We recently connected with Tina Greenfield and have shared our conversation below.

Tina, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

For as long as I can remember, I’ve dealt with some form of anxiety. The older I got and the more responsibilities I accumulated, the worse my anxiety got. For years I’ve dealt with Severe Social and General Anxiety disorder. Over time, I’ve learned different ways to manage it but it always felt like I wasn’t being true to myself. I started working out in my free time and realized that the gym was a great way for me to manage the stress and anxiety caused by everyday life. I threw myself into fitness and worked out 5 or 6 days a week, sometimes twice.

Then in 2020 when the pandemic hit and the whole world shut down I was faced with a crippling fear of almost everything. I was scared to leave the house, scared for any of my family members to go out, unsure of the availability of everyday items like toilet paper and paper towels. I started watching YouTube videos of random things that I thought would come in handy and I got really intrigued by the making of soap.

I started soaping as a way to manage my anxiety and before long I had more soap than I could handle. I started giving it away to friends and family and it just became an expensive hobby. After awhile people started offering to pay for it to help cover expenses and that’s how Luscious Lathers & Essentials was started.

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 am the owner and maker at Luscious Lathers & Essentials. I am a 43 year old divorced mother of two. I have a Bachelors Degree in Criminal Justice and I’ve been employed with the federal government for 25 years.

I started soaping as a hobby during the pandemic and soon realized that it provided an outlet for me to relieve stress and anxiety. I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to do it all the time so I thought starting a business was the only logical thing to do.

I began reading up on mental health and educated myself on the wonders of essential oils and how they can benefit both your mind and body. I started my soap line with 6 soaps that were all carefully curated using aromatherapy essential oils in hopes that I could help others who might be looking for ways to destress,

I’m most proud of my growth. I started with 6 soaps and then added bath bombs and shower steamers. As I began to come into my own I researched different ingredients and properties and eventually added lotion sticks, body frosting, and sugar scrubs. So now I not only have just a soap company, I’m moving into more of a body care brand,

I also aim to bring awareness to anxiety and mental health through my sharing my story. I’ve never been this open about sharing my story and was always a little embarrassed but I have been able to see first hand how I can reach people by sharing my experiences.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

While trying to build a business or a brand I realized that I had to put myself out there and start attending vending events to grow my customer base. That might sound easy to some but as a person who is not only naturally shy but also struggles with Social and General Anxiety disorder as well as Imposter Syndrome, that is a huge fete.

Trying to sell something you made with your own hands while having a persistent fear of being judged was hardest things I’ve ever done in my life. In the beginning I made sure to always have an outgoing friend with me to be my ally. That was great and worked well at first but it became harder and harder as I added more and more events to my schedule.

I was in a spot where I needed to ramp up my vending opportunities but I extremely uncomfortable with talking to people and often very concerned with what they would think of me or my products. I was also having anxiety about continuing to ask my friends for help so it put me in a weird space.

Finally I realized that this was my dream and I didn’t want to depend on anyone else to make it successful. I talked it over with my therapist and we worked on some tools and coping mechanisms to make me more comfortable with vending and talking to people. I am now able to do most events alone although I still take a friend or family member to most large events.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

My best strategy for growing my clientele has been customer service. I worked in retail for many years before becoming a business owner and I was often confused about many of the policies and procedure that were put in place and how many times I felt unable to help a customer to effectively because of rules or red tape. I knew when I started this business that customer service was going to be a top priority for me.

I try to make every customer feel special. I think about how certain small acts of kindness make me feel when I place an order. If it’s someone I know, I may send them a text letting them know that the package has been mailed. I often hand write a short thank you note on the inside of the box and/or include a couple pieces of candy. I like to do small inexpensive things that would make someone smile and feel special when they open their package.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.Lusciouslathersandessentials.com
• Instagram: @Lusciouslathersandessentials.com
• Facebook: Luscious Lathers and Essentials