We were lucky to catch up with Iiesha Mosby recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Iiesha thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?
So alittle back story or history on my brand I should say lol. When I first launched my business I was only making natural deodorant. I was having a conversation with some ladies at the gym about making my own deodorant. I was explaining to them the trial and error part and in conversation I mentioned one batch of the deodorant was too slick. Jokingly my armpits being slick had us in tears laughing lol. It was then I branded my company “Slick Pits”. As time progressed I began making other natural products that fit my family’s needs. I suffer badly from eczema and created a butter that would help my skin heal. After adding soap, butter and scrub it was time to change the brand. I got married and changed my brand to my family name “IV Skincare”. IV stands for iiesha vieira! I thought it was cute and I loved it!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Ok let me see… So I think I answered a bit of this in my first question so excuse me for repeating myself. My brand is a family owned, small batch business! Myself, my Husband and my kids helped each other through the whole process. Whether it was researching, blending ingredients, making labels, running to the post office or handling social media, it’s all done by our family. I first launched my brand back in 2018 around the time I was pregnant with my second child. At that time I had become more health conscious, so what I was putting in my body and what I was putting on my body mattered! Because you do know that what you put on your skin is absorbed into the body right? Right! I had a friend dealing with cancer at the time and my daughter was just about to start using deodorant as well. All of this sparked me into creating my own natural deodorant! It was then I launched “Slick Pits”! As time progressed I continued doing my research on other skincare products and its ingredients to add more to my brand. My family has very sensitive skin and I suffer from eczema. I was visiting the doctor way too much and being prescribed medicines that were making my condition worse. In doing my research I was able to create a bar soap and body butter that would aid in clearing up my eczema flare ups. After adding so many products to my brand I decided to rebrand which came with not only better quality bottles with a better presentation but also a name change, IV Skincare! IV Skincare are products that were created to help my family deal with skincare issues and I just knew there were other families just like mine that would also benefit from the products as well. We now carry body butter, body oil, body scrub, deodorant and soap bars, which are all plant based products. Everyone has different skin conditions that they are dealing with and we provide products that are for all skin types but most importantly sensitive skin!
I’ve got into the habit of reading labels on all products that I buy from the store, which isn’t much because I make most of what my family uses. I think it’s more important that we take the time to read our labels and research what it is we are putting on our bodies and understand the body more and how it reacts. For instance, a lot of folks can’t stand natural deodorant because they don’t feel that it does the job. What a lot of us don’t realize is that sweating is normal and is the body’s way of releasing toxins. Antiperspirants are designed to stop you from sweating using a very harmful ingredient to the body which is aluminum which is said to cause cancer. Even with that known fact that doesn’t stop people from using it because we all want a quick fix right? lol! Natural deodorant won’t stop you from sweating but will kill bacteria on the surface which causes odor. Sometimes detoxing your armpits will help with the transition into natural deodorant! Your body will thank you for treating it right in the long run! It took my body a year before using natural deodorant actually worked for me and now I leave the house without applying it at all sometimes. Consistency and Patience!
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
Hmmmmm, the most effective way strategy… To be honest it changes just like the world, it changes daily. Social media is everyone’s go to when starting a business, but it doesn’t work the same nomore. So much has change with social media for business owners and it sucks but hey you always have to think ahead. Although spending money for ads on social media will help reach a broader audience and could potentially help with sales. Most of my new clientele now comes from going out and doing pop up shops. You get to talk directly to the customer, you get to explain your product and they actually get to try it before they but it. People like to touch and smell and you can do that ordering online or viewing on social media. I can tell you all day that it smells so good and makes your skin soft but to have it right in front of you is different. I love talking to the customers and answering their questions, it makes me feel good to talk about my brand and actually know what I’m talking about.
How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.
HA! Those sites can be tricky especially etsy! What people don’t know is a lot of the sites they take a portion of your profit, so you have to up the price of the product to make the money that you need to make. Also some of those sites are just hard to manage and maneuver. I know etsy and even IG store has restrictions on certain wording you use in your products and it won’t allow you to list the product ugh drives me insane. I’d much rather sell my product in person at the pop up shops and markets or on my own online store front. In person sells you get to create a relationship with the customer and after the pop up shop you have a new online customer. Make sure you keep in touch with your customers, ask them about the product once they start using it, ask them to sign up for news letters to receive discounts etc.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.shopivskincare.com
- Instagram: @shopivskincare
- Facebook: shopivskincare