Have a great week everyone!
Tutorials on soapmaking, bath fizzies, lotions and more
Filed Under: Personal Ramblings
Filed Under: Business Musings
Happy Weekend! I hope you’ve got something great in your soap pot. We’re prepping for an awesome Sunday shoot for SoapQueen.TV It’s time for us to dip our toes into Cold Process soapmaking and we’re starting the shoot this Sunday. I’ll take photos in process tomorrow and upload so you can see what we’re up to.
Today, I went on an awesome (drizzling, sort of wet and cold) hike with my sister in law and my favorite niece dog, Samantha. It was a nice way to start the day before reviewing the SoapQueen.TV scripts a bunch. Though Bramble Berry has a Beginner Cold Process DVD out already, we had many requests for Cold Process on SoapQueen.TV. The segments will be short (the DVD is 45 minutes to get a basic overview of soapamking) and the series will be a good idea of what it takes to do CP soapmaking but we’ll still be recommending extra resources like The Everything Soapmaking Book by Alicia Grosso. You can never learn too much.
I had a fabulous Thursday down in Seattle with the Women Business Owners. I met the founder of Wink Cupcakes (no, I didn’t ask her how she stayed so skinny. I should have).
And, here I am with Shandel Slaten, founder of True Life Coaching and the headliner for the awesome Women’s Leadership Conference 2010 in Seattle in March (details here) and Melody Birigner from Crave Party.
One of the things I talked about was how important it is to have a strong support network around you as you grow your business. From a Mastermind Group (blog posts here, here and here about how to set one up) to Business Book Clubs, we all need people around us encouraging us to do better and to reach our next level. Right now, the three business book clubs I’m in are reading: Anatomy of the Spirit – the Seven Stages of Power and Healing by Caroline Myss, Linchpin by Seth Godin and Crucial Conversations. I’m excited to have discussions about these books over the next month to expand my worldview and increase my knowledge as a business owner. It’s a bonus that anything that makes me a better leader also helps me to become a better friend, wife, daughter and sister as well.
If you don’t have a support network in place to help you succeed at business, consider picking up any of the great business books out there – 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is an awesome one to start with – to learn from the best and the brightest thought leaders of our century.
Filed Under: Business Musings
Filed Under: Tips & Tricks
Today, I’m speaking at a WBO luncheon in Seattle. The Women Business Owners organization is the group that presented me with the Nellie Cashman award last year. I’m super excited to talk about the growth of Bramble Berry and share my experiences with an enthusiastic audience.
Since I’m out of the office today, I thought this would be a great day to share a project I was working on earlier this week. I was inspired by some adorable soap boxes online and thought “Hey, I can totally do that”. I dug into my junk drawer, pulled out my super sized hole punch and punched out the top of a Bramble Berry white soap box. I popped in a soap and jazzed it up with some ribbon. Easy right?
You can wrap the soap before you put it in the box, but I want people to be able to see and smell my fabulous creation! Don’t worry, you can still do this project if you don’t have a super sized hole punch. In the picture below, I used a craft knife to create my own shape on the top of the box (well, I traced a shape that I found online).
TIP: When you’re tracing, lightly cut through the design at first, then take the design off and cut all the way through. To make sure your craft knife doesn’t cut through to the back of your box, stick a thick piece of cardboard inside of the box. I’m sure you have an old Bramble Berry box laying around (Grin).
Filed Under: Business Musings
Filed Under: Personal Ramblings
Though it hardly seems possible, our Olympic experience got even more epic yesterday. The wonderful day with the Hudson Bay Company tour and the Speed Skating event was truly once in a lifetime (blog post here). I could have left the city feeling lucky and blessed but Metro Vancouver had one more perfect day planned for us.
During our morning education session, Metro Vancouver brought in three incredible speakers: economic commentator Michael Levy, the Director of the Vancouver Foundation (Peter Jackman) and the President of the McLean Group (Jason McLean). They all covered different subjects about doing business in Canada. Michael Levy spoke about the divergent paths of the US and Canadian monetary policy. Peter Jackman spoke about the incredibly generous and kind spirit of Canada’s citizens and Jason McLean talked to us about how supportive the Canadian Government is of entrepreneurial pursuits. It was a wonderful morning of learning and I walked away feeling very inspired by their positive messages.
Then it was off to Salt, a tasting room in Vancouver. They served us three types of wine and paired them with three different types of cheeses. The room was dominated by a huge table filled with exotic foods and the group was thrilled to have such a sophisticated lunch. Who doesn’t love cheese and wine? It was a crowd pleaser!
Our guest was equally sophisticated: the former Mayor of Vancouver and also the former Premier of British Columbia – Mike Harcourt. He spoke about his love of Vancouver, his focus on sustainability and views on city planning. We were honored to have him at our table.
And then it was off to the main event – USA versus Canada Hockey! We had stellar seats right near the middle line and the entire game was breath taking – fast, aggressive, passionate and entertaining.
