Starting New Habits

Cover via Amazon

It all came together in a rather serendipitous way.  I'm helping a dear friend change his money management habits, and he is already doing very well. My husband and I needed to reclaim our own efforts at achieving financial peace, and I as CEO and Soap Goddess of Sara's Soaps 'n Such needed to ramp up my efforts with putting out my newsletter, writing my blog posts and making sure I was using my time on Facebook to the best advantage for my business.  That's a lot of change in a little bit of time!

Donna Maria, my friend and mentor, facilitated a conference call last week in which she outlines her "2x2x2" plan for communicating with customers.  At the same time, Dave Ramsey, who has written books, led seminars and has radio and TV shows about achieving financial peace, reminded me through my reading of The Total Money Makeover how financial peace can only happen through discipline, sacrifice, hard work and following his proven seven steps in order - and there's a reason they're called "baby steps."  Since these two thoughts were foremost in my head, I decided to merge the two ideas into making Donna Maria's guidance work for me.

First, a little background.  Dave wants everyone to become millionaires - or billionaires - and he says that if you want to be a millionaire, then you do what millionaires do.  These things are antithetical to what the majority of Americans do and these millionaires get to where they are in life by making sacrifices and doing smart things that most people would think are dumb.  (Those would be the broke people in this case.)  Baby steps... It's all about baby steps.

If I want to be successful in business, then I need to do those things that successful business people do, and one of those successful people is Donna Maria.  However, I know I will not achieve dM's success in the first month of practicing her social media principles.  So, I decided to attack this, too, in baby steps.  For a business woman who only posts to her Facebook page when she remembers, struggles mightily for a weekly blog topic (and eventually just gave up) and has let two months pass without publishing a newsletter, I knew that I would fail quickly if I tried to put dM's 2x2x2 plan into action the first week.

Last week, I attacked the Facebook challenge - two Facebook posts a day (except for weekends), one morning, one afternoon/evening.  That's easy enough, and I was able to make that happen for me.  This week, I'm adding on the two blog posts for the week to the daily recommended FB posts (and am happy to say I've written both posts today).  Next week, I'll add the newsletter back into my brand promotion.  This is going to help ensure I'm successful without getting frustrated.

Are you signed up to receive my newsletter?  The quick and easy form is here.  You can go over to FB and give me a like here.

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One Super Hero Among Many

Title sequence from show opening; containing from left to right, Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman, Flash and Hawkgirl. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I get called many things - Mommy, sweetheart, CEO, Sexy Soap Goddess and a myriad of other names (most of them nice).  A lot of times, my friends call me "Wonder Woman."  I guess it'd probably fit, but I don't have the bullet-repelling bracelets or the great boots.  CEO, Mom, Teacher and Home Manager are some of my titles, which I guess does make me Wonder Woman.

I've learned something through these years of being something like Wonder Woman.  Wonder Woman flies solo for the most part, as do Superman, Flash Gordon, Green Lantern and Spiderman.  Truthfully, Batman is my favorite super hero, because he doesn't have to rely on external powers, but he does have Alfred, Robin and Batgirl.  Eventually, all these super heroes banded together and became the Justice League, so suddenly, instead of a bunch of great super heroes with their own individual powers fighting to save the world (or "Truth, Justice and the American Way"), you have a very strong group of super heroes who each have their own strengths and weaknesses but who work together to be even more formidable to the forces of evil.

With all that I have going on in my life and all the roles I have, this Wonder Woman needs her Justice League to back her up, and I want to give a shout out to them.  First, there's Superman (my husband), able to work 40 hours a week and come home to demanding daughters and an exhausted wife, juggling them all with aplomb.  Then there's my friend Bobby, who's Batman, a great team player and who intuitively knows what I need when I need it, usually in the form of the question, "What can I do to help you take care of this now?"  He keeps me in the present, which alleviates some of the sense of "overwhelmed" I often feel.  Last but not least are my sister Amazons, a group of incredible ladies with whom I've bonded online - Denise, Ginger, Stephanie, Elizabeth, Babs, Renee, Tammy, Lucy, Merilee, Sindy, Marj and Petra, in addition to Melissa and my rockin' business mentor Donna Maria.  These are the people I go to who understand all that goes into being Mompreneurs and how hard it is to balance the demands of work and family.  These are the people who have my back, who'll come to the rescue when I'm tied up with super villain red tape and who'll intercede when there's the fear that I could release my super temper on some unsuspecting soul.

With which super hero do you most closely identify?  Who in your life makes up your Justice League?

The Army Goes Rolling Along

Who doesn't love to travel, to explore new places, meet new people and see new sights?  While I love my home and am something of a homebody, I really enjoy seeing new sights and meeting new people, even if I'm traveling to somewhere I've been before.

