Creative Mountain Mama
Welcome to the Creative Mountain Mama podcast - for those that resonate with seeking a connection to the land, family, and a simpler way of life. We're talking about faith, motherhood, and slow country living. If you're up for real talk, genuine experiences, and finding inspiration in some of the most extraordinary places, this is for you!
Grab a metaphorical campfire seat and let's dig into the good stuff.
Creative Mountain Mama
Rediscovering Traditional Skincare with Kai Tallow
When Gabija of Kai Tallow shares her story of swapping the corporate ladder for ancestral-inspired skincare, you will be left feeling inspired. It wasn't just a career change for her—it was stepping into what she was meant to do! Our latest conversation is filled with insights. Gabija illuminates the often-overlooked benefits of tallow skincare, while weaving the significance of her journey into the fabric of her brand. I was thrilled by her authenticity and her mission to infuse quality organic ingredients into every jar, challenging the murky waters of "commercially organic" products. Get ready for a raw and revealing look at how what we apply externally is a reflection of the nourishment we crave internally.
This episode doesn't just talk shop; we get into a heartfelt narrative of motherhood and the resilience needed for entrepreneurship. As new mothers will attest, the postpartum period is a journey, and Gabija doesn't shy away from discussing the trials, the triumphs, and the transformative personal growth that can emerge. She also offers encouragement and advice for fellow moms weathering the storm of the early days. You'll learn why tallow has stood the test of time in skincare, and how simplicity can be your guide in an industry often cluttered with complexities. Join us for this exploration of natural beauty, where sustainability and traceability is not only possible but passionately pursued.
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Website: Kai Tallow
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Welcome everyone to the Creative Met Mama podcast. This week I am joined by Gapia from Kai Tallow. He talks a lot about animal fat skin care, incorporating ancestral wisdom as the basis of her company and healing skin issues from within. This is going to be a great conversation. We have a lot to share. Kavya, is there anything new?
Speaker 2:Man, january is almost over and I don't know. That means a lot of things for people, like looking forward to spring, but for me I try to do a challenge every single, not every single most months or something like a focus. And for January it's always been giving up sugar, so it's just like a reset, it's something to because we really indulged in December. So I really look forward to it. But it's been so tough this month because, well, part of it is because I started doing sourdough and it's been really fun to get into that.
Speaker 2:But I haven't been able to try any of the dessert recipes, which are really like they just look so delicious for someone that has not been able to enjoy bread for a very long time. But January is almost over. My husband actually just told me that he wants to do B carnivore for February to see how he feels of like and if it helps his workouts, and I'm like okay, honey, I totally bless you with that. I am not doing that because at this point I'm ready to do like sourdough desserts all of February. Just do a full on all sugar, like the cinnamon rolls are ready to go. So that's where I'm at.
Speaker 1:Oh, you're going to do your own February challenge. Yeah, you'll be supportive, you'll be there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you're going to cheer everyone to know I make all the foods. I'm not really sure what he's going to do.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. I'm excited to hear how that goes.
Speaker 2:So you started your own company, yeah, and you share a little bit about your backgrounds, yeah, so, man, this has been a prayer that I've been just praying for for probably since, like high school, honestly. But I started out after college, going starting at a corporate company and it's a huge company. It's international, but a lot of they do a lot in America and they sell private label food and really everything, but mostly food. So I was an executive there. I had a very high role, looking over six to seven locations.
Speaker 2:It was something that I really liked to do, but it was not something that aligned with my values. It was always this clash and it was so hard because I would get asked, like you know, we've had organic stuff and I would ask like, oh, like does it matter if you know this is organic or not, whether by customers or by my employees, and I would have to pretty much like, stick to the talking points and say that there's really no difference. But, if you prefer and it really got me into this like, what real organic is like from the farmers that buy versus like anywhere, like buying at store, like the commercial organic just is so watered down. It's really, it's really disgusting and that kind of led me into questioning everything you know, whether it's my food or things I put on my skin and when I got pregnant, that was like I did not want to put anything on my belly or on my baby that wasn't safe for me, that had ingredients that I couldn't pronounce. You know, had laundry list of ingredients.
Speaker 2:So you know, the funny thing is I started my business when I was five months postpartum, with twins, which, you know, any postpartum is difficult. But I have right now three kids under three years old and at that time I had a two year old and two newborn twins. And I don't know, I can't even tell you how I started this business because literally it just like fell into my lap and everything just flowed and I just felt God just being with me and walking, like from the name of it to the website, everything. And I don't even know how to start it because, like, when was I doing that? I wasn't sleeping at night, I wasn't sleeping during the day, so it just, it all just happened. And you know, I created a tallow based skincare company and it's been so fun and such a creative outlet exactly what I prayed for and it aligns perfectly with my values.
