253 – How Adding a Service Like This Guarantees Repeat Business with Charita Lucas of dOSA Naturals

Charita Lucas of dOSA NaturalsdOSA Naturals is all about paying homage to the women who paved the way for Charita and her two sisters.

They were inspired by stories of their Great Grandma Dosa who was born in Mississippi and had an affinity for Magnolias. Grandma Dosa instilled a strong sense of pride and simple beauty and stressed the importance of honoring the outside of your body as well as the inside.

Not only did she insist on using natural methods to accentuate her natural beauty, she also understood and advocated for daily skin care regimes free of harmful chemicals. She knew that natural was better.

“Less is more,” defines the brand today since most of their products contain less than 9 powerfully effective ingredients.

dOSA is also environmentally conscientious. They pay their customers to ship back their empty containers.

BUSINESS BUILDING INSIGHTS

  • The universe contains enough for everyone. Don’t get discouraged because there’s a place for you even in a well populated category.
  • Your first thoughts about what your business is going to be will change along the way. Keep going and trust yourself. We all evolve.
  • Feedback is what makes your product better. Be open. Listen to the advice of friends and hear what your customers are looking for.
  • Take the first step. If you don’t make a move, you won’t have a successful business.
  • You can’t build a business in a place of desperation.
  • Focus on the opportunities all around you. Shift your mindset to the positive. Believe that you can.
  • Get in tune with your intuition. Listen and follow it.
  • Asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness. Tap into your connections and seek help. It’s the way to grow.
  • Believe in the abundance of the universe and find ways to make your brand stand out.
  • Incorporate easy ways for people to repurchase your product.
  • Your brand is everything. Make sure not to dilute it. Let people know what you stand for and stay aligned to that.

CONTACT LINKS

Website

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

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Become a Member of Gift Biz Breeze

If you found value in this podcast, make sure to subscribe so you automatically get the next episode downloaded for your convenience. Also, if you’d like to do me a huge favor, please leave a review. That helps other creators like you find the show and build their businesses too.

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Thank so much! Sue

Transcript
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Gift biz unwrapped episode 253 When you feel like you are

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struggling that you just don't even know what the heck you're

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doing or if it's even worth it to keep going,

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but you gotta keep going and just trust us.

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Attention gifters,

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bakers, crafters and makers pursuing your dream can be fun.

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Whether you have an established business or looking to start one

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now you are in the right place.

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This is gift to biz on,

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unwrapped, helping you turn your skill into a flourishing business.

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Join us for an episode packed full of invaluable guidance,

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resources and the support you need to grow your gift biz.

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Here is your host gift biz gal Sue moon Heights.

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Hi there And I'm thrilled that you're joining me here today

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for the show.

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I wanted to start off by telling you about a project

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that I've been working on the end of last year that

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has kind of caught over into this year too.

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You know how once you dive into something,

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it starts becoming bigger and bigger.

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You identify one thing that needs changing and it leads to

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another and then something else pops up.

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That's what happened to me.

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I started with revising some of my blog articles and I

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also wanted to totally redo my getting acquainted emails.

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So those are the emails that get sent out to people

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when they're first joining into our community here.

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Anyway, from time to time they need a spruce up.

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There were also freebies that needed to be adjusted.

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I had an old logo that had changed over time so

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I hadn't caught all the places where that needed to be

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adjusted and I had also rebranded a couple of years ago

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and switched out the tone of the yellow that I'm using.

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And as you know,

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I advise you to keep your brand consistent across all platforms.

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Consistency is really important to developing trust with people who are

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following you.

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So I had two shades of yellow out there,

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absolutely drove me crazy.

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Everything needed to be fixed.

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It felt like everywhere I turned there was just another fixed

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to do and another fixed to do,

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far be it for me to leave these things out there

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in the shape that they were now that I knew about

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them. So consequently I did a whole overhaul and that was

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not easy.

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I have to tell you,

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given that I had broken my wrist on January 1st some

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of you already know that and so I'm temporarily a lefty

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trying to type.

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Pretty interesting.

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Anyway, I am so happy to say that this whole revamp

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is now complete.

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Every article,

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support material,

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downloads, everything is spanking new and even my fabulous get acquainted

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funnel, they're all fresh and inline with the brand and I

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have to give a shout out here to Abby Herman of

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right solutions who led the charge on all of this.

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Now, why do I bring this up for two reasons?

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One, how are your blog articles,

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online images,

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email campaigns?

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Have you looked lately?

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Time goes so fast and it's easy just to let these

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things go,

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but remember,

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these are the first things someone sees when they visit your

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website and maybe your one and only chance to make an

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impression. The second reason I bring this up is I want

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you to go check out my site,

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read a couple of the blog articles,

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download some of the freebies.

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There's a lot of value in free information sitting there for

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you. I'm not going to suggest that you go to a

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specific one because everyone's in a different place and what will

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be valuable for you,

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maybe different from someone else.

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This is all over@giftbizonrap.com

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and I hope you do go and check it out.

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So let's move on and talk about the show.

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Today. We're going to be chatting about a business owned by

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three sisters.

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I met them in person and honestly could have hung out

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with them all afternoon.

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You'll hear how ancestry DNA led to the inspiration of their

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brand. They clearly love what they do,

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enjoy working together and have identified a spin on their product

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that sets them apart from others,

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quote unquote,

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seemingly making something similar.

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If you're in any way hesitant about starting your business because

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you think your market is saturated,

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these girls have something to tell you today.

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It is my pleasure to introduce you to Sharita Lucas from

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dosa naturals.

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Dosa naturals is all about paying homage to the women who

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paved the way for Sharita and her two sisters.

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They were inspired by stories of their great grandmother dosa who

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was born in Mississippi and had an affinity for Magnolias.

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Grandma dosa instilled a strong sense of pride and simple beauty

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and stress,

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the importance of honoring the outside of your body as well

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as the inside.

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Not only did she insist on using natural methods to accentuate

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her natural beauty,

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she also understood and advocated for daily skincare practices free of

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harmful chemicals.

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She knew that natural was better.

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Less is more defines the brand today since most of their

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products contain less than nine powerfully effective ingredients,

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dosa is also environmentally conscious and catch this,

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you guys such a smart thing,

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they pay their customers to ship back their empty containers so

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they can use them again and again.

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We're going to hear about that and more very quickly.

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Sharita welcome to the gift biz on podcast.

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Hi Sue,

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how are you Doing great this morning.

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How are you?

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I am doing wonderful.

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There's no snow I love and it's nice and sunny right

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here in the in Deanna.

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So I'm having a good morning.

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So Well for me.

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I agree with everything you said except I wish there were

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like two feet of snow on the ground cause that's just

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what people who have hung out with me for a while

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know I'm all about the snow.

