Welcome to Episode 75 of the Indie Business™ Podcast! Today's Indie Story is about Lisa Kennally of Wild Air Skincare, in Centerbrook, Connecticut. Lisa makes spa products with ingredients inspired by the beauty and seasons of New England. Her brand is partially inspired by the time as a child she spent with her mom making spa products using ingredients in their kitchen. Lisa discovered Indie Business through one of our websites that featured spa product recipes, and the rest is history.
As you'll enjoy learning in this episode, Lisa sells her products to spas, and pivoted a bit to accommodate COVID-19. Enjoy my interview with Lisa NOW!
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Episode Show Notes
Here are the topics discussed in this episode, with time stamps to help you find the information that most interests you:
- How Lisa's drive to learn to make her own skincare products led her to Indie Business. (starting at 1:33)
- Lisa's intention of being in business for herself, and words of wisdom for other parent entrepreneurs — especially in light of COVID-19. (starting at 5:54)
- How Lisa landed her first spa account. (starting at 8:20)
- Wild Air core scents: Cranberry Orange, Chocolate, Lemon Verbena and more. (starting at 11:55)
- The importance of story and relationships. (starting at 13:53)
- How retail sales have picked up some of the slack from the loss of wholesale sales during COVID-19. (starting at 15:51)
- Boosting sales using segmented email blasts and Facebook Live. (starting at 18:30)
- Lisa's appearance on the Artisan Made Show. (25:20)
- How Lisa organizes her production. (27:51)
- Lisa's supportive family, and moving from home to an outside production facility. (30:55)
- Advice on finding and managing an outside production facility. (starting at 34:34)
- Lisa's future plans (starting at 38:20)
- Advice and words of wisdom from Lisa (starting at 40:40)
Resources and Links Mentioned in this Episode
In this episode, Lisa and I mentioned the following resources.
- Wild Air Skincare's Website
- Wild Air Skincare on Facebook
- Wild Air Skincare on Instagram
- Spa Association: Colorado Spa Association
- Website platform: Shopify
- Shipping plugin: Shippo
- Website announcement bar plugin: Quick Announcement Bar
A few of the entrepreneurial points Lisa and I discussed in this episode
- Don't make every thing.
Lisa confirms that you cannot be all things to all people. She has narrowly defined her product line you can have thousands of different product collections, but Lisa says this is a recipe for disaster. Everyone has ideas and suggestions, but you have to stick to your target audience and your brand, and nail a few things well. Lisa manicures, pedicures, and massages, Lisa does not make it. She also limited her line to seven scents reflecting experiences or scents that inspired her impressions of New England. - Shift to Facebook live.
Lisa had always wants to highlight some of her spa customers, and COVID-19 provided a great opportunity to start using Facebook live to simultaneously highlight her clients and products. This is a great way to pivot during the pandemic. Since spa owners are having a difficult time attracting customers, the additional lift can only help them, and while it also promotes the Wild Air line as on the shelf at a great spa.
- Be intentional when adding new products to a line.
Lisa's business has been steady for years because she has been focused on serving a very specific niche. When she adds a new product to her line, it is the result of a well thought out strategy and not a knee jerk reaction to an off-the-cuff customer remark or something a magazine says is hot and trendy. For example, because she has had to pivot a bit to accommodate COVID-19, Lisa's newest products (the first she's launched in years), lavender sugar scrub and lavender body butter, are specific responses to COVID-19 and consumers love for lavender. Lavender is not a scent that her spa buyers have expressed much of an interest in, but due to a need to boost consumer sales, Lisa added lavender scented products because that's what consumers asked for.
You can enter to win some of Lisa's new Lavender Sugar Scrub below!!
Enter to win Wild Air Lavender Body Scrub!
Want to win some of Lisa's new Lavender Body Scrub?
Entering to win is easy. Just (1) share this blog post on your Facebook profile page using the share link at the top of this page; and (2) leave a comment below with your favorite part of the podcast and the link we can go to verify your share, no later than 11:59pm ET on Friday, November 13, 2020. The drawing will take place on Saturday, November 13, 2020, and you'll be notified via Facebook Message. Good luck!
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