s you know, the cost of fuel is driving up the cost of shipping, among other things, which in turn eats into your business profits and personal income. Well, Essential Wholesale wants to help you get those shipping dollars back. So through May 30th, with every online order over $200, excluding shipping, we will allow ALL of the shipping cost to apply back to your online customer account.
his week, we had a bowling party with all of our Essential Wholesale employees and their families at Big Al’s in Vancouver, Washington. It was so much fun to see the employees together with their families. This year we started a new quarterly event program that will give us more opportunities to spend quality time together off the clock. It is such a joy to see everyone with their kids, spouses and significant others.
Keegan bonded with Maria's husband, Kedrick, when bowling.
Jose brought his kids and grandkids for a fun family day. A few days later, Jose became one of America's newest citizens!
David Johnson brought three generations of family as well. David and his wife Tracy are pictured in back. In the front row is Roger, his mother Joyce and his son Aiden. After meeting David’s mom I learned where he inherited genuinely kind spirit and the joy in his step.
Kacie is our newest employee.
…and our youngest family member was Jordan’s daughter - one week old Naomi! She slept through all the noise and excitement.
Maria’s daughter Tatiana gave her little sister a hand bowling.
Kathy hung out with Dave’s son Bean while her private label teammates….
…Chhin and Vicki struck a pose.
Three hours of family fun was had by all, and he kids slept well that night!
Our New Scrubs Prepare You For The Great Outdoors
he approach of summer is always a great time to update your Scrubs & Polishes collection. At Essential Wholesale we have added new and exciting products to this category. It is hard to pick out just one favorite - - - but if I was forced to chose I would have to pick the NEW Chocolate Butter Body Scrub.
I love chocolate and the scent of this new scrub is intoxicating. Speaking of scent --- the new Virgin Coconut Sugar Scrub is mouthwatering and delicious. Both scrubs leave the skin feeling heavily moisturized and smooth.
Dump the Fear and Get On With Your Dream
uring frightening economic times, many entrepreneurs come out of the woodwork to make their mark on the world. Others decide to wait out the economy and run back to their starting line instead of moving forward. My childhood dog, Tora, was great example of becoming overwhelmed with fear.
One time my dad and Tora were out for a jog in Perlaucher Forest on a particularly frightening night; a cold dark winter night and the woods were dark and creepy. Deep in the forest my dad could hear some animal howling. As he jogged further into the forest he noticed that Tora was missing.
ince the beginning of time, one of the most effective ways to change public perception is to implement what is sometimes called "The FUD Factor." If you can instill enough Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt in a person, even if those emotions are unfounded, the person is inclined to act in accordance with them, even to their own detriment.
The American Council on Science and Health chose the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics' lipstick report known as "Poison Kiss" as the number one on their "Top Ten Unfounded Health Scares of 2007." Despite the honor as an unfounded health scare, awarded by non-profit organization, the California Senate Appropriations Committee has introduced a new bill that will declare all out war on lipstick in California. Despite that fact that the entire case revolving around lead in cosmetics leans heavily on the "FUD Factor."
Popular, Hard to Come By and Fabulous!
've recently received a lot of requests for and inquiries about Ylang Ylang oil, one of the most complex and exquisitely fragrance essential oils of all. This is another oil which has conspicuously shot up in price over the last year. The Comoros Islands are the most prolific producers of Ylang Ylang oil, exporting approximately 80% of the world’s Ylang Ylang oil. As with the Comoros Islands’ other two biggest export commodities, vanilla beans and cloves, production and availability of Ylang Ylang oil fluctuates dramatically in response to both demand and supply, which is often determined by natural disasters such as powerful cyclones.
Today, the Comoros Islands are producing approximately half the volume of Ylang Ylang oil they produced five years ago, and with powerhouse consumers like Chanel buying up the oil to manufacture perfumes, competition between buyers is intense!
When It's Good to Be Different
ecently, an Essential Wholesale employee was interviewed for an article about the importance of making sure your products stand out in a crowd. Being the "odd man out" is critical if you are to make the most of your business and also make the most profits!
