Meet Maya Barlow | Biomedical Engineer & President

We had the good fortune of connecting with Maya Barlow and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Maya, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
I absolutely love the topic about work life balance. This is one of my most frequently asked questions. My perception of “balance” has changed drastically over the years. When I used to think of balance I thought of concepts such as things perfectly even, spread out, and uniform. I used to try to balance everything in my life evenly- school, work, friends, family, social life, working out, etc. Now, I see balance by asking myself, am I making enough time to be accountable for my priorities? Balance doesn’t mean holding a tray level, entirely flat, and with items perfectly spaced . Balance is just, everything on the tray is stable and being held up. To do that, I had to sit down and really think about what mattered to me and why. Some things that I recognized as priorities for myself are that I want to build an ethically successful company, I want to be a successful biomedical engineer, I need to also prioritize my body and mind to function optimally, and I want to continually be there for my family. I want to push Sol Skincare as far as it can go. Something that truly helped change my perspective was hearing a CEO of a billion dollar corporation say, “You cannot live a balanced life and be the best. To be the best in the world at anything you have to give it your all. You physically cannot live a balanced life while giving something your all”. Building a company is hard to begin with, let alone while juggling 10,000 other things in your normal day to day life. For me, I had to sacrifice a lot of social luxuries. I rarely have cocktails with my girlfriends, I rarely go out on weekends, I deleted certain social media such as snapchat, I cut my tv time by about 75%, etc. I am only 24 so when I decided to discipline myself it was so hard for me in the beginning because I constantly had FOMO (fear of missing out). I was always so worried about losing friends, being forgotten about, that I would stop being invited out and that I would be “missing out on the best years of my life”. And you know what? The thing I was afraid of most, changed my life the most in the best way possible. I developed laser focus and discipline. All of those things were encumberments to my goals. When I finally stopped holding onto things that did not align with who I was trying to become I was able to begin my journey of growing into who I wanted to be.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I truly believe that our career paths start as children, not as adults nor teenagers. As long as I could remember I have continually wanted to be an example of a good leader and make a difference in the world. Even if the difference is in one person, that one person is the world to someone. My parents always admonished me that if we are able to help people then we are obligated to. Those words became a layer of brick in the foundation of who I am. One of my superheroes in life is my father. He has such an amazing mind, he is a nuclear engineer and a Veteran NUKE of the U.S. Navy. I have always wanted to follow in my father’s footsteps and be an engineer as well. Every day he is making a difference in lives, not only in our generation but also future generations. When I was in middle school I joined an all female engineering team led by professional and accomplished women engineers called Lego League that introduces STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math). This was my first real and subversive introduction to engineering. I was hooked. We competed in many competitions which we placed or won in all. This experience forged my path with the engineering and medical world, my eyes were opened to how many problems needed to be solved. Biomedical engineering is one of the engineering fields that bridges the medical field and engineering. This is the point where people say, “Wait, so where does this skincare company fit in?” I promise it’s coming. As my journey in life continued I began college at FAMU/FSU College of Engineering. I am thankful for the College of Engineering for providing me with so many valuable lessons. The longer I studied there the more inspired I was to bring my engineering ideas to life. The idea of not only being an engineer but owning my own engineering firm or company engrossed me. The more I thought about starting an engineering company, the more I realized I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing. I started to teach myself how to invest, I started submerging myself in audiobooks and podcasts, and slowly began climbing this mountain. I decided I wanted to start a company outside of engineering. Something that would teach me how to run a successful business, something that I was passionate about, but something that could still make a difference. This is where my love, Sol Skincare was born. I have always been passionate about health and beauty. My background of studying biomedical engineering has given me an extensive education on the body. The skin plays such a significant role in your body’s health. Also, who does not want to have healthy skin that they feel amazing in? I am forever thankful for Sol Skincare and where it has taken my career. Sol Skincare has taken me further than I could have ever imagined and now it is mine turn to return the favor. I am going to keep pushing it and taking Sol Skincare as far as it can go.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I love a good itinerary! The organization and planning can make or break a trip. I am not native to Houston, Texas but I do have a few things up my sleeve. Everyday we would start our mornings with a workout session. Vacation or not, our mind and body are always a priority. Some of my favorite places to eat in Houston are Another Broken Egg Cafe, Turkey Leg Hut, and Toulouse. Some fun things I would do are indoor skydiving at iFly, going to the Museum of Natural Science (they always have new and unique exhibits), ipic (one of the best studio movie grills in Houston) and we are definitely having a competition game night at Andretti’s or Main Event. For a nice relaxing day, we would go to Spa World in Katy to detox from all of the fun we had or maybe go for a nice (not too expensive) horseback stroll in Cypress.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
First and foremost, it is vital that I say thank you to everyone who has ever supported, helped, guided, educated, or encouraged me at any point in my journey. Support comes in an innumerable amount of forms. Whether it was sharing one of my business’s posts, buying a product from Sol Skincare, saying kind words to me on a difficult day, or whatever it may be, thank you from the bottom of my heart! I would like to shoutout my family for being there every step of the way. I love my family, we are extremely close knit. At this moment I would like to highlight my mom. My mom not only encouraged me to follow my dreams of being an entrepreneur but she has helped me package my products, been to every single one of my photoshoots, constantly re-shares Sol Skincare’s social media posts, but most importantly she has given me a resolute female role model in herself.

I would like to dedicate my shoutout to one of my dog’s, Kong, who recently and unexpectedly passed away. May we all be as selfless, loving, and courageous as Kong in our day-to-day lives. It is not who we are on the inside, but our actions that define us. We love you King Kong.

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