Q: Lily you are a pioneer in the organic skin care industry, since 1986, wow, that is a long time, what is it that got you into this business?

A: I think it is like most founders of companies, we needed to find our own cure. I had terrible skin, cyst acne as a young teenager, it was awful, it shaded my entire life. People laugh at how I tell them, it was so bad I did not get invited to my high school prom, but it is true.

Q: OK, I believe you, but what exactly happened to get you started?

A: Again, like most entrepreneurs, it was not just one thing, but a collection of things over the years. The beginning, the seed, was the terrible skin. My parents managed to get me to dermatologists, but they never seemed to be able to afford the medication. Which is funny now, because, like so many medications these days, the cure is worse than the disease! Dermatologists back then, routinely prescribed tetracycline, an antibiotic, that later was often found linked to candida, yellowing of the teeth, and a break down of the immune system.

Q: You were lucky your parents didn’t have the money to buy it. But, what exactly made you start the company?

A: Parallel influences growing up were, my Dad’s apple orchard and farm and my sister’s vegetarianism. I grew up with my Father’s farm, as a farm laborer, like all my siblings, at the time, I did not feel that connected to the land, but later, clearly it has integrated itself back into my life. My entire life my sister did not eat meat and would drag me into health food stores. I was not the least bit interested, ever, until I developed this acne and the traditional methods just did not work.

I tried every over the counter medication and treatment. Nothing ever worked, not even a little. The dermatologist also told me not to eat french fries, chocolate, ketchup, etc. and I did not for over 10 years, and still no improvement.

Honestly, if the traditional and available synthetic chemicals would have worked, I may have just went on about my business, probably law school and never got into organic skin care.

So, I started the company because no other available products worked to clear up my skin.

This is the first of a series of interview questions we will be conducting with Lily over the next few months. Look for the next one in the coming month.