You're listening to gift biz on rapt episode 87,
Speaker:Then write it through.
Speaker:You'll find a way if this is what you really want.
Speaker:Hi, this is John Lee Dumas of entrepreneur on fire,
Speaker:and you're listening to the gift of biz unwrap,
Speaker:and now it's time to light it up.
Speaker:Welcome to gift bears on wrapped your source for industry specific
Speaker:insights and advice to develop and grow your business.
Speaker:And now here's your host,
Speaker:Sue Mona height.
Speaker:Hi there.
Speaker:It's Sue and welcome back to the gift biz unwrapped podcast,
Speaker:whether you own a brick and mortar shop sell online or
Speaker:are only getting started just now you'll discover new insight to
Speaker:gain traction and to grow your business.
Speaker:And today I have joining us Regina diesel Vesterbro of RD
Speaker:alchemy natural products since 2003 R D.
Speaker:Alchemy has been refreshing the world with a wide selection of
Speaker:over 300 organic natural products,
Speaker:consisting of skin care,
Speaker:body care,
Speaker:aroma therapy,
Speaker:dietary supplements,
Speaker:makeup, and more Regina products have been showcased at the golden
Speaker:Globes and the Academy award shows and numerous local and national
Speaker:magazines and on videos for how they also provide wholesale private
Speaker:label and custom formulation of products.
Speaker:And a portion of all profits goes towards research and development
Speaker:of natural treatments for cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.
Speaker:And that is all done in their very own research facility.
Speaker:I am so excited to dive in and hear all about
Speaker:the business.
Speaker:Regina, welcome to the show.
Speaker:Thanks for having me.
Speaker:We like to start out by getting to know people in
Speaker:a little bit of a different way,
Speaker:and that is by having you describe your motivational candle.
Speaker:So if there was an ideal color of yours and quote
Speaker:that you would put on a candle,
Speaker:what would that be?
Speaker:Sure. Sure.
Speaker:So I was thinking over the weekend about it,
Speaker:and I think the best color would be black because that
Speaker:incorporates all the different colors of the spectrum.
Speaker:And govies gives me an idea of the unlimited possibilities with
Speaker:business. You know,
Speaker:you can go on so many different directions and just have
Speaker:the whole world opened up to you.
Speaker:So I'd say the overall color would be black.
Speaker:It just can encompass everything Wonderful.
Speaker:And would there be a quote on that candle?
Speaker:Yeah. So the quote would be keep on keeping on,
Speaker:that's just something I've always said to myself,
Speaker:day in and day out,
Speaker:whenever you have a tired day or a tough day or
Speaker:something that didn't go well,
Speaker:or you screwed up for the 15th time,
Speaker:you just pick yourself back up and just keep a hunky
Speaker:bond. So I would say that would probably be the best
Speaker:one for me.
Speaker:I really liked both of the things you just talked about
Speaker:here because unlimited possibilities,
Speaker:that's kind of like when someone's starting out in their business,
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:you can really dream and you can create anything in your
Speaker:mind that want,
Speaker:and then when you actually start in your business,
Speaker:then reality sets in and there are things that you need
Speaker:to overcome.
Speaker:And so then you just keep on keeping on because you
Speaker:have such a commitment to the dream that you started.
Speaker:Right? Right.
Speaker:I'd love for you now to share with our listeners,
Speaker:how you started,
Speaker:how you got going and have now built this huge business
Speaker:of yours.
Speaker:It's been going on about 14 years now.
Speaker:And I started back when I was at ASU doing my
Speaker:science degree back there.
Speaker:I was working part time in the research labs there.
Speaker:And then I stumbled across a herb store in the local
Speaker:neighborhood that was teaching an herbalist certification course.
Speaker:So I took the course,
Speaker:really fell in love with it,
Speaker:learned a lot about all herbal medicine,
Speaker:wanted to incorporate that somehow in my life,
Speaker:but I wasn't sure exactly which direction to bring that in.
Speaker:Then after I took the class and got introduced to herbs,
Speaker:I started working at the herbs store.
Speaker:So that was kind of my awakening into herbal medicine overall.
Speaker:And then while I was studying at the same time doing
Speaker:the science degree,
Speaker:I started learning more about the chemical properties of plants and
Speaker:little did I know how much both are really interrelated or
Speaker:will medicine with the more medicinal,
Speaker:natural product chemistry side of plants.
Speaker:But then I found out that they weren't connected and that
Speaker:stirred my love of you more for herbal medicine.
Speaker:After my bachelor's degree in science,
Speaker:I went to U of a and studied natural product chemistry
Speaker:with an emphasis in natural products and medicinal chemistry,
Speaker:basically in pharmacology and toxicology to really emphasize the use of
Speaker:medicinal plants for certain disease States to make medicines from cancer
Speaker:to anti-inflammatory disorders,
Speaker:all sorts of stuff.
Speaker:And that just geared my whole pathway from there.
Speaker:So during this time I was always making products for friends
Speaker:and family members,
Speaker:herbal products.
Speaker:I was making extracts and tinctures and cult disses,
Speaker:South stuff like that.
Speaker:And it wasn't until a few years after school,
Speaker:I was working for a pharmaceutical company,
Speaker:a good friend of mine had a massage therapy business,
Speaker:and she wanted me to make herbal extracts for her clients.
Speaker:So her clients would come in,
Speaker:they would have issues with sinuses or PMs or something along
Speaker:those lines.
Speaker:So I would make up an extract and then she would
Speaker:give it to them.
Speaker:And then eventually she wanted to have an entire line of
Speaker:products. And so we were thinking that we would go ahead
Speaker:and just make an entire line under her name and her
Speaker:label. So that's eventually what we ended up doing.
Speaker:And that's really kind of what spurred the whole business aspect
Speaker:of herbal medicine from natural products into the career format.
Speaker:Eventually she wanted products for her own use as well for
Speaker:like oils and scrubs and masks to use in her services.
Speaker:And then from there it's just grown and grown and grown
Speaker:and grown into many more products.
