010 – How her Passion gets TV promos with Marlena Jayatilake of Love That Spice

Gift biz unwrapped episode 10.

Hi, this is John Lee Dumas of entrepreneur on fire,

and you're listening to the gift of biz unwrapped.

And now it's time to light it up.

Welcome to gift biz,

unwrapped your source for industry specific insights and advice to develop

and grow your business.

And now here's your host,

Sue Monheit.

Hi, I'm Sue and welcome to a gift biz unwrapped pocket.

Whether you own a brick and mortar store sell online or

are just getting started,

you'll discover new insight to gain traction and to grow your

business today.

I am thrilled to introduce you to Marlena Jaya Tila.

KA Marlena is the owner of Lavette spice,

a brick and mortar shop where spices and teas are masterfully

blended right before your eyes love that spice is unique in

that it offers up to date information on relatively unknown health

benefits of spices and herbs.

Marlena has been seen on ABC news multiple times and featured

in the Chicago Tribune and make it better magazine.

She is a list of celebrity customers as well.

Names you may know are Mike Ditka of Chicago bears fame

Marcus Limonus from the prophet and the late great Ernie banks.

Congratulations are also in order because Marlena and her husband Roohan

just had a new adorable little baby girl,

Sahara. She joins her older brother Rasaka to make a perfect

family of four.

Now Marlena is clearly a super woman because Sahara is only

three weeks old.

Yet. Marlena is already back at the shop and doing business.

So let's jump on over to her now.

Hey Marlena,

welcome to the show.

Oh, thank you so much for having me.

Is there anything You'd like me to add to your bio

before we get started?

Well, I like to add that our spices are 100% pure.

We bring our spices in completely whole,

and then we grind them down on site so that we

can tell you what are in the spice plans.

We focus on pure spices.

We don't add fillers of any kind,

nothing artificial,

just 100% pure spices.

And that's important to point out to get the conversation Going.

We like to revolve our discussion around the life of a

motivational candle.

The light shines on you while you share your stories and

experiences. So shall we light it up?

I say,

I eat,

what color is your candle?

My candle is white.

And why white white is for purity,

purity of people and purity of products.

And how about the quote that would be on your candle?

Oh, the fabulous coat that would be on my candle comes

from holiness,

the Dalai Lama,

and it simply states in order to protect your feet from

thorns, you cannot cover the entire surface of the earth with

leather. Now ask me what that means.

What does that mean?

That simply means that in life you're going to have your

ups and downs.

Everyone has ups and downs and you simply have to develop

a thick skin.

And when I say develop a thick skin,

you have to have a mindset to where if the whole

world is troubled,

you should be free from the trouble.

If you set your mind correctly,

meaning you cannot cover the entire surface of the world with

leather, because there's always going to be problems,

but how you react to them.

Well, that's the key.

Are you able to live your life in that way?

Of course.

Not most of the time.

Yes, yes,

yes. Yes.

The entire world is chaotic.

There is a piece of me on the inside that is

cool as a cucumber.

And I think that's the way it should be,

because if I reacted according to the way the world is

around me,

well, then I would be lonely to him all the time.

So me,

I'm more of a cool,

calm and collective most times,

but then again,

I have an eight year old,

a husband and a baby.

So you can't be cool all the time,

but most of the time you got it and we're going

To get into one of those times in a little while.

But before we do that,

bring us back to the time when you first envisioned your

business, how did this whole concept of love that spice get

started? Mm,

as corny as this may sound my vision,

while it first formed out of love.

I met my husband.

He introduced me to his people and to his foes.

My husband is from Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka is a

sits in the middle of the Indian ocean,

right at the tip of India.

So this is Asian cooking at its best.

We're talking bold flavors.

I mean enough spice that will choke a chicken,

but it's just fantastic.

I mean,

it's just fantastic.

I fell in love with the cuisine.

I completely fell in love with the cuisine.

And I always joke with people.

I fell in love with the spices first and my husband's

second. And that's the God honest truth.

It was easy to land me once he introduced me to

the food,

but I enjoyed it.

And then the second part of that is I started finding

out during reading and research,

finding out about the health benefits of spices and I was

completely blown away.

It is unbelievable to me that a powder that's right and

yellow, like turmeric can be such a powerful addition to your

cuisine. It is a natural anti-inflammatory it bites all timers.

It bites dementia.

It stops skin inflammation.

And this is perfect.

I mean,

do you mean I can get all of that and just

a powder?

And the good part is I'm not just talking out the

side of my neck.

