Athlete Spotlight: Becky, our founder!
Our founder sat down to chat about her athletic journey so that YOU, dear reader, may get to know her better.
Q: Okay - to start, name and age, please:
A: My name is Rebecca, but I go by Becky. I am 36, but I'll be 37 in a couple months.
Q: Are you a hobbyist, competitor, or instructor in a specific athletic or movement field?
A: I practiced jiu jitsu for nine years, from 2014-2023, and during that time, I did compete at white and blue belt level. I am now a purple belt, but I had to put jiu jitsu on hold due to some health issues, and it's still up in the air if I'll go back. I certified as a yoga instructor at an ashram in India in 2014, but I am not currently teaching. My big interest right now is freestyle dancing, which is heavily influenced by my journey in pole dancing. I am completing a teacher training for sensual dance, and I do plan on at least a couple of performances in 2024.
Q: Do you consider yourself to be an amateur or a professional athlete?
A: It's so weird to think of myself as a proper "athlete." I just enjoy exploring movement modalities and then feeling the edges within that movement. Whatever that means!
Q: What has been the most rewarding part of your athletic or movement journey thus far?
A: The pain tolerance that comes from consistency and discipline. I think it's funny when someone thinks my discipline is extreme, because I have friends who are absolute beasts, and I am nothing compared to them. It depends on who you are comparing yourself to. I like comparing myself to the upper echelon - everything else feels so easy after that.
Q: What has been the most challenging part of your athletic or movement journey thus far?
A: Learning how to slow down. I have been struggling with heart arrhythmia issues and it has forced me to confront my anxiety and really check in with myself. I am a chronic overachiever, and I had to take some things off my plate, like jiu jitsu. God, that felt like such a crushing blow. I felt like a failure. But now that my heart is getting back to normal, I know it was totally the right move. Plus, I have full mobility in my neck again! Also nice.
Q: Now, turning to the body's biggest organ - the skin! Does your skin lean more dry or oily?
A: My face is pretty oily and my calves are constantly dry. Everything else feels normal. Using the Total Cranarchy Multi-Use Balm on my face has made a big difference in bringing it back into balance - overall it is less oily now, despite the fact that Total Cranarchy is an oil-based product. Awww... the power of quality skincare!
Q: Do you traditionally enjoy using skincare products, or nah?
A: I've been researching skincare ingredients since I was in middle school in the early aughts, since before skincare was a thing (also before Google!). The skincare industry now is, just... a behemoth of an industry. Most stuff doesn't work, and I've known that for a very long time. Overpromising results from cheap formulas just ain't gonna cut it for me. Because of that, I've never really been a "skincare junky," because I wouldn't buy stuff based on marketing claims or price. I only purchase a product if I am impressed with the ingredients, and those products are few and far between.
Q: Does your sport/movement cause any specific skin-related issues, such as: excessive dryness, chafing, rashes, blisters, scrapes, windburn, sunburn, increased risk for infection, etc.?
A: For sure jiu jitsu has skin risks, specifically with infections like staph or MRSA. Everybody who trains jiu jitsu knows this. Everybody has heard horror stories about this. This perspective heavily informed my creation of Mil Usos and the concept of elite athletic hygiene, or total body care for athletes. The only solutions that were being sold to this community were cheap soaps with some essential oils sprinkled in - pathetic. There are far more sophisticated options out there - ingredients that feel fantastic and give you way better results than cheap bar soaps ever could. Balancing the skin microbiome is key. I couldn't figure out why nobody had given our community any better options, so I decided to do it myself.
Q: How does a minimalist routine that replaces multiple other skincare products fit into your on-the-go lifestyle?
A: I am as minimalist as I can be about almost everything in my life. I have a small home with many empty drawers. I love the minimalist vibe. With skincare, I really resented how much time, money, and energy I was spending trying to achieve a "flawless" appearance. In order to be flawless, you have to sacrifice your humanity, because the human body is naturally flawed. In fact, it's the flaws that add the most charm and create an endearing connection with other people. When I show up as my authentic self, other people can feel safe doing the same. There's no pressure to maintain some false pretense about our underlying humanity. Once I started to embrace the flaws in my physical appearance, the endless parade of products designed to erase them had to go. Instead, I wanted one or two quality products that took care of everything, so I could reduce plastic waste and spend less time in front of the mirror. And I wanted the BEST ingredients - all the bells and whistles - to soothe and care for my skin, and that's what I created with Mil Usos. It's pretty unique - it's pretty fuckin' cool.
Q: Which Mil Usos products have you used?
A: All of them, including the many iterations of product it took to develop the final formulas. And I continue to use them every single day!
Q: In your experience, what is the most convenient or useful aspect of Mil Usos's multi-functional offerings?
A: Personally, I love that everything is travel friendly. How annoying is it to go out just to buy travel-sized items, or to decant product into other bottles you then have to wash and save for next time? Also, it was so fun to come up with creative, bottle-free solutions that replace multiple other products and eliminate all that plastic waste.
Q: Awesome! We are gonna wrap things up with one final question: what is the most salient piece of advice you could offer to someone who is just starting their athletic/movement journey - something you wish you knew when you first started?
A: Consistency matters a helluva lot more than intensity. If you can handle high intensity all the time, that's awesome! I definitely cannot! My goal is to just show up often, and then time always does its thing - eventually, you get better. And eventually, you start kicking ass. And before you know it, you're a way better version of yourself than you were one, two, or five years ago. They say black belts are white belts who kept showing up. Just keep showing up.
Q:Where can people find you (social, website, etc.)?
A: My insta is @milusos_bybecky