WHY I LEFT MY CORPORATE CAREER TO CREATE THE MINERAL SUNSCREEN I COULDN'T FIND
By Marisa Russell, Founder & Chief Alchemist, Meadow & Bark
12-minute read
The Sunscreen That Changed My Life Wasn't Beautiful
The sunscreen that changed my life wasn't beautiful.
It wasn't silky.
It wasn't invisible.
It didn't come in elegant packaging.
It wasn't displayed on a luxury store shelf.
It looked like war paint.
A thick, chalky paste handed to my husband by a local surf guide on a remote island halfway around the world.
That little jar changed everything.
Not because I planned to start a skincare company.
Not because I wanted to become a cosmetic formulator.
And certainly not because I was looking for a new career.
It changed everything because, for the first time, we found something that actually worked.
Looking back, I realize Meadow & Bark didn't begin with a business plan.
It began with a question.
Why doesn't sunscreen stay on?
Before Meadow and Bark
If you had asked me twenty years ago where I'd end up, skincare would have been the last answer I gave.
I spent more than two decades building brands, solving business problems and leading sales and marketing initiatives for companies including AOL, Red Bull MediaHouse and Café Media.
I loved every minute of it.
I loved the strategy.
I loved the creativity.
I loved the fast pace.
I loved building something bigger than myself.
Every new challenge energized me.
But over time, I began feeling like something was missing.
Not excitement.
Not opportunity.
Purpose.
I wanted to build something that genuinely made people's lives better.
At the time, I had no idea that purpose would be waiting for me in a beach bag.
The Town That Built Meadow and Bark
People often ask where Meadow and Bark was born.
Technically, the company started on my kitchen stove.
But that's not really true.
Meadow and Bark was born in Long Beach, New York.
Long Beach isn't just where we live.
It's part of our identity.
Life here revolves around the ocean.
You can tell what kind of day it's going to be by looking at the surf report.
The boardwalk comes alive before sunrise with runners, surfers, cyclists, dog walkers and neighbors greeting one another as the Atlantic wakes up.
Salt air finds its way into everything.
Cars always have a little sand in them.
Beach towels hang over backyard fences all summer long.
Children spend entire days barefoot.
Families eat dinner after sunset because nobody wants to leave the beach.
That's how our family lived.
My husband, Scott, has surfed for as long as I've known him.
Our children grew up with wetsuits hanging in the garage, surfboards leaning against the fence and sandy feet running through the house.
Today one of our daughters is a lifeguard.
Our other children still spend every chance they get surfing, swimming and fishing.
I always laugh and call us "water rats."
But the truth is, when you live in Long Beach, the ocean becomes part of your family.
And when your family spends hundreds of hours every year outside, sunscreen stops being just another skincare product.
It becomes something you depend on.
"Long Beach didn't just inspire Meadow and Bark. It challenged me to build something better. When your family lives in the ocean, you learn very quickly what works—and what doesn't."
Like Most Parents, I Didn't Think Much About Sunscreen
For years, sunscreen wasn't something I researched.
I grabbed whatever was convenient.
Usually aerosol sprays.
Sometimes lotion.
Whatever fit into the beach bag while we were trying to get everyone out the door before the tide changed.
I loved how easy the sprays were.
One quick mist and off we'd go.
Like many parents, I assumed that if a sunscreen was sitting on a drugstore shelf, someone had already done the homework.
I never questioned the ingredients.
I never questioned whether it would actually perform during hours in the ocean.
I simply trusted that sunscreen was sunscreen.
Looking back, I realize I wasn't alone.
Most families make the same assumption.
The Vacation That Changed Everything
In 2016, we took a family trip to Barbados.
Our youngest was just seven years old.
It should have been a carefree beach vacation.
Instead, it became the trip that quietly changed the course of my life.
Every morning I carefully applied sunscreen to all of our children.
Every afternoon I noticed the exact same thing.
The delicate skin beneath their eyes was red again.
The kids would jump into the ocean.
Adjust their goggles.
Rub their eyes.
Wipe away the sunscreen.
Almost immediately, the protection was gone.
I'd reapply.
They'd go back into the water.
It happened again.
And again.
And again.
As a mom, it was incredibly frustrating.
I remember looking at Scott and saying,
"There has to be a better way."
At the time, I had no idea that one sentence would eventually become Meadow and Bark.
A Surf Trip Halfway Around the World
Not long after Barbados, Scott took what he still calls the surf trip of a lifetime.
He traveled to the Mentawai Islands in Indonesia.