Doctor's actually prescribed this pill to people,

a turmeric pill because it bites inflammation.

So this is information that should be known to everyone.

And the bonus is there are no side effects.

So what are you waiting for?

Spices, bicep pupils spice it up for life.

So Did you know about all these health benefits before you

started getting into the spices?

Or did you have to research it after you found that

you really liked the idea of these spices being added To

your food?

Well, I started doing the research because I being married to

someone who's from Sri Lanka.

We have a lot of Indian and Sri Lankan prints and

they in particular do not practice Western medicine.

They practice Aira Veda and that's the healing through spices and

herbs. And if you really look into all of the medications

that are being prescribed,

as they are based on herbs and spices,

the only differences we add a lot of other junk to

the medicines and these things do things like harm the liver,

the kidney,

they have so many different side effects.

So I thought,

wow, wouldn't it be great to really get into the aspect

of spices?

As far as the healing per se,

I have arthritis try ginger,

or if you have a bad back,

try turmeric mixed with black pepper,

and this will quash the inflammation.

I mean,

people don't know these things.

And I think that it's my duty to let people know

that, Hey,

this is what you're getting and our spice brands.

So EDA.

So how did you turn this into a business?

Did you start out of your house?

Did you start at a storefront?

What happened?

How did you create it from the beginning?

Well, I started doing little health peers and people got interested.

So then I started in Skokie in my house.

And then I quickly learned that you can't do it out

of your house.

So then I rented space and I had typically I rented

it for this warehouse space,

but then I thought,

no, that's not good enough because if I'm going to sell

spices for the health benefits of them,

well, I need to get out there and talk to people.

And I'm sorry,

I know this is the quote unquote digital age,

but you know what,

I'd rather talk to people face to face and let them

know about the health benefits of spices.

The internet just don't do it all the time.

Not for the up close and personal that I was looking

for. So with the warehouse that I had rented,

I decided to turn it into retail space.

And with that,

it just grew out of that and,

and kind of like set a small fire and it just

kept burning And it sure is burning.

Let's go the other direction now.

And as you were building your business,

take us to a time,

a bad time.

Something that was a real challenge that you had to overcome

to get to where you are Today.

Challenges. I love them because challenges really make who make you,

who you are.

And without them,

well, you know,

you can't grow.

So I I'm moving to Highland park.

As far as the business,

I quickly learned that retail was a big surprise to me.

My earlier career was in law.

So I had no retail experience whatsoever.

All I knew is that I loved people.

I wanted to talk to people.

I wanted to share this with everyone.

I thought that everybody should know about this,

but what I didn't know is that January and February and

part of March and retail is dead.

It's a dead period.

So I found myself being in the shop with,

you know,

the sales are down and I started reevaluating exactly what it

is I was doing,

because if I wasn't reaching the people,

then I really wasn't living the dream that I had for

myself. So I quickly thought,

you know what,

maybe this isn't going to work for me.

Maybe I need to rethink it.

And then I sat down and I thought to myself,

I say,

you know,

I'm not the only person.

This is happening too.

You have to learn how to change,

you know,

adapt. That's a better word.

So if it is slow in January and February and you

feel like you're not reaching,

the people will do something to reach to people.

So then what I did is I brought in an aerobatic

neurologist to teach a cooking class and to teach the health

benefits of spices and herbs.

And wow,

did that open up the flood gates,

people were interested.

They were,

people are starting to become curious about the health benefits of

spices and herbs.

We are actually as Americans waking up and we're finding out

that, Hey,

you know,

the things that we've been putting in our bodies are just

not right,

turn around a spice blend.

And just anyone of them at a grocery store and look

at the ingredients in it.

You will see so many preservatives and so many artificial ingredients.

When I started looking at that and then started listening to

what people were telling me about the health benefits and how

the spice blends one in particular,

the anti-inflammation blend was helping them.

Then I knew I knew right then and there that I

could not give this up.

This was worth fighting for,

but I had to adapt.

I had to find another way to reach people.

And I did that through classes.

So you really Took your success into your own hands and

found a different way of doing things on those months when

the sales just weren't walking in the door.

Exactly. I was going to control my own fate.

So I had to adapt.

And in businesses,

Hey, either you adapt or you'll be out of business,

you will,

and you will it'll happen quickly.

So I realized that I had to adapt it because I

had a product that was worth fighting for.

And so I put the boxing gloves on and I started

fighting. So did you find that a lot of those customers

that came then for those classes continue buying spices now in

our regular customers,

They are regular customers.

