We were lucky to catch up with Diane Seimetz recently and have shared our conversation below.
Diane, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?
In 2011, I went to see Guy Kawasaki (legendary marketer at Apple, Chief Evangelist at Canva, successful VC, etc.) speak. He shared so much valuable information, but one anecdote – on NDAs (non-disclosure agreements) of all things – really stuck with me. To my surprise, he said he never asks for them and never signs them. “Frankly,” he explained, “Few ideas are worth stealing. And even if your idea is worth stealing, the hard part is implementing the idea, not coming up with it.” I let this marinate for awhile. My takeaway was, success is not just in the dreaming, but in the doing – which most people never get around to. As a small business owner, it’s easy to obsess over what everyone else is up to. Because we’re small, we feel vulnerable. With fewer resources to compete, we worry. Pricing, product, marketing – is everyone else doing it better, cheaper, smarter? But these fears are often larger in our heads than they are in reality, and can hold us back. Guy convinced me that staying focused and simply showing up are my greatest secret weapons. Case in point: several years ago, an upscale grocery chain put out a “Shark Tank”-like call for locally-made products. The requirements overview was very food-centric, as you might expect. But there was a sentence or two regarding other “non-edible goods,” that might be considered, which caught my eye. I went to work, putting together a line sheet and short presentation on my artisan soaps and vegan pet care products. I Photoshopped the grocery chain’s logo onto an image of a soap, explaining that we could private label the company’s brand on product using a special stamp, and even create signature styles and scents for them. I included industry growth projections for clean-label pet grooming items like paw balm and shampoo, and worked in several cute puppy pics (who can resist?!). On the day of the show-and-tell event, I showed up with my presentation and leave-behinds, examples of my best-selling soaps and Dogtor Doolittle Pampered Pet samples for buyer’s to try. There were dozens and dozens of prospective food vendors – a sea of seasonings and functional beverages and delicious baked goods – crowding the foyer. But not one “non-edible goods” vendor. I was it. The oddball. The one who smelled like lavender and eucalyptus instead of barbecue sauce and chocolate. I set up my items, and attracted an unusually large group of buyers to view my pitch, probably some of it out of sheer curiosity. I went through my spiel, and handed each buyer a paw balm sample, joking that my ingredients were so clean you could technically eat it, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Did being the oddball clinch me a deal? No, but it helped – a lot. And this retail customer went on to be one of my biggest wholesale customers.
Diane, 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?
I’ve always been a maker. Whipping up tiny EZ Bake oven cakes. The first kid at the crafts table at day camp. The only girl in high school shop class (welding! woodworking!). You name it, my hands were in it. Ultimately my professional career led me to advertising, where I could be a maker, too, although the kind of work required more head than hands. It’s a demanding business, that doesn’t always leave time for artsy pleasures, but I managed to squeeze them in – usually when the rest of the world was asleep. In 1999, I was diagnosed with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), an incurable disease where the immune system attacks your own cells. It causes an array of symptoms, most commonly joint pain and severe skin sensitivities. Doctors pulled out the big guns – a cocktail of chemotherapies – to treat my symptoms. They tamped them down, but not fully and not without some pretty unpleasant side-effects. Then, ten years later, my husband Pat passed away unexpectedly. My world spiraled, and my illness flared out of control. When I finally came out of the fog, the reality of being sick, and an only parent, pushed me to take my health into my own hands – literally. I completely changed my diet – eliminating all animals products – and started reducing exposure to everyday toxins by making most of my own personal care and cleaning items.
Within two years, I was off all medications. As an unexpected side benefit, I found delight in preparing exciting new foods, and crafting my own gentle, restorative bath and skin care. The latter caught the attention of family, friends and coworkers, who began asking for products that might help them, too. Soon, my healthy hobby turned into a small side gig, which turned into A Joy Forever, an e-commerce business with thousands of wonderful customers and dozens of retailers across the country.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
Like so many hand crafters, the joy is as much in the making as it is in the using. Problem is, we end up making more than we can use (and our family, and all our friends and coworkers…) so we turn to selling to afford to keep making! Markets, festivals and fairs are common venues for getting our goods in front of new audiences. Even those who have hit big time often began their journey at a street festival or craft show. Bitchin’ Sauce, the tangy almond-based dip that’s a CPG superstar at stores like Whole Foods and Costco, started on its juggernaut to success under a pop-up tent at farmer’s markets around San Diego. (For the whole story, check out this great read: https://buffer.com/resources/scaled-small-business-national-brand). I remember how nervous I was at my first event. How much product should I bring? What should I charge? What about signage, business cards, taking payments? What about bathroom breaks?! It was a juried show, meaning not everyone got in who applied, and I was excited but intimidated when I got accepted. I think I was the first vendor there, and the last one to leave, still packing up all my teeny tiny items with a lack of organizational skill that would have gutted Marie Kondo. I definitely didn’t make bank, but over a (very long) day being up close and personal with customers, I learned many invaluable lessons. One was, know your stuff when it comes to your product – how it is made, what makes it different, unique benefits, etc. I clearly needed an elevator speech, and not to the top of the Empire State Building. Another was openness to feedback. There’s nothing like a spirited, “Ooooh!: or “Yuck!” from a customer to help guide your assortment. Also getting the same requests over and over can help shape future product offerings. During Covid, I largely stopped doing in-person events and focused on e-commerce. But I still valued the feedback I received from real users in real time, and continue to garner that from customers and colleagues on social channels even today.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
I make what I believe in. Customers can smell authenticity (or lack thereof) from a mile away, and they naturally want to support businesses that have a passion for what they do. In my case, my products are, for all intents and purposes, commodities. You can’t throw a rock in any direction without hitting a candle or soap maker these days; a simple Google search for “handmade soap” returns over six million results! Understanding your best customer – someone who appreciates your handiwork and aligns with your mission – investing in marketing that reaches that customer, then telling your story in a genuine and compelling way attracts loyalty. Even though I can’t always see it or hear it in person, A Joy Forever has grown exponentially through personal testimonials, social sharing and gifting. I know I am extremely circumspect when recommending a business to someone else – it’s a reflection on me. So when I am the recipient of such recommendation, I take it very seriously and am deeply grateful.
Contact Info:
- Website: ajoyforever.com
- Instagram: @dseimetz
- Facebook: facebook.com/ajoyforeverbathbody
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dseimetz/