Happy Birthday to Us!

Four score and seven years ago, I had a silly idea… To steal a grenade mold from my husband and create a hot pink bar of soap.

To my amazement we found a niche little market who appreciated the irony of what we created. These past seven years have been a blast, pun intended.

We have had highs and lows in our stinky business. Our soaps have traveled the world over. We’ve taken some risks while choosing to avoid others.

We moved from our dining room table into our own stinky production space. We’ve taken steps over the last few months to grow even more by working with a wholesale rep. (things I will dive into at a later date)

I feel as though everything has been prepped to take us to this next level. Which comes just in time as the kids are starting off into school. The next few years will still be difficult. How do we continue to grow? How do I work on this and still maintain a work/life balance. How do I generate more online sales? How do I build more connections with my retail clients and my customers? How does this all get done on a tight small business budget?

Does anyone else have these concerns? How are you coping and maintaining growth? Do you do it with a growing family?

So happy birthday little bar of soap that opened so many doors for me. You’ve made life more interesting. You have both brightened bathrooms and repulsed customers. My gift to you sweet smelling soap, is I updated the website, something not touched since you were first launched. You earned it. Take a peek!

Back to blogging

A long, long time ago I remember blogging. This was back in 2006. Yes? No? I don’t really remember and don’t care enough to Google myself to learn more about myself.  Trust me when I say I blogged. When I had a child, now 2 childs (I know the plural would be children but welcome to MY blog), I found it harder and more time consuming then I cared to work on.

Blogging became that boring chore I never wanted to perform, like laundry or waking up in the morning because children need to eat breakfast.

However, I have found once again how important it is for me to get back into this digital world of content all based on me. Which is of course, my favorite topic of conversation. So why shouldn’t it be yours.

The real driving force behind all of this has been my involvement in Midwest Craft Con. A 3 day retreat I am hosting alongside my crafty counterparts, Brit and Grace. Both craft show organizers themselves. Part of our roles in spreading the word about our conference has been content driven blog posts and promotions. When one of our keynote speakers, Abby Glassenburg, asked to interview us I had no where to direct her.  Other than my somewhat active Instagram account, my non-existent Twitter page and what has become a sad Fan page on Facebook.

I was reminded how much I neglect the things that make my brand important. How I do have lots to say and how perhaps you need a kick in the pants like I sometimes do.

So let’s share. Let’s get back to work. Let’s build some empires.

And let’s start by reading more about who I am from this post made on the Midwest Craft Con’s blog.