We were lucky to catch up with Maureen Wickersheim recently and have shared our conversation below.

Maureen , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. The first dollar your business earns is always special and we’d love to hear how your brand made its first dollar of revenue.

My first dollar! Ah, so fun to think about. To be honest, starting my business was unintentional but purposeful if that even makes sense! Haha

My first client or customers (unpaid ;)) would have to be my fam. The poor souls had no choice but to use what I made them. They complain only sometimes, but most of the time they are happy to use what we created in our home!

All joking aside, before I filed my LLC, my desire was to make natural body care products and household items as we ran out of the store bought ones. Kids toothpaste was next on the list. My husband and I had used my homemade toothpowder for a few years by then and my kids were running low on their Toms toothpaste. I thought it was a no brainer: just switch them to the powder… So, we did… Well, what did we get? A BIG POWDER MESS! It was hard for the kids to open and close the containers and it seemed like every night I was vacuuming up tooth powder off the bathroom floor.

What else could I do? On a low budget I didn’t want to start from scratch and waste a bunch of ingredients, so I started researching. I came across the “tooth- tablet.” It reminded me of those pink tablets we used as kids! Do you remember those? You put them in your mouth and would smear them all over your teeth. The point was to brush your teeth clean until there was no more artificial color! I loved using those and I always felt like I did a good job brushing my teeth. The recipe of the tooth tablet I had found included sugar and we all know sugar is bad for our teeth, so I switched it up a bit: Xylitol for sugar and we made what we now call, ‘Kid’s everyday Tooth Tablets.’ I gave them to my kids and they loved them. They are flavored with orange peel essential oil, so sometimes I would catch my 2 year old eating them like candy!

We used the tooth tablets for about a year and I took my kids to the dentist (now my youngest was not seen at the dentist because they only see 3 year olds and older, but I can’t wait to take him next year!) The dentist had only good things to say about my kids’ teeth and neither of them (ages 3 and 5) had cavities! I was so happy to hear what we had been doing was working.This only strengthened my belief that natural products can work and work well. So, I wanted to share the news! I went home and made a post on Facebook about the success of the Tooth Tablet! I named a price and viola! My first customer came to my door and that was how I earned my first dollar. I was not planning on starting a business, but I do love these products and when I see that they work, I only want to share them with others!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

How did I get into the Natural Body Care Product business? I would have to say that as long as I can remember I have been interested in the natural world- what I would relate to things that God made. From shea butter that heals, and nourishes our skin, to essential oils that not only smell good but also kill bacteria, everything was made for a reason. For everything that God created, I have a strong belief that it has an individual purpose specific to itself and a general purpose to bring God glory. For example, shea butter’s specific purpose may heal and nourish our skin, but in the end, it’s general purpose it to remind us that God is the only one who can truly heal us from our sinful nature and nourish us in is gentle Spirit. Think about it! The world of Natural Body Care products is so intriguing! It is nature in a bottle. You are taking the butter of a plant and rubbing it on your skin! Everything your skin needs is already in that plant. And who put it there? God did. In all his unmeasurable knowledge, God created nature for a purpose with YOU in mind.

Something I want my customers to understand is that these products are made with much thought and research on how to produce a product specific to a need. When I am making a new product, I first think of what need I am trying to meet. A few examples of needs I have made products specifically for are:

-moisturizing dry skin
-minimizing the appearance of scars
-mineralizing teeth
-producing clean and healthier hair

So, after I have identified the need, I research what products are best suited to meet that need and create the product!

Starting this business has been a huge encouragement to me, my family and others. Hearing how people use my products and enjoy them is so encouraging! I will share one fun story about a customer who loved my ‘Not Your Everyday Lotion.” She had purchased a jar for herself and loved it so much, she bought it for Christmas presents. She also messaged me to tell me that she had used the body lotion as a hair mask and how it left her hair so shiny and healthy! These comments are so helpful in my endeavor to create products that meet many different needs for people and even ones sometimes not intended. My plan is to continue to create natural body care and household products for my family and make them available to the public as we produce them. Right now, in these beginning stages we have a website for people interested in seeing what we have for sale and local pick up available. In the near future, I plan to have online shopping and shipping available to anyone interested in our products.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

So far, the best way for me to introduce my business to new customers has been Oktoberfest at a Local restaurant called Sammich BBQ and Brews! It was such a fun social event to set us shop with other vendors and show the locals what we make!

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

Funding my business. Such a fun question because the answer is my husband, whom I am so thankful for! Without him, I would not have a business. Sam works very hard to provide for our family, all the while believing in my business and abilities and helps me achieve

Now as we grow, the income we produce funds the business to keep growing and for this we are also very thankful. Without our customers, we would not be able to create new products nearly as fast.

Contact Info:

• Website: wickmaureen.wixsite.com/it-is-good
• Facebook: It Is Good LLC