Meet Marie Olson | Certified Professional Aromatherapist, Investigative Nutritionist™ and Clean Beauty and Skincare Educator

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

Hi Marie, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
For as long as I can remember, I have had an entrepreneurial spirit. This may be because my parents have always owned their own business, or it may be because I’ve always been independent, or a combination of the two. I love the idea of setting my own hours and the flexibility I have as a business owner. It’s also a huge plus as a military spouse, since we move approximately every 2 years, and it’s much easier moving with an established business than having to start over from scratch with each new place the US Air Force sends us! That was my main impetus for starting a business, actually. It was hard having to find a new job every couple of years, and I thought it would be easier to just have a job that moved with me.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
After several years of working as a Special Investigator, I went back to school to become a Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (FNTP). I’ve always had an interest in natural medicine, holistic health, and how things work, and I felt called to learn more about foundational holistic nutrition. A friend of mine introduced me to essential oils while I was studying to be an FNTP, and I sought out quality education to learn more, and happily came across Aromahead Institute School of Essential Oil Studies. I took my first aromatherapy class sometime in 2015.

After completing my FNTP training, I opened a private practice and taught Nutrition at the Culinary Institute of Virginia, where I discovered that teaching was a passion of mine! Additionally, in my private practice, I combined my investigation skills with my nutrition and teaching passions, and helped people get to the root cause of their digestive and health issues. I continued taking classes at Aromahead, and become the first Certified Aromatherapist in Guam in 2018. I currently serve as the National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy (NAHA) Regional Director for Southern Arizona. Essential oils are a perfect complement to my practice, and I love custom-making products to serve my clients’ needs and teaching others how to make products, too!

At this point in my career, I’m still passionate about health and wellness. I now teach people how to ditch the toxic chemicals in their skincare and personal care products for natural, effective solutions that are gluten-free, affordable, and made in the USA! About four years ago, I partnered with a company whose mission, transparency, and values resonated with me. They’ve been in business for 20 years handcrafting affordable personal care products right here in the USA using the same wonderful ingredients I teach people how to make their own products with, but for less money! Originally, I was just looking to replace the makeup I’d been using for years (when the company I purchased from went out of business). When my friend told me to check it out, I wasn’t expecting much, but the more I read, the more I realized their ingredients were what I used when I made my products. Their mission resonated with me. Their products were affordable. In fact, I could purchase products for less than what it would cost to ship the ingredients to my home and make my own!⁠

I have loved sharing these nourishing, gluten-free, cruelty-free products with others ever since! I love sharing this business with others and watching them learn and grow as they also partner with the company, helping even more people to learn about the benefits of safe, non-toxic personal care products for their entire family.

As I have learned more about the importance of clean beauty and skincare products over the years, my “why” has changed. I feel like everyone should know about the importance of safe, non-toxic, clean and natural options, free of gluten and hormone-disrupting chemicals, like parabens. The importance of cruelty-free, and why that matters, can’t be underestimated. Our support of workers who proudly make these nourishing products in the USA in small batches with minimal processing and a freshness stamp (so you know exactly how fresh it is when you receive it), hand-poured with care, is a big deal. This is exactly how I have always operated my business since I was making my bespoke blends!

Now that I have been in business for a while, my “why” has changed again. Now my goal is to inspire and educate others. My goal is to help make peoples’ homes and makeup bags safer. My goal is to share this business with women and men who will also want to embrace the mission and vision of this movement towards health, and help ignite that same passion that was ignited in me when I first started learning about the importance of safer, cleaner personal care and clean beauty products. My goal is to see others succeed in their own business, and have a team that is cheering each other on, and celebrating each others’ successes. And I am doing just that! ⁠

Our team motto is, “What you want to ignite in others, must first burn inside yourself.” ~ Aurelius Augustinus⁠

And we strive to live that each day through our interactions with those we serve. If you’d like to learn more about our mission and team, please feel free to reach out to me directly. I would love to chat!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We recently moved to Arizona from Delaware, so we are still learning the area ourselves. I am excited to learn more about the area, and will definitely be checking out other people’s recommendations! So far, we have explored Colossal Cave, which was amazing! We could have spent hours in there! Our tour guide was fantastic, and we got so many cool tidbits about the history of the cave and the area.

Some of the other places on our bucket list are the Pima Air and Space Museum, Reid Park Zoo, Tucson Museum of Miniatures, the Tucson Museum of Art and the Grand Canyon.

I have to say, all of the places we have eaten here have been great so far, so we’ve been eating our way through Tucson over the last two months.

We’re also big movie buffs, so we love taking our kids to the movies, especially since we can recline the seats and relax in the air conditioning!

I love the natural beauty of Arizona, and we look forward to exploring more as the temperatures cool down in the Fall.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would not be where I am today without the support of my family, friends, team and fellow leaders. Everything from providing feedback on my marketing efforts, to helping deliver products, sharing via word of mouth, or just lending an encouraging ear has helped to motivate me and keep me going through my years of business. I could not do this alone, and because of their support, I have never been lonely on this journey!

Website: https://linktr.ee/marieolson

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thatsimplecleanlife/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThatSimpleCleanLife (Page) or https://www.facebook.com/mlbolson (Personal Profile)

Youtube: https://youtube.nutrisimplicity.com

Image Credits
Marie Olson That Simple, Clean Life