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No, I don't know if we can be friends anymore.

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So I'm sorry.

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You know how we can you just send it up to

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me? That's all.

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If you start seeing it,

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just go out really hard and just send it over to

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me in Chicago and we're all good.

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Okay, I can do that.

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Okay. So now that I shared with you and some of

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our listeners who might be first-timers listening to the show a

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little bit about me,

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I want to talk more about you and I have a

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tradition here on the show to have you describe yourself in

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a different and creative way.

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And that is through motivational candle.

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So if you were to envision a candle that just resonate

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who you are,

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Sharita what would that candle look like and what would it

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say? All right,

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so resonates with me.

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The color of my candle would be sky blue.

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I would say blue,

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but I have to go in a little deeper and say

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sky blue.

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And I say sky blue because it reminds me of the

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color of the sky.

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And when I look at the sky,

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I see vastness and I see limitless and I see beauty.

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So that's the color of my candle.

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It would be sky blue.

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And what would be on that candle is believe in the

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abundance of the universe.

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And I say that because you know,

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when I started my business,

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you know it's not anything completely different,

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right? There are a lot of skincare companies out there.

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There are a lot of people out there that claim to

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have natural products.

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And I was a little timid and a little afraid in

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the beginning because how am I going to stand out and

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can I even compete in the category?

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But then I read a quote that said,

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believe in the abundance of the universe.

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And that spoke to me.

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It said to me that the universe has a lot out

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there and there's something for everyone and you can compete in

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the same category.

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That's fine.

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There's enough room in the category for many people.

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So believe in the abundance in the universe when you're looking

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at your sky blue candle.

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Oh my gosh,

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it's so true.

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And we have just set the stage for such a wonderful

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conversation and I agree with you so much Sharita and I

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think a lot of people,

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I'm not going to go into my stories here cause we're

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gonna talk about your story,

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but I do encounter a lot of people who feel exactly

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like what you're talking about,

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the industry,

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the area that they want to get into with their product

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is already so saturated that there's no room for them at

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all. And then they feel defeated before they've even ever started.

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That's right.

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Before they get out there.

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Yeah. And I just have to say,

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so let me start off by telling everybody how we met.

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Okay. I was at the one of a kind show in

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Chicago. They do the show twice year and it's all hand

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makers. So you guys,

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you know,

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I was like in my glory because there are so many

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beautiful products there.

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It was getting to be the end of the day.

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I was exhausted.

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It was also the end of my birthday weekend and my

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girlfriend had taken me out for a big weekend,

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so I was just like,

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okay, we're going up and down these aisles just a little

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bit more and then we would go in home and I

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ran into your booth and your sisters were there and there

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was just so much fun and so much energy there.

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And I did still have a couple of gifts that I

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needed to get and I just went in and I wasn't

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sure what I was looking for,

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but it was the energy you guys had,

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which really attracted me to you guys.

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And then we started talking and then we started talking flavors

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and remember like it was really fun and really playful.

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I left after multiple purchases with a lot of bags in

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such a great mood.

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So when you talk about your quote and the abundance and

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your color to the optimism and the potential,

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it just oozes from you.<inaudible>

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yeah, I had so much fun meeting you too that day.

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Yeah, that was a lot of fun.

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You made my day.

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Oh, well then we did it together.

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We were segregated that good vibes,

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right? Yes.

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So then I'm like,

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okay, I need to know more of their story and one

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of your sisters and I want to get into who they

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are as we go.

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But one of your sisters was starting to say something on

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next top.

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I don't want to talk about it.

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Will you guys be on my podcast?

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And both your other two sisters pointed to you.

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They're like,

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she's our girl.

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She'll be on it.

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They're always throwing me under the bus man.

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Always me.

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But that's cool.

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Upfront visibility PR person I guess.

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And I'm the oldest to the oldest of the three,

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so that's why we do that too.

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It's a big sister.

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I always push out in front.

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Yeah. Gotcha.

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Well you can claim the role and you do it admirably

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already. I know.

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Ah, But let's go back.

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Let's now take a step back a little bit.

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Tell me specifically,

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maybe a little bit of your background,

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but how this idea started and then clearly how you decided

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to get your sisters involved as well.

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Let's go back into that story a little bit.

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I was like,

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I feel like I feel this like doo doo doo doo

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doo doo doo doo.

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That's right.

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Yeah. Well you know my family,

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we've always been serial entrepreneurs.

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You know,

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on my parents we didn't have anything.

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We grew up in Cabrini green,

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which is low income housing on the South side of Chicago.

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And my parents had me when they were 16 and 18

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years old,

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so they didn't have much of an education and neither did

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my grandparents.

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But my parents always wanted more for us girls.

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There are three of us.

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I have two sisters,

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as you talked about earlier.

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And my youngest sister decided that she was going to a

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lingerie company,

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right. And she called it exotic look lingerie and she was

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doing that.

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And so I said all right,

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well since we're doing lingerie,

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the natural extension of lingerie is skincare.

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Cause we were talking about talking to these women as we

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were introducing this lingerie to them and it just felt like

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the natural connection,

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a natural next piece.

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So we started exotic look natural.

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Whoa. It's pretty much just me cause my sister wanted to

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stay on the lingerie side and I was on the natural

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side and long story short,

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exotic look,

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lingerie fell off.

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It didn't do too well,

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but I was really into the natural right.

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That part of me,

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I had a daughter that was born with a seizure disorder.

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I learned that one of my core values is authenticity.

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So I wanted to give people similar to me with similar

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values and things like that.

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I wanted to give them a natural skincare alternative.

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So that's how the business started.

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Now the name came about during Thanksgiving,

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which is one of my favorite holidays because it's the one

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time of the year where I get all of the ridiculously

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My grandma and my mother made it the one time I

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get to do that.

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And as you do at Thanksgiving,

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you know,

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you get together and you reminisce.

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And at least my family does.

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And we talk about a lot of different things.

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And I was introduced to ancestry.com

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and I was introduced to my second great grandmother whose name

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was dosa and I thought,

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Oh my goodness,

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what an amazing name.

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And I found out she was from Mississippi and she had

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an affinity for Chuck Magnolias,

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which is the Mississippi state flowers.

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So if you look at my logo,

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my logo has the Magnolia kind of popping through the,

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Oh and my company's name is DOSO,

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which is paying homage to my second great grandmother.

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And the rest is history.

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Oh my gosh.

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So it all came about,

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it's kind of total family business even over and above your

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sisters then.

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Oh yeah.

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Yeah. I mean cause everybody and of course great grandma dosa

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as well.

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But then everybody who was at that Thanksgiving,

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like it all just came together for everybody.

