There are many great people that come together to create high quality Essential products. Meet Travis Culley, Quality Assurance Manager at Essential. Travis has been working with Essential since 2012.
What do you do here?
It is my job to make certain we have a consistent product from batch to batch. I test the viscosity of the product, the pH, and the microbiology. I also analyze the products for look, feel, and smell. I interact a lot with our compounders who make product and the customer service representatives and project managers who talk with our wholesale and private label customers. I have also spent 4 months working on a special in-house production team which is analyzing our procedures and working on continuous improvement in our lean manufacturing processes.
Why did you decide to work here?
I loved the opportunity to come into a small growing company where I could make a difference.
What’s your favorite part of working at EWL?
Everyone here is open to new ideas. Change is hard for people no matter what company you are in, but if you can show that modifying or changing a process can speed things up, make a more consistent product, or make life easier for someone, everyone is willing to let you give it a try. Also, when you fail here no one holds it against you. We all know we share a common goal of getting a quality product to our customers in a timely fashion, so even when someone fails, they are trying. We learn from those mistakes.
What’s surprised you most about working here?
I am new to the cosmetics industry so I wasn’t aware of the major differences between brands. I really like our products and have a hard time going back to other crèmes and lotions. If I have dry hands on the weekends and I don’t have any Essential Wholesale products at home, instead of going to the store and buying something I’ll wait till I get back to work and use some of the Calendula Butter Crème I have on my desk. I keep it there for ‘special on-going Quality Control testing’
What’s your favorite Essential product & why?
For hands I really like the Calendula Butter Crème, it doesn’t take a lot, has a great feel and I love the combination of the calendula and the cocoa butter in the base. For hair I love our Pink Grapefruit Conditioner, it always leaves my hair feeling really soft. It’s also great if you add a few drops of neroli essential oil to it. I used to always have dry skin after shaving and ever since I started working here I use our soothing shaving crème. I never have dry skin after shaving anymore like I did when I used foamy shaving lotions. I like to doctor it up with a few drops of lavender essential oil.
What fun fact or interesting story about you would you like to share with our adoring fans?
I used to do quality assurance in a brewery. Whenever I would go to parties all the husbands would want to talk beer with me. It was always a great icebreaker. Ever since I have worked at Essential Wholesale all the wives want to talk products with me it’s a funny reversal.
Also I have always been a big fan of lavender. I fell in love with it years ago when I was travelling through the south of France in Provence. Outside of the town of Avignon was large lavender field. I have never smelled fresh lavender like that until I started working here. Whenever someone is mixing our lavender essential oils in compounding it brings back great memories.