Speaker 1:So you mentioned commercially organic. What does that mean?
Speaker 2:Okay. So there are certain things that you have to pass in order for you to have that label, and I used to think that, man, if it's certified organic, like that is the highest level, right, but it's really not, because things like dairy, that's you know, cows that are in confinement or chickens that have never been outside, can be considered organic. So the really it's the cost is driving every decision in being organic and like everything with labels, there's like there's loopholes to everything and cut and big corporations, they find those loopholes. It is their job, it was my job to find a way to make everything cost effective.
Speaker 2:And you know, even like local within 400 miles is considered local In Europe. That's like three countries away. You know it's like that's not really local. And so, yeah, organic is very much watered down. The organic eggs that I get from my farmers that are never being fed soy and like they're outside, like that is too organic, and then you put an organic egg, that's it's. You can't even compare. They've never been outside, they've never seen the sun, and that, to me, is really sad.
Speaker 1:So there's a difference between labeled organic and then something just being done.
Speaker 2:well, yeah, and the eggs I get actually are not even certified, because you don't need to be and it's expensive.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so how did you harness that background to start your company?
Speaker 2:So I've always been into health. You know, in college I majored in the sciences. I did biology, I did all of the sciences but I ended up majoring in biology. I've been very passionate always about health, our ancestors, what they ate, what they thrived on, what they put on their skin, and that has really like I brought that into like the corporate world and everybody knew that. I was like I had the glass jar, like the mason jar, full of like weird stuff for my lunch. Everyone knew that.
Speaker 2:I was like why are you working here? You just seem like you know to clash a little bit. I was like, no, I love it here. But, yeah, I mean, I've always had that background and, of course, god is so funny in these ways where, like, you can look back and see all of the ways that you have been prepped into where you are now and I really feel like everything that I learned, you know, with biology, like knowing how, like what we are supposed to be feeling like and what are we supposed to be using on our skin that's not toxic and it's totally doable.
Speaker 1:Good biology and your science background directly relate to making that transition, or did you use more of the corporate side to make that transition?
Speaker 2:I think it was both because to formulate the skincare especially, for example, my raw honey cleanser like honey really doesn't mix with anything, which is why in all of skincare if you see honey on the label it's not raw. There's no way, because otherwise it doesn't mix. The sugar content is too high. So like just having that chemistry background in order to be like well, how can we keep the raw honey? I just I don't want to just put honey on the label for me to be like look, it's honey, it's great for you, it doesn't mean anything if it's heated, it's dead, Just like you know, like pasteurized milk. So that I feel like I pulled from that background and being able to know like how to keep everything clean and like what to keep separate and how to mix things, and then also learning like the business side of it and being really passionate about that, it just all really helped.
Speaker 1:Did you have a marketing background from that company?
Speaker 2:No, but the way the role worked is you did everything. It was very, very hands on and I like cried like the first year because it's so difficult, but you do everything. Whatever is needed, you're there, even though you're an executive and you know you have like 200 people. You know you're managing those 200 people. You're doing everything. I didn't directly do managing, but it was a lot of.
Speaker 1:I didn't directly do marketing, but it was a lot of that in my role, so corporate executive seven years in a very high-paced, probably high-stress role, became a mama, mama of three, including twins. Can you tell me a little bit about what mother had changed and what learned?
Speaker 2:Yeah, motherhood has been the biggest gift for me and I think I really think it can be for all women if we allow it to change us. Other than it being like. Well, how do I fit the kids in the current life that I have? And I really allowed my kids to change that I. How, how do we ebb and flow with this new morning? We are now up at 5 am. How do we learn to love this?
Speaker 2:And, for me, I realized that in order for you to really raise children that are capable and fearless and God fearing, you have to learn how to like, grow a human in every possible way. I find myself, you know, researching all of these things from like. Are we supposed to be mouth breathing or nose breathing? Like, what are we supposed to be eating in order to be healthy? Like, what kind of shoes are they supposed to be wearing? Like, clearly, the heeled shoes are not good for the.
Speaker 2:What kind of like at all of these questions, and I really allowed that to change me in a positive way, because it's like how you grow a human is how you have a happy life. So motherhood has been the biggest blessing. I don't think that I lost myself in motherhood. It's that I found who I truly am, and I really think that every woman can do that is stepping into that role, being confident as mothers and like, yes, doing the research. We're also trusting in who you are and making those decisions of like this is my home and we're going to. We're going to do things differently now as we come into this new chapter.