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It did.

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And it was so natural.

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Yeah, it certainly did.

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Wow. So what about sister number three?

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Are we just calling them sister one and two?

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Are we going to give him some names?

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Okay. My sister,

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number two,

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the middle sister,

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her name is Charlotte and we are 14 months apart and

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that's all I'm going to say about that.

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And my youngest sister,

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her name is<inaudible>,

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which again is unique is her name is hydrilla Roseanne.

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And the story behind that name is my mother knew it

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was the last child that she was going to have.

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And again,

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family, she wanted to pay homage to her other three sisters.

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So I had an aunt name Audrey and my mother's middle

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name is Ella.

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So that's where I Drella came from.

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And my last two aunts,

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her other two sisters are Rose and,

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and so,

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Oh my gosh.

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So they Should just put it all in there.

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She put it all together.

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But what a beautiful name.

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Adrenal Roseanne.

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That's gorgeous.

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Yes. So who was the one who had the lingerie company?

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So that was on Trello.

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Roseanne. And so how did Charlotte merge into and make it

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then a threesome?

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Well what happened was when I started the dosa skincare line,

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it was a hobby.

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It was just me talking to some friends and making up

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some butters every now and again and some mineral thoughts and

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things like that,

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and I was doing it on my own in my basement.

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Did you just totally then abandon exotic look naturals then.

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Okay. It was rebranded as dosa natural.

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I rebranded it.

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Oh, okay.

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That's my mission kind of change and my sisters,

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her piece of the business,

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it just kind of fallen,

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so I just rebranded it and created something completely new and

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when I did that,

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because it took off after that,

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that's when my sister number two,

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Charlotte jumped into the fold to help because I needed help.

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Okay, so this is interesting.

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Then did you change the composite of the product also?

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Oh yeah.

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It's been three years in the making,

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just changing the product itself.

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A staple of the brand is our body butters and I

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really don't like to call them body butter Sue because they

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do have healing powers.

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It's not like the body butters that you see on Etsy.

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It's like a luxury body butter that has real healing properties

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and there are only nine ingredients in it.

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So over time,

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yeah, the whole structure,

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the whole making of that one product,

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all of that changed when I rebranded the company.

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Okay, wonderful.

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And a perfect note for our listeners is the evolution of

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a product here,

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right? Because you already had one product,

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you kind of got your feet wet,

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if you will,

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a little bit in making a pampering product,

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et cetera,

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and then it morphed into something deeper and more and stood

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for something more significant.

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Right. But you say that it really then took off.

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How did that happen?

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And so I want to just go back to that one

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point too.

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I mean to your listeners,

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just to say your first thought about what your business is

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going to be,

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it's going to change.

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Just expect it to change.

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It's almost like it reminds me of when,

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when we're young,

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right? When we're teenagers,

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we're not the same person that at age 15 that we're

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going to be at age 18 or at age 21 or

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even 25 we continue to evolve and even to this day,

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three years later,

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my brand is continuing to evolve.

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So I just wanted to put that in there.

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Just know that you're not going to have all of the

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answers, you're not going to,

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and they're going to be many,

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many times when you feel like you are struggling that you

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just don't even know what the heck you're doing or if

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it's even worth it to keep going.

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But you got to keep going and just trust yourself and

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just watch the business evolve and feel comfortable in the evolution

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of your passion and your business.

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So I just want that out there.

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Yeah, and let me expand on that also for a second

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because a lot of people that I'm working with are just

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afraid to even start because they feel like they have to

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land on the exact right thing right from the beginning.

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So what you just talked about addresses that too.

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You're not going to land on the perfect product necessarily,

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like there could be some home runs.

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Right. But it's probably going to evolve.

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But the thing is you have to get started.

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You have to move,

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and I can tell you my products were crap and I'm

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just going to say it.

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When we first started out,

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they were crap and I had friends and family that would

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use them,

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but then they would give me feedback and the feedback is

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what made the product better.

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Here's the one thing that's absolutely certain,

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Sue, if you don't move at all,

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you will never have a successful business that's guaranteed.

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Right? But if you start to move,

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then there are possibilities.

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Just taking the first step then increases your chances of being

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a successful entrepreneur.

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Absolutely. But you got to take the steps you have to.

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Yes. That was a such a valuable add.

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Thank you so much for bringing that up.

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Okay, so let's get back to then.

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How did you start seeing that it was taking off?

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You made the switch three years ago,

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right? Just to ground everybody.<inaudible>

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I made the switch.

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Yeah. Okay.

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Three years ago or so.

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So when did you start seeing that traction was really starting

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to happen and what do you attribute that to?

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Well, you gotta make sure that you find your tribe,

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right? So my sisters were there,

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but we all have different aspects of the business.

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I am the visionary,

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I'm the creator.

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My sister Charlotte is inventoried because I hate doing that type

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of stuff.

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Oh my God,

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the details drive me insane.

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So she's in charge,

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she knows how much inventory we have and my husband is

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in charge of really making sure that we know how much

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our products cost us to make and what's our profit margin

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and what our wholesale prices should be.

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And my youngest sister<inaudible> is just really good at managing money.

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All of this came together when I found my chamber,

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my chamber of the city.

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And I would advise anyone that's thinking of starting a business

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to get in touch with their local chamber because there are

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lots of small business and likeminded people that are trying to

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do the same things that you can do and you can

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make some connections there.

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But the chamber introduced me to a small store owner,

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a boutique store owner who allowed me to put my products

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in her store.

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Right. And when she did that,

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people started to buy the product and start to comment on

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them. Right.

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And then more orders start to come in.

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And when I knew that I had something special and that

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I needed to keep going,

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and not only were people coming in talking about how they

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love the fragrance of the product,

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but they were also talking about how their children with eczema.

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Then they couldn't find any other product for them that,

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that, that it was actually helping to clear that up for

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them. They would tell me about how in the winter time

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their hands were always so dry and chapped and how my

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products actually helped to calm that down and combat that.

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And so all of this started to come in.

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I started to realize that I had something that was a

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little bit bigger than myself.

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It was a little bit scary at the time too,

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but also exciting.

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But yeah,

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finding my chamber,

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getting introduced to this boutique store who gave me an opportunity

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to put my little products in her store,

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which introduced me to a whole new target audience that I've

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probably would not have had access to otherwise is what really

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catapulted my business.

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Wonderful. So you were listening to the customer,

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understanding what they were seeing and you hadn't really identified the

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therapeutic values yet.

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No, I didn't.

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You had put it into the product because you wanted it

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to all be natural,

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et cetera,

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but then this is when you were really like,

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Oh my gosh,

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this is doing something way bigger than I even thought as

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you had said.

