Small Business Saturday Archives

Tisa and her healing studio

01/25/2016 1 Comment

When thinking of Tisa’s business, zen with a little kick of fun is what comes to mind. I met Tisa, owner of Love Light & Laughter A Healing Studio, at the beginning of December on a bitter cold night. My friends and I were at the Covington Baazar where she had set up a table with all her wonderful products. We immediately hit it off. It also turns out that she lives less than a mile away from me! Such a small world!

Tisa has been in the small business world for years. She had also been leading a natural lifestyle with gardening and composting. However she started looking into natural products when her son went to summer camp several years ago. The bug sprays often had a lot of deet in them. As she looked for natural products, she was dissatisfied with the “natural” products she found. They often still were not organic and still contained many of the harmful chemicals found in mainstream products. So instead, she decided to make her own.

So she started making making natural bug spray to give to people. Soon folks caught on via Facebook and wanted to buy them. Also during this time she was injured, so she did not really have the use of her legs. So she decided to use this time to make products in part for her own healing as well. The key is that she could help herself without the use of prescriptions.

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“Love Light & Laugher products was born in my very own kitchen in 2014,” she said on her website. “With a little experimentation, lots of research, and a little luck, I have created a line of products that I am proud of.”

What began as something for herself and those around her has now blossomed into a business. Her line now includes bath salts, oils, healing soaps, glacier balms and perfume oils, all designed to be healing to people. If you live in the Cincinnati area, you can find her products at Funky Sunshine, The Colorful Cupboard and Hope Springs Institute. You can also buy them online through her website lovelightlaughterhealing.com/.

She also has her own healing studio in which she offers hot earth stone massage, SomaVeda Thai yoga, laughter yoga and Reiki. She had been thinking about getting certified in and offering these sessions for years. In fact, she would get massages and Reiki treatments regularly. However she found she was dissatisfied with her massage sessions she was receiving, so she decided to do it herself. Furthermore, sitting around all day gave her the time to go through courses and certifications online. You can book her for any of these services online or by calling 513.482.0907. She is currently accepting appointments.

Overall, Tisa loves being a female small business owner. She loves creating things and connecting with like-minded people in the community.

“I get to be creative and there’s nobody to tell me what I can and cannot do within my own creation,” she said. “… This is my baby. I get to decide which scents stay and which products go.”

You can view her products here:

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Saturday dress picks from Pink Slate

01/02/2016 No Comments

With the New Year come some new things at A World of Dresses. One of which is Dress Picks, a bi-monthly feature where we pick some of our favorite dresses from a different boutique.

Pink Slate is our chosen boutique this week. We featured them on the blog for Small Business Saturday several weeks ago. You can read their story here. Their boutique is an online shop, so if you like any of these picks your location does not matter! Each photo links directly to pinkslateboutique.com, where you can get a better look at the details, pricing, sizes, etc. Here are our five favorites:

My favorite things

I love the bold pattern on this one. I tend to go for things that are vibrant and have color. I start with a fun dress and accessorize around it. This would be perfect to do so with. Also, the lace at the bottom is so unique. I also love finding dresses like this. It’s a great way to be sure that you’re wearing something no one else has.

This is a perfect dress for the cold. As we see here in the photo, a scarf and pair of boots goes well with it.

Garden Goddess

My favorite part of this dress is the neckline. Keyhole necklines that sort of gather together are so elegant. This dress is perfect for a more formal event like a wedding or bridal shower, and also very appropriate for an evening out with friends.

Cruise on by

This is one of those dresses you can wear a lot. It’s simple enough that you can match it with all sorts of colors and accessories. Yet at the same time, the lace along the neckline and top sleeve area makes it unique.

Mohave Magic

Another bold print. I love the shoulder-less neckline. Just pair this with a pair of boots and you’re good to go!

Holiday Kisses

Our last pick is a nice, simple black dress. This is one you could get many wears out of. Pair it with some boots or heels and it’s perfect for the office. Or pair it with some fun accessories and it’s perfect for an evening out with the girls. This dress is also available in red.

Those are my picks! Make sure you visit pinkslateboutique.com to see all of their wonderful clothing and accessories!

Small Business Saturday

Megan and custom dress hangers

11/28/2015 No Comments

It all started with her own wedding several years ago. Megan Knapke was marrying her college sweetheart and was doing all sorts of DIY stuff for decorations and other things. She stumbled upon customized dress hangers, but didn’t have the time to make one for herself. However she liked the idea and kept it with her.

As time went on, other friends of hers got married and she started making hangers as wedding shower gifts. Everyone loved them. The idea is simple and yet so very personal. She simply took a wooden hanger, some wire, a flower and heavy-duty glue, and created something very special. The wire gets fashioned into the bride’s new name such as “Mrs. Jones” and the date of the wedding. This simple touch looks great in photos and gives the bride something special to hang her dress up with post-wedding as well.

