The Indie Experience
May 18, 2009
A Publication of The Indie Beauty Network
ISSN 1530-9630 | Volume 10, Issue 14
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1. Lifestyle CEO Note From dM: Report From the Soap Guild Conference
Make It Yourself! Apricot and Peach Mask: Clemence says this will leave your face "baby butt" soft!
1. Lifestyle CEO Note: Report From the Soap Guild Conference
As you know, I delivered a
"The Media Is You!" presentation last week at the
2009 Conference of Handcrafted SoapMakers, held at
Miramonte Resort & Spa in Palm Springs. That's right! Me. In Palm Springs.
As if that wasn't awesome enough, let me tell you about the rest of the week. The photo at left if of a magnetic sign on a car in the parking lot of the conference venue. These soapers were excited, let me tell you!
Even before the first presentation, I was smitten with Palm Springs. While
I'm not a golfer, the view of the beautiful greens as the plane swooped in
was very nice.
When I arrived, Sister Cathleen Timberlake of
Monastery
Creations was there to greet me and some
other conference attendees. She drove us back to the hotel and, as a native
southern Californian, was very knowledgeable about local plant life. I think
she pointed out and named just about every type of palm tree, cactus and
flowering bush we passed.
Arriving at Miramonte
Resort & Spa was like walking into a sanctuary. The view from
my villa included a lovely fountain (pictured) just outside.
The Well Spa, located just beyond the fountain, was also fabulous.
Before I left, I enjoyed 3 treatments. First, the Mediterranean Massage,
complete with essential oils of basil, orange, bergamot, lemon, etc. It was
60 minutes of h-e-a-v-e-n.
Then, I had the Absolute Vitality Wrap, incorporating a gentle jojoba scrub and mud wrap, a mini-facial, scalp massage and application of aromatic oils. It was followed by raindrop Vichy. As if that wasn't enough, they talked me into a Sensorial Scalp Treatment, incorporating products rich in bamboo and myrrh. A hand and foot massage was included in that treatment.
Girrrrrrrrrrl (and guys!), let me tell you! Hm Hm Hm! I had to get out of there before American Express issued an All Points Bulletin for out of norm spending! LOL!
I was like a freshly molded warm rubber band when I emerged. My hair was all over my head (even more than usual!) It was a funny picture. Lucky for me, no one was around with a camera at the time.
Special thanks to Kayla (pictured with me below -- it's a little blurry but that's because the person who took it was having mango martinis with me at the Renaissance Festival) at Essential Wholesale for inviting me for a spa treat as her guest! While I was there, I also spotted Premium Indie Beauty member Christine White-Stanton's Scandle Candles displayed in the retail area. That was really cool, and I was able to personally tell the spa staff how much I love Scandle! If you missed Scandle's Indie Shopping TV appearance, you can catch it here.
On
my first evening at the resort, I decided to enjoy a fitness walk around the
property. The front desk staff told me it was 3 miles around the perimeter
so off I went at about 5:30 in the evening. While I should have noticed, it
wasn't until I was about halfway through my walk that I realized it was well
over 100 degrees.
I paced myself as I remembered that I hadn't told anyone where I was going and didn't want to stroke out in a strange and upscale golfing neighborhood. I managed to make it back, sweaty but determined to stick to my fitness plan to walk at least once a day while there.
Speaking of which, this new fitness thing is turning out to be challenging and also lots of fun. One day last week, I almost didn't make it, but thanks to a veteran fitness buff, I managed to pull it out. You can learn more about the morning I almost screwed up here.
Lucky for me, I'm not the only one who wanted to maintain a fitness regime.
Here I am pictured with a few of my walking partners, left to right: Delores
Harris of
Daisy May Natural Soap, moi, Anne-Marie Faiola of
Brambleberry (my
personal long distance fitness trainer -- but she doesn't know that unless
she's reading this), Valerie Rice of
Piper Tate, Valerie's
wonderful and very happy golfing husband (whose name I can't recall --
forgive me!) We
walked Tuesday and Wednesday morning at 6:30.
A few fitness walkers are not pictured here and I don't want to leave them out! Lorrie Beach of Canterbury Cabin came with us on Wednesday. She is especially over the moon because she won a full day of in-person consulting with soap pioneer Sandy Maine of SunFeather Natural Soap Company! Also joining us on Wednesday was Susan Ryhanen of Siapua. Both Lorrie and Susan are from New York!