Speaker 1:How did you lean on your faith, especially when postpartum was twins?
Speaker 2:Oh, postpartum was twins was such a difficult time for me and, like man, like I just like anytime I even think about that, I just get so emotional because that was such a trying time for me and there's so many things that I wanted to do and I physically could not and I just had to lean on the Lord, you know, pray in those moments where, like you're in a dark nursery, like not even sure what to do, there is just I really just don't know how you do it any other way and just leaning into you know, my family, and allowing them to like pray on me and love on me and like really allowing them to help.
Speaker 2:Because a lot of times we're like, no, I can do this myself, I'm a push through and I'm like, no, like I needed the help and, yeah, just praying a lot, I mean. And then, as they grew older, I really have even now I really lean on Deuteronomy six of how we structure our day, as we really try to talk about God in the morning through through the night and allow that to make the rhythm of our day, rather than it just like being kind of chaos.
Speaker 1:Absolutely Any advice you'd give to a mama that's going through that stage right this second.
Speaker 2:I would say that whatever mom that you envision, that you would like, ideally want to be, just make small steps every single day in order to be that mom. Because I certainly had a vision. I'm like we're going to be outside, we're going to be barefoot and I don't even butchering an animal, that we hunted, all of these things. I'm like I want to be dirty and I want to be in it with my kids, and you know that did not happen right away. I was like I want to stay home and but as long as you make those steps, I am not mom now.
Speaker 2:I am the mom that's outside barefoot with her kids in the forest and, yeah, sometimes my twins are crying because they're like what is this mom? But it can be so much fun if we allow it. So I really my, honestly, my biggest advice is allow yourself to dream, because the mom that I am is going to be totally different from the mom that you are or somebody else and like. What you really like, imagine yourself, is like this is a special time in our lives. It's going to come and go, so let us really indulge in it and be the mom that you just dream of being. Indulge in that because I am having so much fun being like, let's do it Like we're going to soon be out of the toddler stage Because they're going to be different.
Speaker 1:The mom is going through that stage and she's facing going back to a big role. Can you talk a little bit about what that moment was like for you, starting your business, making that decision I think you said six weeks postpartum, and you know how could you encourage someone else to make that leap, if that's something they want? Yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean, even honestly I'm going to be a little bold here, Even if that's something that you're like, oh, I'm not sure if I want your infant. You are as a mom, you are the world to your infant, and if I could convince even one mom to basically quit her job and be with her kid even a year extra than they would, that is worth it to me because you are like their universe and when you walk out the door it's like we are meant. We are designed to be with our babies for a long for years. I mean to me at least like two or three years. So I was fortunate enough to have a lot of help from both of my family, so I was able to still continue to work while I had my first. But let me just tell you that as soon as I had my first and I was at work talking about finances and how we can improve this and like it was all meaningless, because you see the big picture and I'm like, yes, I do still like my job, but like my child is at home with her grandmother and like her grandmother is great, but I'm not there, and we found a way where like this is important enough to me and to my child to make it happen.
Speaker 2:And I did it and I remember when I quit, my director was like I just like your personality. I don't see you like where are you going to another job? Like, are you going, what are you doing? And I was like no, I want to focus on being a mom. I want to probably homeschool I'm not sure yet and I said all of these things and I felt so excited, not even knowing that a business was waiting for me, but one that I can actually do at home and like have my kids in the videos and just be so passionate about it, because it's something that I'm already using. And actually funny story is, as soon as I talked to him and I quit my job, I told him no, like I'm not doing anything else. This is it. A week later, I started Kai Talo.
Speaker 1:Like yeah, it wasn't happening in that conversation, but it brewed.
Speaker 2:Oh, it brewed, it boiled.
Speaker 1:So can you kind of go back to the basics for me? What is Talo?
Speaker 2:Yes, so many people actually don't know, but it's actually, it's rendered beef fat. So Talo. There's a lot of different qualities. But you take the fat, pure fat, off of a cow and you basically heat it up to get out some of like the impurities. I guess you would say it's all still like edible, but you kind of clean it out and then there are different ways to make it in order to be like more cooking or for skin, for skin always. You obviously want it to have less of an odor, but that is basically what Talo is. It's the fat of a cow that you then have in an oily consistency and then put on your skin.
Speaker 2:So Talo is like I remember when I started researching, like what, what, what can I use for my skin when I was pregnant, and like on my baby then, like what am I what? Surely our ancestors use something? And the answer is Talo. They.
