The Indie Experience
April 28, 2008
A Publication of The Indie Beauty Network
ISSN 1530-9630 | Volume 9, Issue 16
To subscribe, click here
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1. Meet IBN's New & Renewing Members
2.
New At the Blog: Best of April
3. This Week On Indie Business Radio:
On Hiatus Today!
4. Indie Candy: Funlayo
Alabi :: Shea Radiance :: Maryland
Indie Beauty Ritual: Spring Fling Flower Blossoms Body Butter
1. Meet IBN's New & Renewing Members
Welcome Renewing Members!
Deal Farm Soap Co. | Renee Deal | Massachusetts
* Member since April 2002; Deal Farm Soap Company
specializes in goat milk soaps and natural skin care products for sensitive
skin. Our nourishing and gentle soaps are made with fresh goat milk, premium
vegetable oils, and pure essential oils. Our Skin Therapy Creme and Shea Butter
Cremes are essential for those with dry skin. We even offer a natural goat milk
soap to keep your dog's coat fresh and shiny. Retail / Wholesale / Private
Label.
Ocean Mist Cosmetics | Brendal Finlay | Florida
* Member since April 2007; Ocean Mist Cosmetics offers
a full line of handmade cosmetics and skin care to their customers. High
quality, affordable products and great customer service our are goals. Beauty
doesn't have to be expensive!
Brenda's Body | Brenda Tucker-Johnson | California
* Skin care products for anybody with skin! A trademarked
skin care business with collections for men, women, and children. We believe
that the condition of your skin starts from within. Eat healthy, exercise
regularly, smile frequently, and moisturize daily.
Melba's Paradise Potions | Melba Clark | California
* Member since April 2007; Incredibly fresh handcrafted spa and
skin care products with sumptuous tropical aromas. We use only the finest
natural ingredients, designed to super moisturize and brighten dry to normal
skin. Our passion for creating fabulous skin care is evident in all of our much
loved products. Aloha, Melba Clark.
Purepeace Products | Cherie Bianco | Illinois
* Member since May 2004; purepeace continues the healing
and medicinal powers of the prophets with Medicine of the Prophets, our homemade
line of all natural, organic, blessed body products: shampoo, conditioner, body
creme, body wash, body scrub and olive oil soap. Each is blessed and prayed over
as it’s handmade by Cherie Bianco, purepeace™ owner and founder. All contain
a healing oil formulated by Sidi’ al-Jamal a Sufi Guide Master Healer and
Master Herbalist who lives in Jerusalem. Products come in a variety of natural
fragrances to honor and uplift. No animal testing.
Welcome New Members!
Funnyhorse, LLC | Tamara Duriavich | Illinois
* All-Natural Fly & Mosquito repellents for Horses, Dogs &
People; Practical Equine Accessories for the Practical Horseman; Specialty items
for the Traditional Hunter & Fisherman. We specialize in all-natural fly and
mosquito repelling spray, roll-on gel and lotions; fragranced glycerine saddle
soap; Un-Skunk scent-removing soap; hunting and fishing scent-removing &
cover-scent soaps & sprays. We use all of our products on ourselves and our
horses - if it's not good enough for us, we won't sell it to you.
a Green Candle Company | Kim Hom | Arizona
* Delightfully scented, beautifully presented and
environmentally friendly; what more could you ask for? Our 100% premium soy wax
is where we start and it doesn’t end there, we also have a recycled candled
program. If we can start recycling everything we use, then we can help to cut
down on the unnecessary build up in our landfills.
Kansas Candle Co. | Ashley Price | Kansas
* Soy candles.
Majenty, LLC | Jennifer Dunkelman | California
* Majenty offers highly concentrated, alcohol free, hand-blended perfume
oils. Our expertly accented oils begin with either a gardenia or coconut base
infused with various floral mixtures. All of our formulas are produced under the
strictest standards of quality and safety. Our finished product does not contain
ingredients tested on animals. Each roll on perfume bottle weighs a half of an
ounce and comes with its own handmade linen pouch.