The temperature was in the low
70's in the mornings. It was hard to believe how hot it got during the day.
The view of the mountains in the early morning was fantastic. I enjoyed
chatting with these delightful entrepreneurs and encouraging each other to
move our bodies as we also move our businesses forward!
The speakers at the conference were fantastic. Here I am pictured with
keynote speaker Erin Brokovich. I spoke after Ms. Brokovich, and then a slew
of talented, passionate and knowledgeable speakers on a variety of topics followed for
the next two days.
Can it get any better??!
Marla Bosworth of Back Porch Soap Company shared a fantastic presentation on differentiating your products from the masses. She included a discussion of search engine tips as well as suggestions to consider to keep up with soap industry trends. Marla's presentation was rich in detail and her marketing background was on full display in her informative presentation.
Kelly Bloom of Southern Soapers delivered a wonderful talk on trademarks and branding. She shared some interesting tidbits about the history of some famous brands, including the Jolly Green Giant and Betty Crocker. Kelly has had her share of funny and not so funny trademark trial and tribulations, and her talk was filled with anecdotes and tips to help everyone deal with this very important issue.
Lela Barker of
Bella Lucce
(pictured with me at left) shared information on how to break into the
international export arena. She covered everything from soup to nuts,
including coverage of some questions you need to ask yourself before considering taking your business in that direction. Lela shared hilarious
stories, one about the time she had to sleep overnight in her car in the
office parking lot next to thousands of dollars worth of her products which
had been loaded onto pallets for shipping to a TV shopping show, but which
would not be picked up by the shipper until the next day. Can you imagine?
Here are Lela and I pictured at the Renaissance Festival sponsored by Essential Wholesale. By the time this pictures was taken, the two of us had enjoyed, oh, 5 -- maybe 6 mango martinis. W00T!!
Kayla Fioravanti of
Essential Wholesale gave two presentations, one of which
included a special appearance by Soaprah. Kayla's first presentation covered
the details of complying with the FDA's Good Manufacturing Practice
Guidelines. The second one was about thriving in a tough economy. Both
presentations were superbly delivered with Kayla's signature charm, wit and
style.
I could not be everywhere with my camera, nor could I be more than one place
at at time, but I heard that all of the presentations I had to miss for lack
of being able to clone myself were fantastic. They were:
Linda Stevens on maintaining your profit margin
Lisa Chouinard oon making melt and pour desserts and toys in
soap
Lori Nova of The Nova Studio on coloring cold process soap with confidence
Anne-Marie Faiola of Brambleberry on lotion making
Susan Ryhanen on going from retail to wholesale
Jamila White of E-Commerce Diva on making your e-commerce website perform
for you
David Steinberg on preservative systems
Kevin Dunn. PhD on temperatures in soapmaking
On Wednesday evening, Essential Wholesale sponsored a fabulous Renaissance Party complete with comedic talents
Jon Reep and
Wendy Liebman, mimes and a martini fountain.
(That's my appletini being born in the photo at left.) I had more
martinis (mango for me, please!) on Wednesday night than I have had in the
last 10 years combined.
On Thursday morning several Premium Indie Beauty members gathered with me to discuss the legal and regulatory challenges facing the cosmetics industry today. A great discussion resulted in some specific Action Items which I will be reporting on soon. After business, we had a ton of fun laughing, taking pictures and encouraging one another to new heights. If you want to see Dennis Fiorvanti of Essential Wholesale holding court with us at breakfast, you'll have to check out my Indie Business Facebook Page because I'm running out of room here!
I posted many more photos at the
Indie Business
Facebook Page, and I have so many more to add that it will probably take
me a few days. In the meantime, enjoy the ones there now!
I returned home to my children early Saturday morning refreshed and more on
fire for small business than I've been in a long time.
Next year's Soap Guild conference will take place in Denver and if you are
soapmaker, you so need to be there. The Soap Guild volunteer staff always
runs a smooth and enjoyable conference. They take care of everything and
everyone. If you come, you will love it, I guarantee it!!
I'll be back next week with another regular issue of Indie Experience. Thank you for having me in your inbox again this week and I hope you enjoy the photos!
-- Media Partner --
Enjoy your life, build your business and have your way!
Donna Maria
Editor, The Indie Experience
The Indie Beauty Network | www.indiebeauty.com
Copyright (c) 2000 - 2009 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 this newsletter 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 this newsletter 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, this newsletter 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.
