Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Cecelia Mims. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Cecelia , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?
I love Clay! I began using clay 6 years ago as part of my journey to live a healthier life. Clay has helped me, my family, and many of my friends reduce blemishes and improve their skin and hair. My initial goal was to tell the world about clay. Hence, my business ClayLove was born. My passion was pushed by my granddaughter’s glow and a spurt of self-esteem when her skin changed as a result of clay and acne skincare treatment in my spa. She told me one day that her face made her sad. To hear this was just so sad and broke my heart. So, in my research to help her find a natural and safe solution, I notice that bentonite clay could help, and it did. Her acne was reduced by 50% in 2 weeks by using a bentonite clay mask 2 to 3 times a week and using the clay as a facial cleanser. But I wanted to go further.
So, I began educating myself on acne skincare and prevention and became a skin specialist. After months of working with her skin to clear the screaming acne and reduced the acne scarring. Her personality changed, she is happier and less shy and her activities increased, an all-around improved person. So amazing, so rewarding! But what these results did for me, was provided the inspiration and the energy push I needed to take my business to the next level, to set up a spa, and provide the same services for other teens in need. I decided to develop a spa and look for ways to help more teens with skincare. Now as a certified skin specialist, I have a spa in my home and use part of the proceeds to give low-cost and free skincare education and services to teens in the community. This makes me happy.
Cecelia , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My name is Cecelia Mims. I am a native of Colorado (cannot imagine living anywhere else). I love supporting the community, especially teens and the younger generation with education, self-esteem, and personal growth. I am a learning naturalist who loves trees, gardening, natural hair, and a clean cohesive environment. My passion for my business, ClayLove LLC, is conspicuous. As a skin specialist, I provide deep cleaning clay-based beauty products for skin and hair. My thought is that “Nature provides all of our needs, we just need to learn how to use her”. ClayLove is designed to share the knowledge of the many amazing uses and benefits of clay such as reducing acne, alkaline balance, shaving, skin issues, underarm detox, and more. In addition, I am proud to share my product design, now patented, the clay mixing tool, the ClayLove Kneader Bag. The clay mixing Kneader Bag makes using clay easy, fast, and convenient, a dream for health-conscious consumers. The business became a thought after I asked the question, “why don’t more people use clay, it is amazing”. I attended events and set up booths just to answer that question. I conducted surveys asking people, did they know about clay, what did they know about clay, what did they like about it, what did they not like about it and, what was the main reason why they didn’t use clay. I found out that a lot of people didn’t know about clay and its many benefits. But more importantly, I answered the question, of why clay users, didn’t use clay on a regular basis. The answer to that question was – 1-it was too messy, like cooking in the kitchen, 2-it was time-consuming, 3-they would make too much and didn’t know what to do with the leftovers (they didn’t know how to store clay), 4-they would make too little clay and didn’t have enough for the purpose. I set out to solve these problems.
To obtain the patent on the mixing tool was challenging, never-the-less rewarding. This is how the ClayLove clay mixing tool, the Kneader Bag was designed. I became obsessed with making it and making it to solve the problems listed above, something that people can use easily and wanted to buy. The mixing tool makes using clay easier, faster, and convenient for enjoying every day. The ClayLove mixing bag is a gem for health-conscious consumers who want a fast and easy way to use clay.
After designing and producing the kneader bag, the business was created. I started out selling three different types of clay powder for the different skin types. I next added ready-to-use clays for the busy professionals or the people who do not like mixing. Next, I wanted to make a more complete system, a deep cleaning, exfoliating and moisturizing process, one fully natural stop for skincare. This system includes – deep cleaning detoxing clays for each skin type, exfoliation with the Java Scrubber Exfoliating Soap Bar, and natural fast penetrating Simply Oil Blend to nurture skin. The oils I selected are low molecule oils that worked with moist skin for deep absorption of minerals and nutrition which soften and give the skin a healthy glow. The ClayLove oils complete the all-natural skincare at-home spa kit. This is an economical at-home spa experience.
ClayLove is special and different from other natural skincare lines in that there is a focus on clay as the main ingredient. There is education about natural skincare provided free, online, and private consultations. Also, there is an opportunity for teens to learn about skincare and a less evasive economical way for teens to address acne and feel happier. I love it!
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
The business began selling products in 2018. I was excited. The pre-patent process was released, and I was able to release my product to the public. The marketing company was selected and hired which generated the business brand and created a website. My business plan was written and a plan was put in place. In August of 2018, the website was released, booths were set up and sales were generated. I was very happy and proud. In 2019 sales tripled from 2018, growth was climbing, the new products were being released and it was the beginning of working on retail sales. Everything was just going great. 2020 everything came to a screeching halt. Since all of the previous sales were generated from direct sales and ClayLove’s online presence was just starting, no income could be generated immediately from social media. Here and now a pivot was forced to save the business. With some support, grants, and loans, I was able to create an online presence. We all know that that online presence takes time, lots of time. How to use social media to maintain the business during this time was the question. It felt so crucial to make this pivot to online, rather than going to retail as initially planned. It felt needed just to stay afloat. It was the most difficult time for ClayLove.
2021, same scenario. All I could think was how do I sustain and keep afloat. I just put myself out there, just kept trying as much as possible verbally and online, emailing whatever I could.
2022 is this ever going to lighten up. Am I ever going to be able to do direct sales again and what’s happening with my online social media presence, is it getting better? It’s such a slow process of online sales and it’s so new to me. It’s slow but it’s happening. I know this social media is a growing process for me. 2022 is showing promise, challenging most of the time. This was the time when I had to make the biggest pivot, all caused by the COVID epidemic. The results, well I’m still here. It’s still a big struggle, but the business nor did I, die. What a crazy thought. I have made that pivot and more changes in my business. The struggle is real but looking better. There is no indication of what the new norm will be, but maybe some new opportunities will be positive after such a negative experience.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
Ahh, money. I started my business with my savings and obtained a small business loan to get the business initially started, designed the mixing tool, and work on the patent. No, is what I said to using my personal property to make this happen. There must be a better way. Well, “No” is the word I heard most when shopping for a loan and asking for money. I needed to show that the business was making money before lenders would loan the money for the business to make money. Funny huh. Ugh, what a whirlwind. I just consistently talked to my business peers, and worked with SBA, SBDC, and SCORE to help understand the process, bootstrapping, and finding resources. I was advised about a lender for disadvantaged businesses called CEDS, Community Enterprise Development Services. They became my lifeline and the only option I could find. After closing a business loan of $10,000 with CEDS, I was able to hire the marketing team that help me brand and become the beautiful ClayLove I envisioned. I appreciate CEDS more than they will ever know.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://claylove.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/claylovebeauty/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClayLovebeauty/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/claylovebeauty
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc8dfYdeszdgZEl5SQGlZNA
- Other: TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@claylovebeauty
Image Credits
https://burst.shopify.com/ Kaylee Hales Photography