Hi! I’m Aubree, the founder of Otho Cosmetics. I’m an inventor’s daughter and have a passion for the beauty industry. I find almost all of what I buy from influencers, however I’m overwhelmed by the shift from social media to shopping media. When I use Instagram as a shopping tool vs as a social tool (that I then am marketed to all of the time), I seem to enjoy it more. Right now social media ads feels like you’re walking down the mall and all of the cart vendors are yelling at you to buy their products, but now they know what I looked at last / how old I am / what I googled last / what I bought last / who my mom is / what she bought last and they are getting to feel a little too targeted (creepy). From a business side I understand the shift and the value of data, from a customer’s side I’m exhausted by the unrequested change of my social platforms to shopping platforms.
All that to say, as I’m starting a cosmetics line (that hey hi I’m glad you’re here and I hope you like it!) and also am working on a shopping platform with my dad (John Otho Yeiser IV, a 5th generation inventor!) I want to keep that feeling of being overly sold in mind. I really like blogs and the old way of basically getting to read the journals of a few people you pick to intentionally search out. So starting these brands / dreams with a blog feels like something I would want to read from some of my favorite founders.
Otho Cosmetics launched with four beeswax candles – three fragranced coconut / beeswax blends and one 100% pure beeswax candle. When the idea started, I was very thankful to be working for my family’s company but also dreaming of being a stay at home mom. Otho took two years to come to fruition, and the launch date ended up timing out exactly with the due date of my first little one. When my daughter was one month old I did a Skype airing on QVC to launch something I’d been working on before she was born (I was almost 9 months pregnant when we filmed our b roll video footage). Now my daughter is two and a half and I also have a ten month old son. Being a wife and a mom are my first priorities, but I want to continue to grow Otho slowly.
I want to create good products that spread the good news. Every time I sit down in church my mind seems to wander to beauty ideas and dreams for this brand, so I’m trying to take small steps that will allow God to either work and grow the company or close the door – but in the last few years I’ve truly felt like I want to succeed at this but I want it to be because God made it happen. My dad always said you have to work hard and take the next best step and trust God with the outcome. Here’s one of the next best steps :)
xx
Aubree