Behind the Brand | Alison Carroll of Wonder Valley
Product Photography & Styling by Alison Engstrom; Portrait Courtesy of Brand
Featured Above: Wonder Valley Oil Cleanser
Hi Alison, it’s great to meet another Alison! Congratulations on creating such a beautiful, delicious and effective brand. I’d love to start at the beginning, can you talk a bit more about your background and what you wanted to be when you were younger?
Hi Alison! When I was young, I loved helping my aunt working on her family’s farm in Pennsylvania - helping work at the farm shop, or with little odd jobs here and there. I was young but it left an impression on me, that feeling of honest work and working in nature. As a teenager I worked at the beloved local apple farm down the road. I wanted to be a farmer - to be outside a lot, to get my hands dirty, to host and have a space and make people feel taken care of and healthy. This is a very sweet question, I haven’t given that thought in some time.
You worked for the COOC an organization that advocates for domestic oils produced in California. Can you talk about what inspired you to start Wonder Valley? I worked with the COOC a few years ago. I did an incredible olive harvest with the team out in SF, still one of my favorite experiences ever, it’s a great organization, I always look for the seal!
I was the Marketing Director for the California Olive Oil Council, a non-profit based in Berkeley. The primary roles of this organization are industry advocacy, retailer and consumer education, and an annual extra virgin certification program for the 400 + olive oils produced in CA. My job was to oversee our professional olive oil taste panel for these weekly blind tastings to certify oils. It’s a pretty amazing process, in that while there’s similarities between a professional olive oil taster and a sommelier - the main function of the panel is to see if any defects in the oil are present that would disqualify it as extra virgin grade. Each defect tastes/smells unique, and it’s not as cut and dry as a pass/fail - but you can actually diagnose a problem with the harvest or milling process through the defect. It was a fascinating job! And I had the most incredible mentors and teachers during this time, and opened me up to the extraordinary world of California olive oil.
We were inspired to start our own - working with some mentors and colleagues from this time, like our master miller who presses the fruit each year. It was 2014 when we started, just my husband Jay and myself. It was a beautiful collaboration, we went up and helped with harvest and had a very small batch of just 50 cases that first year. We created a very unique bottle that was atypical at the time, with the intention of bringing California extra virgin olive oil to a new audience and really celebrate this incredible growing domestic agriculture industry. We had passion, a strong point of view on the branding, and something we wanted to share with the world - that was the impetus to start Wonder Valley.
What came first, the olive oil or the skincare?
Wonder Valley started with olive oil, and for years it was primarily olive oil with a collection of supporting home goods. The skincare followed after some time deep-diving into the history and lore of olive oil as this original ancient beauty treatment, and some personal formulations on a face oil to start. I liked how elemental olive oil is: it’s this ubiquitous ingredient that we all have. And we wanted to tailor our skincare line around that; what are these touchstone moments throughout our day that we can elevate with better, cleaner products whether that’s washing your face or bathing.
The branding is superb, how did you land on it?
A lot of the branding I credit to my husband, who is extremely talented. Our partnership in Wonder Valley is a beautiful balance of our very unique strengths. We wanted to create something that had a nod to the old world origins of olive oil that spans thousands of years, while celebrating our California roots. Which is how our Wonder Valley siren came to be.
You recently opened the Oil Shop in Marfa, Texas. Can you talk more about how you landed on that location and about the design of the shop?
For about three years, we had the OIL SHOP in our hometown of Joshua Tree, California. Around the time our lease was up, our good friends, Logan & Colt—of Cobra Rock Boots in Marfa—reached out with an opportunity to move the shop. They had moved their shop and atelier to 614 S. Dean Street, the old hardware store in town—a truly expansive, light-filled space. The Wonder Valley OIL SHOP shares the space with Cobra Rock, we’re in a separate part of the space with old metal casement windows and a huge vine that grows over half the building - the way the light comes through the leaves into our space is so special. It’s been about seven years of living in a small town full time, it’s a big part of our personal and business lifestyle, so it made sense to have a space in a small high desert town. We are loving having a reason to spend more time in Marfa.
Above: Wonder Valley Wonder Serum
What constitutes a high quality oil and what are a few misconceptions? I know there are many!
