“Doing unto others”
Years ago when we were living in New York City, I was tasked with buying strawberries for my son’s pre-school class. This was still a few years before WholeFoods moved into the neighborhood or any of the produce delivery companies were delivering consistently good quality. It was the middle of winter and the majority of available produce was of course imported. At the neighborhood grocery, I made my way to the usual organic section and my jaw dropped at the $9.99 price tag for one box of organic strawberries. Knowing that strawberries topped the “Dirty Dozen” list for produce, it was one of those items I always purchased organic when feeding my family.
But, now multiplied by 10 boxes and I wasn’t prepared to spend that much on a pre-school snack. I glanced at the conventional strawberries for $5.99/box and I headed over and started to load the boxes into my cart. And then I stopped. I felt a deep sense of guilt as to why was it ok for me to purchase conventional for other people’s children when I only purchased organic for my own? I slowly removed the berries from my cart back onto the shelf and turned back to the organic produce and proceeded to put the $10 boxes into my cart, $100 worth.
Similarly, when I started the formulations for Verima, I sat with Nathan my chemist and started the work. By the time I had formulated my ideal product with my imperative “must haves” (Organically grown and processed CBD, essential oils, glass containers) and “absolutely nots” (NO perfumes, dyes, parabans, sulfates, garbage) my price per ounce was so outrageous my business partners automatically scoffed at the numbers. “Forget the essential oils! “ They told me, “use the ‘natural fragrance’ that is still considered. . . erm not artificial. “
But in my heart and in my head I knew I couldn’t sell a product that I wouldn’t use for myself or my family. And so with Nathan’s help I started back at square one and was able to maintain quality, while bringing costs down.
A few months ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Marcia Kilgore founder of Bliss Spa, Soap and Glory and Fit Flop and she imparted her wisdom to “Never, ever sell anything you wouldn’t buy yourself.” Well said Marcia and I agree wholeheartedly.