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Yes, absolutely.

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That is exactly what happened.

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I would love to say that to everyone that's listening that

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I had a scientist and I spoke to some medical doctors

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and things and they told me exactly what I needed to

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put into these products to give it therapeutic advances,

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but that's not what happened.

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Again, everything happened with my company.

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It was pretty much like trial and error first,

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knowing that I wanted to do this right and then researching

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and starting to create products and then listening to the advice

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from friends and relatives and adding a little bit more and

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then getting the product out there in an environment and listening

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to what was coming back.

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I guess when you think about just the natural products and

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just the elimination of preservatives and additives and things like that,

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when you think about it in hindsight,

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yeah, it's going to be better for the skin and it's

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going to have all of these wonderful benefits and that's exactly

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how it is.

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Yeah, well it would make sense that it would,

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but then for you to hear it is a different thing

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and Sharita I would say it was probably really good that

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you didn't have like a really formal marketing plan already set

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because if you did,

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and I'm not against planning and strategy,

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mind you because that's what I teach,

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but if you would have been so rigid,

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you may not have been open to what people were telling

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you. You know,

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and you might not have evolved as you did because you

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might've been so like tunnel focused on what you were thinking

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your plan was instead of listening to customers.

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Exactly. And to add to that too,

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it's like I think that oftentimes,

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you know that additive about paralysis by analysis.

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That is true for me.

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I know just for me this,

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I know how my brain works.

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I spent 28 years in corporate and I understand bureaucracy and

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I understand how having too many cooks in the kitchen just

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further complicates things,

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right? So in my mind,

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for me getting from a to Z,

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all of the detail,

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I'll let fluff in the middle to me causes me a

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little bit of anxiety.

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It's like information overload.

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It's too much.

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And so I didn't do a marketing plan and things like

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that just for that reason.

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For me it didn't work.

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Some people are a little bit more rigid and they need

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that plan.

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For me,

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it's just like,

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let's, I know what I want to do.

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Let me just get in there and do it.

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I don't want to add too many cooks.

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To the kitchen.

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I didn't want to hear a lot of the islands say

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preachy people,

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but I guess I didn't meet that much rigid reality.

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I don't know if that's the word or not cause I

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didn't want to slow down my momentum.

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Right. And I would suggest that that is the huge advantage

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we have as small businesses.

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We don't have all that hierarchy that you do in corporate.

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It doesn't have to pass legal and production and like all

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these processes,

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we can all move so much faster and quicker than corporate

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ever would be able to.

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Yeah, that's a huge advantage.

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Yes, It's a huge advantage.

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But I am thinking you probably had a destination in sight.

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You know,

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you've already defined yourself as a visionary,

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so although you didn't have a marketing plan per se,

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can you describe right at that transition point where you were

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looking at the business to go like what were you looking,

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if you were to have said,

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okay, this is why I'm building this as and this is

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what I see as a win for the business,

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what would the business then look like?

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Let me give you a little grounding of why I'm asking

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this question.

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One of the things that I ask people all the time

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when they're making a transition from just,

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you know,

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making the product as a hobby just for fun to now

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decide and I want to monetize this and I want to

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start a business.

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I'll say,

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okay, are you looking at doing this part time or maybe

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part time at first and making it go into full time?

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Are you looking at being a wholesale?

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Like all these questions.

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Not that it's going to stay that way,

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but as a starting point versus just jumping in and having

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no idea where it's going to go.

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What were you thinking about for yourself at the transition point

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to dose and naturals.

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Okay. And I want to say to people too that I

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started dosa,

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which was originally exotic look natural while I was working in

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corporate full time.

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Right? I knew that at some point I wanted to get

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out of corporate and I knew I couldn't do it right

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away because my family needed my paycheck.

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So my exit strategy was to began to find something that

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I was passionate about,

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right? And to begin dosa naturals to begin my natural skincare

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and was kind of like a hobby.

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I didn't know where it was going to go,

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but at the point when I found out that I had

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something larger than myself,

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then I started to think,

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all right,

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so what's next?

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How do I take dosa to the next level?

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Is that what you're asking?

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So, Yeah.

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And I also liked that you were talking about the fact

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that you stayed in your corporate.

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Yes. That stops a lot of people.

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Yeah. Well,

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I'm not a fan of people's just decided,

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okay, I'm gonna quit and start this business.

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I think that's very risky.

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And then it makes you look really needy too.

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Like we feared a craft show in sales.

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You need those sales because you need to cover medical bills

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or food or whatever.

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I'm so glad you said that too,

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because the other,

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if you had asked me another phrase,

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I got a lot of them.

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It's like you cannot build a business from a place of

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desperation. You just can't do that because I believe the energy

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that you give out is what you will get back in,

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right? So if you're out there and you quit this job

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and you go out here and you starting this business and

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you don't have the financial wherewithal to support just your daily

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basic needs and it's going to cause you a lot of

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anxiety, right?

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And people are gonna feel that and it's unnecessary.

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So my idea,

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again, and I would say this anyway,

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cause I got a lot of people to say I can't

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afford to start a business because I have a full time

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job. Well to that I say that's just an excuse.

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You can find ways,

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anything that you really want to do,

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you'll find a way to do it.

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So while I worked in corporate and I didn't have this

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a desk job,

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I was a senior partner overseeing teams of technical leaders and

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experts. So my job was pretty demanding,

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but I really enjoyed and believed in what I was creating.

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And to me that gave me just knowing that I had,

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that made my job just a little bit more bearable because

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I could see the light at the end of the tunnel

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and the time that I had was the weekends and the

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evenings and that's what I used,

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but it didn't even feel like work.

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It's just time just disappeared in a gave me it like

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refueled me.

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It gave me the energy that I needed to go into

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this job that I no longer desired to be at.

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That wasn't really doing anything for me after 28 years.

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Would you say there were skills that you picked up in

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your corporate life that you apply to your business now?

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Absolutely. Absolutely.

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That's the other thing too.

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It's like everything that I've done,

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I feel like everything that I've done in my corporate life

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has prepared me for what I'm doing now with dosa,

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I worked for a global advertising agency,

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so when it comes to designs and copywriting and marketing,

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all of those skills now I apply to my business.

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Even though you know I was in technology just being surrounded

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by these individuals and it's also given me connections and valuable

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connections that I still tap into today.

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One of my coworkers at the advertising agency I'd known for

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a long time created my logo for me.

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I knew a photographer that I worked with at the advertising

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agency and through that connection he's taught me how to take

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great photographs,

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so I learned skills and I also have valuable connections that

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I still tap into today.