Speaker:We now cater to not only massage therapists,
Speaker:but institutions,
Speaker:of course,
Speaker:general consumers,
Speaker:all sorts of stuff.
Speaker:And so was it initially products for more health than herbal?
Speaker:And you know,
Speaker:as you're talking to it,
Speaker:it sounds like your initial real love was,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:the more medicinal,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:or caring for your skin and all of that.
Speaker:And now you're into makeup lines and everything else.
Speaker:Exactly. Yeah.
Speaker:A lot of it was and still is very health directed.
Speaker:We expanded the lines based on the need for better healthier
Speaker:products. So a lot of the products initially that I was
Speaker:making had a real therapeutic target and still do,
Speaker:but for makeup,
Speaker:there's a lot of stuff and make it,
Speaker:that's not good for the body.
Speaker:That's not good for the skin.
Speaker:And yet we use it daily,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:deodorants the same thing,
Speaker:makeup, body care products,
Speaker:basic hygienic products that you wouldn't think would be harmful,
Speaker:but in a lot of ways they can be.
Speaker:So what we were doing is expanding the lines to create
Speaker:more daily use products as well,
Speaker:or even cosmetic products that you wouldn't think would be helpful
Speaker:or therapeutic,
Speaker:but now they are because they don't have as much of
Speaker:the toxic ingredients,
Speaker:but then also have a lot of the herbal medicine or
Speaker:peptides or vitamins that will actually benefit the body as well
Speaker:as the skin.
Speaker:So it's kind of a dual aspect as well.
Speaker:Got it.
Speaker:So now with your products,
Speaker:your, you were talking about the fact that you do wholesale
Speaker:and private label,
Speaker:and I'm imagining that we might have some listeners who are
Speaker:thinking along similar lines,
Speaker:maybe they already have a salon,
Speaker:or they're thinking about this type of thing.
Speaker:How does one go about starting to create their own product?
Speaker:How, how does that work or how did you do it
Speaker:way back when There's product development,
Speaker:you have to kind of think of a couple of different
Speaker:aspects to the product itself.
Speaker:A, you know,
Speaker:of course,
Speaker:what do you want in it?
Speaker:Do you want it to be as natural as possible?
Speaker:That's in a,
Speaker:not only just natural,
Speaker:but as effective and safe as possible.
Speaker:Non-toxic B what is the overall goal and results of the
Speaker:product? You know,
Speaker:what do you want it to do?
Speaker:And then see,
Speaker:how do you want it to be delivered?
Speaker:Or how do you want it to be marketed?
Speaker:Because that can also play a role in how it's going
Speaker:to be formulated.
Speaker:So when we think about products and we develop because we
Speaker:develop of course for our own brand,
Speaker:but we develop products for other companies as well.
Speaker:And that's really what we first do is we sit down
Speaker:and talk with the client,
Speaker:the customer,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:what is it that you want to try to achieve with
Speaker:this product?
Speaker:Do you want it to have a purely marketing standpoint?
Speaker:So cause some companies that don't really care too much about
Speaker:the ingredients or are you trying to achieve something that's going
Speaker:to be effective therapeutic non-toxic.
Speaker:And yet also,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:of course have good marketing stance.
Speaker:So we encompass that and then we put together what will
Speaker:work cause there's a lot of different ingredients that will work
Speaker:with one another and not.
Speaker:So you have to then at that point,
Speaker:take it a step further and figure out,
Speaker:well, what we hope to achieve,
Speaker:gonna work well together.
Speaker:And then after that,
Speaker:there's a lot of experimentation.
Speaker:We do a lot of trial and error still and see
Speaker:what works,
Speaker:what doesn't work.
Speaker:And sometimes you have to take stuff out that you want
Speaker:to have in there for a therapeutic reason.
Speaker:We have to take it out because it has too strong
Speaker:of a scent and you can't overcome the scent or if
Speaker:it has too much of a texture issue or whatnot.
Speaker:So sometimes you have tweak it.
Speaker:And what I call like dumb it down a little bit
Speaker:because it just won't be marketable at that point.
Speaker:And if no,
Speaker:one's gonna use it,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:then, then of course they're not going to benefit from it.
Speaker:So that's kind of just the overall,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:idea. You really want to get an idea of what are
Speaker:your goals to market it,
Speaker:to and who you're going to market it to.
Speaker:And I always tell my clients to think ahead,
Speaker:as far as your product line,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:this is one product,
Speaker:but do you plan on doing other products in the future?
Speaker:And if so,
Speaker:what do you think those are going to be?
Speaker:Do you think they're going to be something that might compete
Speaker:with your first product or something that's going to do really
Speaker:well because it's just going to follow off the sales from
Speaker:the first product and so forth and so on and grow
Speaker:from there.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:it's a really good point that you're talking about,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:first, even just with that initial product,
Speaker:what is the goal?
Speaker:What is the purpose that you're going through,
Speaker:all of this research and all the different generations of the
Speaker:product in the first place,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:to get it to the end result.
Speaker:But I really also like where does that product fit in
Speaker:with the whole vision?
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:because you certainly don't want product that sends a totally different
Speaker:message than another product,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:so really good point.
Speaker:So, you know,
Speaker:as you're thinking,
Speaker:anybody who's listening is thinking of developing along these lines,
Speaker:you need to think out a little bit,
Speaker:a few years or your full product line,
Speaker:or really where you're trying to go.
Speaker:So everything is synergistic with each other.
Speaker:The message is similar,
Speaker:going out to the market.
Speaker:Exactly. The thing that I really,
Speaker:really like about your story is the fact that there's the
Speaker:whole backup of the research.
Speaker:So not only do you have these great products that can
Speaker:help customers either through another business in the case of wholesale
Speaker:or directly,
Speaker:if they're purchasing from you online or in your shop,
Speaker:but then also this underlying trend of helping cancer and other
Speaker:diseases on the other side,
Speaker:how did that integrate in?
