Today we’d like to introduce you to Alison Metcalfe
Hi Alison, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I started my career in fashion design, but it was through an unconventional upbringing. Growing up around chickens, pigs and donkeys in Northern California, you would think I would be somewhat sheltered from the pop culture of the world. I have my Mom to thank for her creative eye and her determination. She went to school for nursing, but she was very artistic as a young adult. She made my grandparents a circular, white ceramic swan napkin holder that they kept on their kitchen table for as long as I can remember.
8-11 hour roads trips were commonly taken down to Los Angeles, where my parents grew up. Three children in the back row, sometimes in our pajamas, in order to make it to the city before night fell again were the norm. Our routes took us out from the pines of Lake Tahoe, past the farmlands of Salinas Valley and eventually over the big pass into the city where the air would turn warm, like an oven.
As first generation Americans from Mexico, my grandparents, the Limas’ and the Rojas’, didn’t attend college in the States. Instead, they all worked in manufacturing in Los Angeles. Both of my grandmothers were seamstresses and earned their own money as young adults; Sewing was a skill my Mom taught me at a young age. It was clear my maternal grandmother had incredible taste, with mink, turquoise gemstones, chandeliers and gilded mirrors of which I will never know the origin stories. She took pride in our family heritage, religious beliefs and how we carried ourself.
A hobby that started with tempura paints in 5th grade, eventually became my first job in high school working for the Santa Barbara Museum of Art as a muralist, and later, a summer art teacher for the youth program through the Ridley Center. While my friends were working in retail stores and restaurants, I was spending my summers in the back studio of a historical part of Santa Barbara. Floor to ceiling windows, across from a beautiful lake, warm honey wood floors and Spanish tiles. On the weekends I assisted with commissioned artwork inside multi million dollar homes. I knew nothing better.
It was that first summer that I realized I didn’t want to go to a traditional University like we had toured with my older brother, I wanted to go to college for art and design. I hoped my parents would enthusiastically oblige. Unfortunately, I didn’t quite make a solid case to move to NYC out of high school. Instead, I attended USF for two years before transferring to Parsons School of Design. So I did get there, eventually.
Parents often say something to the effect of, if someone offers you an opportunity to do something new, then take it. That sums up my career path.
I started my design career in the fashion industry in NYC. I was offered my first job through an introduction at my senior show. Our dean at the time, Tim Gunn, introduced me to a man named Mike Visnius and I was hired within a week of graduation for a Ralph Lauren division. This was years ago, and I do feel like the value in networking is even stronger today.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
After working in NYC, a family matter brought me back to California. Sometimes I think back at this particular moment as a feeling of jumping a timeline. I accepted a job as a designer for a fast fashion brand and I wasn’t happy there. Instead of working in a beautiful high rise design office near Times Square, rubbing elbows with designers at Fashion Week, I was working from 7am to 11pm in a cubicle in Anaheim, there were no windows in that office. It felt like I may have made a big mistake. It wasn’t until a year later I got a phone call from the owner of a sustainable brand, prAna, in Carlsbad – they needed help growing their team after a purchase by Liz Claiborne and I was recommended, again, by the Parsons alum network .
I would grow with prAna for 10 years, moving from Assistant Designer to Product Development and Technical Design Manager. The role took me to India, China and Vietnam where I would make friends with some of the most kind people in business as we developed our Fair Trade certification program. It was one of the greatest teams I’ve had the pleasure of working with, especially through an acquisition.
When prAna was acquired by a larger corporation, Columbia, I wanted to try a more creative endeavor that would give me more time with my son. These years are precious when they are young and I could feel a maternal need for change or my window would close. So I decided to launch my own sustainable business and named it Salud, which means a toast to our health.
Since I left a role that is still in high demand in the industry, I continued to work in consulting to alleviate the pressure on the business success right way.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Salud?
Salud was launched as a holistic lifestyle brand with the vision of bringing sustainable manufacturing back to the US through beautifully made, Fair Trade certified and certified organic products. My previous work in supply chain and chemical management, paired with a love of design, textiles and people became the foundation for the business offer.