Speaker 2:This has been used for thousands of years, like ancient Europe. The Romans used it, greeks used it, they use pure Talo and, of course, because you need moisture for your skin and it's something so special because it's not only an old idea, like this is not something I just like thought of, but it's. It's such a new idea and the the fat lipid profile of Talo is so incredible and it's very similar to the sebum of our skin, and sebum literally means Talo in Latin. It's like we have known this. It's not a new thing and it's so wonderful. It's so hydrating and my my favorite thing is that it's very sustainable, like even if I couldn't get any oils from across the world, like anybody can really have Talo. It's like the most local skincare that you can get, versus like coconut oil. It's like where is that coconut? It's surely not being grown in my backyard, you know.
Speaker 1:What would you say to someone that would say we have technological advances, we have more that we know now and we just don't need it anymore?
Speaker 2:You know, I feel like that's very hockey to say, because it's easier to trust big corporations on sourcing. My main thing is if you look at your food or at your skin care, do you know what that stuff is? Because, working in the corporate environment, they don't even know where that stuff comes from, because it's like there is no way that you can trace back where that oil is, even if it's organic, it's coming from across the world and it's not sustainable at all. I try not to convince anybody. If you want to keep going with your nivia or whatever it is on your skin and you're happy with it, that's fine. But there are so many people like me that we're searching for something that is actually natural, actually organic.
Speaker 2:Show me something like where you go to a store to get a skin care product. What can have two or three ingredients? Nothing. It is filled with ingredients that are actually harmful to you and it caused you to be red. It like long-term cause issues, even if it helps you in the short term with your skin. What are you putting into your blood system in order for you to have the skin care? All of that stuff it absorbs and it goes into your entire body, whether it's preservatives, microplastics 9 out of 10, 90% of skin care beauty products contain microplastics. No wonder it's found in breast milk. I try not to convince anybody, but once they take a look at the ingredients and how I'm like, I know the farmer that I got the beef suet from. I've talked to him. It is so traceable and it's real ingredients. If that doesn't interest you, then we probably are not going to get any of the things. In common with anything else, this is real stuff over here.
Speaker 1:And a good PSA. Yeah, so jumping back to the business. How did you choose the name Kai? How did that name come about?
Speaker 2:I actually had a couple of names in mind. One of them I was thinking about. I really created this for my kids. My children's name are Kasaya O'Raya and Isaiah K-A-I. So I was like maybe I should do something with that, but I'm not really sure. It's kind of like, where is this coming from? And my mom is my best friend. We were extremely close and I came over to her house. I told her I'm going to start a business and what do you think about this name? And I didn't tell her Kai. I told her another name and she actually was helping me with my twins that day.
Speaker 2:She went upstairs to put one of them down and she was praying about a name. And she came downstairs. She was like, what about this? And she said Kai. And I was like, well, I guess it's going to be Kai, because you just told me that and that was on my list and it was just something where God's hand was in it and it was so just beautiful. So I always want to remember why I'm doing this. Because the products are never just good enough to sell, because maybe, oh, this is cheap now, or like I'm just going to make the quality work, but the products are good, because my children use it and I use it as well.
Speaker 1:Where can someone go to learn more websites, et cetera.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so most of the stuff I do is on Instagram, so at KaiTalo and that's K-A-I Talo, so that's where I do a lot of educational stuff, because I know it's a strange thing, but it's not a new thing, it's only strange because we have kind of been forgotten about this information and KaiTalocom, my website, where I sell mostly Talo, but I also sell a cleanser that's made out of raw honey that I mentioned before and, yeah, I do a lot of information in order for people to learn more about it.
Speaker 1:And if you do go to her Instagram page, I will say it's very clickable. There are a lot of keywords from the cover page so you, if you have a specific question, she's probably answered it on there. You can click watch the video and I found it very easy to navigate to answer specific questions. Now, let's say I'm a 10 step facial beauty routine. How do I start using tele?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So if you're, if the 10 step skincare is working for it and you're happy with it, like, by all means, keep going with it. I am all about simplicity. Like I don't know how much time I have three little kids and what I recommend is you only need a gentle cleanser in at night. So, really, like I'm going to tell you my skincare right now. It's going to take me less than a minute.
Speaker 2:I wake up, I put Tala on and maybe I put some mascara on, and then at the end of the night, I wash my face with the Rahani cleanser. It's a non foaming, gentle actually gentle cleanser that does not strip my skin of the natural beneficial oils that it makes, and then I finish off with the Tala. That's it. It hydrates my skin. It replaces any serums, it replaces any uh like I stuff or anything specific, because we're so used to being like every inch of your skin needs a different product. But that is really marketing, because you, if it's a high quality item, which I am all about you don't need a hundred items, you don't need the 10 steps. If it's high quality, it's going to work for everything. It's going to work for your baby's diaper rash, it's going to work for a burn and it's going to be healing.