When I was a little girl, I lived in Japan and boy did I stand out in the crowd! My most vivid memories of Japan are from walking in downtown Tokyo with all the vibrant colors. I had super blonde hair and stood out in the jam-packed city streets. I remember that everywhere I went I was pulled aside to pose for photographs with perfect strangers. As I walked around the Japanese found me to be quite a novelty. Strangers would motion to me while speaking Japanese to pose in their photos. I stood with families and individuals waiting for flashbulbs to pop. Everywhere I went I was noticed.
finally got to meet the one and only E-Commerce Diva in person at the 2008 Conference of Handcrafted Soapmakers in Vermont last month. Jamila is an amazing fireball of energy and has resources that can help you take your business to the next level with training that will help you use the Internet for your company.
I had the pleasure of listening to her speak about all the resources available in e-commerce. She is an remarkable lady that is truly fired up about helping people get over their fears about using the internet. And the way she teaches really does make it all sound so easy. I highly recommend spending some time on her website E-Commerce Diva.
Continue reading "Meet the Hardest Working Woman In the Beauty Business" »
orry to report that our Brooksie had a family emergency and had to leave Essential Wholesale. We are very sad to see her go. As a parting gift, she shared with me her Organic Lavender Biscotti recipe. We are only months away from Lavender Festivals. It is time to start practicing your recipes and perfecting them before festival time.
Lavender Biscotti
2 cups Organic Flour
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
¼ teaspoons Salt
½ cup Organic Macadamia Nuts (coarsely chopped)
½ cup Organic Sugar
3 tablespoon Organic Lavender Buds
2 Organic Cage Free Eggs
1/4 cups melted Organic Butter
2 tablespoons Organic Honey
1 tablespoons Organic Lemon Rind
Juice of 1 Organic Lemon
3 tablespoons Organic Milk
½ teaspoon Organic Vanilla
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, nuts, lavender buds and sugar. If your organic sugar has large grains put it into a food processor or magic bullet for a few seconds before adding it to the dry mixture.
3. In a separate bowl, beat together with electric mixer on slow eggs, sugar, butter, honey, lemon, lemon rind, milk and vanilla.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir well. Dough will be soft and sticky.
5. Spoon onto cookie sheet into 2 “log” shapes: approximately 2 “wide.
6. Bake 35 minutes until golden then remove from oven.
7. Cool 10 minutes. Place on board, cut into 1” wide slices then place on sides on cookie sheets.
8. Return to oven to cook 20 minutes longer, turning once.
9. Cool on rack. Yield: 2 dozen.
ast week, Essential Wholesale was flooded with children on National Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day. One of the first bright and smiling faces I ran into was Ellie’s daughter Hannah. We have so many Laura’s working under one roof that we have started calling them all by nicknames or their full name. I’ve known Ellie as Laura for years. Her daughter, Hannah and my daughter Caiden have been best friends since Preschool. When Ellie was looking to work part time she asked if she could join the Mom Squad. Ellie comes to us with years of office experience and is highly qualified. She jumped right in as Steven’s assistant in the purchasing department.
We had been wrestling with a new highly sophisticated inventory system when Ellie came to work for us. She jumped right in and set her sights on making the new system work. It is an overwhelming task due to the large number of supplies that we bring in that must be interfaced with thousands of cosmetic formulas Ellie is up for the challenge. She divides her time between working on the new system, assisting Steven, assisting Laura and even sometimes assisting me with office work. We all fight for our own piece of the precious hours that Ellie spends here each week. Ellie only works during school hours and the rest of the time she spends with her family.
Continue reading "Meet Ellie of Essential Wholesale's "Mom Squad"" »
Start With the Basics
fter 9/11, the economy took a down turn. During that time, we created the Basic Line of products in order to provide an affordable cosmetic base that was not filled with chemicals. It is tough to compete when our competitors sell chemical filled cosmetic bases that are cheaper.
We refused to compromise our quality by adding chemicals that would lower our costs. Instead, we created the Basic Line of products that are simple, clean and use less expensive natural ingredients.
Continue reading "How to Protect Your Business in a "Down" Economy" »