Napa Valley Au Natural | Anna Wingfield | California
* All natural aromatherapy and flower essence body care products.
Learn more about Indie members and their exciting products, services and activities by visiting their websites through our Online Member Directory. You can search for your favorite Indie by state/country, business name, keyword or alphabetical listings.
2. New At the Blog: Informing and Entertaining the Indie Community
Here
is a list of some of the most popular posts from April.
Video: Position Yourself As An Expert In Your Field: how to do it with a book
Small Business Owners: Missing In Action
Want more great information to help you grow your business? Then click here to get my blog posts automatically delivered directly to you through our RSS feed. If you prefer email, provide your email address at the blog, upper right corner.
3. Today on Indie Business Radio: On Hiatus Today, but last week's show is up!!
Click
here to Enjoy Last Week's Show: How to Use a Podcast to Grow Your BusinessLeesa Barnes, author "Podcasting For Profit," joins E-Commerce Diva Jamila White (sitting in for Donna Maria) to share her best tips for using podcasting to help your business grow.
I
am very grateful to my friend and fellow Indie Jamila White, the E-Commerce Diva
(pictured with me at right), for hosting in my absence today. Jamila has
been a guest on Indie Business Radio before, sharing her expert tips for how to
maximize e-commerce to make your business successful. I know that she'll do a
great job holding down the fort while I am way at my local National Public Radio
studio doing an interview with award winning journalist Michel Martin of Tell
Me More.
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4. Indie Candy: Funlayo Alabi :: Shea Radiance :: Maryland
Funlayo Alibi and her husband are from Nigeria, but they make their home these days in Ellicott City, Maryland. From this base, they each work full-time jobs, raise their sons and own and manage Shea Radiance. In addition to finished products made with shea butter, they also have a wholesale side to the business, carrying raw unrefined shea butter straight from Africa through the Shea Radiance Supplies division.
How did you start your business and what was the inspiration for it?
The seed for our business was planted about 4 years ago. My husband had gone to Nigeria to research a business opportunity to press peanut seeds and produce edible oil. Even though Africa is rich in so many natural resources, we still import so much our food and even cooking oil. Our research showed that there were enough nuts to meet the domestic demand for oil, but no one was investing in the facility or technology to do it on a large scale. During the course of his travels he also researched shea butter production and would always come back with a pound or two of shea butter. When I was pregnant with our second son, I used the butter all over and really fell in love with shea butter again. I hadn’t used since I was a kid.
Our passion became a business a little over 2 years ago. It took a little longer to launch the web site in October 2007. Our children's skin problems were the main inspiration for Shea Radiance. Our oldest son, Femi was born with severe kidney damage and prior to his kidney transplant last year, he had very dry skin. Using shea butter on his skin was the only moisturizer that managed his chronically dry skin. Our youngest son, Tolu had eczema as a baby and nothing worked but my homemade concoction of shea butter, oils and glycerin.
Our other inspiration was to find the best quality shea butter to make our products and make the same high quality product available in bulk to natural bath and body manufacturers. When we started researching the shea butter market about 3 years ago, we realized that a lot of really funky smelling butter being sold online. We learned that people were buying green, grey and even brown shea butter!! As Africans who grew up using the product, we knew something was wrong with the product, folks were buying rancid shea butter. We saw that there was a need for shea butter with a consistent quality that bath and body care manufacturers could buy online and not have to worry about what they were getting.
We also found that refined shea butter, shipped in from Europe was very common among the B&B makers here in the states. Refined shea butter unfortunately, does not have much of the benefits of natural shea butter. The refining process strips the butter of all it’s properties and all you are working with is lifeless, flavorless lump of solid oil. Enough said about refined shea butter. If you want real shea butter I recommend you obtain it from suppliers who get the product from Africa. Shea Trees do not grow in France!
Both my husband and I have Information & Technology backgrounds. Shea Radiance conjures the image of a radiant rising sun on the African Savannah where the Shea trees grow. It also describes the smooth Radiant beauty that comes from using shea butter on your skin.
