We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Roberta Perry. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Roberta below.

Roberta, appreciate you joining us today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

Every time someone asks me how we got our name, it makes me think of my late sister, Michelle. She is the one who named it.

I had just started making the sugar scrub for myself, but my sister wanted to sell it. She had a retail background and was out on disability for a knee problem at the time so she was looking for something to do. I agreed and we signed up for our first craft fair. She and I spent hours mixing and jarring the first batch for sale.

The only issue was that we had no name.

The next day I was at a business meeting for my former sales job and my phone kept ringing. I kept apologizing. Finally, I asked if I could take the call thinking it was something serious.

SCRUBZ! she yells out. What? I said. That’s the name! Scrubz Body Scrub. It says what it is and the “Z” will make it special. And then she hung up the phone. LOL

I went back to my meeting with a grin on my face because I knew she had hit the nail on the head. I called her when I left and told her it was the winner!

We then went on to name all our products with a “z” like Facez, Shavez, Handz, Feetz, Lipz, Cubez, Oilz, Oilz+Plus, and so on. It gave a cohesiveness to the brand and it’s always fun to say.

Roberta, 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?

My love of people luckily became wrapped around a product line I not only believe in but use myself daily.

ScrubzBody is a pampering, self-care, self-love, me-time business that happens to put that love in jars and bottles. We started in 2006 in my kitchen, moved to my dining room, and then a renovated garage. Finally, we got our first store. We grew out of the first 2 shops and landed in the heart of Main Street in Farmingdale, NY.

We create on-site and sell sugar scrubs of all kinds, lotions, balms, and oils. We sell other products that my maker friends create, like Alegna soap, Olive My Skin candles, lip balms, and Bubbleaux bath bomb bubbling powder.

We host “Make Your Own Scrubz” parties where we get to pamper our guests, teach them about scenting, and let them explore their inner artists.

We sell retail at the shop and online. We host parties. We also mentor and private-label wholesale to other business owners who want to sell a sugar scrub or lotion under their label but don’t want to make it.

Business wise I am proud of many things:

I like to say that Mother Nature made our recipes, but I was lucky enough to jar them up.

I never gave up as we went through many many growing pains. When we were more of a wholesale model, I stood and schlepped products for hours at craft fairs, holiday boutiques, and trade shows. I drove many miles just to stand doing demos at other shops and places like Whole Foods which carried our products.

Thirdly, top-of-the-line customer service is number one. Myself, Wendy, my VP of production, and any other staff member we have knows this. We never forget how important our customers and clients are and that they are the backbone of our business.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I have pivoted so many times since 2006 when we started, but that is part of the reason we have been resilient. Here are a few of those moments.

First, the plan was to sell retail online and find dozens of places we could wholesale to. This started with a chain of Long Island, NY salons whose owner I just happened to meet in Las Vegas. I created 3 exclusive scents for the salons. I then spent hours doing demos at each of their 16 locations.

We cold-called other shops.

We hired and fired a sales rep manager.

We tried our hand at a trade show in Atlanta. We were so out of our league, but luckily I had a good friend who lived there so it didn’t cost us hotel rooms and her friend helped us ship things down. But we had nothing to display our products on. So, my late sister, Michelle came up with an idea. She and I would go shopping at TJ Maxx for small furniture pieces that we could use for our booth. We would hide the tags and lay runners down in the middle so the furniture stayed in perfect shape. Then, after the trade show, we would go back and return it. We felt a little guilty and a little “Yes, we pulled it off” all in the same moment after we left with an empty car and a credit on my card.

After we moved to a small production space, just to get out of my garage, customers called and wanted to pick up their orders rather than pay shipping. We decided to paint and tile the place, making it more of a shop than a production studio, and slowly but surely realized we liked retail more than wholesale. We then added parties and massage therapy to our store and moved to a larger space in the same town.

Then my sister passed and I had to pivot more than anything else in my life.

My best friend from growing up, Wendy, had already been helping us out whenever we needed her, so she already knew the products and the business. She helped on her days off and then quit her job within a few months of Michelle’s passing and came to work with me full-time.

I couldn’t imagine having my business without her.

When Covid lockdowns hit, I shifted my parties to a boxed at-home model, “Make Your Own At Home”. I offered private-label products and mentoring to people who lost their jobs and wanted to start another income stream. What is wonderful is that even after we reopened, both of those things still exist.

I believe that having the moments of transition in my business and my life got me to the place I am now. Today I have a joyful and fun retail store with parties and lectures and all sorts of people coming in to feel good about themselves. I have an online shop and I sell wholesale and private-label. I sell products that my friends make. I have my store in a town that is thriving and encourages small businesses. Shoutout to the Farmingdale Chamber of Commerce. Talk about support!

I look forward to whatever else comes along.

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

While I use social media like Facebook and Instagram to say hello and post fun pictures, my number one way to stay in touch with my clients and customers is through email.

Years ago, one of my business mentors, Donna Maria of Indie Business Network, told me that collecting emails was key to staying in touch. It was something that we could own and take care to cultivate. It was a direct line of contact with our customers. It was a way to share what was going on. I always loved that advice and collected emails with every demo, trade show, or holiday boutique I went to.

For years I have sent an email a week. Once in a while, there will be an extra for a holiday or important event, but usually, it is once a week. It is a constant reminder to my list that we are still here and thriving. It is a chance to let them know what is going on and what may be new.

But more importantly, when social media has a problem, like when I was hacked and lost access to my original Instagram account and FB page, I was able to contact my customers and let them know what was going on.

The responses were positive and amazing. If I only had social I would have been lost.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://scrubzbody.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scrubzbodyproducts/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scrubzbody/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scrubzbody/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/scrubzbody
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPw_mg1kM7AdEokL-3tdO7A
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/scrubzbody-skin-care-products-farmingdale-4?osq=scrubzbody