentorship.
Julie Holton:
Monika also heads up QueenCare, which is a luxury skincare line that sells products both online and in a brick and mortar store in Columbia City, Seattle. Monika, thank you for taking the time to join us today.
Monika Mathews:
Thank you, ladies so much for having me. It’s such an honor.
Audrea Fink:
I really want to dig into the QueenCare model because in talking to you before, I just think it’s such a cool business model, but I don’t think we can really do that until we understand how the Life Enrichment Group programs work and how QueenCare is tied into that. Can you give us a quick history of the Life Enrichment Group?
Monika Mathews:
Yes, so the Life Enrichment Group is a nonprofit organization that I started 16 years ago, really in response to a disproportionate amount of young people of color who were failing within Seattle public schools. Basically, I saw a need in my community and I filled that need with mentoring and academic programs for young people across Seattle/King County.
Julie Holton:
That sounds amazing. Can you talk to us about those programs? I mean what, especially the academic side, what, what is it that you were able to put together through this to help these students?
Monika Mathews:
Yes, so we have four main programs that we run.
Know to Grow is our college prep program where we prepare students for higher learning opportunities. We take them on in and out of state college tours and help them really be able to choose the college that’s right for them.
We have a program, Young Queens of Seattle/King County, which is a personal development program for young ladies.
The Scholars Project, which is a literacy support program for middle-schoolers. We do a free summer program every year where we help students maintain their learning throughout the entire school year.
And then we have Youth in Business which is our program where we teach young ladies about entrepreneurship and business where they actually help make and sell the products that QueenCare hosts.
So those are our four main programs.
Julie Holton:
Wow. I hear free in there and I know it’s not free for you, which is incredible for you to provide these resources free to the community. Where do you get your funding? How are you able to move this forward?
Monika Mathews:
So thankfully we have been supported by the city of Seattle for the last 16 years in various capacities. So that has been really great. We also received seed funding from United Way of King County to be able to start our Youth in Business program. They were looking for an innovative way to really offer the community a way to address economic development for young people of color. And then we also have private donors, private sponsors, but we’re always looking for more. We really want people to donate their time, talent, and treasure to us because it takes more than just myself or more than just my staff. It really does take a village to come together to support our young.
Kathryn Janicek:
And so how can people help you? You know, you’re helping these girls. How can people fill the gap if you have a gap in funding?
Monika Mathews:
Yes. Purchase the products. That is kind of like the number one way and why we created QueenCare to provide a vehicle for people to give back and also experience high quality products. But we also have a donation link on our website.
We are also looking for people’s time. So you can come volunteer, come teach a class, can help us come label products and just really just be positive influences in the lives of our youth.
Kathryn Janicek:
That’s awesome. You know, you mentioned your Youth in Biz Program, which is your QueenCare business, that portion. We love hearing about all natural, you know, we’re very specific in what we choose to put on our skin and put in our bodies when it comes to products and we’re really committed to like, that natural lifestyle as well.
So can you tell me a little bit about, you know, why you felt the natural product versus alternative products or other products might be a, that might be obviously cheaper to produce. You know, why did you decide to create natural products?
Monika Mathews:
My whole life I’ve struggled with what you would call “problem skin.” So I had eczema for really, really long time. Just really patches all over my skin and I was using your mainstream products, your Doves and your Jerkins and all that. None of those products worked, and my mentor of 20 years helped me.
She said, “You need to stop using those products that have chemicals in them that are harming your skin. And she had this product, this shea lotion that had been in her family for a really long time, the recipe, that she actually passed on to me. And I started using it and it cleared up all of my eczema like, almost immediately, maybe in a couple of months. And I immediately noticed a change in my skin, my skin was more soft, more supple, and I was sold on it. And she actually passed that recipe down to me and I was able to enhance the recipe, thus all of the QueenCare products. So that’s really how I got into it.
Julie Holton:
That is so incredible. And Monika, I just want to pause for a moment because first of all I can see you right now, and you have amazing skin. Your skin looks great. And I just think it’s really important to share with our listeners. We have so many, obviously, women listeners and we spend our whole lives from the moment we’re these little bitty babies, we are taught that we cover up.
We put on makeup, we put on lipstick, we put on, you know, whether it’s moisturizer or you know, there’s a million products that we’re supposed to put on our skin every day to make us healthier or look better. And, and these products for the most part, unless you’re seeking out, listeners, unless you are seeking out and doing your research on natural and healthy products, to be putting on your skin. The products you’re using are hurting you. Every single day, these products, they are full of toxic chemicals. They’re full of chemicals that are banned in other countries and Europe because we know they’re cancer causing, we know they’re causing problems with fertility in women. You know, the issues go on and on and on.