Speaker:So that's more of my overall background because after school I
Speaker:went and was doing more of the medicinal chemistry for anti-cancer
Speaker:compounds and did that in academia,
Speaker:but then also in the pharmaceutical companies and it was all
Speaker:research and development.
Speaker:So that's really my true main love.
Speaker:And then when I worked for six years,
Speaker:when I first started the business,
Speaker:I had my main job and then this business nights and
Speaker:weekends for the first six years of it.
Speaker:But then I quit in 2000.
Speaker:When was that?
Speaker:2009. And so I've been doing this full-time since then.
Speaker:And it wasn't until a few years ago,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:I was really missing the research and I really missed doing
Speaker:the whole investigation for natural products into medicinal compounds for either
Speaker:some sort of medicine,
Speaker:whether it's holistic medicine or pharmaceutical medicine,
Speaker:either way.
Speaker:So I wanted to incorporate that ability back into the business.
Speaker:And we were in a position where we were able to
Speaker:do that.
Speaker:And so we just,
Speaker:we made it a subsidiary of RD.
Speaker:Alchemy got in some extra equipment,
Speaker:started investigating,
Speaker:got a board of directors in an advisory board.
Speaker:We have a great advisory board member.
Speaker:Who's a neurosurgeon.
Speaker:We just were able to build this team.
Speaker:And now what's really fun and great is anything that's fought
Speaker:through RD alchemy,
Speaker:whether it's the products or when we have classes,
Speaker:any bit of income that comes in a good portion of
Speaker:that goes back into our research.
Speaker:So we're able to find either a,
Speaker:some sort of treatment or cure some sort,
Speaker:something for a lot of neurodegenerative diseases we're working with.
Speaker:Alzheimer's also at multiple sclerosis,
Speaker:all sorts of different neurodegenerative,
Speaker:but then also cancer research,
Speaker:so forth and so on.
Speaker:So we're able to even have a stronger ability to help
Speaker:the community.
Speaker:And I get to do my love of research and development
Speaker:for medicines and go beyond just making the cosmetics,
Speaker:making something,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:that's going to help with wrinkles or acne or something along
Speaker:those lines.
Speaker:You're really giving back and able to make lives better just
Speaker:by purchasing something that's even less toxic and safe and more
Speaker:result oriented of a product overall for your everyday use.
Speaker:Right? So good for a consumer themselves.
Speaker:And also they're giving back at the same time.
Speaker:Exactly, exactly.
Speaker:How do you as the owner split your time because they're
Speaker:two different,
Speaker:totally different things.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:you've got retail and you've got all of these products that
Speaker:you're selling,
Speaker:and then you also have the research end,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:how do you manage all that?
Speaker:It is tough and we definitely have an ebb and flow.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:there's, there's a seasonality to the regular product businesses in itself.
Speaker:So we have some slow times and some busier times right
Speaker:now, the holidays,
Speaker:of course it's busier.
Speaker:So the research gets pared down a little bit.
Speaker:We do still do it,
Speaker:but it's not as aggressive.
Speaker:And then when we have our slower times,
Speaker:we do more aggressive actions towards it.
Speaker:We also outsource with other companies so that we'll start up
Speaker:the research,
Speaker:but then they can go ahead and do some of the
Speaker:actual investigation if we need help on that end,
Speaker:if we don't have enough for the either equipment or enough
Speaker:of the personnel,
Speaker:that we can go ahead and do that.
Speaker:And then it is,
Speaker:it's just a matter of balancing.
Speaker:One example is we have a currently a retail shop in
Speaker:a little great neighborhood here in San Diego.
Speaker:And we just moved the manufacturing portion because that used to
Speaker:all be in the one shop area.
Speaker:We moved the manufacturing and the research and the offices to
Speaker:a larger space.
Speaker:And now at the end of this year,
Speaker:we're actually going to be closing up the retail brick and
Speaker:mortar. So we're going to move all retail sales online and
Speaker:then still do the wholesale private label,
Speaker:custom formulation.
Speaker:But then more importantly,
Speaker:the research and the reason is,
Speaker:is it's really going to open up more funds and more
Speaker:time that I won't have to worry about managing the storefront,
Speaker:managing this and paying to have the storefront because the overhead
Speaker:of course is so expensive.
Speaker:And a lot of that funds then can go back into
Speaker:even more research than what we were doing.
Speaker:So because with the increase of rents and we have an
Speaker:increase in minimum wage here in San Diego,
Speaker:all that draws from our funds,
Speaker:from research,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:unfortunately, so ideas like that,
Speaker:transitions like that,
Speaker:where we can go ahead and we're going to close on
Speaker:the shop,
Speaker:which is going to free up a lot of time,
Speaker:but also free up a lot of funds that we can
Speaker:put them towards product development and also more research,
Speaker:so forth and so on.
Speaker:Right? That's an excellent example of how a business can switch
Speaker:and change as needs change.
Speaker:And, you know,
Speaker:as you're saying,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:the focus now on research,
Speaker:still keeping all the products and have the availability,
Speaker:but you know,
Speaker:you're right.
Speaker:Retail costs a lot of money that does.
Speaker:So this is all sounding great and everything is working and
Speaker:clearly you're growing and changing.
Speaker:And all of that.
Speaker:Has there been one big challenge that comes to mind for
Speaker:you? That was a real struggle as you were building all
Speaker:of this up?
Speaker:Yeah. A lot of it is.
Speaker:It's a lot of stress.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:anybody who knows and starts a business,
Speaker:it definitely is a stressful aspect to any entrepreneur.
Speaker:It's one of the most difficult things to do because you
Speaker:have so many different things that you're learning.
Speaker:So many different things that you're doing.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:when you're starting up,
Speaker:you don't usually have most entrepreneurs,
Speaker:don't have a large amount of money when they're starting up.
Speaker:And so you're doing multiple different tasks and to really manage
Speaker:stress and how to overcome,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:work-life balance.
Speaker:That's always been an ongoing constant challenge,
Speaker:and I have changed all the business to accommodate that,
Speaker:but it's helped too,
Speaker:when there's been a number of things over the years that
Speaker:have been challenging.
