Supporting Silvers Feature: Megan Ulrichs

I began my silver tradition at the age of 44 yrs after hiding behind the brown coloring agents since the age of 27! I can remember my senior year in high school where friends were picking grey out of my head! As I wasn't really ready to become a silver fox but my scalp was. My body was becoming intolerant to the chemicals and with my natural ways of living, a masters degree in holistic nutrition and an organic skincare business, I knew it was time to ditch the coloring. While my heart and my body knew it was necessary to stop hiding behind the brown coloring, my mind was struggling with the "aging" part. The internal ego was questioning, "will I be attractive anymore with grey hair?" "Am I going to disappear and become ignored?" Then came the comments "You're going to let it go!?" "Are you sure you want to age yourself like that!?" but the best was from my 19yr old son who is as wise as the day is long.."Mom, you should totally let your silver grow in! Don't worry about what people think, and besides then you'll have men your own age checking you out..unlike the guy guys my age that I see checking you out non stop!" THAT was all I needed to hear. Except my husbands words were the most motivating, "Megan, you will never be ignored! You could be bald and still be beautiful! It's ultimately your inner confidence and beauty that draws people to you." I had to dig deep on an emotional level for the year that it took to grow out my authenticity! At times it felt like reliving my awkward teen years with the reverse skunk stripe and my grey ombre. My hair was the topic of conversation for an entire year....everywhere I went! For the most part, I believe that my full forced positive attitude when responding to friends and strangers questions left no room for negative comments of disapproval. I received 90% supportive comments and that was a tremendous help to my wavering ego! Basically, I faked it til I made it with confidence and positivity. Now that I am fully grey and amercing the aging process, I get compliments daily and so many friends and community members have come to me to say how much I inspired them to also grow their silver locks out. It was the last step for me to fully walk my talk of natural living and embracing the process of aging gracefully. I feel complete and authentic in every way now!

Megan’s silver transition!

Q & A with Megan

“Who am I?”

I am the creator/owner of an organic Farm to Face skincare company glō luxury oils (www.gloluxuryoils.com) and the author of two books. One cookbook Fed Well based on the 80/20 philosophy of eating 80% whole nourishing foods and 20% you only live once foods. It is chock full of nutritional information on the healing qualities of herbs and spices along with nutritional benefits of ingredients on each recipe. 

The second book is called "SKinside Out" A Holistic approach to eating your way to glowing skin...Both books are due on shelves this December!!

“What has been the biggest benefit of the business?”

The biggest benefit to me is knowing that glō (acronym for give love often) products are not only making a tremendous difference in my customers lives by nourishing their skin and keeping chemicals out of their beauty routines; but also knowing that I can support small farmers buy purchasing directly from them and have the ability to offer superior quality products while doing so. I also benefit weekly from the creative process of making fresh batches weekly in my lab. Each week I turn up my music and dance my way through the batching and bottling process and love every second of it. As you can probably relate, when I’m fulfilled and happy, the entire house hums along with me! This is an important aspect of my work..feeling fulfilled.

“What/who inspires me?”

Mother Earth inspires me. She has most everything we need to stay healthy. As a Holistic Nutritionist working with food and plants to heal the body, I have come to a level of love and respect for what Mother Earth has to offer us. We can meditate and walk in nature to cleanse the mind. We can eliminate preservative and chemically laden foods and products and watch our bodies come into homeostasis simply by consuming organic whole foods provided from her! Her moods proved us with sunny days, rain and epic storms that all of us can relate to and at times fear...just as our loved ones have seen out of our own moods. I don’t mean to sound too “woo woo” but between the food, weather, trees, plants, natural medicine and rainbows that Mother Earth provides, who isn’t inspired by her!?

“Most exciting adventures I’ve ever done?” 

That’s tough! I’ve always been pretty adventurous between spelunking (caving) in college, back packing, birthing and raising 3 boys (the most epic adventure ever) traveling Europe, keeping up with my husband mountain biking...I’d have to say the most exciting adventures these days have been traveling in my 1990 VW Westfalia! Sure it sounds like luxury camping but the adventures happen after it gets us to our far away places and we hike miles up to breath taking hot springs or wake up to flowing rivers in the middle of nowhere or even more adventurous? When we break down and have to figure out what’s next! The unknown is often the most adventurous in my opinion.

“How & when I got started w glō?”

I have always been a bit of an alchemist and slightly obsessed with herbs and botanicals. It was During my masters degree in Holistic Nutrition (2013) when I was learning about the healing qualities of plants and essential oils that glō was conceived. At 43 years old, I began seeking a clean skincare line that didn’t smell too earthy and that actually worked on my sensitive, dry skin. My knowledge of the healing powers of essential oils inspired me to create facial skincare formulas using different essential and carrier oils. Once I found a combination that smelled fresh and felt divine, I began using the oils on my own skin. It took a full year of concocting and reconfiguring formulas before family and friends started asking me about what I was using on my skin and requesting the same for themselves. After seeking validation from doctors and a holistic dermatologist on the safety of my formulas, I finally settled on my first official glō product: Regenerative Oil.  Fast forward 5 years and hundreds of happy glō-ing customers later; I now source most of my oils directly from small organic botanical farmers and have created 10 approved products that sell out regularly in 14 different places ranging from naturopathic clinics to spas, upscale hotels and boutiques in Montana.“Mantra/Motto I live by”

This too shall pass and You’ve GOT this!! When life gets too hard I dig deep, pull up my big girl panties and tell myself and so many others in my life: “this too shall pass” and “You’ve GOT this!” I have my mom to thank for the first mantra as she always reminded me of that when I’d call crying about whatever crazy phase my boys were in! My husband has always been the cheerleader behind me saying “girl!!! You SO have this!!” It helps to have a team behind you and your mottos!

“What I’d like to tell my younger self”

My dad used to always tell me to “simply trust, trust what is meant to be” I’d like to tell my younger self to stop doubting, lean in and trust that all is well and meant to happen. It’s all part of life’s journey and there really is a reason for it”. If someone had told me I’d be an organic skincare business owner traveling in my VW from farms all over the U.S and sitting on expert panels, running wellness retreats, I would’ve laughed in their faces! I didn’t believe in myself until I hit 40.

“What’s my true age?”

I feel almost 50 and it feels fantastic. Well ok, physically my body has taken a lot of abuse over the years of being athletic and adventurous so it doesn’t really feel great. However, I like the wisdom and confidence of feeling almost 50!

“Thoughts on beauty and aging?”

I’ve come a long way here. In my 30’s aging felt scary and wrinkles seemed terrifying. Something shifted in my 40’s. I began to watch older women excel, thrive and find themselves. I am approaching 50 in July and I’ve never felt more empowered and beautiful. Sure my physical body looks different but this emotional/spiritual shift is so exhilarating that the physical no longer feels important. Don’t get me wrong, I love a great wardrobe and pampering myself. It’s important to feel beautiful as a woman, but these days it’s what’s going on inside my emotional self and life that makes me feel beautiful. My smile and squint lines or “angry eleven lines” between my brows are all well earned from 50years of adventures, raising crazy ass boys, laughing and crying, worrying and loving. These are our life lines and I wish our culture honored them more than we do. It’s a work in progress and it’s our job to love our selves and spread that message no matter what age we are!

You can follow this inspirational woman on her social media handles: @glo_luxury_oils and @glo_skinside_out as well as her website here.

Check out my Supporting Silvers page here on my website if you would like to be considered to be featured.

As always, my goal is to share chic ageless style and endless fun, from a sincerely silver perspective.  Including fashion, beauty, and relevant lifestyle information as we share this journey together!  Thank you for reading my blog! 

xx