And I just find it what you said just really touched me because you said you were using this whole line of products, a series of products that were supposed to be helping you and in fact weren’t helping your skin and they were probably causing other issues as well. And so I think as women it’s really important for us to feel empowered and in doing this research, and feel empowered and in doing this research, and I applaud you for doing that and not only doing it to better your own skincare, but turning it around to help other women.
So that deserves a moment in and of itself to thank you for what you’re doing because more women need to know this information and need to feel empowered about taking back their healthcare and their skincare.
Kathryn Janicek:
And not only are you helping these little, these young women learn a business, but you’re also maybe teaching them something that they didn’t know because they would go to Walgreens or CVS because it’s cheaper. I get it. You can buy a soap for two bucks, a dollar. But if you’re able to educate them and tell them like, look, I had dry skin, I had this.
I understand this because I have a three month old right now who has baby eczema and I wouldn’t just slather her skin with a bunch of stuff. I have to make sure that what I bathe her with has, you know, very limited ingredients and I’m putting organic coconut oil on her and like giving her an oatmeal bath, like real oatmeal, like grinding down oatmeal and putting in her bath.
All the old – we’re talking about recipes that are hundreds and thousands of years old. We don’t need to like reinvent stuff and buy something at the store, which has 40 ingredients. We need to go back to, you know, what our grandmothers used. What our great -grandmothers used. So Monika, thank you for teaching the next generation this.
Monika Mathews:
Yes, thank you. Thank you for those words. And I think that it’s all a learning journey for all of us because like I said, I was using those products too and I’m still learning. Learned something new this morning, right?
So, I think that that’s kind of like a basis of our tagline, which is indulge, engage and uplift, right? We want people to indulge in our products and that really entails paying attention to what you’re putting on your skin. It’s self care, it’s self love, and you touched on that a lot about, you know, going back to some of those old school recipes.
Like I said, my mentor of 20 years passed down that recipe to me, that was passed down to her several generations. So really just getting, getting back to the basis of that. We do want people to indulge in our products. I definitely opened this brick and mortar store December 8th of last year, 2018 and everyone was like, hey, why are you opening a brick and mortar store? Everything’s online. You have Amazon headquarters in Seattle, what are you doing? You need to focus online. And that just wasn’t what we’re about.
We really are about community and face to face and how can people come in and really talk about some of the things that’s going on with their skin or some of the things that’s going on in general. Like, we’re all ambitious women on the grind and just going, going, going. But we really, these products are more than just something that you’re putting on your skin. It really is promoting everyone to slow down a little bit, take a little bit better care of yourselves.
So we want to engage with each other face to face. And then uplifting each other, right? So these young people that we’re teaching these business skills, you know, they’re helping make and sell the products. When people come into the store, it’s a live training ground for them to really connect with each other and really uplift the young people out of their current situation. It’s really important for us to continue to indulge, engage and uplift each other.
Audrea Fink:
I love that. When we talked originally, we talked about your tagline a lot and I just, I think it is such an inspiring tagline to go with such an empowering business. So I really appreciate you leading that charge.
We talked a little bit about the concept of self care and self love, which is a topic we have talked about a lot on this podcast and in our blog. And one of the things you said really resonated with me and I was hoping you could break down the concepts of, of self care and self love and why you think they’re so important to women.
So one of the things you said to me was like, I’m really ambitious. You know, I know you’re ambitious, like women are ambitious, but like sometimes we just got to stop, and take care of ourselves. And I just, I would love to hear you talk a little bit about that statement, especially since I know at least in this podcast we regularly need to be told to like, stop and sort of reframe.
Monika Mathews:
I think that as a whole, not a lot of us really were taught how to love ourselves. I think we were taught to take care of everyone else first and then take care of ourselves. And I think that concept, this continues, you know, mothers, we pass it for daughters. But it’s a little bit backwards because if I’m on “E” after taking care of everyone else first, I’m not going to be able to continue in a healthy way.
There’s so many ailments and diseases that are happening just because we’re on the go way too much and we don’t take time to stop. And I think that it’s important to be ambitious. We get things done, right? Girls rule the world! Girl power.
Julie Holton:
Yes, we do!
Monika Mathews:
I’m all about that. And we can do that, but we also need to kind of pencil some time in for us first, right? Because if I’m on empty, I’m not really gonna be able to engage with you in a way that’s very meaningful and helpful to you. I probably will be cranky or short or just kind of stressed out.