Speaker:One in particular,
Speaker:we did a group on a few years ago,
Speaker:are familiar with Groupon.
Speaker:Have you heard of it?
Speaker:Yes. Yeah.
Speaker:And it was,
Speaker:it was a real great time,
Speaker:but a difficult time.
Speaker:I wasn't really aware what group I was until a customer
Speaker:had told me about it.
Speaker:And then I investigated it and checked it out.
Speaker:We ended up doing one and Groupon had mentioned,
Speaker:well, you should sell probably about six to 800 of the
Speaker:coupons, and that will be good for over six months.
Speaker:Could you handle that?
Speaker:And we have made the coupon for both products and at
Speaker:the time services,
Speaker:we were doing massages and facials and stuff in our little
Speaker:facility. And we ended up selling 2,500
Speaker:in like over yeah.
Speaker:Over two days.
Speaker:So we ended up increasing our business basically like literally a
Speaker:hundred times all overnight and what we were doing normally,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:just totally increased.
Speaker:And so it was a really crazy stressful time.
Speaker:And we ended up having to change some of the policies
Speaker:where we extended out the group on it past six months,
Speaker:just so we can accommodate people.
Speaker:And it was a real,
Speaker:real, stressful time as well for the staff.
Speaker:A lot of the staff members were upset when people would
Speaker:call because they couldn't get in,
Speaker:they couldn't get in for like two or three months for
Speaker:the massages or facial services or so,
Speaker:so we were had to tell him,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:I'm so sorry,
Speaker:we're booked out until two months from now or something like
Speaker:that. Or you can get a refund if you like.
Speaker:So one of the things I was just telling the staff
Speaker:is like,
Speaker:just expect,
Speaker:it's going to be difficult.
Speaker:Expect in the next few months it's going to,
Speaker:you're going to have a few angry or upset clients,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:they're wanting to get in,
Speaker:they can't get in,
Speaker:just expect it and then deal with them as politely and
Speaker:as calmly as possible because this is what is going to
Speaker:happen. So I think setting them up for that expectation,
Speaker:calmed them down and it helped me out as well.
Speaker:Cause it was like,
Speaker:all right,
Speaker:let's just ride this out and see what we can do
Speaker:as best as possible with not minimizing quality or anything along
Speaker:those lines.
Speaker:Right. And it worked out overall.
Speaker:It was a definitely a challenging time,
Speaker:but it worked.
Speaker:Yeah. And you know,
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:some people,
Speaker:well, you can never have too much business,
Speaker:but here's a perfect example of when you can.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:if you're not prepared for it and not ready for it,
Speaker:and I've heard this before with Groupon and you know,
Speaker:you are offering discounts and all of that.
Speaker:So you're not even just selling more,
Speaker:you're getting less margin for what you're selling.
Speaker:So if you get bombarded then either with having to produce
Speaker:so much product or in this case product and services,
Speaker:it can be a huge challenge.
Speaker:So as you're growing your business,
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:they told you what to expect.
Speaker:And you know,
Speaker:at that point probably Groupon was pretty new.
Speaker:So how were you to know exactly too bad for you,
Speaker:your product demand?
Speaker:Yeah. And that's,
Speaker:that's the funny thing is that,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:we didn't know at the time to cap it because that
Speaker:wasn't an issue at the time.
Speaker:Now they allow people to cap it and they encourage you
Speaker:so that you don't have this issue.
Speaker:And that was the funny thing too,
Speaker:is it really opened my eyes.
Speaker:It was like,
Speaker:wow, we really could be doing this much business,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:and fast forward to now we are doing that much business,
Speaker:if not more.
Speaker:So it was a good eye-opening lesson.
Speaker:And it made me realize that,
Speaker:wow, we really could pull it off.
Speaker:We could increase business with the current staff we have.
Speaker:And a lot of people that go well,
Speaker:you make a lot of money off those coupons,
Speaker:to be honest,
Speaker:most companies don't,
Speaker:they actually pay out of pocket because you share half the
Speaker:profits with Groupon,
Speaker:if not more,
Speaker:and what you pay,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:up to your staff and for the products to be made
Speaker:is a lot less margins like you had mentioned.
Speaker:So it's definitely something I don't,
Speaker:I wouldn't do it for services ever again.
Speaker:I have done it for products and products,
Speaker:work out finances services that are tough because of the timeframe
Speaker:and everything.
Speaker:It's good for visibility for your company too.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:it also depends on the stage that you're at with your
Speaker:business, right.
Speaker:Because you can get a lot of eyes on your business
Speaker:if you haven't had it before,
Speaker:but it's not a regular promotion and revenue generator,
Speaker:that's for sure.
Speaker:It's a marketing tool.
Speaker:Absolutely. Absolutely.
Speaker:Yeah. The other thing that I really like about your story
Speaker:is that originally when all of this happened,
Speaker:of course,
Speaker:now you're going to have to figure out,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:how do we handle these customers?
Speaker:How do we make it a good experience?
Speaker:How do we deal with the fact that they can't get
Speaker:in for awhile?
Speaker:But you also were very sensitive to your people,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:in group together and said,
Speaker:okay, this is going to be tough.
Speaker:Let's do this as a team so that they I'm sure
Speaker:they were even more dedicated because they saw that you saw
Speaker:that it was going to be a tough thing to get
Speaker:through. Absolutely well,
Speaker:on the other end.
Speaker:So this was kind of a challenge that ended up working
Speaker:out in the end,
Speaker:which is wonderful.
Speaker:What other types of things are you doing that you see
Speaker:make a difference in terms of bringing in?
Speaker:We do,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:as far as like marketing overall,
Speaker:is that communicating?
Speaker:Yeah. Anything that helps attract new customers or new sales,
Speaker:We need to do more honestly,
Speaker:but we do a lot of social media and newsletters.
Speaker:I think he,
Speaker:newsletters is one of the best forms to communicate with your
Speaker:customer and get information out there.