What's your niche?
We produce premium quality shea butter based body care products that will heal and improve the quality of your skin. We keep our product formulations and ingredients fairly simple so that the customer can enjoy the full benefit of using a shea butter product. Unrefined shea butter is the main ingredient in all our core products because we know from experience that the unrefined butter has the healing and moisturizing components that the skin needs. In addition to our signature whipped shea butters, we offer pure shea butter with pure aromatherapy oils, we also have a line of shea therapies for colds and achy muscles. Our products reflect the various ways shea butter is used in most African cultures. In Africa we use shea butter for moisturizing the hair and skin. It is used as a therapeutic rub for sore muscles and arthritis. I just found out that some older people melt the sh a and drink it to relieve sore throats. Shea butter is applied to cuts, burns and bruises. In some parts of Africa, shea butter is used as a cooking oil.
I understand you also carry raw bulk shea butter?
Yes, we work very closely with our producer in West Africa to ensure that we get the best quality shea butter. One of the things that sets our shea butter apart from others is the extraction process. Our nuts are sun dried which eliminates the smokey odor which comes as a result of drying the nuts by firewood heated ovens. We opted to have our shea butter cold pressed in order to get the best quality butter and further reduce the strong smell that sometimes occurs using the traditional processing method. The end product we sell is a yellow creamy butter with a light nutty scent. Our production process also allows our butters to have an extended shelf life. There are no chemicals or solvents used in the production. Our customers who manufacture bath and body products like this because it allows them to offer a line of unscented products because the smell of our shea butter, though nutty, is quite mild. I do want to emphasize that the traditional way of extracting shea butter is great. We have just found that we prefer the consistent quality of the cold pressed butter.
What are your most popular products, and why do people like them?
Our most popular products are the whipped butters. Customers love the smooth, creamy texture of our butters and find it easy to apply. They also rave about the scents we offer. Once they start using the butter, they see a tremendous improvement in their skin. I have customers who say that it cleared up dry patches on their skin and eliminated rough cracked heels. We hear customers say that their skin stays silky and smooth longer when they use whipped butters. We started selling the butter in 12 oz family size tubs because the women buying complained that their husbands were using the product and it wasn’t lasting as long. The benefits of using our whipped butters are immediate and are long lasting with continued use. Our best selling scent is pomegranate. We have 7 scents plus an unscented version for customers who do not care for fragrance or essential oils.
What new and exciting things are you working on for your business?
Last week we had a huge surge in traffic to our site. Apparently Adam Jasinski, one of the contestants on the reality Show, Big Brother uses our whipped butters and brought it on the show with him. We found out when someone who had seen the show made a purchase and emailed us about the show. He has promised to send me a clip of the show.
Unfortunately, we will not be shipping our whipped butters once the weather warms up. The good news is we are launching a line of Ultra Rich Shea Butter Creams enriched with Botanical extracts that uniquely African. Kigelia, Boapbab, Honey Bush and Rooibos Tea extracts will be part of our new cream formulations. These extracts have been used for centuries to beautify and heal the skin. They are rich in Vitamin C and anti-oxidants. We are very excited about this new line and we know our customers will too.
How do you market your products?
The internet has been our primary outlet for marketing our products, approx 90% at this time. We are currently looking to build and increase our wholesale business this year. We hope to do about 30% sales via wholesale accounts by the end of the year. We will be selling at our local Farmers market in Olney, Maryland this Spring and we do participate selectively in craft shows.
(Of course, it helps to have a handsome 10-year old son named Femi to pose with a jar of whipped shea butter now and then!)
How do you successfully combine work and family?