This popularity led her to where she is today. She now has her own Etsy store called Hang it Up Hangers and makes about 15-20 customized hangers a month for people all across the country. In addition to making hangers for brides, she also makes smaller hangers for children. While a majority of business is for brides, she will make a hanger for any occasion. For example, she has made a hangers for a graduation, someone’s mom and cheerleading.

For Megan, the best thing is the freedom that comes with running her own business.

“It gives me the ability to do what I want when I want,” she said.

In some ways, Megan admits to being traditional when it comes to a family. She would love to be able to stay home with her future children but would still love to work while doing it. This work-from-home business gives her that freedom and flexibility. She also likes to joke with her husband who majored in entrepreneurship about how she’s the first to start her own business.

Through talking with Megan, it was evident how empowering owning a business is to her. She’s able to have ownership over something in a positive way, which she loves. Over the years, she admits she’s struggled to feel like she’s really good at something. I know this feeling well, and I feel like so many other women do. We are often our own worst critics. These hangers, however, take a great deal of detail work and practice. Not everyone is as crafty or talented as Megan. This business has really helped her to see her own talents and skills as they are.

Looking forward, Megan will be a part of a bridal show in January, something she is excited about. Also, each quarter she sends a portion of her profits to a non-profit doing great work. Last quarter, the portion went to Determined to Develop, an organization in Malawi that a friend of her’s started. She loves the ability she has to give back.

The hangers range from $16-$30 depending on size and whether you have one line of writing or two. Check out her Etsy store here.

Small Business Saturday

Small Business Saturday: Faith and the mobile spray tan

11/07/2015 No Comments

Last Monday, I jumped a bit out of my comfort zone. I got a spray tan and actually enjoyed the experience.

I’m a fair-skinned person who burns at least once a summer. I’ve never been to a tanning bed because of how awful they are for your skin. I just thought paying to damage my skin sounded rather … backwards? Spray tanning has become popular for just this reason. Faith Mueller,who we featured several weeks ago in Coffee with Faith: local entrepreneur and comedian, has decided to jump on this opportunity and start her own business called Cincy Spray Tan.

“It feels really good,” said Faith about starting her own business. “It’s something that I’ve always thought about and am really happy to do.”

In August, she started Cincy Spray Tan out of her home. Her business is totally mobile: she packs up all the spray tan equipment, travels to your home and gives you a spray tan in the comfort of your own abode. While there are other places you can go for a spray tan, Cincy Spray Tan is one of only two mobile spray tan businesses in the city.

“We’re becoming more and more a city of young professionals, so it’s a great place to start a business,” said Faith.

The spray tan solution simply reacts with your dead skin cells and never actually penetrates through the surface of your skin. Faith uses an eco-friendly brand of solution called Naked Sun which uses neat ingredients such as green coffee extract, strawberry and mango. Things like this assured the skeptic in me.

When I arrived at Faith’s house, everything was set up and ready to go. The entire set up could easily fit in a car trunk with some space to spare. First, there’s the spray tan tent in which the person stands in. The hose that actually sprays you is hooked up to this machine. You put the solution in the hose part at the top and it turns it to a sprayable tan. I’m not really sure what I was expecting, but I was very pleasantly surprised.

Next, I stripped. Okay, not completely. I changed into a strapless bra and my undies. I can see why doing it in your own home works for this aspect. It can be awkward to just strip down for a stranger. I snapped a few before photos:

The actual spray tan experience was quite nice. It felt like a mixture of a hairdryer and a squirt gun. At times, it was just a tad cold. In all, it took maybe five minutes at the most. I was told not to shower for eight hours, so getting sprayed down at 5:30 p.m. really worked out.

Here you can see the before/after difference. I took this right after getting sprayed down. I just looked a little tanner all week, but not like a pumpkin. Spray tans last 7-10 days. Someone who maintains a spray-tanned look is recommended to get one every 10 days.

Want to try a spray tan? Faith offers discounted prices for groups, which is perfect for a bridal party. If it’s just you, it’s $50 per visit. However the price goes down to $40 for 2-3 people, $35 for groups of 4-7 and $25 for groups of 7 or more. Also, with bridal parties of four or more, the bride gets her’s for free. Kind of the perfect gift for a bachelorette party! Also, you can get these prices if you buy in bulk. So if you’re a person who gets a spray tan regularly, buying them in bunches of 7 will save you 50% in the long run!

Want to learn more about Cincy Spray Tan? They’ll be at LA Fitness in Oakley (4700 Margburg Ave. Cincinnati, Ohio 45209) next Thursday, November 12th, from 4-8 p.m., offering half off spray tans. So if you want to try it but are not sure about spending $50 on something new and different, come out to LA Fitness. Also, they’re doing some giveaways. Every 50th person who signs up for their giveaway (you don’t even need to get a spray tan) gets a free spray tan.

Also, you should check out their Facebook and Instagram!