If you're a surfer, it's the kind of place you dream about.
World-class waves.
Crystal-clear water.
Powerful equatorial sun.
He packed multiple high-SPF sunscreens.
He applied sunscreen before every surf session.
He reapplied throughout the day exactly as recommended.
He did everything right.
And he still came home from his first day in the water burned to a crisp.
Not because he forgot to reapply.
Not because he wasn't careful.
But because spending nearly an entire day surfing in intense equatorial sun is different from spending an afternoon at the beach.
A local surf guide noticed what had happened.
Without saying much, he handed Scott a thick mineral paste.
"Try this tomorrow," he said.
Scott laughed when he opened the container.
It wasn't elegant.
It wasn't invisible.
It looked like war paint.
The next morning, he covered his face with it before paddling out.
Hour after hour.
Wave after wave.
It stayed on.
When he returned to shore that afternoon, he wasn't burned.
The paste had done something none of the other sunscreens had managed to do.
It stayed where he put it.
Before leaving Indonesia, Scott bought every container he could find.
Neither of us knew it at the time, but those jars would become the beginning of Meadow and Bark.
Back in Long Beach, our entire family began using that paste.
The kids loved it.
I loved that it stayed put.
Then one day, we ran out.
I searched everywhere.
Nothing.
No distributor.
No online store.
No replacement.
Standing in my kitchen, I had a thought that would quietly change my life.
"What if I tried making it myself?"
That simple question would lead to more than 200 formulations, years of learning cosmetic chemistry, countless late nights over my kitchen stove and the beginning of Meadow and Bark.
FROM MY KITCHEN STOVE TO MORE THAN 200 FORMULAS
If I Couldn't Buy It, Maybe I Could Make It.
Back home in Long Beach, the little jar from Indonesia became part of our everyday routine.
Scott wore it when he surfed.
The kids loved it because it actually stayed where I put it.
For the first time, I wasn't chasing them down the beach every twenty minutes trying to reapply sunscreen that had already disappeared.
It gave me something I'd been looking for without realizing it.
Peace of mind.
Then one day, we scraped the last bit from the container.
I searched everywhere.
I looked online.
I called surf shops.
I reached out to contacts.
Nothing.
No distributor.
No U.S. retailer.
No way to buy more.
I remember standing in my kitchen holding that empty container and thinking,
"What if I just tried making it myself?"
Looking back now, that was the real beginning of Meadow & Bark.
I Didn't Know It Yet, But I Was Becoming a Formulator
People sometimes assume I had a background in chemistry.
I didn't.
I had spent more than twenty years in marketing, media and sales.
I knew how to build brands.
I knew how to tell stories.
But I had never formulated skincare.
So I started where I always start when I don't know something.
I learned.
Every night after work, I'd sit at my computer reading ingredient studies, cosmetic science articles and formulation books.
I learned about plant oils.
Natural waxes.
Mineral UV filters.
Antioxidants.
Botanical extracts.
Skin barrier function.
Emulsions.
Stability.
Texture.
Spreadability.
The deeper I went, the more fascinated I became.
I wasn't just trying to recreate one sunscreen anymore.
I was learning an entirely new language.
"I've always believed that if you care enough about solving a problem, you'll figure out what you need to learn."
My Kitchen Became My Laboratory
Our kitchen slowly transformed into something very different.
Measuring cups became beakers.
Notebook pages filled with percentages instead of grocery lists.
The stove became my laboratory.
Some nights I'd make one batch.
Other nights I'd make four.
I weighed ingredients to the gram.
I adjusted one tiny percentage at a time.
I kept detailed notes on everything.
How did it spread?
Did it pill?
Did it melt in the heat?
Did it feel sticky?
How did it hold up after swimming?
Could kids tolerate it around their eyes?
What happened after hours in salt water?
Every single batch answered one question and created three new ones.
Some formulas felt amazing...
...but washed off too quickly.
Others stayed on...
...but were impossible to spread.
Some separated overnight.
Others became so thick they were almost impossible to scoop out of the container.
Every mistake taught me something.
Every failure became part of the next formula.
Long Beach Became Our Testing Ground
One of the greatest advantages I never planned for was where we lived.
Long Beach wasn't just home.
It became our real-world laboratory.
There aren't many places where you ca
n test products the way we could.
Our family didn't need simulated conditions.
We had real life.
Scott surfing for hours.
Kids spending entire afternoons in the ocean.
Beach volleyball.
Swimming.
Fishing.
Sunrise walks on the boardwalk.
