return to archives home Donna Maria's Handmade Beauty Connection February 9, 2004 A Publication of The Handmade Beauty Network ISSN 1530-9630 | Vol. 5, Issue 6 To subscribe, click here.  -->This Week's Sponsor <--   ESSENTIAL WHOLESALE'S VACATION EXTRAVAGANZA During the Months of January thru April we will be having our biggest Customer appreciation bonus ever! Every order placed during this time will automatically receive bonus points. The customer with the highest number of bonus points, at the end of April, will receive an All Expense Paid Vacation to one of several fun destinations... New York City, San Francisco, Disneyland California, Las Vegas, Chicago, Mexico, Hawaii, or Washington DC. The great thing about this program is that everyone has a chance to go too. As not only will the one with the highest points win a trip but everyone else who earns at least 1000 bonus points. See website for details or be sure to read the flier that comes with your orders. Every hard working person deserves a break, let us help you take that break this year. Click here to start earning your points!     *SAVE* with OUR FEBRUARY SPECIALS Enjoy 20% off of our Cosmetic Bases including our Laundry & Household Cleaners & Premium Cosmetic Bases! (This offer excludes pre-packed, M&P Soap & Basic Bases.) Coupon Code: feb04 Click here to save now!     Get additional savings! Click here to sign up for our newsletter     Essential Wholesale PH: (503) 722-7557 • FAX: (503) 296-5631 info@essentialwholesale.com

1. HBN Update: Welcome New HBN Members!
2. Unleash The Power Of Your Beauty Business at dM's Beauty Business Boot Camp!
3. Handmade Beauty Recipe Of The Week: Shea Cream
4. Beauty & The Business Trivia Question: win lemongrass essential oil
5. Create The Life You Love™: The Sugar Blues

Paradise Valley Natural Skincare Co. | Cindy Baird | Texas
* renewing member; handmade herbal and fragrance vegetable oil soaps, lotions, body butters, salt glows, and other skincare products

Ambrosia Naturals | Carly & Michele Pepin | California
* handcrafted products to promote healthy vibrant skin and renew the body and spirit

Nana's Homemade Creations | Tammy Capone-Cummings | New York
* soaps, lotions and salves that are naturally made, wonderfully therapeutic and have withstood the test of time

Learn more about our members and their exciting activities by visiting their Web sites through HBN's Online Member Directory, now with 4 ways to search: (1) by state/country; (2) by member business name; (3) by keyword search; or (4) using our new alphabetical listings.

1. Branding Your Business: How To Maximize A Key Competitive Advantage
2. Using An Email Newsletter To Promote, Market & Grow Your Business
3. How To Get Inexpensive Media Attention For Your Business
4. FDA Regulation: Get Answers To Your Pressing Regulatory Questions

Only $180 for all 4 information packed workshops, held March 24, 2004. Includes valuable networking opportunities! Don't miss this chance to benefit from business growth tips and camaraderie with fellow entrepreneurs!

Early Bird Registration closes Friday, February 20 and will not be available at the door!
HBN Members Enjoy Discount!!

Spaces are limited so sign up early to reserve your spot! Sponsored by Kim Lutz Isenhour of Lutzy's Lather! To register, click here or email Kim at LutzysLather@msn.com or (717) 226-1530. Register online, by phone or by email!

Last Week's Question: I am a love story written by Mme. Marie Leprince de Beaumont. When I was first made into a movie, I starred Jean Marais and Josette Day. Name me.

In his book, The Sugar Blues, William Duffy discusses how the ingestion of too much (or even moderate amounts) of refined sugar can cause disease. In this article, I'm focusing on another type of "sugar blues," that having to do with the millions of Americans who are displaced from their jobs each year, and what can be done to prevent the sugar blues for future generations.

The January 29, 2004, issue of the Washington Post featured a story on the closing of the 147-year old landmark Brooklyn, New York, Domino Sugar plant. When the plant closed on January 30, hundreds of employees lost their jobs and watched their many of their hopes for a comfortable retirement expire. Talk about sugar blues! The article reported the comments of many of the soon-to-be-displaced workers:

"What are we supposed to do -- work in a hotel, folding towels?" asked Mike, a 48-year old employee. "We kind of figured that after 30 years of working in Domino we would lay back and take it easy," said Herman who was employed at the plant since 1973. A final letter circulated among plant workers read:

"Make sure you don't leave your memories behind because they are our entire world. After all those years, our memories are the only things we get to keep."

