Handcrafted in Laurel Canyon’s Linnea Stalberg on Love, Loss, and Hand-Sanitizer

When COVID hit, Linnea Stalberg, like many of us, found herself set adrift. And the great hand-sanitizer shortage of 2020 certainly didn’t help things. So she decided to direct her energies toward resolving the issue, and Handcrafted in Laurel Canyon was born. Our own Amy Cohen Epstein sits down with Linnea to talk about starting a business in the age of COVID as well as their shared experiences losing a parent at a young age and using tragedy as an impetus to build a better future.

Amy Cohen: I feel like I don’t know you as well as I would like. Because every time I see you, it's just not intimate enough. So I'm really excited about this interview. So let’s start with an intro. What are of your career highlights?

Linnea Stalberg: I would say that from a very young age, I had an entrepreneurial spirit that I never really tapped until later in life. My mom passed away when we were young, and my dad always wanted us to be self sufficient and have summer jobs. But, starting in my college days, I didn't want an hourly job. So my friend and I created an art camp for kids. It was incredible. We taught children, and at that point, I actually thought I wanted to be a teacher. But then I realized, we live in this capitalistic society where teachers are under-appreciated and underpaid. So I pivoted.

My first job out of college was representing artists. From there, I went into managing athletes. I managed action sports and Olympic athletes at a company called Octagon — surfers, skaters, snowboarders, you name it. I did that for four years, but I got poached by another company, which eventually became Amp'd Mobile. From there, I launched my career in experiential marketing. And I did that for quite a few years. I worked at MySpace for a while doing all their events back when MySpace was a big deal.

There were a few other jobs in there. But eventually I started consulting with a friend of mine. We consulted for numerous big companies. Then this nasty little thing called COVID hit. And I lost all of those contracts.

At that point, our family couldn't find hand sanitizer. So we just started to research online and looked up a couple formulations that were approved by the FDA. We started formulating and mixing at our house, and we loved it — how gentle it was, and the smell, and how it didn't leave your hands sticky air or dry. And our friends liked it too. So we started giving it to them and then our local Canyon store asked us if they could carry it. And from there we launched a hand sanitizer business.

So now, 30 plus years later, I've tapped into that entrepreneurial spirit that I channeled back in my college days.

Amy Cohen: How'd you get your hands on so much alcohol?

Linnea Stalberg: Oh gosh, you have no idea. A lot of online research, to be honest — calling every single chemical company out there. Alcohol is the toilet paper of the world right now. It's impossible to get your hands on.

You know what even gave us more of a difficult time, though, is sourcing the bottles and the tops. Because the supply chain got completely messed up. So it was difficult to continue to source the things we needed in order to create and make the product.

Amy Cohen: There are so many people who want to start businesses out there, but so few of us actually do it — a lot of inspiration, but not a lot of perspiration. The perspiration, I guess, is what really makes a company successful. So you're doing it, which is magnificent, but you're doing it in the hardest of times when supply chains are not working as they normally do.

Break it down for me.

Linnea Stalberg: Well, it honestly started with us buying supplies on Amazon.

Amy Cohen: Thank God for Amazon.

Linnea Stalberg: And then obviously, we had to source more. So we found other manufacturers that were able to give us larger quantities of things. But our formulation is super simple. It's three ingredients.

We wanted something that was really clean and easy to use for children. And we wanted to put something out that was kind to the environment. So we only use glass bottles and we urge people to up-cycle their bottles.

Amy Cohen: All along the streets, I've been seeing masks on the ground and plastic gloves. So the idea that you're taking care with your materials is so wonderful, and so important.

Linnea Stalberg: We just figured if we're going to do it, we want to do it right.

People who have tried the product really like it. I mean, you've tried it. It's a good product. We also have some amazing partners. We're in Broken English. We're down in San Diego at Sophia Day and Four Moons. We're at Little Moon Society in Studio City. I have to say, I'm really proud of the list of retailers we have.

Amy Cohen: I think that's a really big deal when launching a new business too: being really conscious of who you work with, and who you partner with, and who's helping to spread the word about your company.

Linnea Stalberg: Well, thank you. For every bottle of hand sanitizer purchased on our site, we donate one. Before we even made a sale, we dropped a box over at our friend’s place for This Is About Humanity. We also have donated to UCLA Pediatrics. And we don't limit it just to organizations in frontline. Every delivery person that comes to our house, I give a bottle to. Because I'm appreciative that they're out there working so hard and keeping us safe.

Amy Cohen: One of the things you touched on right at the beginning was that your dad raised you, and your mom passed away when you were young. If you wouldn't mind just touching a bit on it, how has that shaped you as a woman and as a mom now?

Linnea Stalberg: You know, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer when I was four years old. So my entire life and my entire memory of my mother, was of her fighting. And she was such a strong person and such a loved person. She never complained about anything. She literally worked up until 10 days before she passed. So I think I absolutely learned my strong work ethic from her.

There's some good and bad that comes out of it. I definitely feel like I push myself almost too hard sometimes. Like when I'm sick, I don't stop and rest. I just push through it. And sometimes I get more sick from not resting.

I was 14 when my mom passed, and I raised my brother. My dad worked to take care of us, and he was an amazing dad; he did the best he could. But working full time, picking us up, driving us around — it wasn't easy. There were definitely times when I was so upset with him that he forgot to pick me up after soccer practice or swim or whatever it was.

I think at the time I was so young and naive and I didn't realize that he was doing the best he could.

But once I was older, when I was in college, I just picked up the phone and I called him and I said, "You know what? I love you. And I appreciate you and I'm sorry for anything I ever did or said to you. You're a great dad and you did the best you could. And I recognize that now." It didn't take me as long as maybe some people, even though it was years to recognize that. He was so grateful for that.

But I think it absolutely impacted who I am because I'm just the type of person who's going to get things done.

Amy Cohen: 100%. Yes.

Linnea Stalberg: It definitely made me have a strong work ethic. And it made me resourceful. And it made me not give up.

Amy Cohen: I was older than you and my mom passed away. I was 21, but my brother was 15. So around the same age as you, and I helped raise him. He was 10 when my mom got sick.

So the way I've raised my kids is like I can't miss anything. I have to be there at all times. I'm this crazy mom who has to watch them all the time. I can't be complacent.

I had the training with my brother. I think of him as one of my kids. Now, he’s 37. I just told him that the other night, and he looked at me and was like, "You're so annoying." And I just said, "Well, sorry. That's how I feel."

Does that make sense to you?

Linnea Stalberg: Yeah. It's this thing. You're soft, but you’re hardened, too. Maybe that's a bad quality that maybe came out, but I also think it makes you stronger, right? You're stronger. And my kids are too.

Amy Cohen: I agree. I think you pass it down.

Linnea Stalberg: Absolutely. It makes you stronger, you know? It's tough to deal with, no matter what age you're at, 14, 21, 5, 40. But it makes you who you are.

 I mean, there isn't a day that goes by that I don't wish she... I wish she was here. Same with you. But I also know that the loss of her has made me who I am. And I have to be grateful for that.

Editor’s Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity. To listen to the full version, please visit The Seam Podcast.