Long summer weekends that started at 8 a.m. and didn't end until sunset.
If a sunscreen couldn't survive Long Beach...
It wasn't going to survive anywhere.
"Every formula had to earn its place in our beach bag before it could ever earn a place in yours."
More Than 200 Formulas
People are usually surprised when I tell them how many versions came before the final product.
More than 200 formulations.
Two hundred.
Some were tiny changes.
Some were complete restarts.
Every adjustment mattered.
A different wax changed how it spread.
A different oil changed how long it stayed on.
A tiny percentage adjustment changed the entire feel.
What looked simple from the outside was anything but.
There were nights I questioned whether I'd ever figure it out.
But every morning I'd wake up thinking about the next version.
Looking back, I realize I wasn't chasing perfection.
I was chasing confidence.
Confidence that when my children ran into the ocean, the sunscreen I had just applied would still be protecting them hours later.
The Community That Helped Build Meadow and Bark
One of my favorite parts of this story isn't actually about me.
It's about Long Beach.
People often talk about entrepreneurship like it's a solo journey.
Mine never was.
Friends volunteered to test early batches.
Surfers gave me brutally honest feedback after spending hours in the water.
Parents told me what worked on their kids.
Lifeguards wore prototypes through long shifts in the summer sun.
Everyone had an opinion.
And I wanted every single one of them.
Because if I was creating sunscreen for people who live active outdoor lives, they deserved to help shape it.
One of those early believers was fellow Long Beach entrepreneur Angela Skudin, founder of Codfish Cowboy.
Long before Meadow and Bark had awards, magazine features or retail partners, Angela encouraged me to keep going.
She reminded me how powerful it is when women support one another in business.
That encouragement mattered more than she'll probably ever know.
Looking back, I realize Meadow and Bark wasn't built by one person.
It was built by a family.
Strengthened by friends.
Improved by customers.
Supported by an incredible community that wanted to see something born in Long Beach succeed.
That support became part of our DNA.
It still is today.
"People often say I built Meadow and Bark. The truth is, Long Beach helped build it with me."
Then Something Unexpected Happened
The more I learned about cosmetic ingredients, the more my mission began to change.
Originally, I was simply trying to make a sunscreen that stayed on better.
But as I researched ingredient after ingredient, study after study, I realized something much bigger.
I wasn't just trying to improve performance anymore.
I wanted to create formulas I felt completely comfortable putting on the people I love most.
That shift changed everything.
It became about performance.
Transparency.
Trust.
And refusing to compromise.
Without realizing it, I had stopped trying to build a product.
I had started building a philosophy.
Looking Back
Sometimes people ask if I knew Meadow and Bark would become what it is today.
Absolutely not.
I was just a mom standing over a kitchen stove trying to solve a problem.
But isn't that how many meaningful companies begin?
Not with a business plan.
With a question that refuses to let go.
Mine was simple.
Why couldn't sunscreen protect the people I loved the way I believed it should?
I wasn't going to stop until I found the answer.
Eventually, after years of trial and error, I finally had a formula I believed in.
It was time to send it to an independent SPF laboratory.
The results were exciting…
…and heartbreaking.
The sunscreen passed its SPF test.
But it missed broad-spectrum testing by a single point.
The lab told me,
"You can still sell it."
What happened next became one of the defining moments in Meadow and Bark's history.
The Day Everything Changed
After years of late nights, countless weekends, and more than 200 formulations, I finally had a sunscreen I believed in.
Not because it was perfect.
But because it represented everything I had learned.
It stayed on better.
It felt good on the skin.
It was made with ingredients I believed in.
Most importantly, it protected the people I loved.
Now it was time to find out if science agreed.
I packed up the formula and sent it to an independent SPF laboratory.
Waiting for those results felt like waiting for college acceptance letters.
Months—really years—of work all came down to a few pieces of paper.
The Phone Call
When the results came in, I couldn't wait to open them.
The sunscreen had passed its SPF testing.
I was thrilled.
Then I kept reading.
Our broad-spectrum protection had missed passing by one point.
One point.
After everything we'd put into creating that formula, I was devastated.
I remember thinking,
"How can we be this close?"
Then something happened that I've never forgotten.
The lab told me,
"You can still sell it."
I Couldn't Do It
On paper, it probably seemed like an easy decision.
The sunscreen had achieved its SPF.
Many people would have launched.
Made improvements later.
Started selling.
Moved on.
But I couldn't.
Not because anyone told me I had to keep going.
Because I knew.
I knew it could be better.