And just last week,

I think I touched on a blend that I created.

It's called the anti-inflammation blend.

And what that is,

is a blend of 23 natural vices and herbs that are

known to have anti-inflammatories and things of that nature right in

them. So I created that because I had a back injury

and I was prescribed hydrocodone and I was taking it about

four times a day and I stayed high,

but it did not stop the pain of the back.

And with that,

it gave you all these other side effects like constipation,

sleeplessness, dry mouth headaches,

your liver counts will go up when you take a hydrocodone

at that much.

So I said to myself,

you know,

cheese with all of the knowledge that I have in health

and spices,

why don't I just create something to cure myself?

So there was again taking my fate and my own hands.

And that's when the anti-inflammation blend was born.

But that's how much is that?

That started a little bit of smoke.

Then it turned into a big fire.

And then I got contacted by Amazon.

And Amazon was interested in this blend,

the anti-inflammation blend because there is not an anti-inflammation blend on

the market today.

You still won't find it,

which is why we're working to get it patented.

Now we then created the anti-inflammation tea brand and that has

taken off.

I am so proud of those two,

because those are created by me through my research,

and then to have people to come into the store,

almost in tears telling me how these products help them.

Man, I tell you,

I go to bed happy every night,

because what I'm doing is making a difference.

I'm not just making food tastes good.

I'm making the body feel good.

And you know what?

That's all that matters to me is that I am doing

something to help everyone else.

That is something to be proud of,

for sure.

Yes. So how did Amazon find you?

I want to ask health fair.

It was a raw health fair and there was a representative

there and she asked me for 80,000

units and I said,

well, you know,

ma'am, there's no way I can get you 80,000

units. We're a small company is me and my husband and

an occasional helper.

I said,

She said,

well, the problem with that is you'll have a back order

because it's going to be so popular.

I said,

well, you know,

we're a small store.

And I intend to stay small.

I intend not to be this great big store because I

refuse to compromise on quality.

And it seems to me,

the bigger you get,

the more people tend to compromise because they get used to

making money and they want to make money.

And that's all that matters to them.

Well, that's not all that matters to me.

I'll get there.

I don't have to get there overnight and I don't have

to get there doing it the wrong way.

I will stay true to myself.

And it brings me back to that white candle,

the purity you'll never change me.

What you see is what you get.

Always. It will never change Being in business for yourself.

You can really make your business anything you want.

So many people are saying,

oh, I'm going to get bigger.

What's the next step?

How can I get bigger?

How can I make more money?

And it sure sounds like the values to you are to

the integrity of the product.

Having time to be with the family and your making love

that spice be a lifestyle business it fits in with your

life. Absolutely.

Let's talk a little bit about customer service.

What special things do you do to make your customers feel

unique and valued?

Oh, I know each and every one of my customers,

the regulars,

all we'll sit down,

we'll have tea time.

I'll, we'll sit down and have treats together.

They'll call me at night to ask to me,

I'm a,

how to make a particular recipe.

They'll come in and they'll say,

you know,

Marlene, I have a tummy ache.

I have this,

I have that.

Do you have something for this?

Sure. They trust me.

They know me cause they know,

I care about them.

I really care about their wellbeing.

And with customers,

they come in,

we hug each other,

we kiss each other.

We talk,

I mean,

it's like a big family.

And when you walk into this store,

sure. You may come for the product,

but you'll come back for the people.

And that's for sure,

because we're like a big family here.

All of us.

And my son works here too.

He's eight years old.

He's here on Saturdays and it's just like a big,

old love Fest in here.

We're real.

We're real people.

We're about as real as you can get.

I want To go back for a minute because I think

this is something that a lot of people struggle with and

you're able to do it so easily.

We talked in the beginning about being on some news segments

and having an article written in the Tribune and also in

make it better magazine.

Did you go promote that as you know,

I can talk with you.

I can provide you an article or I can do a

show or how did some of those come about?

It is so funny.

I have never,

ever reached out to anyone.

I was in the store one day and someone from channel

seven came in and he says,

we've been hearing a lot of buzz about this store.

I'd like to have you on a TV.

And so I'm like,

oh wow.

So he says,

well, you know,

if I were to offer you a spot on TV,

what kind of show would you do?

I said,

well, first of all,

I will talk about the health benefits of the spices,

drink plenty of red wine and cook a meal that will

knock your socks off.

And so he's like,

well, can I take your picture?

And of course me being a woman,

I said,

well, wait a minute.

I have to get the lipstick first.