In 2015, I launched the first ready-to-wear collection of organic denim and hemp separates, and later, a locally made loungewear collection in organic jersey. The woven and denim collection was sewn at Sewby in downtown Vernon near Los Angeles, and the knit collection with our seamstress, Noemi, in Oceanside.
Two years later, in 2017, my dear friend Gretchen was visiting from Tennessee when I was telling her about a goal to shift my skincare routine to an organic alternative. I joked about consulting for a well know skincare brand that I loved, to help them move into an organic supply chain. Instead of consulting for a new business, she encouraged me to launch my own line of organic skincare. When she introduced me to herbalist and aesthetician, Melissa Vines, it was truly a match of vision and values.
Being an entrepreneur is always felt in the deepest part of our bones. Perhaps it stems from being self sufficient as a young child, but there is something both comforting and truly isolating about building something on our own. That’s why it is so important when people tell us to do something we love and with people we trust – so that when we are in those islands of uncertainty, we can have faith in those little reminders that keep things moving forward. Melissa decided to take another path in her business journey and sold the skincare business to me to take under the wings of Salud. And now, it finally feels like the right time to bring on a new business partner too -continuing with the alignment of this vision. What a new partnership looks like, has yet to be revealed to me, but I am ready.
Today, you can find organic skincare, clean beauty products, body care and specialty collections on the site. As of this year, Salud is 100% direct-to-customer. Earlier this year I decided to pull back from wholesale to pivot the business while the economy settles during retail layoffs and inflation these past couple of years. I like to think these moments in time are truly testing our commitments and trust in our own path for growth.
My vision for growth is finding a physical space that is equal parts beauty and function, to serve as a future Organic and Fair Trade certified facility. I imagine a space to distill, batch and also a retail component to it that tells the story of wellness and California ease. I think I will forever be inspired by the feeling of the architecture in Santa Barbara. So whether it is her or in another town remains to be seen.
In the meantime, and in addition to the beautiful skincare products, you can know find human design sessions which are a new addition to round out my holistic living offer.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I love books with a lot of details or interesting data, like medical books and botany. There was a tiny window where I wanted to go to medical school to study reconstructive surgery until I realized I have vasovagal syncope (where you faint from specific triggers). My trigger was the sight of blood. I still have my mom’s Human Anatomy book from nursing school that I refer to often for homeopathy.
Autobiographies, spiritual stories, quantum physics and philosophy are other interesting reads. I have studied homeopathy since my son was little, so I search for Materia Medica books on eBay every now and then. A Repertoire of Homeopathy book by Kent I purchased last year is from 1964 and it’s falling apart but I love it. It still has a sticker on the inside from a pharmacy in Chicago.
The apps I enjoy most would have to be Substack (The Cereal Isle, Erah Society, The Creative Pragmatist), Pinterest, Everand (Any book online), and Neutrino Design (Daily Transits for Human Design). I just started my own Substack called, “Up to Some Good” where you can enjoy more of the deep dives with human design, gene keys and what I call social alternatives.
For spiritual seekers, I recommend the series, “The Law of One”. It’s a fantastic series about a true story of a woman named Carla L. Rueckert in the 1980’s who channels information about the pyramids, Jesus and other spiritual questions.
For entrepreneurs, I highly recommend, “The Birth of a Brand”, which is the true story of how Brian Smith started his UGG brand. Growing up in Santa Barbara, his story was truly an inspiration about passion, a vision and overcoming odds by paving your own path.
As for blogs, I follow those that cover current events, trends and retail news. I like Vernon Proper, a blog launched in 2022 that tracks retail news based in Los Angeles. For beauty, I subscribe to Retail Dive, a newsletter which is a wealth of current trends for DTC fashion, beauty and skincare business. For me, there is equal importance on business environments, trend and also pursuing our own path as entrepreneurs.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://saludshoppe.com
- Instagram: @saludshoppe
- Other: https://uptosomegood.substack.com/
Image Credits
Danica Taylor
