Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Keri Lehmann. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Keri, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you share a customer success story with us?

“I don’t think you understand how much your products changed my daughter’s life. I need you to hear this.” -Those were the words a mother spoke to me in my driveway as she was picking up more products from my house.
I had only been in business for about a year, making and selling three natural skin care products: A raw sugar scrub, an African Black Soap, and a raw shea butter moisturizer.
I was selling them together in a kit that I called “The Facial Trivium”, and somehow, she found it and purchased it for her 20 year old daughter.
She went on to tell me the story:
When her daughter was about 10, she woke up with a red patch on her face that seemed like eczema. They tried putting creams and treatments on it, to no avail. After a while, it got worse, and they went to the doctor. They were prescribed something that didn’t work, and it continued to spread over her entire face and parts of her body.
For the next decade, during her entire teen years, her face was covered in varying stages of a weeping, oozing red rash that never went away, despite all of the therapies she had tried.
The daughter described an experience she had at work when she was about 17, where the store customers wouldn’t look her in the eye, and would, in fact, turn away from her in disgust when they saw her. That was her whole teen experience.

Then, her mother found The Facial Trivium.
She gave it to her daughter and within a week of use, she began noticing a difference.
A month later, she was on the road to healing.
And by the sixth month, her skin was clear and smooth and completely free from the rash, and has continued to stay beautiful to this day.

When she told me the story, I asked her daughter if she would let me film her account. She agreed, and I asked for “before pictures” for comparison.
Her reply: “There were NO “before” pictures. I never let anyone take my picture back then.”

I’m always saddened to imagine a sweet girl whose entire teen decade went undocumented on film. But I am so grateful to have been able to create a set of products whose synergistic power brought great relief to a person in great need.

Keri, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a cosmetologist by trade. In 2010, I had a salon on the side of my house, and started making and giving away natural scrubs and shea butters. One of my clients asked for several jars of products, sold them, and came back with a DBA form and sales tax application. And so it began…

Because of my love for natural ingredients and their cofactor synergy, I immediately began using botanicals and essential oils to create products that brought value to people.
As I grew, people would invite me into their homes and allow me to share my products with their friends. With each presentation, I got to hear their stories and problems, and then I would go home, and research natural solutions for them. That led me to create over 30 powerful, unique, natural skincare products for every skin type.

I’ve found that great skincare is very simple: if you understand HOW the skin works, you can work WITH that function, using ingredients the body knows how to process to create longlasting, effective results.

It’s been such a pleasure being able to create products that honor people and the needs they have regarding skin and personal care.
In fact, one of the coolest things about my work, I believe, is getting to source natural ingredients from around the world, and create products of great value.
One of the products, our African Black Soap, has a unique and rewarding provenance:
African Black Soap is made only by women, and only in West Africa.
The women use the skill to train up their daughters with the ability to create income for their families. They hold the tradition very dear, and use the income to provide for their families and to establish themselves as leaders among their communities.
I buy the soap as a base, in large bricks, and then I chop it up and add additional ingredients, reforming it into cubes for my audience.
As I rebatch and sell the soap, my goal is to honor the lives and contribution of those women who created the soap, and to honor those who trust me to create value for them as well: my customers.

The whole exchange reminds me of the description of the noble woman in Proverbs 31:
“She selects wool and flax
and works with eager hands.
She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.
She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from far away.
Strength and honor are her clothing,
and she can laugh at the time to come.
Many women are capable,
but you surpass them all”

My brand’s vision is to honor the time spent on this earth: theirs, yours, and mine. It’s what I call: “The Beautiful Era.”

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

I used to HATE cold sales.

It was terrifying to me to call or walk into a place uninvited, and try to take 15 seconds to convince someone to listen to me longer. I refused to do it.

Sara Blakely (Spanx founder) has spoken about how she made it a habit of putting herself in uncomfortable or embarrassing positions, to teach herself to be fearless. One time, she wanted a ring in a jewelry store in her mall. She asked for a discount, and the clerk brushed her off, saying she could get half off if she came in the store wearing a bikini (it was 27 degrees outside!). She showed up the next day, much to his surprise, in a bikini! She got that ring half off that day.

When I launched my new and innovative natural deodorant product, I wanted to get it on the shelves of Sephora.
I sought out their CEO Calvin McDonald.
I was able to chat with him and asked if I could send him the product. To my satisfaction, he agreed! But I knew that product submissions get lost in piles on desks, so I asked him how I could make sure mine landed in his hands.

His response: “You found me! I’m sure that your ingenuity can get it to me. It’s easier than the Amazing Race.”

Remembering Sara’s story, I thought, “What better way to make sure a package gets to its proper destination than to deliver it yourself?”
I gathered my product and hopped on a plane to the Sephora headquarters in San Francisco.
I was imagining myself confidently walking up to the receptionist, showing her Calvin’s message, and walking my gorgeous products straight to his desk.

As soon as I parked in the lot of a skyrise building, I sensed a major flaw in my plan:

Security. For hundreds of businesses, not only Sephora.

The guy at the desk wasn’t even slightly interested in my screenshot from Calvin. Or me. My name wasn’t on the list of guests that day. How could it have been? No one knew I was coming.

As I sat in the lobby, 1700 miles away from home, totally uninvited, I felt ridiculous. I wanted to cry, but too many people were around.
And then I had an idea: He said it was just like “The Amazing Race”. So I went back up to the security guard, took a picture with him, holding the package together, then marched the box down the street to UPS, and shipped it to Sephora headquarters.
I message the picture to Calvin to show him what I did, and a couple of days later, he responded, “Very creative. We’ll take a look and get back to you.”
Shortly after that, he left Sephora and went on to another company, and I never heard from any of them again.

But I did it.
And I’d do it again, easily now.
It’s an Amazing Race.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I put a high value on research and development for my formulations. I know that most people don’t want to have to dig to make sure their skincare products are made with integrity, from ethical sourcing to effective results, and a commitment to natural and raw ingredients that the body recognizes and knows what to do. So I do the work for them.
And my work is proven through the results they consistently see as they continue to purchase the products.

In 2016, when I paused the brand for a few years, I asked a whole lot of people to wait for me.
When I relaunched, most came back, even as I increased my prices.
I am forever grateful for that, and for them.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.savvyboheme.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/savvyboheme
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/savvyboheme
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/kerilehmann
• Youtube: Savvy Boheme
• Yelp: Savvy Boheme Natural Skincare
• Other: 308 South Rogers Street, Waxahachie, Tx 75165 214.225.8587

Image Credits
Andrea Calvery- Andrea Calvery Photography