At Valor Skincare, Susie Grace is creating environmentally friendly skincare and personal care products.
Susie Grace, founder of Valor Skincare, is an accidental entrepreneur. “When I first started making my own products, I wasn’t planning on starting a brand,” she says. But as she continued making products, she fell in love with the formulating process and started sharing them with friends and family.
Today, Valor Skincare offers products for the face, body, and hair that are crafted with natural, healing ingredients. The company is rooted in sustainability and research, and driven by Susie’s personal experience and passion for creating products that people can trust. Products are sold online, in stores throughout Michigan, as well as at her new Making Studio in Traverse City where she hosts pop-up sales events.
20Fathoms spoke to Susie to learn more about her experience as an entrepreneur and her vision for her quickly growing company.
The following interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
20Fathoms: What is Valor Skincare and what sets you apart?
Susie Grace: Valor Skincare is an outdoor wellness brand. We offer natural skincare and personal care products. Our goal is to keep the terrible ingredients that are in so many conventional products off our skin, scalp, and bodies.
I also have a huge love for nature; on top of wanting to have nontoxic products, I also try to do so with as minimal waste as possible. I do some shampoo bars, conditioners, lotion bars, and I offer a refill system. Some products are powders so I can put them in more sustainable packaging.
I am also working to step into the world of outdoor skincare; outdoor skincare is typically insect repellent, lip balm, sunscreen. But people who are out in the elements need to take care of their skin the most. Ingredients and products can do more to our skin and health than is currently available, so I’m stepping into that.
20Fathoms: Tell us about your background prior to founding Valor Skincare.
Susie: My background is in branding, UX, and Creative Direction, with experience across large advertising agencies, government software firms, global surf brands, and Michigan’s top lifestyle brand. I love creative problem-solving, thinking outside the box, visual storytelling, and helping people live better lives.
After experiencing a late-term pregnancy loss, I began researching skincare ingredients. What started as a search for answers became a deep dive into the lack of regulation in the U.S., especially around known carcinogens and hormone disruptors. I wanted better options. So I began making my own. After years of formulating on the side, after my 9-5 job, and then hearing how much my creations helped others, I knew it was time to take the big leap and start the brand.
20Fathoms: What was that transition like from your previous career to running your own business?
Susie: It’s kind of like driving in a blizzard, where sometimes it’s a whiteout, and I don’t even know if I’m on the road right now, or I’m trying to stop and I literally can’t. There’s a lot of learning, testing, and trusting the process. The biggest shift from my previous career is that back then, consistency was built in; there were more people around who already knew what to do.
Now, I’m the one creating that structure and figuring things out as I go. But that’s also one of the most fulfilling parts of building a brand: being able to look back at a day, a week, or a month and see everything I’ve navigated, solved, or created. That progress is what makes it all so worth it. Well, that and helping people.
20Fathoms: What has been the biggest challenge you have faced as a startup founder?
Susie: For me, trusting my intuition. I’ve never done this before and there are so many decisions to be made.
Outdoor skincare is still a largely untapped category — I’ve done the research, listened to athletes, and I’m confident in the direction I’m taking. As an athlete and outdoor enthusiast myself, I know firsthand what’s missing and what would be genuinely useful. The customer feedback and research just reinforce what I already feel to be true.
20Fathoms: What’s one of the most exciting moments on your startup journey?
Susie: I don’t think it will ever get old when someone sends me a message that a product helped them. It fuels me; it’s just the best!
20Fathoms: What’s your vision for Valor Skincare? Where do you see the company in 3 or 5 years?
Susie: Overall, Valor is a brand that people can trust. Valor means courage. I named it that so when people use my products, they would have the courage to be themselves in their lives. I know that the brand is creating products that are good for them. So that when they’re putting on their valor, they know the products are helping them live their courageous life.
I don’t want to be the most expensive or the most inexpensive; I want Valor Skincare to be approachable. I’ve started hosting monthly pop ups in my new space to reach more customers. (Instagram is the best way to stay informed about events and pop ups).
I see a lot of growth, especially in the outdoor world. In the future I’d like to be working with REI and larger box stores. I see Valor Skincare being a larger brand.
20Fathoms: How do you think starting your business would have been different without 20Fathoms and other community resources for entrepreneurs?
Susie: I’m a pretty independent person and feel like I’m pretty capable. I usually stubbornly try to figure it out on my own.
Entrepreneurialism forces you to not be like that. You really can’t know everything!
Having resources like 20Fathoms and OOPs (Office of Possibilities) and knowing people who are resources is so valuable. Delaney [Keating, Director of Entrepreneurship at 20Fathoms] is so supportive as a startup coach. I don’t see her all the time, but having people rooting for me to succeed when it feels like I’m in an uphill battle, people who believe in you and try to connect you… money can’t replace that. Every time I meet with Delaney she pumps me up. She’s very honest and direct. I really like that and I need that.
Also, Maria [Purvis, Manager of Events at 20Fathoms] randomly reached out to me and I presented at the 20Fathoms holiday party… those random little things provide a boost.
Peter Scott [Entrepreneur in Residence at 20Fathoms] has been especially helpful in quickly bringing me up to speed on business essentials like five-year projections and strategic planning.
Overall, everyone I’ve worked with has supported me in areas I initially knew very little about, and it’s made a huge difference with confidence and building the business as I grow. It’s so helpful – the resources that 20Fathoms has and that others have, are really helpful. I don’t even utilize 20Fathoms as much as I should!
20Fathoms: What piece of advice would you offer other entrepreneurs?
Susie: Slow down. Enjoy the process of building whatever it is you are building. I think our society pushes us to achieve and with that mentality one could miss how truly incredible it is to create something from nothing.