Speaker:So we mainly focus on that.
Speaker:And then in the past,
Speaker:we've also done expos trade shows here and there,
Speaker:different festivals and fair boosts,
Speaker:so forth and so on that helps to gain exposure and
Speaker:give people an idea of what you're doing.
Speaker:And then with the store over the years,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:the store had really helped cause we were able to communicate
Speaker:with the customers and connect with them.
Speaker:One-on-one. So now that we're looking at transitioning out of the
Speaker:brick and mortar,
Speaker:we're going to be experiencing more and more of a need
Speaker:to do more expos.
Speaker:And it's funny because as I've been mentioning to the customers
Speaker:that, Hey,
Speaker:we're going to be closing down.
Speaker:Their main concern is,
Speaker:Oh, well,
Speaker:how do I contact you?
Speaker:If I have a question about the products,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:who do I communicate with?
Speaker:So bringing that information to them is going to be something
Speaker:where we have to work on more.
Speaker:So we're planning at the new location where we just had
Speaker:the manufacturing end to do like a quarterly open house of
Speaker:some sorts.
Speaker:So we can bring out the new products,
Speaker:bring out some products that would be different for the seasons
Speaker:Connect again,
Speaker:with the customers,
Speaker:answer the questions and do this on a face-to-face basis more
Speaker:regularly instead of just having,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:email or phone calls or whatnot.
Speaker:So that would be something we're going to incorporate more and
Speaker:then really just communicating with them through classes as well.
Speaker:We do a lot of classes and I think that's a
Speaker:great way to bring people who are interested in herbal medicine
Speaker:in general or natural products or product making in general,
Speaker:they can come in and be introduced to your facility and
Speaker:what you do,
Speaker:or you can go out and do guest speaking appearances.
Speaker:I think that's a great way as well.
Speaker:And we do a lot of that.
Speaker:And so are the classes so that they can make their
Speaker:own products or Yeah,
Speaker:so we have a great meetup group and it's all at
Speaker:San Diego,
Speaker:alternative health and herbal medicine.
Speaker:And it's got so many different,
Speaker:great classes from lotion,
Speaker:making aroma therapy,
Speaker:making we've done herbal certification courses,
Speaker:even stuff like Reiki,
Speaker:crystal healing had guest speakers.
Speaker:And we had one recently on CBD oils and what those
Speaker:are all about.
Speaker:We also do other classes on product development and how to
Speaker:bring up your own products.
Speaker:What to think about when starting your own business like that,
Speaker:the steps to take.
Speaker:So it's really expanded over the years on that.
Speaker:And then most of the classes I teach,
Speaker:but we do have some guest speakers as well.
Speaker:Now you also have a number of YouTube videos.
Speaker:Yeah. So we have a number of those and that's something
Speaker:as well.
Speaker:I'd like to increase more because the video rage is,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:even more popular now,
Speaker:nowadays everybody's just,
Speaker:well, let's look it up on YouTube or let's do this.
Speaker:Let's do that.
Speaker:We had done a few on E how those worked out
Speaker:really well.
Speaker:So we posted those on YouTube and then we're hopefully going
Speaker:to add more over the next few years as well.
Speaker:And I encourage listeners if any of this is of interest
Speaker:to you definitely go over and we're going to talk about
Speaker:this a little later too,
Speaker:but I just want to interject it in now to the
Speaker:website because you're going to see,
Speaker:I think right from the website,
Speaker:you can go over to some of the YouTube You can.
Speaker:Yeah. We have all the videos there and they're all connected.
Speaker:Regina. I want to spin over now into our reflection section.
Speaker:This is another look at you and how you're working as
Speaker:a successful business.
Speaker:So if you think of something,
Speaker:that's just kind of innately you,
Speaker:your love for science,
Speaker:which to me is a little bit scary because that's not
Speaker:where I'm at,
Speaker:but you know,
Speaker:you've been able to gravitate that natural interest already into what
Speaker:you're doing every single day of your life,
Speaker:which is so fabulous.
Speaker:What are the types of things that are natural,
Speaker:a natural trait to you?
Speaker:Do you call upon a,
Speaker:you use in your business life?
Speaker:Good question.
Speaker:I guess a lot of it would be stamina.
Speaker:I'm definitely one where,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:if you fail,
Speaker:get back up on that horse,
Speaker:try try again.
Speaker:I'm not a big quitter.
Speaker:Usually it takes a couple of beatings before I quit.
Speaker:So, and I see a lot of the customers that I've
Speaker:worked with.
Speaker:It's interesting because we work with a lot of small companies
Speaker:too, and they'll start up and they have that passion that
Speaker:drive, and then they get knocked down and then they get
Speaker:out of the game and it's like,
Speaker:well, what are you doing?
Speaker:Oh, well it's too much.
Speaker:Or it's too hard.
Speaker:I didn't know.
Speaker:It'd be this much.
Speaker:Or this event.
Speaker:It's like,
Speaker:no, you can't,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:you're gonna,
Speaker:you're gonna have that.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:this is part of it.
Speaker:This is part of the game.
Speaker:So get back on there and write it through.
Speaker:You'll find a way if this is what you really want
Speaker:with me day to day,
Speaker:you just,
Speaker:you just gotta keep on keeping on because there's always a
Speaker:million fires to put out.
Speaker:There's always something that's going wrong.
Speaker:Isn't that the truth?
Speaker:Oh, there's always something.
Speaker:It does drain you.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:that's one of the most difficult things for me is you
Speaker:get in,
Speaker:you have this laundry list of stuff that you plan on
Speaker:doing for the day.
Speaker:And then it just gets bombarded with something that,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:goes wrong.
Speaker:It goes wrong and goes wrong.
Speaker:So you have to kind of duck and roll at the
Speaker:same time too.
Speaker:I almost envisioned like a boxer or someone driving a stick
Speaker:shift. You know,
Speaker:you're constantly throwing it to a different gear,
Speaker:ducking, a ruling,
Speaker:just kind of,
Speaker:okay, where are we going for the day and make it
Speaker:out alive.