But when I engage with you from the standpoint of I’m on full, I’ve gotten enough rest, you know, I end my day with a bubble bath where you know, no one can knock on my door. I’m just in there by myself with my candles lit, a nice bubble bath. And we just have to get back to that as women instead of like running ourselves into the ground literally.
I just think that the need to like pay attention to that. Because that self love is basically synonymous with self care.
Julie Holton:
And it goes back to your tagline. Because one of the things I wanted to point out, you talk about indulgence. And you’re not saying indulge yourself by spending a ton of money either. You’re talking about simple things that we all can do, whether it’s a bubble bath and, and you’ve taken this natural product, um, development to a place where it’s affordable.
Oftentimes people will hear, oh, natural products, oh, I can’t afford that. And really it’s just seeking things out. And so what you’re talking about is not like, line up the appointments, get all those mani-pedis and I’ll, you know, that expensive day at the spa. I mean, that’s nice. You know, when there’s time for that and if it’s affordable and if it makes sense for you, but if it doesn’t find those little ways is what I hear you saying. Find those little ways to take care of you.
Monika Mathews:
That’s right. It could be taking a walk, ten minute walk by yourself. It could be just going to bed a little bit earlier, taking a nap. It could be wearing your favorite fragrance oil. It could be any of those things. And you’re right, those little things really do add up to us being present.
Audrea Fink:
Monika, Seattle specifically is seeing a lot of gentrification in its current growth spurt. I think a lot of communities are seeing gentrification happen with their growth, but specifically in Seattle we’re seeing a lot of these communities of color get pushed out. So part of the reasoning for your storefront versus the online in Columbia City was to create that place of belonging and to, to create a place where people could come and connect with their neighbors.
And then also a place where there’s some economic development and learning so that the community can kind of stay anchored in this space as well. Can you talk about how Life Enrichment Group and QueenCare are working to help retain the community in Columbia City?
Monika Mathews:
Yes. First I want to say that change is good. Growth is good too. So we definitely welcome growth and change in our community because it provides opportunities that may not have been there before.
But it is an issue in Seattle around communities of color being pushed out of their original homes. And it’s for a variety of reasons. Our thought process around why we wanted to be in Columbia City was really based upon place. Place matters.
So in your neighborhood you may have your favorite coffee shop or your favorite gym you like to go to or your favorite park. And this is no different when you’re pushed out of your community and you have nothing to come back to, that’s more hurtful and harmful than the whole, the whole, this whole gentrification thing that we’re talking about, right? Because you’re really, people are being ripped away from what they’re used to and the homes and the areas that they love.
I thought it was really important for us to stay in Columbia City. I’ve been in Columbia City for 20 years as a resident and I’ve watched this community change. Some change has been for the better and some change, not so much.
And to couple that with a product or economic development was really important to me because at the end of the day it’s really about green. And if you have the resources to be able to stay in the community that you love, then you will. Right?
And so to be able to give young people some skills, some entrepreneurial skills to be able to generate income and resources so that they can live the life that they’re accustomed to or maybe they can help out their families so that if they do want to stay in the area that they can, potentially.
QueenCare is primarily working with women of color, black women and girls, but it’s not just about color. It really transcends color straight to green. That’s why it’s really important that we provide economic opportunities, you know, business development incubators, which QueenCare really is and have more social enterprises like QueenCare to be able to support that.
Audrea Fink:
I love it.
Kathryn Janicek:
Awesome. Monika, what is your favorite of your products? Like what’s your go to? You have to have every day?
Monika Mathews:
I have to have the brown sugar scrub, in particular the lavender vanilla brown sugar scrub. I use it every day because it is so very moisturizing and I don’t really have to use much after I get out the shower, especially on those ambitious days where I’m just kind of like out of there. And I love, love the brown sugar scrub. It’s really good for your skin. It’s actually hard for me to say. I’m just like, going down the list. I love all of them!
Kathryn Janicek:
You should, if you created them! I’m so glad that you’re so passionate about what you, I mean, you’ve got to be one of the most happy people I’ve met because you are doing exactly what you love and you’re giving back in a major way, and that’s what we all want to do with our lives, right? I love, love, love that you, I mean, there’s no reason for you to not wake up and just love your life.