Extra Virgin equals free of defects. To put it simply, from the time it was fruit on a tree to oil in a bottle - the absolute best care was given. It’s a very hardy tree but a sensitive fruit. Harvest time and the milling process are really what defines the quality of the oil — for example, once you pick the fruit, you have to press that same day to ensure it's not starting to decompose. So if only a handful of trees are ripe at a time… you have to press frequently and in small batches. Our mill is literally running 24/7 during the month of November. I think a lot of people look for the term “cold-pressed”, which is important to not have high heat during the milling process (which can extract more oil, but also slightly burns it) - but that’s a low bar to set. I think the single most important detail to look for is the harvest date. An expiration date tells you nothing, and it's often extremely generous and arbitrary. This is a fruit juice, and it doesn’t age well like wine. You need to know when it was harvested or pressed to ensure freshness. Even an extra virgin olive oil will eventually oxidize and lose its potency, flavor and health benefits. It’s best to consume within 18 months of the harvest date if it's in dark glass.
What does a typical day look like for you?
Right now, I’m in my home office in Joshua Tree. We’re here half the year, working from our studio with the WV team in person. A lot of product development, sales support, marketing planning happens in a given day. There’s some time for me to book end each day; whether that’s a hike, a bath, a meditation, some reading, or some tea. The other half of the year we live on a small island in Maine, we’re fixing up a home there so the time change is beneficial - we usually have the first part of the day to swim, go on the boat, or work on house projects and then we’re working with our team in the afternoon and evening. It’s never static, always a balancing act, and we’re excited to be at this phase of the business to grow the team and expand the vision.
What is your current skincare routine?
Less is more! Oil Cleansing, which usually is a 3 - 5 minute facial massage to start and end the day, 1x a week I’ll add our Olive & Lotus Exfoliant. I alternate the Face Oil and Wonder Serum depending on what’s going on with my skin or more typically, the time of year. I am very much in the serum phase of tending to my skin during the drying high desert winter, whereas in the summer I want that sea-buckthorn and rosehip rich face oil to help with some sun damage and oily/sweaty skin. Hinoki Body Oil always! It’s the base to my personal fragrance routine too which involves a lot of layering of different scents. I like Marie Veronique’s SPF for my face, and for make up I like Kjaer Weiss’s eye shadow, Ilia’s mascara, and some castor oil for my eyebrows which is a bit of a serum and styling product in one. Occasionally lipstick and eye liner, I like the Japanese brand UZ for eye liner, there’s a mushroom-y khaki color I like that I found through ByGeorge in Austin.
Have you received any pertinent or inspiring advice to move through hurdles when it comes to business?
We’re about 8 years in, and in the beginning I would totally take things personally if a vendor over promised and under delivered, or if things derailed off the schedule or budget. It’s a luxury to be further along, to learn the importance of non-reactivity, and to tap into a deeper inner reserve of wisdom for the creative process. All the ah ha’s happen when my mind is inactive: a shower, a long day driving, a slow walk. Those creative moments just flow through. Sometimes things just don’t work, and you hit hurdles after roadblocks—don’t force it. I am learning to surrender and trust the process a bit, sometimes things need to be realized at a later date, sometimes it’s time to sever a relationship with a longtime vendor unexpectedly. My rambling point is: running a business is a series of unexpected events and so to keep this fun and joyful to do - learn to roll with it, whatever that looks like for you.
Above: Wonder Valley Hinoki Bar Soap
When you need to get inspired, what do you usually do?
Get offline! Computers and phones are such powerful tools and obvious necessities to run a business but I feel the mental overload and almost electronic buzzing after too much of it. Leaving the house is important since I work from home - if travel is possible, a trip is the ultimate inspiration jolt. On a smaller, more accessible spot - connecting with creative friends, being in nature, eating a very good meal, reading a book.
Would you say the pandemic has helped or hindered your creativity?
I’m not sure I can put a stamp on it that definitively. It’s been a prolific time for the output from Wonder Valley; in terms of marketing, finding new ways to connect to our customers, new product launches, growth. There’s been a low-level of stress and some loneliness for us all I think through this, which can make it challenging to create. It’s been an unpredictable few years, that’s for sure.
At ROSE & IVY, I believe in saying out loud what you want to manifest. Is there something you’d like to come to fruition in the years ahead personally or professionally?
Building a more robust holistic world around Wonder Valley. Being an independent and family-owned business, our focus is on sustainable growth. We’ll be growing our team in 2022, expanding our product line, and having more of a physical presence once it’s safe to do so - but the goal is never growth for the sake of growth. We’re planning for a unique play on a retail space that feels very exciting and something I can’t wait to come to fruition. Happiness is the goal: I want to go to work stoked and continue to be very proud of what we put out in the world and for it to positively enrich the lives of our customers.
Wonder Valley in three words…
Olive Oil Power!
