And yet, she persisted.

Initially before creating the LLC, before finding a lab partner to create my custom formula, before sourcing ingredients and thinking about packaging and branding and the trademark - I reached out to two women with separate skin care companies and asked them for advice.

Immediately, without reservation, both women (who have never met each other and have completely different product lines) told me not to do it. They told me to do anything else other than creating a skin care line. Each one walked me through a list of negative aspects and up-hill-battles and contended why it was - in all reality - a terrible road to go down.

LOL

But that’s the thing with starting a business - or starting anything really. It was BURNING inside of me to get this product and this brand out into the world. I wanted to own something and be the founder and have an idea become a tangible aspect of my life. Whether it failed or not wasn’t really part of the equation. I just knew I had to do it.

And so here we are. A risk, a hope, a dream, an idea, a passion, a whole lot of people routing for me, and one little flower that began a company: hibiscus.