Speaker 1:Okay, that opened up a whole nother can of worms. You have your starter trio. It sounds like that's the routine to reference. Are there other uses? For the Tala or the trio specifically.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, so that my trio is probably like we're. I mean, people start off with that. So it has the cleanser, and the cleanser I use every day to wash my face, but also you can wear it as a mask. Again, when something is high quality, it should have multiple uses. And then the Talo is an all skin moisturizer. So my children know if they get a bumper bruise they're going to be using it on their skin. And then the third product for the trio is the lip balm. So people really liked it on their lips and it's extremely hydrating. So, yeah, the starter is definitely the way to go. Best seller, yeah Well, I mean Talo is talking to the best seller, but for bundles, absolutely, they always go to the starter trio.
Speaker 1:So a couple of options, depending on where you want to start. How do you source your ingredients?
Speaker 2:Thank you for asking that, because that is my passion. Every single ingredient. I know exactly where it comes from. So the main thing is obviously the Talo. I do not buy Talo from a company that like already renders it. I render everything myself and that's because there are definitely wrong ways to render it, because so many companies are like jumping on board with this now and like big companies that just clean it over, clean it and make it something that it's not originally. Mess up with the fat profile where it's not actually beneficial for your skin and to me. I source from a local farmer and I only get beef soot, not just beef fat from any part of the cow, but beef soot, which is specifically from around the kidneys. It's the most nutrient, dense, it has the most acids that are beneficial for your skin. It's amazing.
Speaker 1:Are there any other scientific or, I guess, evidence-based benefits by using beef soup particularly yeah?
Speaker 2:So it has the most stearic acid in the actual tallow, which is so amazing for your skin. I mean, I really try not to talk up the benefits that much because people think I'm like I'm lying, because I'm like people use it for cracked heels, to wrinkle reduction, to literal burns. That will heal so much quicker. And when I start saying this, people are like okay, what is this thing? It's just beef fat. What is going on? But that's really the truth and I keep kind of echoing this. But when you have a high-quality ingredient, it will be healing for all of your skin. And I get messages from people, whether it's on Instagram or just reaching out, that they're like this is really healing my skin. You know like I have less breakouts. The redness from my face has gone away because your body wants to naturally be healthy. It doesn't want to be in a state of breaking out and cracking and being dry. It wants to be healthy and when you give it the right inputs to do that, it will naturally heal.
Speaker 2:And tallow is just this amazing thing that we've known for such a long time that it works. It has so many beneficial vitamins and minerals that are it's high in, like vitamin A, e and K, just naturally. And I think one of the things that when you buy a skincare product, when you look at the label, it has so many ingredients. So when you think about putting a pump of that ingredient in your hand, how much of each ingredient are you getting? I mean it's, is it even like 1%? You know, if it's like 2030, it's just, you're not getting a lot. For me, if I have two or three ingredients in a tallow bomb, you're basically getting the pure pure thing, and the only reason it's not pure tallow is because it's it's not as spreadable. So I use jojoba oil to make it more spreadable and it is amazing You're getting that pure thing on your face that you can't get anywhere else with like a store-bought product.
Speaker 1:Nice, what is quality to you?
Speaker 2:That is like I probably overused this term because I'm so passionate about this. I'm like, if it's not high quality, get out of here, I don't care about it, and for many years I've had to fight this in like the corporate world. But quality to me means the highest possible quality. I will not settle for anything less. Anything less to me is an insult when it comes to the way the animals are raised, the what part of the fat I get from the cow. I don't want any fat off the cow. I want the best, the most nutrient, dense, and I want to do it myself because I want to control the quality. I do not trust any other company to do it.
Speaker 2:It is my passion and, like I said before there, there's a reason why it's high tallow. It is for my children. They use it every single day. It's going to be the highest quality. It goes on my face. It goes on my mother's face. I am extremely passionate about quality because that's what leads to healing skin issues and being actually effective, rather it just being like a marketing thing or like. I think this works. I've been using it forever. No, this does work because it's a real, actually organic and natural product.
Speaker 1:So much, gabby. Yeah, this has been super informative. I'm going to go on your website right now. K-a-i-t-a-l-l-o-wcom. If you have any questions, please visit her website or her Instagram page at iTalo Same spelling. I really appreciate your time today. Thank you for joining me. Thanks so much. I had a blast. K-a-i-t-a-l-o-wcom. K-a-i-t-a-l-o-wcom. You.