I was such an obnoxious American that my husband pulled me aside at one point to suggest piping down (lest I offend The Great One in the box next to us). The entire audience was a sea of red shirts. The American fans were probably outnumbered by at least 50 to 1. We did have the privilege of sitting next to Wayne Gretzky’s box at the match. It added a surreal, magical feeling to the entire experience.
We ended the night with dinner at La Terratza where the current Mayor of Vancouver Gregor Robertson visited. He sat at our table and we were able to hear about his political journey (from entrepreneur of the Happy Planet to politician ) and his passion around social issues (especially homelessness) and his commitment to a more green, sustainable Vancouver BC.
A big thank you to the City of Vancouver for being such an incredible host city and to Metro Vancouver for such a fantastic introduction to the business opportunities in British Columbia and to Barbara Mowat of Impact Communicationsfor alerting me to this incredible opportunity in the first place.
Filed Under: Personal Ramblings
Wow! Vancouver, B.C. is one excited and happy city. They are so energized by the Olympics that the crowds are out and about at all hours, whoopin’ it up and generally displaying their sincere delight at the world class event taking place in their city. Supposedly, this is more people than any one event has ever had but even with all the people, it’s very orderly and people are kind.
Let’s hope that trend continues for the hockey game tonight! USA versus Canada – we’ll be there in the stands, cheering for Team USA.
Yesterday was an incredible day (I’ve uploaded some of the photos to this Flickr set). Metro Vancouver did a great job with organizing the day to ensure we got the most out of every hour. First, we went to a 3 hour learning session on how to best do business in Vancouver. We learned about the tax advantages to doing business in B.C. (such as lower corporate taxes and streamlined tax reporting processes), the social advantages for doing business in Canada (all your employees have medical) and the nice business climate (stable banking system, no outlandish personal injury lawsuits). By the time the morning breakfast and learning time was over, Chris and I were both interested in learning more about opening branch offices in Vancouver. We had some one on one time with tax attorneys to talk about next steps and will be following up on those conversations in the next few weeks.
We also took a tour of Richmond (a suburb of Vancouver) and the Hudson Bay Company. We learned about Six Sigma and how it can be used to implement time and efficiency savings for warehouses. My mind was completely blown by how cool all the equipment at the distribution center of the Hudson Bay Company was. The scale and scope of what they have accomplished is incredible! I left inspired to re-look at how we do all of our warehouse operations at Bramble Berry to look for simple things we can do to improve on efficiency and simplify operations.
Then it was on to the main event – speed skating! We watched long track Men’s 1,500 metres. It was incredible – so thrilling, so energizing and so completely entrancing. The races were lightning fast and it was such a unique experience to be there when the upset, a Netherlands’s skater, took the gold.
We ended the night at the Holland Heineken House.You can imagine how excited the huge crowd was that they had just taken gold.
We rode the Sky Train back to our hotel and were asleep by midnight so we could save all of our energy for the USA-Canada Hockey game tonight! Our train leaves tomorrow at 6:40 a.m. to take us back home so don’t be surprised if you don’t get much of a blog post from me until the evening. Monday is a jam packed (in a good way!) day at work at Bramble Berry. =) Until then, happy soaping!
Filed Under: Personal Ramblings
Do you like the new header on the blog? It’s in honor of an incredible opportunity. Metro Vancouver is a group of 22 municipalities in the greater Vancouver area who have come together to attract business investment to the region. One of their programs involves bringing qualified businesses to see the best that Vancouver, BC has to offer – in this case, the Olympic games. Otion, our retail store, would be a great fit in Vancouver or any of the surrounding areas. After an application process, Metro Vancouver invited me, my husband and 18 other qualified businesses to see some of the Olympic events and learn about what Vancouver, BC has to offer the business community. My husband runs Fiberglass Structural Engineering and he’s getting a lot of great information and contacts from this experience as well.
We arrived via bus last night at 6 pm and immediately headed out to LiveCity for a reception. Many bankers, lawyers and representatives from all of the major cities in and around Vancouver, BC were there. It was an opportunity for all the visitors to learn more about the region, talk about the opportunities here and discuss how we can work together in the future. And, in a totally incredible coincidence, the 13-year-old-daughter of the Deputy Mayor for Vancouver is a soapmaker! We were able to talk soap and entrepreneurship and I’m hoping to interview her daughter for the Soap Queen blog.
A huge highlight of the reception was meeting Ruky Abdulai,an Olympic athlete representing Canada in Track ‘n’ Field (most recently the High Jump in Beijing). She is training for the Heptathlon in London 2012. Her personality was warm, funny and she told us that she trains 5 hours per day (wow!). It was an honor to meet her.
Filed Under: Cold Process Soap
Ever wonder what Rebatch soap (or Triple Milled soap or French Milled soap) is? In this episode of Soap Queen TV, I show you how to make Rebatch soap. Rebatch is great if you want a soap that’s a little more natural and rustic looking soap but don’t want the hassle of dealing with Lye when making Cold Process from scratch.