So he took,

so he took my picture and about two weeks later,

he gave me a call and he said,

listen, can you come down to the studios?

We want you to do his show.

And I said,

well, sure,

no problem.

So I,

I first I was nervous about it.

I got on TB and they were like,

you're on in five seconds.

And I looked over to my husband.

I said,

I can't do this.

And all of a sudden she says,

you're on.

And my alter ego must have jumped because she said,

hello, there,

this is Marlina from love,

that spice.

And all of a sudden I became this different person.

I'm like,

oh my God,

you must really love what you do because it really shows

it was fabulous.

That video got so many hits so much so that they

asked me to come back several times.

It has been fantastic,

but I have never reached out to anyone.

So it goes to show you that if you love what

you do,

it shows and people will notice,

Well, your energy is contagious.

That's for sure Why.

Thank you.

And you don't need a PO for that.

There you go.

So natural trait do you have,

and you might've already just touched on it now,

but is there another trait that you would say has helped

you to succeed?

Honesty, people will come in and with the spices,

they'll ask me,

oh, can I buy a pound of this?

And I'll tell them,

I say,

you know,

you can buy a pound of it,

but you'll never be able to use a pound of it

before the spices would go bad.

I said,

so you probably want to get just a little bit of

it. I said,

no, that doesn't make me a great salesperson,

but it makes me honest.

I said,

so if you want the minerals and vitamins and the taste,

you only want to buy about three ounces at a time,

use that up and then come back.

And so people appreciate the honesty because sure.

I could have made the 50 bucks per pound off of

it. But at what cost,

then the people don't get the freshness and the minerals and

vitamins that they want.

So to me,

honesty pays because when I tell people that they're like,

oh great,

I appreciate you doing that.

So, yeah.

Honesty and the ability to talk to people,

not talk at them,

but to really,

really talk to people.

I think those two traits are phenomenal.

I mean,

I don't think you can have a successful business without it.

Well, unless you're doing it on the internet and let's face

it, I'm not an internet girl.

You bring up some Really good points,

knowledge of your product,

credibility that you build with your customers and trust they can

trust your relationship.

And that what you're telling them is true.

Very powerful.

Oh yeah.

And they can also come over to dinner.

I've had a couple of people come over for dinner.

Oh yeah.

The wine is flowing and the food is phenomenal.

Well, you mentioned one of my favorite words,

wine Wine makes everything better.

Right? Totally tool.

Do You use regularly to keep productive or to create balance

in your life?

Well, the first thing I use is God that keeps the

balance in my life.

And the second thing I use is the internet.

I'm big with MailChimp,

sending out news letters.

I do about two to three times a month because I

feel like some stores,

they send out too many emails and they become irrelevant.

So I try to remain relevant by sending out emails only

when they're necessary,

like two to three times a month telling you about a

new product or a new health benefit associated with one of

the products.

So yeah,

MailChimp and the internet.

And also I talk to people like the chamber of commerce.

I think they are extremely relevant and people like you who

give people like me a chance to get out in the

world and talk to people.

Okay. Wonderful.

And with the newsletters,

do you see a jump in business immediately after you put

out one of those letters?

I do.

I see a small blip on the radar when I'm on

TV. Of course I get out a huge blip,

but yeah.

With the newsletters.

Yeah, it works.

I find it works when you include a recipe or I

include a health benefit along with a coupon for that particular

spice plan.

Yeah. I definitely see a big bump and I'll be sending

out another one today.

So I should be seeing a bump tomorrow too.

There you go.

If I may say so we have a class coming up

on June 20th and that is what the phenomenal Carol Deonka

and in the store,

we'll be doing a cooking demonstration along with teaching people,

how to fight inflammation with spices and foods.

So this one will be phenomenal.

And of course,

again, the wine will be flowing.

The food will be flowing and the laughter will be nonstop.

So a really good idea for all of our listeners then

who have brick and mortar shops is bringing in other people

who can draw an audience and create an event in store.

Clearly you'll probably bring in people that you haven't been exposed

to before who have never seen your shop.

So excellent idea.

Good luck with that event.

It sounds fabulous.

What book have you read lately that you think our listeners

could find value in?

Oh my God.

So this book,

I remember I was just opened up my business and I

was going through a down time and I saw this book

and it said how to become super rich.

And I said,

oh my God,

I got to get that book.

Let me go get it.

And so I went and I bought this book and I

opened it up and I started reading and I said,

what the heck is this?

They're not talking about money.

I'm not interested in this.

So I started reading and kept reading.

