We recently connected with Kate Delgado and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Kate thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Isola was dreamt up and created in Montego Bay, Jamaica. My mother in law, who is Jamaican, had owned her own spa for many years and when my husband and I (along with our baby at the time) moved to Jamaica, I learned about this secret family recipe that she made in her kitchen and used on her guests. It was for a Body Scrub made from Coffee + Cane Sugar. I tried it myself and was blown away with the immediate results on my skin. I knew I had to do something with this and before I knew it, I was in the kitchen with her learning all about the benefits of this natural island treatment and making it along side my mother in law. We then started to take it to other spas on the island and quickly landed accounts with hotels such as Hilton and The Ritz Carlton.

When I moved back to the states to have our second child, I created my own business, Isola (which means island) and within a few years expanded the line beyond Body Scrubs, adding Body Oils, Lotions and other natural, clean skincare that actually works to hydrate your skin while being affordable.

I love what my family has created from scratch in the kitchen and is now seen on shows such as Good Morning America, used by celebrities such as Kourtney Kardashian and sold in spas such as The Four Seasons.

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?

I went to the University of Rhode Island and studied business with my major in Marketing. I always wanted to own my own company and when the opportunity came along for me to expand on a family recipe that would provide people with clean skincare products, I couldn’t resist. It might have been easy at first when we were making Body Scrubs in our kitchen in Jamaica and selling them locally but once I came back to live in the states, I definitely faced more challenges. I would say my biggest challenge to date was the first time my products were on Good Morning America. It was the kind of challenge you faced as you went through it that you didn’t see coming. I thought I could do it all myself but as the orders started rolling in, I couldn’t keep up so I had to find a fulfillment center in the middle of being live on air to help me while facing sleepless nights to get all the orders our to our customers on time. This along with some products not being ready to ship was extremely stressful. However if it weren’t challenges like these, I would not know how to successfully run a business but these lessons were not something they teach in school. You have to push through and get it done, which I did, but it isn’t always easy!

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Yes. I created our Instagram account and to this date, I still manage it. All of the pictures are pictures that I took and edited. I write all the verbiage and have full control of the page. I tried hiring companies at one point who guaranteed me followers but honestly, it doesn’t work. They end up getting you fake followers and/or people who don’t fit the bill. I found it to be a waste of money. Creating a page and allowing it to grow organically was for me, the best way to go!

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

Something that I was not very good at, but with the help and encouragement from my husband I got better at, is email blasts. He tells me all the time that I am a great writer and that my customers would love to hear from me. At first I thought it wouldn’t be effective and a waste of time but he kept encouraging me so I finally gave in and started sending newsletters out to my customers and it worked! Many wrote back saying how much they loved the article and sales started coming in also. It is a great way to connect with your customers once you have their emails. The key is not to bombard them. You need to find a balance.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.isolabody.com
• Instagram: @isolabody
• Linkedin: Kate Delgado