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First off,

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I love that you're talking about the fact that corporate was

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valuable, so I encourage anyone who's listening,

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who is working,

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even if it's part time,

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whatever other job you have as you're considering what products you

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make and turning that into a business,

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what type of opportunities and skills can you take advantage of

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while you're still working there?

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That will help you later because the people don't really recognize

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that all the time.

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The other thing is,

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and this varies by business,

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I understand that,

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but you have some people who can be testing your products.

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You can start spreading the word just by sharing your products

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within your company too.

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So there's already like a mini market that you can start

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kind of cultivating there within a business,

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especially, I've heard this a lot from people who are bakers,

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they'll start bringing their products in because they're just gonna have

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some for lunch,

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you know,

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brownies, let's say whatever.

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And then they start sharing it with other people and those

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end up oftentimes being their first customers.

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That's right.

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And those connections to SU though,

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connections that you can use later on that you can tap

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into to help you grow your business to again,

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take advantage of your situation.

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So I love that look for opportunities.

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I think we spend too much time on the opposite side

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of mindfulness where we're focusing so much on what we cannot

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do instead of focusing on the opportunities that exist all around

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us. I mean if you shift your mindset then that enables

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you to see things and from a different vantage point from

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a different perspective that's more positive that will actually help you

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as you continue down this journey.

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Yes. I think mindset is where it's at.

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For sure.

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Everyone has different opportunities available to them to like you don't

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have to be successful based on how someone else was successful.

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That's What are you surrounded with that you can optimize in

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terms of relationships,

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connections, all of that.

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Just like you were saying.

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Sharita. I'm loving where we're going with this.

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This is beautiful.

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Next I'm going to ask Sharita what she thinks of the

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law of attraction and you'll hear her answer right after a

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do you believe in the law Attraction?

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I absolutely do,

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yes. How'd you guess?

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Okay. I do.

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I grew up in the culture church.

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Both of my grandfathers,

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both sides,

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maternal and paternal were ministers,

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so I spent a lot of time in church and I

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didn't follow my family's religion as much and I really don't

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know to what I truly believe in.

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I don't know.

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Some people say there's God,

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there is the universe.

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I don't know,

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but I do believe that there's something out there that's greater

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than all of us and I do believe that what you

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put out is exactly what you're going to get back.

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I do believe that if you go out there with the

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mindset that you are going to be in service to others,

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that will come back to you.

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So yes,

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the law of attraction app solutely I believe in it.

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100% Me too.

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And just your point about focusing on what potential you have

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and the positive versus the negative.

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I would encourage anybody who's listening,

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who's never tried that,

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just start thinking that way and see what happens.

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You might be very surprised.

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Yeah. Or so I tell people,

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cause I also do cognitive coaching and it's all about understanding

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why people continue self destructive beliefs and habits and things like

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that. And it's understanding the why there really helps you sustain

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it. Change,

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right. So I would tell anyone,

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right when we're talking about mindfulness is the next time that

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you think or you're wondering what you should do when you're

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in a certain situation that causes you a little anxious and

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anxiety. I would suggest that you do the opposite of what

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you would normally do.

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Do the opposite and see what happens.

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So if you're having these negative thoughts about your next step,

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you know,

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because you're so used to doing or reacting to these negative

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thoughts that you have in a negative way,

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instead of doing that,

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do the opposite.

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Try to shift that mindset to something positive and then do

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the opposite of that negative action.

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So not just think it,

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but take an action,

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take the opposite action,

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Take an action.

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You have to move.

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You have to move.

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People are that paralysis by now.

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Don't think too hard about it.

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I believe too that especially as women,

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that we have this great power of intuition.

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I mean,

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it is so powerful and most times what we do is

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we don't activate it.

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Instead we ignore it and I would challenge women to really

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get into tune with this gift that we have listened to

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your intuition and follow it.

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Believe in yourself.

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Just believe that you can and then start to take steps.

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I'm like,

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I'm not going to sugar coat this doing this businesses.

Speaker:

I have many days where I wonder what the heck am

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I doing and maybe I'm in over my head and maybe

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it'd just be easier to go out and get a nine

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to five job.

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I have those moments too.

Speaker:

It's not all roses and flower pedals and things like that,

Speaker:

but his incident time heals all of that.

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If you continue to move,

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just taking baby steps,

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not giant leap,

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just baby steps.

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If you walk through that pain,

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if you walk through that negativity,

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I promise you what's going to be on the other side

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is going to be something that's been waiting for you that

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that you need to get to,

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but you have to take the steps,

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you have to move.

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So I cannot stress the importance of that.

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You have to move.

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So if you move and you take an action and the

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action doesn't work,

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that doesn't mean you're not cut out for it.

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It means now you analyze what happened,

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think through and then move another way,

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right? Because you've learned to.

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So when you think about taking those steps and things don't

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work out the way that you've intended them to or the

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way you want it to,

Speaker:

there's a lesson in there because guess what,

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what you just did,

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you won't do again.

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You learn from it.

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So the next step that you take,

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you'll apply those learnings and you just continue along that path.

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And life is about learning.

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Every time you take a step,

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you're going to step into some poop every now and again

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as this is the way it is.

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Yeah. You know what I like to think about with this

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too is every time I run into a conflict or a

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struggle, I know that other people who would get to this

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point will fall off.

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Right? So if I'm able to continue on,

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do it a new way.

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The group of people that I am competing with,

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if you will,

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is going to get smaller and smaller.

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That did knock him off the competition.

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So Yeah,

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I was hesitant when I even said that word,

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but nothing else came to me at the moment.

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Okay. Because I do believe in abundance and that there is

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something out there for all of us.

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Yeah. App.

Speaker:

But that's the point is when you meet with conflict,

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don't say I'm not cut out for this or I can't

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do this.

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Or those self doubts that you have in the beginning have

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been proven out.

Speaker:

That's not the case.

Speaker:

Everybody runs into situations like this,

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challenges, obstacles that they're going to have to overcome.

Speaker:

And so you figure out a way to do it.

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Let's bring this over to you.

Speaker:

Sharita where was there a problem in your business?

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Share with us some details of how you've had to implement

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this within dosa.

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Oh sure.

Speaker:

Oh my God.

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Let me see.

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Where are you?

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Where did I even start?

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Right. Let's do the third one.

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Well, for me,

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I've always talked about how I'm the big picture sinker,

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right? So I know what products I want to make and

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I know how I want to market those products and I

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know how I want to have them tie into my brand

Speaker:

and I think I understand what my consumers want.

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But if you ask me things like how much inventory do

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you have or how much are you spending to make the

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product? Or what's your margin or what's your wholesale pricing,

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that type of stuff.

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I hate that type of stuff.

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So that's always been the challenge for me in the business.

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And I recognize that you can really grow if you don't

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ask for help.