Soap Queen TV: How to Make Rebatch Soap from Soap Queen on Vimeo.
Ingredients:
1 oz. Pink Grapefruit Essential Oil
1 oz. Lemon Essential Oil
2 oz. Dried Calendula (Marigold) Petals
1/2 oz. Sweet Almond Oil
1/2 oz. Annatto Seeds
4 pounds Basic Rebatch
3 Tbsp. Distilled Water
Molds used:
ELF Slim Rectangle mold
Bramble Berry’s 2 pound loaf mold
Plastic food container
Are you a blogger? Please feel free to embed this video on your blog. If you need any help just let us know! [email protected]
Filed Under: Bramble Berry News
The winning comment: Oxides, Oxides, Oxides!!!!! I love my oxides. Micas and some ultramarines and labcolors can rock my cold-process soap socks, too. I had the best coloring experience a short while ago when I was able to get a 6 color marbly-swirl going on with my oxides and labcolors. Pickmepickmepickme!!!
Filed Under: Business Musings
I read about Vibram Five Finger running shoes from Michael Hyatt. I’ll admit I’m curious. After my Chi Running course (where I learned to run with a mid-foot strike), I want to try these ‘gorilla shoes’. First, I need to break my overly-coddled-way-too-padded feet into the concept gently by downgrading to a lighter, less structured running shoe. I headed to the bricks’n’mortar storefront for RunningShoes.com on my quest. It was a surprisingly enjoyable experience. When I hit the gym last night to test my new shoes on the treadmill, I reflected on what made my experience great as opposed to adequate, good or just plain fine. I have a retail store (OtionSoap.com) and have a vested self-interest in providing ‘great’ experiences to customers too. Finding the clear differentiator between first-rate and fine isn’t always obvious.
What Went Right:
1. The store presented well. When I walked into RunningShoes.com, the store was lit well, organized and clean. It was easy to see everything. Prices were clearly marked.
2. The employee presented well. “Matt”, my RunningShoes.com specialist was friendly, knowledgeable and took delight in finding me the perfect shoe. He greeted me with an open-ended question “What can I help you find today?”. It was clear he was there to help and thrilled to do so. He watched me walk and run for a couple minutes, asked questions about my running habits and then came back with my perfect shoe. I bought the first pair he brought out (though did try some extra ones out just to be sure).
3. The transaction was efficient. I was in and out within 15 minutes. The entire experience from the greeting, the running to the trying, to the check out was well-paced. I never felt rushed but everything moved along
Takeaways for my retail store: 1. Re-commit to an aggressive cleaning schedule, revisit the store layout 2. Train Otion’ites to always start with open ended questions and come out from behind the counter to greet new visitors 3. Always feel delight when given the opportunity to help.
I’m curious – when you’re in a retail store, what really makes you walk away and go ‘Wow! That was genuinely a good experience“?
Filed Under: Personal Ramblings
Dear Diary,
You already know that I’ve been longing for big beautiful eyelashes. It’s been two weeks since I started The Great Eyelash Experiment and I haven’t missed a day. I also haven’t noticed any changes thus far, but it’s probably too soon to tell. So on an impulse, I went to the store and purchased two different mascaras. They both promised me longer, thicker, fuller lashes and lucky for me, it was buy one get one half off. I couldn’t resist…$18 dollars later I came home with TWO mascaras. I immediately opened the more expensive mascara that came with the Lash Boosting serum, I knew it had to be the better of the two. Well…well…well…to my surprise, both mascara serums have the exact same ingredients. What? I paid more for the Lash Boosting Serum. Have I been duped?
Thanks for listening. More updates later on my quest for lush lashes.
xoxo
~Anne-Marie
PS – It really bugs me when big companies do things like that. I mean, what’s up with the same ingredients and one item cost me $3-4 more? I guess I should have read the back of the packaging in the store …
Filed Under: Bath Fizzies
Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap
1) Use non-bleeding micas, just a pinch at a time to get a light tinted shimmer that still has clarity. In the Woodgrain Soap above, I used just a hint of cappuccino mica. The engraved design still shows up beautifully and the mica doesn’t bleed (you can find the full tutorial here). In the Daisy Bars on the right, I used a touch of opalescent mica as the background color. It’s still pearly without looking too heavy.
2) Use oxides and pigments with a very light hand. It’s best to start with liquid colorants since it’s easier to add the color one drop at a time, but you can also dilute your powders and add by drops, too. You can see in these Ice Bars that I was able to get a clear blue center that won’t bleed into the white frame. Ultramarines (the blue, purple, and some pink pigments) are very fine powders that keep their clarity very well if used lightly. But remember – one drop at a time!
For a quick reference of which micas and pigments Bramble Berry carries that are non-bleeding, check out Anne-Marie’s recent post here. And for some more great projects using sheer colors, pick up your Soapylove book here! Happy coloring!
Debbie, Soapylove