Entrepreneur & Professor Teaches Self-Care Through Skincare
Photographer / Heather Haas
Since first grade, LeeTosha Henry has wanted to be a teacher. And she is, in more ways than one. What began as a girl’s-night-in activity at her house making skin butters has grown into a business aiming to teach women to take care of themselves every day, not just as an occasional treat. Her skincare business, A Butter Me, is in addition to her role as a psychology professor at Ivy Tech.
“The opportunity to teach people, kind of help them along their path [with] what it is that they want to do,” Henry says. “And even now in the role that I am [in] as an entrepreneur, I have a chance to still problem solve. I think that’s one of the things I liked about teaching, is the ability to be able to problem solve and I can do that every day.”
Before A Butter Me began in March of this year, Henry’s first business was She So T.O.U.G.H. (tender, optimistic, unique, grateful and hopeful), which provided military women with her skincare. That first business was a trial by fire, Henry says, and though it was successful, it ended in 2023. Henry’s third child was born in 2023, and she took a break from both business and teaching. This year she has re-entered both worlds.
“The name is truly representative of where I am,” she says. “Just wanting to be better. Just mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, all of those things. And I am now looking at the business from the perspective of no more hustle, no more hard grinding. The idea of accepting rest as a normal part of our lives.”
All products are particularly geared toward career women and moms, two stages of life Henry deeply connects with. Henry’s products can be divided into two categories: medicinal and pleasure. Medicinal items include salves and balms, which are made with plant-based, natural ingredients.
Pleasure items meant for pure relaxation may not be purely plant-based or all-natural. Henry is learning to rest right alongside her customers.
“I would say that I was a workaholic who didn’t recognize the impact of what I was doing on my body,” she says. “I think my mommy life has slowed me down — in a good way. I’m a very ambitious person. I’m like a go-getter, I can’t sit still. But you know, life sits me down, if I can say it that way. And I am learning.”
Henry and her family moved to Noblesville in July 2022 from the DMV area (DC, Maryland, Virginia) through a program called Make My Move. That program connected Henry and her husband, both entrepreneurs, to the Noblesville Chamber of Commerce, which Henry says was very welcoming and has become one of her favorite things about Noblesville.
The encouragement of Henry’s friends back at that girl’s-night-in has set off a chain reaction in her life, bringing her to a business that brings her joy and allows her to spread that joy to others. Henry encourages others considering starting a business to do what she did.
“I say go for it,” she says. “Don’t live life with regrets. That’s how I live my life. I’ll take a risk, I’ll take a chance, because I don’t want to not have at least given it a go.”
Henry’s products can be found at Fling Bungee Fitness and Align Pilates Studio in Noblesville, as well as at Aroma Room in Carmel. For more information on products and events, follow @becomingabutterme on Instagram.