And it was about being a better,

you being rich through your relationships with people,

controlling your mind,

controlling your thoughts and actions,

helping others before you'll help yourself and ultimately by doing so,

you will become super rich.

That is my absolute favorite book ever,

ever, ever.

And it's by a guy,

unbelievably Russell Simmons,

but here's a guy that used to promote rock,

rap, artists,

rap music of which I load.

I mean,

I really do.

I really do.

But this guy used to promote rap artists who is now

a Buddhist and he is now a Yogi.

And so I found that learning from someone who has been

down there and who is now up there easily approachable,

and I can learn better from them because they've been there.

So that book just opened up my eyes to helping others

before I helped myself.

And when I can do that with love radiating from my

heart and a smile on my face,

then I will be rich.

And that's what rich means.

Not so much about the money,

but about the feeling of helping someone else.

And that's clearly The message that you've been giving throughout this

whole interview.

I mean,

the vibe is just right there.

So it's no surprise that this book is one of your

favorites, For sure.

Yes. Oh yes.

Oh yes.

Give to Biz listeners,

just as you're listening to this podcast today,

you can also listen to audio books with ease,

get a free audio book such as the one that Marlena

is recommending.

All you need to do is go to gift biz,

book.com and make a selection.

That's gift biz book.com.

Okay. Marlena,

we're entering into my favorite section of the interview.

It's called the dare to dream section.

Oh yes.

I would like to present you with a virtual gift.

It's a magic box containing unlimited possibilities for your future.

This is your dream or goal of almost unreachable height that

you would wish to obtain.

Please accept this gift and open it in our presence.

What is inside?

Wow, what is inside?

And this always gets me choked up.

It would be about,

about $70 million and it would be a lottery ticket,

a winning ticket.

And what I would do with that money,

I would take that money and buy back foreclosures.

And I would give it back to the people who lost

their homes.

I would take such joy in this,

the elderly who were scammed into refinancing or the young immigrant

who came here with the hopes of buying a house and

were duped into a mortgage loan only to find that they

are losing their homes.

10 years later,

I would take that money and buy back as many foreclosures

as I could and give them back to the people that

is the biggest dream that I have always had.

And I've always believed that one day it'll happen.

And I play the lottery simply for that reason,

because I know that I,

I can do so much good for so many people because

people are hurting out there.

They need to know that someone cares.

And I do.

I do so to the elderly,

to the hardworking people who have lost their homes through foreclosure,

I would definitely buy back those halls and give them back

to the people.

And that is the best gift that I can ever give.

All right.

So you have now Put that wish and that gift out

into the universe.

So we are all going to be watching on TV and

making sure that that happens.

You're going to get that gift and you're going to be

able to make that statement someday.

How about that?

Oh my God.

That would just be,

that's my purpose.

Other than raising my two kids.

That is my purpose.

I love that gift.

All right.

Well, we're nearing the end now of the interview.

If someone wants to see your online shop or be able

to sample some of your spices or interact with you in

any way,

what would be the best way for listeners to get in

touch with You?

Well, if they want to see my phenomenal and fabulous face,

share them road and Highland park right next to Norton's.

Or if you just can make it to see my fabulous

phase, then you can always go online to www that love

that spice.com

and you can place an order.

And with each order you would get a free spice blend

and or a recipe one or the other.

But I always throw in something free from me to you.

And I have a surprise for all of you gift biz

listeners, Marlena is offering a gift.

Why don't you share it with everybody?

I would love to,

if you want to ensure that your home cooking will never

be the same and you want eyebrow raising PLAYBAR to your

food, I'd like to offer 25% off a discount code.

And the discount code would be gift spice 25.

If you just put that in the discount section,

when you place your order@wwwdotlovethatspice.com

you'll receive 25% off your entire purchase from now until July

31st. So That's July 31st,

2015. So jump on that right away.

If you still have time while you're listening to this podcast,

thank you.

That is such a generous offer Marlena.

And as always,

if you didn't catch those links,

if you didn't catch the book or a lot of these

valuable pieces of information that Marlena has shared with us today,

you can go over to her show notes page and all

the information will be there waiting for you.

Find the show notesPage@giftbizonrapt.com.

Thank you so much Marlena for the tremendously valuable gifts that

you've shared with us and may your Candidate.

Thank you so much.

So have a wonderful day.

I will.

You too.

Yeah. Learn how to work smarter while developing and growing your

business. Download our guide called 25 free tools to enhance your

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It's our gift to you and available at gift biz,

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