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If you don't find your tribe,

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it's not a negative.

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It's not when you're asking for help,

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to me it shows drain and not a weakness,

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so I started to ask people for help.

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My sister,

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she can tell you how much product we have.

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My husband,

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he can tell you how much it costs or how much

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we're spending to create that product or what our margins is.

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My cousin that I just started to tap into can tell

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you all the details about our social media postings and things

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like that.

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So again,

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to sum that up,

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it's like there are going to be challenges and you can

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be everything,

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but you have to realize what you need help in.

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Yeah. I don't even want to call it a weaknesses.

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It's just the areas that you're not as strong in and

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find people that can help you make those connections through your

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chamber or through the companies that you're working with or tap

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into family members to help you overcome some of those challenges.

Speaker:

Yeah, I think that's a big deal in people don't want

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to ask for help because it makes them feel like they're

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weaker. All goes back to that whole initial idea.

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Am I even cut out for this?

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Right. But if you think about it,

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how could anybody be an expert on everything?

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I mean,

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it's just not even feasible that you would be.

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And there's this mentality,

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I think especially when we start out,

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I'll be curious if you were feeling this way that I'm

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super woman,

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I'm just going to do it all until I have the

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money and I can afford to hire someone else in or

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whatever because I can do it all.

Speaker:

And there's a lot of thinking out there now that's saying,

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you know,

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why would you spend so much time trying to learn a

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skill that doesn't come naturally to you versus doubling down on

Speaker:

something that number one you love doing that is so natural

Speaker:

for you and have somebody else do the other stuff.

Speaker:

Absolutely. For sure.

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And when you said that,

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it's like,

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Oh, are you curious as to whether or not I thought

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I was superwoman?

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Well, heck yeah.

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I thought I was superwoman for sure.

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I'm the oldest of the three sisters.

Speaker:

I'm always the person that people come to for all of

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the answers in corporate.

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I was a senior partner,

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I was the person leading other people in this department.

Speaker:

So yeah,

Speaker:

I thought I was super woman and I could do it

Speaker:

and I could have it all and I fell.

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I fell pretty hard.

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No, my sisters came over and my little area was just,

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I have boxes and crap everywhere.

Speaker:

My business was failing,

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my mental health was failing.

Speaker:

I'm just going to be completely honest because I was trying

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to do too much and my business wasn't fun anymore.

Speaker:

It felt hard.

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No, because I was trying to do everything and it wasn't

Speaker:

until I was able to start asking for help and those

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areas that just do not come naturally to me but comes

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naturally to others.

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Once I was able to tap into those resources,

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I was then free to do the things that I do

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best, which then benefits my business,

Speaker:

and now I have the mental space to take it to

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the next level,

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to think about what's next.

Speaker:

So having that learning and having gone through all of that,

Speaker:

what would be the advice for people of when you add

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on or start asking for help?

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What's the,

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not where you get to where you were really risking your

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health and everything,

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but what's your advice for someone of where is there a

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recognizable point where you would add in or just ask for

Speaker:

help? Is it right at the beginning?

Speaker:

No. So I think that's going to be different for every

Speaker:

person. It goes back to trusting your intuition too and being

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mindful and listening to your body.

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And that's going to be different because some alts have a

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higher tolerance than others for certain things and certain aspects of

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the business.

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But I think the moment that you realize that you're not

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enjoying what you're doing anymore,

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it's probably the moment where you need to do some self

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reflection and figure out what it is that's causing you this

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anxious and anxiety.

Speaker:

And then once you figure that out,

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how can you find some offset that,

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how can you tap into resource?

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What can you do to help offset that?

Speaker:

So, yeah,

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I guess in short it would be when you feel like

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you're no longer having fun.

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Got it.

Speaker:

And that doesn't mean necessarily you even add an employee.

Speaker:

No. I mean you might go in just on a project

Speaker:

basis, I need help with my website.

Speaker:

Like there are some major problems and you hire someone just

Speaker:

to work on that problem.

Speaker:

Not to be the person who owns your website.

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No, exactly.

Speaker:

So there's little like it can be project oriented one time

Speaker:

project or it can be tasks that they do throughout the

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whole business.

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Right. So great topic.

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It's about being creative about where you find your resources.

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Cause I find resources from all over the place,

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Including the chamber.

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I love that you talk about that.

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The chamber.

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Yep. To you know,

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Valparaiso, the city that I live in,

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if you're looking for someone with special skillsets,

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like I needed someone to help me with SEO optimization on

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my website.

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So what I found out is that there aren't schools and

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colleges around me and universities where there are students that are

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learning to do this stuff.

Speaker:

And if you reach out to the schools,

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they will put you in contact with students that can help

Speaker:

you with things like SEO optimization,

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almost nothing.

Speaker:

So being creative and looking at different places for resources to

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help you.

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Perfect. Okay,

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I have a couple more questions.

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I'm looking at our time.

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I have a couple more questions I absolutely want to get

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to. I so love this idea of people bringing back their

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containers. I think of that all the time when I'm throwing

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away whatever product it is.

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It's like,

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Oh my gosh,

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this is such a waste and bad for the environment and

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all the other things.

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Right. How did this idea come about and how does it

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actually work within your business?

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Oh sure.

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So again,

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the saturate.

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Yes, the universe.

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There's an abundance in the universe,

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but you do have to try to find ways to make

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your brand stand out.

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That's just the reality of the business.

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You have to try to figure out what's most important to

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your target audience,

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to your consumers and do in the research about our consumers.

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Cause I also connected myself with the small business Bureau in

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Indiana and I would suggest that others do that too.

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It's a free service.

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Yes, so I know it's about time too.

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I can sometimes I run out,

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but anyway,

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so my consumers,

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we're not only concerned about natural skincare products,

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but they were also concerned about the environment.

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So in my mind like how do I mesh the two,

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how do I add that as a staple in my brand

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and just doing some research on out some of the big

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brands are doing it like you and a leader is starting

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to do it too.

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Add that they have this program,

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this waste free program and that is what launched this idea

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for our consumers.

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Look, once you purchase our products,

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when they're empty,

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we pay you,

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we send you a postage paid shipping label with your order.

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You just pop that on a box,

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puts your empty container in it,

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ship it back to us and we will recycle it for

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you and you get a 10% discount on your next order.

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Beautiful. Because what you've done there is then put in a

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recurring revenue base for you because if people have 10% it's

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not a coupon.

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So it's not a natural,

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just I guess a regular kickback coupon or something.

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Right. But it's in your system now to do that.

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Yes. What percent.

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Okay, so now this might not be fair cause you already

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talked about the fact that you know my numbers,

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but what percent just even if it's a gut feel of

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your customers will actually take you up on that and return

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the containers.