Unfortunately, what happened at the Domino Sugar plant is not at all unique. Millions of workers the world over who have demonstrated loyalty, tenacity and an admirable work ethic are losing their jobs so that their employers can cut costs and try to maintain profits in a difficult economic downturn. These people have lost their dreams of comfortable retirements, putting their children through college and sometimes even their very homes in the face of the layoffs and closings. What a shame that a 50-year old whose job has been lifting heave burlap bags filled with sugar for 8 hours a day reach their golden years only to meet dissolving pension benefits and the reality that work until at least age 70 is a must if they are to retain their current lifestyle. Plant closings are nothing new, and this sad scenario will surely continue to repeat itself year after year, decade after decade. But while the poor performance of corporate giants in bad economic times may lead to firings, those firings need not result in the type of despair experienced by Mike and Herman, as expressed above.

What can be done to prevent the sugar blues for future generations? A LOT, I believe, and it all starts with teaching young people from a very early age that they need not rely on a corporate job to provide for themselves and their families.

1. Adults Must Actively Equip Young People To Maximize Their Life Options.
Notice that I did not say "parents' must equip their children. I said "adults" must equip "young people." While parents certainly are the front line for equipping their children for life, as adults, whether or not we have children of our own, we can set examples of self sufficiency that reverberate from family to workplace community, and into the world at large. Throughout my formal education, from elementary school, through college and graduate school, I was told that I had to finish each level so that I could "graduate and get a good job." There's nothing wrong with that message in an of itself, but I believe it stops short of what is necessary in present day society. Today, we need to teach kids to do well in school and graduate, not only so they may find a good job, but also so they can maximize their options in life. It may be that a young person's best option includes a well paying job at a large company, complete with leased automobile, stock options, excellent health benefits and other corporate perks.  But I believe that limiting the benefits of education to getting a good job paints an incomplete picture of a young person's options. Education also helps us to recognize and take advantage of the many other options our professional lives offer us. Providing young people with the inspiration, confidence encouragement and tools necessary for them to maximize their life options is one way to prevent the Sugar Blues one person at a time.

2. Schools Should Employ A Curriculum That Teaches Entrepreneurial Skill Sets.
Kelly (not her real name) is one of my mother's helpers. She comes by when I need assistance in a pinch with meeting family responsibilities, and does such things as tidy up the play room, wash clothes, amuse toddlers, etc. One day, I asked 17-year old Kelly, who has a gift for entertaining young children), if she had ever considered starting her own day care, nanny placement, mother's helper referral or other child-related business after she graduated college. Kelly gave me quite a quizzical look and simply responded, "You mean I could do that? Have my own business?" Her response surprised me, and impressed upon me the need for schools to employ a curriculum that passes entrepreneurial skills along to the next generation. (As I spoke with her in more depth, I discovered that she did not know how to write a personal check!! Imagine that!! She is preparing to leave home for college and she had no idea how to write a check -- no one ever showed her! Today, when I pay Kelly by check, she is responsible for doing everything but signing it. She completes both the check and the ledger. This month, I plan to go with her to the bank and use the first check I write her to help her open a bank account!)

Why not create a course called, "Entrepreneurial Readiness?" In a semester-long class, students could learn a variety of skills to prepare them for assessing the potential profitability of their own business ideas, visit other small businesses to "see how it's done," create basic business plans, enjoy lectures and Q&As from guest entrepreneurs who could convey the good, the bad and the ugly about business ownership. In a second semester, students who enjoyed the first module could be divided into groups of 4 or 5 students who actually start their own businesses. The services they perform and work they do could be counted toward the fulfillment of high school community service obligations, thus killing two birds with one stone. Such courses would give students a feel for whether or not they have what it takes to become a small business owner, answering such questions as: What is my tolerance for risk? How much into debt (either financially or personally) am I willing to go to make a business work? Am I more likely to prefer the 9 to 5 lifestyle to the "stay up all night until the business is in the black" lifestyle? You get the picture.

3. Politicians & Corporate Leaders Must Show Loyalty Not Only To The Notion Of Job Creation, But Also To The Notion Of Creation Of Wealth Through Small Business Ownership.
In a recent speech, President Bush noted that recent tax cuts were designed to help existing small businesses cut their costs so they could provide jobs for more Americans. Fabulous! I think that's great! But why not also encourage individuals to consider starting their own small businesses? After all, if tax cuts help small businesses become profitable, isn't that a good reason to consider starting your own? Corporate leaders must play a role as well. After all, if they are unwilling or unable (due to economic stresses) to provide jobs with a reasonable level of security, they should be willing to allow their workers some amount of time to devote to developing their talents into small businesses so they do not become so dependent on them. I am certainly not suggesting that the risk of small business ownership is for everyone. It is not. However, I do believe strongly that if more persons were equipped to seriously consider small business ownership at an early age, the risk of small business ownership would become more palatable and easily managed and more people would enjoy the satisfaction of owning and managing an enterprise all their own.

What can we all do to prevent the Sugar Blues for future generations? Find a young person in your sphere of influence who you can encourage and inspire to consider entrepreneurship as an option. Show her from your own small business how it's done -- and how not to do it!