I knew that if I sold it anyway, every bottle would remind me that I had settled.
That's not why I started this journey.
I didn't leave a career I loved to create something that was almost good enough.
"I didn't want to build a company around 'good enough.' I wanted to build one around trust."
Starting Over
Instead of celebrating, I went back to work.
Back to the notebooks.
Back to the kitchen.
Back to the formulas.
More testing.
More adjustments.
More late nights.
More questions.
Friends asked,
"Isn't it good enough already?"
Maybe it was.
But that wasn't the point.
The point was that if I was asking families to trust Meadow and Bark with the health of their skin, then I had to earn that trust.
Every single day.
That meant doing the harder thing.
Trying again.
Somewhere Along the Way, My Mission Changed
When I first started this journey, I thought I was creating a sunscreen that stayed on better.
By now, I realized I was creating something much bigger.
I was creating a different standard.
One built around performance.
Transparency.
Thoughtful formulation.
And respect for the people using it.
The deeper I researched ingredients, the more I realized consumers deserved better information.
I wanted to understand not just what ingredients were in a formula, but why they were there.
That curiosity became one of Meadow and Bark's core values.
Today, every ingredient has to earn its place.
If it doesn't serve a purpose, it doesn't belong.
"Every ingredient should have a job. If it doesn't make the product better, safer or more effective, why is it there?"
Performance Matters
Living in Long Beach taught me something laboratories alone never could.
People don't use sunscreen in perfect conditions.
They wear it while surfing.
Swimming.
Running.
Playing volleyball.
Coaching Little League.
Walking the boardwalk.
Building sandcastles.
Chasing toddlers.
Teaching surf lessons.
Working lifeguard stands.
Real life isn't controlled.
So our testing couldn't be either.
That's why every formula we create still has to earn its place in our family's beach bag before it ever reaches yours.
Why We Continue to Test in Long Beach
People often ask where we test our products.
The answer usually surprises them.
Long Beach.
Of course, products go through professional laboratory testing where required.
But before that?
They go through us.
Our family.
Our friends.
Surfers.
Lifeguards.
Parents.
Paddle boarders.
People who spend entire days outside.
Because that's who inspired Meadow and Bark in the first place.
Long Beach isn't simply where we're headquartered.
It's our proving ground.
Every product has to survive real beach life.
Not just perfect laboratory conditions.
"Long Beach is still our toughest product tester. If something doesn't perform here, we go back and make it better."
Why Meadow and Bark Exists
People sometimes assume Meadow and Bark started because I wanted to launch a skincare brand.
The truth is much simpler.
It started because I couldn't find a sunscreen I completely trusted for my own family.
Everything we've created since then has been guided by one simple question.
Would I confidently hand this to the people I love most?
If the answer isn't an immediate yes...
We're not finished.
The Journey Was Never About Sunscreen Alone
Looking back now, I realize sunscreen was simply the beginning.
It led me into botanical formulation.
Plant science.
Skin barrier health.
Recovery.
The incredible connection between our skin, our environment and the choices we make every day.
It also led me back to something I had been searching for without realizing it.
Purpose.
Corporate America taught me how to build brands.
Motherhood taught me why.
Long Beach reminded me who I was building them for.
"Purpose isn't finding something easy to do. It's finding something important enough that you're willing to keep going when it's hard."
Looking Ahead
That sunscreen eventually became the foundation for Meadow and Bark.
But as I continued studying skin health, I realized something else.
Sun protection doesn't begin with sunscreen.
It begins long before you step outside.
Healthy skin.
Hydration.
Antioxidants.
Supporting your skin barrier.
Preparing your skin before the sun ever touches it.
Those discoveries completely changed how I think about skincare.
They also became the philosophy behind every product we create today.
Because great sun protection isn't just about SPF.
It's about preparing your skin, protecting it while you're outside and helping it recover afterward.
We call that philosophy:
Prep. Defend. Restore.™
And it's the foundation of everything we do.
Now that you know how Meadow and Bark began, the next question becomes:
How can you actually prepare your skin for healthier days in the sun?
In our next Journal article, we'll share the complete Meadow and Bark Prep. Defend. Restore.™ philosophy, including:
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Why hydration starts before sunscreen.
-
The role of antioxidants in supporting skin.
-
How to prepare your skin before sun exposure.
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Why healthy skin is more resilient skin.
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The Dot. Pat. Rub.™ method for applying mineral sunscreen to help achieve even coverage with less visible white cast.
Because sunscreen should be your last step before heading outside—not your only step.