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Oh my God.

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I think that's what most of the customers,

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I mean even I would even say,

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I'm not going to say they don't like the products,

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but they really feel strongly about that.

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I would say about 80% of our customers.

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Wow, that's wonderful.

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And then of that,

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what percentage do you think reorder?

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It would be,

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I would say another 80% because once you send that container

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back, you're top of mind,

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right? You're going through this action and it's so easy then

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for you to just log back onto the website,

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place your next order.

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Bada Bing.

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Bada boom,

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you done?

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Yeah. Cause you've got the coupon right there right then.

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So you might as well use it.

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You forget,

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right? Yeah.

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Not a coupon.

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It's like you go online and it's just no shipping.

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The system knows.

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Got it.

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Okay. Yes.

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And so do you assign it to their account in the

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website? Yes.

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Oh, so it's already sitting there for them Already done.

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Oh, even better.

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Yeah. Already done.

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Ah, what a great idea that is.

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So, and again,

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I guess listening to your customer and identifying things that were

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care about for them and how you could integrate that in

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on top of your product.

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Absolutely. Yeah.

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All right.

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So we've already established that you sell wholesale because you have

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some product in at least the one boutique that I know

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of right now.

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You also are out at shows because that's how I saw

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you. And you also sell online?

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Yes. Okay.

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How do you feel?

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So that's a lot of things,

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right? A lot of different ways.

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How do you feel that's working for you?

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Is there one better than another?

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Or what advice do you have for people who are looking

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at that same kind of selling model?

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Yeah, so to me it's at the end of the day

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it's all about diversification,

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right? It's like trying to find a way to have revenue

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streams come in from a lot of different locations,

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right? There are a lot of people and reaching as many

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people as you can.

Speaker:

A lot of people don't want to go online,

Speaker:

so you want to get in again understanding what your consumers

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want. So in the stores as a sales channel that's working

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very well for us through wholesale,

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going out and meeting people face to face is how we

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continue to increase our audience or our consumers.

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They get to know about us and we extend our reach

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that way as well.

Speaker:

And then through social media is the next one that we're

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going to be trying.

Speaker:

I just say diversified.

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Try to get yourself out there and as many sales channels

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as you possibly can.

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And this didn't start,

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I mean three years in the making.

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For me it was just all online initially and then we

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opened ourselves up.

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Well, we got into the store.

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Then we opened ourselves up to the one of GYN and

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the trade shows,

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and next month we'll be at a wholesale event in Atlanta

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where we will have buyers,

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well, just be taking orders from buyers.

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Hopefully we'll get a lot of orders.

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So it's the evolution of all of that.

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That one was one,

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step two was something else.

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Step three was something else.

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Right. Well,

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and as you were talking,

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you just keep growing and growing and then trying things and

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then seeing what works,

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seeing what doesn't,

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et cetera.

Speaker:

I also think that people who see you,

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like everyone who is a recipient of the products that I

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bought from you,

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they're all holiday gifts.

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Okay. Are going to want to buy more.

Speaker:

And they may not be in Chicago.

Speaker:

They might not be at a one of a kind show.

Speaker:

They might not be at the trade shows because they're not

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a buyer.

Speaker:

And so you have online options for them.

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Absolutely. Yeah.

Speaker:

Diversify, diversify.

Speaker:

And I will say,

Speaker:

and I'm just putting this up as a red flag for

Speaker:

anyone who's listening.

Speaker:

I have seen many people who sell at craft shows,

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not have a way for people to repurchase,

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you know,

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through an online opportunity And then you've lost them And then

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you've lost them.

Speaker:

You know you've gotten your product into their hands like it's

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there already.

Speaker:

So if that's you don't feel bad,

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you know,

Speaker:

like just think about it and make some adjustments and put

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that in play because you're losing dollars.

Speaker:

Definitely if you don't have that as part of your overall

Speaker:

plan. Absolutely true.

Speaker:

As you look out into the future Sharita what are you

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thinking is coming next?

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I want to get into some of the larger stores.

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That's one of the primary objectives and the other two is

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our customers are asking us if they're able to sell our

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product. So we're also looking at the possibility of certifying consultants,

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independent consultants that will sell our products and receive commissions.

Speaker:

So that's another Avenue that we're exploring.

Speaker:

But I recognize it took a long time to build the

Speaker:

brand and I don't want to dilute the brand.

Speaker:

So I'm trying to figure out how best to do that,

Speaker:

what that framework is going to be.

Speaker:

But that's another potential sales channel that we're also investigating.

Speaker:

Beautiful. And again,

Speaker:

because people are suggesting and asking it,

Speaker:

but I love the fact that you really hold the brand

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and everything that you represent close to you.

Speaker:

Hmm, absolutely.

Speaker:

You know you don't make the play in return for money

Speaker:

and possibly minimize the value of the brand.

Speaker:

I love that.

Speaker:

And I asked this question because I want people to understand

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that there's always an evolution.

Speaker:

There's always potential for what's next.

Speaker:

I don't know if you feel this way,

Speaker:

but even for me,

Speaker:

for my businesses,

Speaker:

like I get to a certain point and that's where I

Speaker:

was dreaming to be and then when I'm there there's more.

Speaker:

Yup. There's always more,

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There's always more.

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And I love,

Speaker:

it's very exciting when you talk about in terms of your

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more, it's very cool.

Speaker:

So, so it's like all you have to do is put

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yourself out there and if you are staying true to your

Speaker:

core values and the essence of who you are,

Speaker:

if you are staying true to that,

Speaker:

your passion will shine through and you'll start to make connections

Speaker:

and all this stuff happens organically.

Speaker:

It's not like I'm planning everything step by step day by

Speaker:

day, but by virtue of me getting out there talking to

Speaker:

people, being front of consumers,

Speaker:

listening to what they have to say,

Speaker:

the next idea just kind of organically just shows itself.

Speaker:

It just happens.

Speaker:

The guarantee is that if I don't get out there,

Speaker:

if I'm not taking these steps,

Speaker:

my business and nothing will happen,

Speaker:

that's the guarantee.

Speaker:

Right. But I don't know what's next.

Speaker:

I don't know.

Speaker:

Until I get out there and actually start taking steps and

Speaker:

talking to people.

Speaker:

It's really exciting.

Speaker:

Yeah, it's really exciting cause that's the unknown.

Speaker:

It's like a big mystery.

Speaker:

Right. But then the other thing that you're doing is you

Speaker:

are listening.

Speaker:

You're considering how that would work within your business and then

Speaker:

you're doing something with the information.

Speaker:

Right. My guess is there have been some ideas that you

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will say,

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Nope, doesn't fit with what we want to do.