Speaker:So, And get comfortable with the fact that that is the
Speaker:life of an entrepreneur.
Speaker:It's exactly wrong.
Speaker:That's the way it is.
Speaker:Well, you have to accept it.
Speaker:And that's what a lot of people don't realize too,
Speaker:is, you know,
Speaker:people, when they hear entrepreneur,
Speaker:they think working for themselves is so glamorous.
Speaker:So wonderful.
Speaker:You're going to be a millionaire and some cases you are,
Speaker:but it usually doesn't happen overnight.
Speaker:You don't normally not work,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:more than 14 hour days,
Speaker:six days a week.
Speaker:And most days,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:and sometimes every day and a lot of people don't get
Speaker:to that real easy street until many,
Speaker:many years,
Speaker:if they do at all.
Speaker:And so it's that big fallacy of,
Speaker:Oh, if I work for myself,
Speaker:I'm going to have everything so easy.
Speaker:And it is nice in a lot of ways,
Speaker:but it's very challenging in many others.
Speaker:Absolutely. And I really like that you referenced the fact that
Speaker:there is a decision point when people are doing,
Speaker:creating a product or whatever it is,
Speaker:where the challenge comes up.
Speaker:And so many people fall off at that point,
Speaker:they know they decide no,
Speaker:either they feel they've done it wrong or it's too much,
Speaker:or any of that.
Speaker:That is the place to keep going because so many people
Speaker:do fall off.
Speaker:And then when you are able to overcome whatever that obstacle
Speaker:is, there are less people at that level.
Speaker:And then they're going to hit another obstacle.
Speaker:More people will fall off and you just keep jumping over
Speaker:those hurdles,
Speaker:right. That's how you become successful.
Speaker:You don't give up Exactly.
Speaker:You might have to change your game.
Speaker:You might have to go on a totally different direction perhaps
Speaker:or whatever,
Speaker:but that doesn't mean that you have to become completely out
Speaker:of it either and take yourself out of the market.
Speaker:Exactly. And expect that there will be those points.
Speaker:And when you get to the,
Speaker:okay, recognize that that's it.
Speaker:And so make your changes and continue going forward.
Speaker:Exactly. All right.
Speaker:So you going forward and there's all these things that you're
Speaker:having to take care of.
Speaker:Is there some trick that you have either a tool that
Speaker:you use or some ability to maintain balance in your life?
Speaker:Yeah. So for me,
Speaker:I'm a big list-maker,
Speaker:that's my thing.
Speaker:I'm constantly making lists and I think that's helped tremendously over
Speaker:the years in my business.
Speaker:And the lists that I'll make are daily,
Speaker:weekly, monthly,
Speaker:longterm, short term,
Speaker:high priority,
Speaker:low priority.
Speaker:And it really helps me to visualize a lot of times
Speaker:it's step-by-step lists and it's,
Speaker:I put them in priority then.
Speaker:And it makes me have like a roadmap for the day
Speaker:because there's so many things that's,
Speaker:what's overwhelming to a lot of entrepreneurs.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:you're dealing with marketing,
Speaker:the website,
Speaker:the product development,
Speaker:the clientele,
Speaker:you're invoicing,
Speaker:you're doing accounting.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:when you're starting off,
Speaker:you're doing so many different things.
Speaker:And then as the years progressed,
Speaker:you might delegate those duties to other people,
Speaker:but you're then still managing those people.
Speaker:And you're still the one that they're going to go to
Speaker:when they have a question.
Speaker:And you know,
Speaker:so there's always things,
Speaker:million things going through your mind.
Speaker:So for me,
Speaker:I make a ton of lists.
Speaker:I have my roadmap and even throughout the day,
Speaker:I'll rewrite my roadmap and put in my priority.
Speaker:And if I can get done at least half of what's
Speaker:on my list throughout the day,
Speaker:I know that I've done pretty well in.
Speaker:And for the most part that it does allow me to
Speaker:get the majority of what I can get done with more
Speaker:ease too.
Speaker:Cause then I'm planning it out and saying,
Speaker:okay, I can't do this on Tuesday because it won't be
Speaker:in until Wednesday.
Speaker:So I'll do that on Thursday,
Speaker:you know?
Speaker:So then you have more of a plan and then you
Speaker:have more of a goal and then you can achieve those
Speaker:goals a lot easier as well.
Speaker:So are you a pen and paper girl?
Speaker:Both very much a pen and paper,
Speaker:but lately I've been using the notepad feature on my phone
Speaker:and that's helped a lot.
Speaker:The only problem with that is it's bad in the middle
Speaker:of the night because it makes it a lot easier to
Speaker:wake up at 3:00 AM and do the Pat on the
Speaker:phone instead of getting something out and turning on a light,
Speaker:disturbing someone that helps out a lot with me.
Speaker:And that's one of my biggest tools.
Speaker:I tell people,
Speaker:everyone's like,
Speaker:Oh my gosh,
Speaker:should I be doing this?
Speaker:Should I be doing that?
Speaker:Should I be switching this?
Speaker:And they get so flustered because there's so many things.
Speaker:And if they just laid it out and said,
Speaker:look, tackle this and really divide up that goal into doable
Speaker:steps. And then it makes it easier.
Speaker:And you feel like you've accomplished something which normally do,
Speaker:and then you move on.
Speaker:Right? And then it just seems like a plan too,
Speaker:because the overall objective might seem overwhelming.
Speaker:But if you do break it out into those steps and
Speaker:then you can start ticking off those steps,
Speaker:it's so helpful.
Speaker:Exactly. Do you dedicate a certain part of your time to
Speaker:creating the list or is it just integrated in throughout the
Speaker:day as you go?
Speaker:It's usually a definitely something they'll do in the mornings when
Speaker:I have my coffee and everything,
Speaker:and I'm figuring out what exactly I need to do.
