Beauty ain’t always pretty…

Some of you may know me from my La  Dolce Diva Bath & Body  collection. Others may know me from my 20 years as an apparel designer. Some of you may be in the dark with the mushrooms and not know me at all…whatever. The point is I am here now. “What for?” you ask. Why to truly shed  light on the bath and body business.

No, this is not some 20/20 special about the dirty goings-on with shea butter, or the evil empire of label printing. This is me, sharing with you, what I have learned in my trials and tribulations with the “beauty” business and business in general.

It seems that my outlook is very different from most of the “soapreneurs” or bath and body indie businesses. As are my back ground, life & professional experiences. This doesn’t make me more special than anyone else… perhaps just a more curious mixture. A mixture that seems to interest my fellow colleagues in the bath & body world, as well as anyone who is just entering the retail – wholesale world.

Whether it’s marketing, branding, merchandising, identity, research & development, competitive product analysis, costing, sales, production, sourcing, profit margins, ROI, P&L, sell-throughs, buyers, trade shows – YOU are chief cook and bottlewasher. You may have employees, you may be on your own, either way, when you are a small biz, you have to know all facets of your business, even when you may not be hands-on in every capacity. You still make all the big decisions.

This information is NOT a tutorial on “How to make your first million in 10 days or less.” If I had that kind of information, I wouldn’t be just writing a blog about it!

This is simply cobbling together my 20 years of experience in various capacities in the wholesale/ retail world into a small business resource niche that is bath & body based – but can reach beyond into other small businesses.

Be prepared for the good, the bad and the ugly of the beauty world- isn’t that what you face everyday?

I won’t lay out all my secret plans yet, stay tuned.

2 Responses to “Beauty ain’t always pretty…”

1. Jan says:

   September 18, 2009 at 8:58 am

   I am so excited about you doing this! You have wonderful insights that we can all benefit from.

   I only spoke with you for a few minutes at an Indie Biz breakfast, but that conversation is still in my head and I think about the things you said as I make decisions for the direction of my business.

   I can not wait to soak in everything you have to share!
2. Jennifer says:

   September 18, 2009 at 9:50 am

   Hi Jan,
   It was good to meet you at the Indie Revolution breakfast in Atlanta!
   I hope you enjoy the site and give lots of input and feedback!