Meet the Maker: Q & A

Tell us a little about yourself.

My name is Holly and I am 42 years old. My birthday is November 8th, 1983, making me a Scorpio and a Pig in Chinese zodiac. I can be shy when first meeting someone, but I warm up pretty fast. My favorite subject in school was Math! I am a girly girl at heart and I love everything pink & pretty, flowers, and of course – Skincare! I love nature and my favorite animals are wolves!

What do you enjoy doing?

I love going on drives, going on walks and going shopping. You will almost never see me

without my iced coffee! I call it my manic juice. No day is complete without my coffee!! I

am also a big fan of watching scary movies, listening to true crime podcasts and

anything having to do with the paranormal. I also really enjoy arts and crafts. I paint, too!

What got you interested in sustainable skincare?

I am very passionate about nature and I love skincare and spa treatments. I think

growing up on the outskirts of the city also influenced how much I appreciate nature.

And, as I mentioned above, I enjoy arts and crafts and creating things with my own

hands. I thought sustainable skincare would be a fun thing to do, combining my love for

nature, my girly nature and my enjoyment of arts and crafts.

What was your first product?

The scrubbies were my very first product.

Before starting my own business, I sold them at Spread The Joy markets and storefront.

Spread the Joy is a social enterprise which makes and sells various products like

preserves, spa products and pet treats with the help of makers with different abilities.

My scrubbies are still available at Spread the Joy, as well as on my new personal

business, B-Loom!

What was your first sale like?

I was happy and excited that my business idea just might work! So far, I’ve had good

success at Maker Fairs and I am always surprised with how well these fairs go.

What's your favorite part of coming up with products? How do you come up with

new ideas?

I come up with new products with the help of my job coach, Tina. Tina suggested we

come up with product ideas that represent me and my personality. This could also be a

fun way for customer to get to know me through my products! I also want my products

to be notably different from the products sold with Spread The Joy, so we always try to

find a super creative way to present our products. That’s the most fun! For example, we

decorated our Hello Sunshine soaps with dehydrates oranges and our Lavender

Soapsickles are shaped like real popsickles!

What's your favourite product you've made?

So far, my favorite product is our Hello Sunshine soap. It’s the first soap I’ve created

and it looks and smells so good! Hello Sunshine remained our best seller even after

launching our Lavender Soapsickle, which is also very popular!

What are you most proud of?

I’m proud of going to fairs. It sounds small, but I am an introvert and I can be shy at

times. I didn’t always want to go to fairs – at first, I only wanted to sell online but my job

coach told me about the many benefits of going to fairs, like meeting new people and

entrepreneur peers.

What are your hopes for the business?

I want to come up with more and diverse products. I am aiming to add one new product

with each fair I attend to.

What new products would you like to make?

I’d like to add more spa products like bath soaks and eventually be able to create gift

baskets for different occasions, or just for pampering yourself. I am also thinking of

creating an ice coffee themed soap, which I am pretty excited about!