Although she's only 10 years old, the damsel in the tub who represents Sara's Soaps 'n Such is getting ready for her first overseas adventures.  Destination?  Afghanistan.  She graced 68 bottles of lotion and 70 tubes of lip balm as she settled into dozens of shipping boxes to head to so many soldiers serving in the Middle East.

Our dinette table the night before the supply drive

This came about by the hard work and efforts of the Cary High School class of 1991 alumni, coordinated by Patti Clapper.  One of our own, Jonathan, is serving in Afghanistan currently and has alerted us to soldiers who don't receive a lot of packages from back home.  Patti organized the Soldier Supply Drive, and quite a few of us came together to help.  Even Jonathan showed up, surprising his eight-year-old daughter, which one of the local news outlets covered.

Jonathan and me

Here are all the boxes lined up on the table, each one filled with goodies like hygiene items, food and other treats.

A whole lotta boxes!

If you wish to help us with future supply drives, please watch this space, my Facebook page and subscribe to my newsletter to find out when the next one is and how you can help.

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Tahiti Kiss Face Cream

This past Winter, I started playing around with a new face cream.  Now, I'm not really thinking of launching off into facial care specifically (creams, masques, makeup, facial scrubs, etc.); there are some very talented cosmetic manufacturers who are doing that already.  Thing is, I was running low on the pretty great face cream I'd gotten in my goodie bag at the Handcrafted Soapmakers Guild Conference a couple of years ago and wanted to try to make something similar.  With the awesome help of Tina at Majestic Mountain Sage, I formulated a face cream that made my Winter-dry skin feel totally blissed.  In fact, it felt so great on my skin and made my face feel so incredible that I realized that there was no way I could keep this all to myself.

My first step, though, was having other women test it.  After all, I might think it's the greatest cream ever, but that doesn't mean other people will.  Here is some of the feedback I got:

"I like the cream. No breakouts, sort of bronzes my skin... Like I'm at the beach. I dig it." (April)

"I love how light it is!  It feels so good under my makeup." (Donna)

"I love this stuff. I barely touch my finger to it, and its enough to do my whole face. I am so impressed how soft and moisturized it made my skin. I am in my early 50's and have face skin as soft as a babies butt now....  love the way it makes my face feel..... and my grandchildren telling me I am kissable soft." (Patti)

"When will this be available for purchase?  I love it!" (Amy)

Now, after the months-long testing process, Tahiti Kiss is available for purchase.  It's my pleasure to share this fabulous treat with you.  In the four months I've been using it, I've noticed my skin is less prone to breakouts, a few people have told me I look younger than I am (I've even been carded buying wine!) and  my face is slower to suffer the effects of sun exposure when I'm wearing it.  Be sure to pick up your jar of this amazing face cream today, while supplies last.

Related articles

• Anti-Aging Creams: What Really Works?

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• Employing Facial Cream on a regular basis - What are the advantages?

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*Fanfare and Fireworks*

It is with much fanfare, great excitement and not just a little pride that I get to make this stupendous announcement....

SARA'S SOAPS 'N SUCH IS TEN YEARS OLD!!!

Isn't she so sophisticated and sexy!?

It has been an awesome ten years marked with growth for my business and me, as well as some memorable moments, great laughs, frustrations and some amazing friends who've been walking beside me for several of those years.

One memorable moment...  It was 2002, and I'd been in business about 18 months or so.  I'd done one huge show and was doing my first ever EPA Show.  With about two hours to go in the event, Mom (who was helping me sell) starts hawking percentage off discounts - without consulting me.  I asked, "What are you doing?" 

Her reply was, "Since you've been at this for over a year now and are still in the red, I figured it's time to liquidate and cut your losses."  I explained to her how long it takes small businesses to get out of the red, and she accepted that.  Now, it's ten years later and my business is squarely in the black.  She remains one of my biggest advocates and supporters, and I still do the EPA Show each Fall.

So, how are we celebrating this milestone?  

1. All purchases during the month of June get 10% off their total.
2. Enjoy free domestic shipping throughout June.
3. All customers who make purchases will be automatically qualified to win a Sara-dipity Gift Set with a bar of spa soap, a 4-ounce bottle of lotion, a jar of scrub and a lip balm (retail value - $25.50).
4. A special feature product each week that has its own special discount.  Keep your eyes peeled to Facebook or Twitter each Monday to find out what that week's feature product will be.
5. A brand new business logo - she's grown up and is looking hot!
6. A new, improved website, launching next week.

Thank you to all my customers, Twitter followers, Facebook fans and friends who've supported my business with encouragement, guidance, rim shots as needed, shares and retweets.  These past ten years would not have happened were it not for each of you.  Many blessings as we grow toward another ten years!