Speaker:

Like you have a filter of what's actually going to work

Speaker:

for you and your business and your product.

Speaker:

Is that fair to say?

Speaker:

Absolutely. The one thing I learned about being an advertising and

Speaker:

marketing where your brand is everything,

Speaker:

you have to be very,

Speaker:

very careful not to dilute that because once you're out there,

Speaker:

your consumers,

Speaker:

it's really important to them that they understand what you stand

Speaker:

for and what you are and they then align themselves to

Speaker:

that and you gotta be careful not to drift too far

Speaker:

one in one direction or the other.

Speaker:

It's really important just to stay true to what your brand

Speaker:

is and that's an exercise I would encourage everyone to get

Speaker:

involved in as if you're thinking about doing it.

Speaker:

What are you doing?

Speaker:

What is your brand?

Speaker:

What do you stand for?

Speaker:

And if you can not,

Speaker:

what's your mission statement?

Speaker:

And you should be able to write that up and have

Speaker:

it in one sentence.

Speaker:

If someone asks you,

Speaker:

you should be able to in a couple of seconds,

Speaker:

be able to blurt out what that mission statement is and

Speaker:

let that be your guide.

Speaker:

Our brand is family friendly,

Speaker:

environmentally friendly and natural.

Speaker:

And if someone makes a suggestion about us changing something within

Speaker:

our product line,

Speaker:

something about the brand that does not stay true to that

Speaker:

nine ingredients.

Speaker:

That's it.

Speaker:

And now too,

Speaker:

with the sales thing,

Speaker:

you know,

Speaker:

if we can't make a certain profit margin to that type

Speaker:

of stuff goes into that and you check off the list

Speaker:

and if it does not meet those criteria,

Speaker:

then you can do it.

Speaker:

Right? It makes it really easy to make some of these

Speaker:

decisions and unfortunately some things that you think,

Speaker:

Oh, this would be really fun to do,

Speaker:

or you know,

Speaker:

it's in my wheelhouse.

Speaker:

So it would be so easy and natural if it doesn't

Speaker:

align to what your core values are and your product and

Speaker:

your branding and all of that.

Speaker:

That is where I think people start to sway off,

Speaker:

especially makers because a lot of makers can make everything right.

Speaker:

And so then you start diluting because you don't stand for

Speaker:

anything anymore.

Speaker:

Oh, you don't stamp thing.

Speaker:

Exactly. Yes.

Speaker:

Okay. So when our listeners now have become so super excited

Speaker:

and they want to know all about dosa naturals,

Speaker:

where would be the single place online that you would send

Speaker:

them to learn more about you?

Speaker:

They'll send naturals.com

Speaker:

Okay. That's pretty easy.

Speaker:

Dos, everybody,

Speaker:

dosa naturals.com

Speaker:

I'm quite sure that leads you everywhere else you would want

Speaker:

to go.

Speaker:

Right. And one other place,

Speaker:

you know,

Speaker:

if you really,

Speaker:

really want to know all things about me,

Speaker:

you could also go to Sharita,

Speaker:

lucas.com Perfect.

Speaker:

And as you all know,

Speaker:

there'll be a show notes page.

Speaker:

I will have links to all the social media sites,

Speaker:

the website again,

Speaker:

et cetera.

Speaker:

So you can go and check out all the products.

Speaker:

But there's one thing you guys can't do unfortunately,

Speaker:

which is smell the products and you're just going to have

Speaker:

to take it from me.

Speaker:

They are amazing.

Speaker:

Amazing are.

Speaker:

Yes. So in addition to them being really healthy and also

Speaker:

therapeutically good for you,

Speaker:

they also smell fabulous.

Speaker:

And you don't get to know that unless you try the

Speaker:

products or they might see people might see you.

Speaker:

Right. So Atlanta,

Speaker:

Chicago area,

Speaker:

how many shows do you do a year right now?

Speaker:

Well, we try to do a no more than we do

Speaker:

two big ones a year.

Speaker:

Okay. Sharita this has been such a fabulous interview and as

Speaker:

always, I never know the direction that it's going to take,

Speaker:

but I really liked that we did a lot of thought

Speaker:

process and mind work and how that overlays on top of

Speaker:

a successful business.

Speaker:

And I had no idea when I met you.

Speaker:

I mean,

Speaker:

you're just so bubbly and fun and great to be around.

Speaker:

But the depth of the conversation on some of these mindset

Speaker:

things can be the difference between a successful business and not.

Speaker:

And your perspective on this has been so valuable.

Speaker:

Oh, thank you.

Speaker:

So hope it helped.

Speaker:

I really hope it helped.

Speaker:

I'm excited for everyone.

Speaker:

Me too.

Speaker:

And it's so fun to see people bringing new products to

Speaker:

market and we want them all.

Speaker:

Yes, we do.

Speaker:

In abundance in the universe.

Speaker:

There you go.

Speaker:

That's what we are ending on cause that is perfect.

Speaker:

Again Sharita thank you so much for coming on the show.

Speaker:

Thank you so much Sue for having me.

Speaker:

I am quite certain that great grandma dosa is smiling down

Speaker:

right now.

Speaker:

If you close rise and pretend to breathe in the beauty

Speaker:

and the scent of Southern Magnolias,

Speaker:

you've captured the brand that these women have created.

Speaker:

I just love their energy,

Speaker:

their drive and their passion,

Speaker:

don't you?

Speaker:

We're getting close now to setting our sights on spring.

Speaker:

The popular season for weddings.

Speaker:

As many of you already know,

Speaker:

there's a lot that goes into a wedding.

Speaker:

All the services in coordination,

Speaker:

not to mention the moneymaking potential.

Speaker:

If your product aligns with weddings,

Speaker:

that's all we're going to get into next week and I

Speaker:

can't wait for us to be back together again then.

Speaker:

Bye for now.

Speaker:

I want to make sure you're familiar with my free Facebook

Speaker:

group called gift is breeze.

Speaker:

It's a place where we all gather and our community to

Speaker:

support each other.

Speaker:

I've got a really fun post in there.

Speaker:

That's my favorite of the week.

Speaker:

I have to say where I invite all of you to

Speaker:

share what you're doing,

Speaker:

to show pictures of your product,

Speaker:

to show what you're working on for the week,

Speaker:

to get reaction from other people and just for fun because

Speaker:

we all get to see the wonderful products that everybody in

Speaker:

the community is making.

Speaker:

My favorite post every single week without doubt,

Speaker:

wait, what aren't you part of the group already?

Speaker:

If not,

Speaker:

make sure to jump over to Facebook and search for the

Speaker:

group gift biz breeze.

Speaker:

Don't delay.

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