Meet Monica Pittenger: Co-Owner of Busy Beauties

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

Hi Monica, do you have a favorite quote or affirmation?
Yes! “The difference between Ordinary and Extraordinary is a little Extra.” I love this quote for a few reasons. As a former educator, I love the play on words. If you add “extra” to ordinary you get extraordinary. I had this quote hanging in my classroom every year I taught middle school math. It helped remind my students to put in a little extra and be the best version of themselves. When my sisters and I decided to start Busy Beauties, I asked to put this quote on the inside of every box we shipped. We planned on changing up the quote every few months, but it has stuck and has now become the motto of our company. One day we might change it, but for now you will see this quote if you order any kit that ships out in a box. This quote is the foundation of our company, we strongly believe that if we want to make this company extraordinary we need to put in the time, the effort, the passion, and of course a little “extra”.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
My sisters and I started a beauty company two years ago, this September. The 3 of us each have 3 kids of our own. In the busy-ness of life, we had lost ourselves in our family and our careers. We no longer had the time our energy to take care of ourselves. After many late night talks we decided to take some time for ourselves… take some time for self care. My older sister Julie lives in Houston, and she was having trouble with the Houston humidity. Her hair was untamable (think Monica from “Friends”). She started to try out different frizz free products but nothing worked great. We also wanted something to nourish the hair, add shine, and protect the hair from heat, so we started mixing a dozen different hair products together to get the desired results. We were shocked that there was not one product that would do “everything,” so we decided to make our own. After working with a lab for over a year, we did just that… created one product that did everything we wanted!! And that is how Busy Beauties was started! Beauty for the busy woman! Today we are two years in. We just launched a commercial with Kevin Harrington, the original from “Shark Tank.” We are starting to get in the swing of things and have expanded our company to include a skin care line as well as our hair care line. We use the best ingredients to get the best results. We pride ourselves in being upfront and honest with our customers. Our practices have really paid off. However, this journey has had many challenges. My older sister is a former chemical engineer turned executive at one of the biggest companies in the world, and can no longer help much with Busy Beauties. My little sister, Katie is a practicing doctor that works long and crazy hours. So communication and together time can be difficult. But we remind ourselves daily of why we started this company and we just keep going. Our biggest challenge has been our trademark. A few days after we launched, we were served papers asking us to cancel our trademark registration because another company decided they wanted a name similar to ours. This was new to us, as we did everything honestly. We filed for the trademark, ordered all of our inventory, was granted the trademark months later, and two days after we launched publicly, we were asked to cancel or trademark. We had no idea this could even happen! After two years with monthly legal fees, we are hopefully coming to an end of this process. We will update you all and let you know how this turns out. As women, we often devote so much time to others that we have no time for ourselves – especially our beauty. We are 3 crazy sisters (@3.crazy.sisters) who had a crazy idea to start a company creating products to help women regain confidence and look their best every day with minimal effort.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Well, I have only lived in Prosper for less than a year but I definitely have a few favorites already. If my bestie had her kid(s) with her, we would go to Silo Park in Prosper for dinner. It is primarily an outside establishment that usually has 4 food trucks parked around the perimeter. We love to go when Trinity Junction is playing. We just sit outside and enjoy the live music while the kids run around and the adults enjoy a beverage. Summer nights are beautiful in Prosper. If we had the opportunity to sneak away from the kids one night, we would hit up “The Gin” located in downtown Prosper. It has indoor and outdoor seating with live bands on most nights. If you have the opportunity to visit “The Gin” ask for Everett the bartender. He will take good care of you. The morning after all the good food and drinks, my bestie and I would go get our butts kicked at my favorite gym. It’s called Built 4 It Athletics and located between Prosper High School and The Prosper football fields. It is a small gym packed with different college and professional athletes. The director and trainer, Timothy Cook, will give you a workout of a lifetime.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I love this!! Our company is all about making beauty easy for the busy women. And these last few months have been crazy busy. So I would love to give a shoutout to all the busy moms out there. Having to home school your children while continuing to be “You” was a challenge to stay the least. So here is a shoutout to all the at home moms, the working moms, the part time moms, the single moms, the tired moms, and the scared moms. I see you!