Long Time, No See

Well...Hello!

Seems with the invention of Facebook, and my postings there, I have not blogged in quite some time! Almost a year....so embarrassed!

So much has happened in a year!

Some business happenings this past year:

We participated in a weekly farmer's market for the first time in Ann Arbor at The Westside Farmer's Market. Loved it! Miss it! We can't be there every week this year because of our youngest boy's baseball games on the same night. Family is First! We hope to get to a few this summer.

Last July, we started participating in a year round farmer's market that is a hybrid of online ordering and real time shopping, meeting the people who produce the products you use and the food you eat. It's a great concept and brand new to the area. There have been some growing pains, but I believe in it, and hope to participate and grow with Lunasa for a long time! www.lunasa.us

We had our biggest holiday season ever! Making over 500 lbs. of soap for the season, and selling out of nearly all of our holiday selections and some of our regular line!

We did 2 fund raisers for schools, who sold over $5,000 in soap and lip balm to raise funds for their schools!

Breaking into the wholesale tradeshow market proved to be very satisfying. My husband and I traveled to Orlando in January to participate in a tradeshow and obtained 5 wholesale accounts just from that show. We picked up accounts in Florida, North Carolina, Delaware, Maine, and have since also added accounts in Wisconsin and Michigan...bringing our total wholesale accounts to 14. We are in spas, salons, gift shops, and galleries. It was an incredible learning experience we are so grateful for.

We brought a home party representative on board. We are very excited for the possibilities of the expansion of the home party scene to spread the word about NaKee' Natural! Spa @ Home parties are represented by Jennifer Ganzel. You may contact her at jenniferganzel@att.net to book your home spa party experience and earn free products!

The creativity of party favors is a favorite thing for me. I just love creating custom labels and putting together those sweet items to make parties extra special and unique. I Have created favors for several wedding, baby, birthday, and bunko parties from Michigan to Texas.

On a personal level, with each passing year I am learning and experiencing so much! It's like having a child....a lot joy, and a lot of fear. I am working on the fear part. I am trying to not let the owning of my own growing and prospering business scare the living h*** out of me. It's exciting, but so darned scary at times.

This business was officially born July 26, 2006. The idea and creation came much before this, but this is when I went down to our local courthouse and filed for my DBA. Since then, I have gotten the name Trademarked, and turned it into an LLC this past year. 5 years! Are we an official business now?! I would say so.

I am sure I have missed a couple things, but think I have covered the highlights.

Thanks for reading, and take good care of yourself.

Peace,
Candy