Speaker:A lot of times I'll set basic stuff for the next
Speaker:week and then I'll take that and then split it apart
Speaker:and really then plan it out.
Speaker:It really is something I do on a daily basis.
Speaker:And then even for the weekends now I'm finding myself,
Speaker:okay, this is what I want to accomplish for the weekends.
Speaker:And it's simple stuff from like laundry,
Speaker:clean the house,
Speaker:go to the grocery store and I'm planning it all out.
Speaker:And then I put it in priority of,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:steps I want to take.
Speaker:And it sounds almost OCD,
Speaker:but it really does help you.
Speaker:Cause you know,
Speaker:as, as our lives get busier to our personal lives,
Speaker:have a lot of stuff going on and we want to
Speaker:accomplish those.
Speaker:So it's become a real part of my day.
Speaker:That makes a big difference.
Speaker:Sounds like a stress reliever too,
Speaker:because you are able to,
Speaker:even though it takes some time to do it,
Speaker:you're able to put it on paper.
Speaker:You're not forgetting things because you can note it when it
Speaker:comes up.
Speaker:All of that.
Speaker:So yeah.
Speaker:Something to try out if you are not already a list-maker
Speaker:for sure.
Speaker:Absolutely. Have you read a book lately that you think our
Speaker:listeners would find value in?
Speaker:Oh sure.
Speaker:The latest one,
Speaker:I was reading a little bit here and that's an older
Speaker:one it's called,
Speaker:I think it's called closing the sale by Zig Ziglar.
Speaker:You ever heard of it?
Speaker:It's a really interesting book cause I've never been a big
Speaker:sales person per se.
Speaker:I've never been one where I wanted to.
Speaker:I don't,
Speaker:I don't like to like push sales on anyone or anything
Speaker:like that.
Speaker:I want to introduce you to my product and tell you
Speaker:how it can benefit you and then leave it at that.
Speaker:But I've never been one at like really closing it.
Speaker:So it's helped because it took that whole scary feeling of
Speaker:bad out of salient.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:some people think,
Speaker:Oh, I don't want to be sold to,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:I don't want to salesman,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:to, to tell me this.
Speaker:And that was what I was always kind of worried about.
Speaker:I didn't want to come off like a sales person either.
Speaker:And so this book was cool.
Speaker:Cause it,
Speaker:it made me realize,
Speaker:look, you know,
Speaker:you have some great stuff that you can showcase to other
Speaker:people that they can benefit from.
Speaker:So there's a way to do it.
Speaker:That's genuine.
Speaker:That's nice.
Speaker:And then there is a way to then technically close the
Speaker:sale, you know,
Speaker:help them make the decision whether or not they want to
Speaker:have it or not.
Speaker:There's been a lot of real neat little tidbits of information
Speaker:from the book.
Speaker:I haven't read it all yet.
Speaker:I'm only about halfway through,
Speaker:but so far I've quite enjoyed.
Speaker:I've been in sales now for call it 30 years.
Speaker:Like even in my corporate life,
Speaker:before I went off on my own and it used to
Speaker:be back in the day that sales was so pushy and
Speaker:so forceful.
Speaker:And now we're fortunate because I have the same feeling that
Speaker:you do.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:if you have a quality product,
Speaker:people are naturally going to be interested,
Speaker:but they still have to be told about it.
Speaker:And then kind of,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:well here's,
Speaker:if you're interested,
Speaker:here's how,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:here are the next steps you would take to be able
Speaker:to have it,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:whatever. So it's a much more comfortable environment.
Speaker:Now. We're all lucky for that.
Speaker:That's for sure,
Speaker:exactly. And give those listeners,
Speaker:if this sounds interesting to you and you like consuming information
Speaker:on audio,
Speaker:just like you're listening to the podcast today,
Speaker:you can listen to audio books with ease and I've teamed
Speaker:up with audible.
Speaker:If you haven't already,
Speaker:you could get,
Speaker:I'm pretty sure closing the sale is probably on audio book.
Speaker:You can,
Speaker:yeah, you can get one for free on me.
Speaker:All you need to do is go to gift biz,
Speaker:book.com and make a selection.
Speaker:And this is a perfect example of the way you can
Speaker:help people get information in hopefully not too salesy away.
Speaker:Right, Right,
Speaker:right. And you know,
Speaker:it's funny you say that because I recently just downloaded audible
Speaker:and I'm starting to listen to more books on.
Speaker:And when I'm cleaning the house while I'm riding my bike
Speaker:into work,
Speaker:instead of doing just music,
Speaker:it's great.
Speaker:Cause now I'm like,
Speaker:wow, I can get a book in while I'm doing my
Speaker:regular chores.
Speaker:So that's really cool.
Speaker:You mentioned that I'm going to check that out.
Speaker:Yeah. And it's,
Speaker:it's really nice to be able to double up on things,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:with, if you're exercising,
Speaker:like you said,
Speaker:or some people even with podcasts,
Speaker:they may be driving to work or they may be straightening
Speaker:up the shop.
Speaker:Cause no,
Speaker:there's no one in there and they can listen,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:all different ways.
Speaker:So we're fortunate to have it available for us at this
Speaker:point. All right,
Speaker:Regina, I now would like to have you dare to dream.
Speaker:I'd like to present you with a virtual gift.
Speaker:It's a magical box containing unlimited possibilities for your future.
Speaker:So this is your dream or your goal of almost unreachable
Speaker:Heights that you would wish to obtain.
Speaker:Please accept this gift and open it in our presence.
Speaker:What is inside your box?
Speaker:Wow, that's a great question.
Speaker:I think a lot of it is I want the business
Speaker:of course,
Speaker:to keep growing in the way it is.
Speaker:It's going,
Speaker:it's going really,
Speaker:really well.
Speaker:And I'd like to see it get much bigger so that
Speaker:it can get in the hands of many more people who
Speaker:can benefit from it.
Speaker:Really though.