Monika Mathews:
That is very true. I do love what I do. And I think that in my late twenties I totally had this epiphany that I should probably figure out my purpose in life. I was kind of like, in corporate or I was here and I wasn’t happy over there. And this is what I teach the young ladies too. Like, when you’re choosing a career, don’t choose it based off of how much money you’re going to make. Base it off what your purpose is in life, your passion is in life, and what you’re kind of put here to do. And then you won’t wake up everyday dreading having to go to your job. You’ll have other issues like I need to stop working and take the bath, a bubble bath or do some self care and slow yourself down in that manner. But that’s really, really important to me.
Kathryn Janicek:
Well, we also understand how hard it is to run a business, if not how many businesses that you are running right now. So just know as your three Think Tank of Three podcast hosts, you have three major fans who are in your corner.
Monika Mathews:
Aww, thank you guys.
Kathryn Janicek:
You know, if you ever need any help, we just really, what you’re doing is very cool.
Monika Mathews:
Thank you so much. I really appreciate that.
Kathryn Janicek:
We’re in your corner.
Monika Mathews:
Yay. Thank you guys.
Julie Holton:
Monika, before we go, we are collecting advice from successful women in our communities and we’re sharing it in our Think Tank forum. So we have three rapid fire questions for you. Are you ready?
Monika Mathews:
I’m ready.
Julie Holton:
All right. Number one, is there a lesson that you’ve recently learned that you wish you would’ve learned earlier in your career?
Monika Mathews:
I wish I would’ve learned really just accounting basics for businesses earlier in my career. I am – and specifically in the area that you’re going into. So like nonprofit accounting is really different from just regular accounting, which is really different from your personal managing of your budget. So I wish I would’ve learned that a little bit earlier.
Kathryn Janicek:
That’s great. Yeah, I think we all do.
Julie Holton:
Amen.
Kathryn Janicek:
I’m sitting here like, I’m nodding my head yes. What advice would you offer to your younger self 10 years ago?
Monika Mathews:
I would just say love the skin you’re in. Whatever skin you’re in, just love it.
Audrea Fink:
Yes!
Audrea Fink:
So what do you think the most important skill to hone for a woman is in a professional setting?
Monika Mathews:
Communication for sure. I think some both interpersonal and just regular verbal communication I think is really important to be able to pay attention to and be able to get what you need out of a situation, I think. That’s a skill that definitely should be sharp in women.
Julie Holton:
Monika Matthews, thank you so much. Can you share with our listeners what is the best way for our audience to connect with you if they have additional questions or to check out your skincare line?
Monika Mathews:
Oh my. Okay. There’s so many ways that you can connect with me. We’re on Facebook, under QueenCare, under Life Enrichment Group. You can even find my personal page Monika C. Mathews, on Instagram under QueenCare and Life Enrichment Group. You can always email us info@lifeenrichmentgroup.org. I’m not going to give you my personal number because then that might be too much.
Julie Holton:
Our listeners will be blowing up your phone! I have a feeling you have a lot of new fans, Monika.
Monika Mathews:
Aww, thank you all so much. This was so great.
Audrea Fink:
And then just real quick, we talked about this earlier in the podcast, but to touch base at the end, if any of our listeners want to help the mission, what can they do? What would be most helpful?
Monika Mathews:
Please, please, please purchase our products. Try them out, give them as gifts. That is a great way to really financially sew a seed into Life Enrichment Group because Life Enrichment Group and QueenCare are sisters. So please also just donate. We have donation links on our website, www.lifeenrichmentgroup.org. Or you can visit us at www.queencareproducts.com.
You can also give your time. That is really important. We are always looking for guest speakers. We’re always looking for envelope stuffers. No task is too small, so please if you can give your time, talent or treasure, we would really appreciate it. It takes all of us to make sure that our youth are healthy and strong.
Julie Holton:
Yes, thank you! And we encourage all of our listeners, check out these products in person. If you’re in the Seattle area or online, if you want to support from afar, I know I’m going to be checking it out later today. That is all for this episode of Think Tank of Three.
Before you go, make sure you subscribe to Think Tank of Three on your favorite podcasting platform. That is the best way to show your support is to subscribe to us and be sure to connect with us and our guests like Monika online, thinktankofthree.com.
We do blog weekly. You can also find us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and each of your hosts is on LinkedIn, so connect with us there.
Last but not least, we have a private Facebook group so we can all give and get advice freely. Just look for the group in the community section on our Facebook page Think Tank of Three.
Again, if you like what you heard in this podcast, share it. You can find our podcasts on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play, Soundcloud. Basically anywhere you can get a podcast, you can get Think Tank of Three. That’s all for now, we’ll see you next time.
[OUTRO]