We have been married for 12 years. Working with my husband is a joy because he is very patient and doesn’t get bent out of shape easily. My husband is mostly in charge of production. He is always very exact and precise when making the lotions or butters, and I sometimes have to push him to hurry up so we can have products to sell. Right now, work is life and life is work. We are at the stage were our business requires a lot of our time and energy. With full time jobs and kids it can be challenging. Our kids are around when we make, pack and ship products. You could say the business is like a third child. We really love developing this business and we love talking about the possibilities that will open up as we continue to work at it. Even though our lives are extremely hectic we try not to dwell on how exhausted we are. We just keep doing what needs to be done today to get us closer to our goal. Our goal is to build a profitable business that will support our family and free up our time to do more meaningful work. We would like to spend more of our time traveling, investing in micro-economic projects in Africa in order to raise the standard of living.
What are some of the biggest challenges you face, and how do you overcome them?
Right now our biggest challenge is finding the time to focus on marketing. It takes dedicated time and effort to find and pursue leads. How do we overcome this challenge, we do the best we can with the little time and resources and then ask the Lord to bless our efforts.
What tips can you offer for others who want to be successful in business?
Be a student. Invest in your business education. Invest wisely in your business – know when to shell out the big bucks and when to hold back. If you are going to be online, get a professional to take your photos. It makes a world of difference. Find a mentor. Tap into a network like the IBN and absorb the wealth of knowledge and experience. Know why you are in business.
If someone were to ask you why you have been a renewing member of IBN since June 2006, what would you tell them?
I would keep renewing my membership because IBN has been the life line of our business. Even when we were in the design and planning phases, I listened to IBN's webinars, seminars, and read manuals and listened to radio shows during long commutes to and from work. The guest speakers especially the fellow Indies have been so inspirational. The group coaching sessions on Thursday evenings are phenomenal.
What word or example of business advice, inspiration and/or encouragement have you received through your association with IBN that has helped you in enjoy your life, build your business and have you way?
IBN's your weekly newsletters and radio shows are a constant encouragement to me. Also, during an Indie Busniness Radio Show interview you did with Karla Fiorvanti earlier this year, she said something that has stayed with me ever since and has become one of my goals. I want to get to the point were I spend more of my time working on my business than I do working in my business. To be able to transition more into doing the creative marketing work and delegate the production tasks to capable helpers.
Please share anything else you'd like us to know about your company and your business philosophy
We want to showcase the beauty and rich abundance of the African continent. My husband worked on his fathers cocoa farm as a boy. He grew up close to nature and the traditional way of life. He knows how various herbs, oil and leaves were used in every day life for healing, health and diet.
He remembers that Moringa leaves and branches were used to purify water. The men cut down the leafy branches and put the in the narrowest part of the river as it flowed down stream to the village. This helped purify the drinking water. Today Moringa leaves are used for Tea and Moringa Exctract is used in high-end skincare products as an anti aging ingredient. Kigelia Tree produces large sausage like fruit. The paste from the fruit has been used traditionally to heal wounds and sores. It helps relieve symptoms of eczema and psoriasis and has been used in preparations to treat skin cancer. The Baobab tree grow wild all over Africa. Baobab extract is rich in vitamin C and anti oxidants and is also a rich extract that can be used in skincare. We want to give back to the continent by working in partnership with non profit organizations like the African Christian Fellowship and Adonai Partners. We will be making trips this Summer to Togo and possibly Burkina Faso to work with friends who do work in the interior areas.
Best & Success!!
Donna Maria
Editor, The Indie Experience
The Indie Beauty Network | www.indiebeauty.com
Copyright (c) 2000 - 2007 by The Indie Beauty Network (IBN) and Donna Maria. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized distribution or reproduction is prohibited. IBN does not necessarily endorse any product, event or ideology featured in The Handmade Beauty Connection (HBC) or on IBN's website. All information is provided on an "as is" basis and no express or implied warranties are given. Any use of the information contained in the HBC or on IBN's web site, including recipes, is solely at your own risk. IBN and Donna Maria disclaim any liability in connection with the use of all recipes, products reviewed and other information. Except for sponsorships, HBC refuses compensation from companies to feature or mention their names or products. Opinions expressed in any Product Review are personally those of the reviewer and do not represent the views of IBN, Donna Maria (unless she is the reviewer) or any other person or company.