Speaker:My overall goal is to increase the research and development of
Speaker:natural products for medicinal aspects,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:from whether it be a,
Speaker:I don't want to necessarily say I want to make pharmaceutical
Speaker:medicines, but I want a pharmaceutical grade type of medicine without
Speaker:the side effects,
Speaker:without the hoopla and from natural products from holistic standpoint,
Speaker:something that it can get into the hands of many,
Speaker:many people and make their lives better.
Speaker:And so my overall long-term goal would be to increase the
Speaker:research and development Institute that we have and create more of
Speaker:a foundation for wellness,
Speaker:expand the whole idea of natural product chemistry for medicinal aspects,
Speaker:expand the knowledge to individuals as well.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:why having a product that they use daily,
Speaker:like a daily moisturizer cosmetic,
Speaker:it's important for them to have good quality products and how
Speaker:it, it changes their life in a lot of ways.
Speaker:So increasing that and creating more of an overall foundation,
Speaker:a bigger research Institute,
Speaker:something where we can really do 50 more times,
Speaker:what we're doing nowadays,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:are a hundred times more.
Speaker:And then another thing that's really interesting me on the end
Speaker:is all the new inventions that are going crazy.
Speaker:Like you see them all over the internet on you see
Speaker:them on Facebook and stuff.
Speaker:These really awesome inventions that are simple.
Speaker:They use a lot of simple technology,
Speaker:simple aspects,
Speaker:a lot of biological exchanges as well,
Speaker:that can increase lives for all sorts of people,
Speaker:whether they're little bit poor communities or they just don't have
Speaker:the money for certain types of devices,
Speaker:so forth.
Speaker:And so on,
Speaker:like one example is these play pumps that they're putting in,
Speaker:in areas where there's not a lot of water.
Speaker:So instead of them having to go down,
Speaker:maybe two miles a day to go collect water,
Speaker:they're putting in this really simple,
Speaker:it's a,
Speaker:merry-go-round basically where the kids can play on it and then
Speaker:it pumps the water up.
Speaker:So it sounds funny because it's not quite what I'm doing
Speaker:nowadays, but I'd love to see already alchemy be able to
Speaker:help increase that whole aspect to where we can create not
Speaker:only natural products and medicines,
Speaker:but natural devices,
Speaker:something with something with biomimicry that can,
Speaker:that can really just make the lives of people overall better.
Speaker:And it's simple.
Speaker:It's not going to cost a lot.
Speaker:It's not going to be,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:we don't have to worry about patents a lot or anything
Speaker:like that.
Speaker:We're just making the world a better place,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:with simple things that we have available to us.
Speaker:Yeah. So you already are looking into the future with that.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:clearly the research,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:that's what you're doing by closing your shop,
Speaker:right? So you have more funds available for your research.
Speaker:So you're already working on that and this new idea in
Speaker:terms of the inventions.
Speaker:I see that common in your future there.
Speaker:Okay. Thanks.
Speaker:Yeah. That'd be great.
Speaker:Based on what you guys you're talking about,
Speaker:that's going to be out there for you.
Speaker:I think it would be fun.
Speaker:Yeah. There's a lot of new,
Speaker:new ability out there.
Speaker:And that's the thing too with medicine,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:a lot of us are so used to,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:popping something,
Speaker:taking a pill and even in holistic medicine,
Speaker:if you think about it,
Speaker:a lot of it is we'll take the Serb or take
Speaker:a tea or something.
Speaker:And granted,
Speaker:yes, I feel that those are way better than a lot
Speaker:of the pharmaceutical medicines on the market,
Speaker:but there's a lot of lifestyle changes people can incorporate and
Speaker:then those devices so forth and so on can also incorporate
Speaker:it even further.
Speaker:And we can go ahead and do that as well.
Speaker:So give biz listeners,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:there's going to be a show notes page connected up with
Speaker:the podcast.
Speaker:So if you want to see different social media sites,
Speaker:YouTube channels,
Speaker:et cetera,
Speaker:all of that will be on the show notes page Regina,
Speaker:if there was one place that you would direct people to,
Speaker:if they're only listening and they're not going to be getting
Speaker:to a computer and they want to see more,
Speaker:where would that one place be Go to our website?
Speaker:It's R D alchemy.com.
Speaker:And that has a lot of the other connections to other
Speaker:social medias,
Speaker:our classes.
Speaker:And then also our videos,
Speaker:blog information,
Speaker:of course,
Speaker:all the product information.
Speaker:If they're interested in private label wholesale or custom formulation,
Speaker:there's also information there.
Speaker:Perfect. And it sounds like if anyone's right in the San
Speaker:Diego area,
Speaker:they better jump right in right away because pretty soon the
Speaker:opportunity will be gone.
Speaker:Exactly. Yeah.
Speaker:Regina, thank you so much.
Speaker:I appreciate you being here today,
Speaker:taking some time with us.
Speaker:I love the concern and the foresight you have with the
Speaker:people you work with in terms of the customers and your
Speaker:employees, and then also your vision of how to make the
Speaker:world a better place.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:just having better products for us and having solutions to some
Speaker:of these problems that are so challenging,
Speaker:the diseases and you know,
Speaker:the other things you're talking about with helping people get fresh
Speaker:water or whatever that might be.
Speaker:I think there's a lot for us to be watching in
Speaker:your future.
Speaker:If you ask me and it's exciting,
Speaker:that's for sure.
Speaker:And my hope is that you continue moving forward and I
Speaker:am quite sure that's going to happen.
Speaker:And I wish you continued success.
Speaker:May your candle always,
Speaker:Frank, thank you so much.
Speaker:Where are you in your business building journey,
Speaker:whether you're just starting out or already running a business and
Speaker:you want to know your setup for success.
Speaker:Find out by taking the gift biz quiz,
Speaker:access the quiz from your computer at bit dot L Y
Speaker:slash gift biz quiz or from your phone by texting gift
Speaker:biz quiz to four four two,
Speaker:two, two.
Speaker:Thanks for listening and be sure to join us for the
Speaker:next episode.
Speaker:Today's show is sponsored by the ribbon print company,
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