HBN's Leadership

Since HBN was established in 2000 by founder and president Donna Maria Coles Johnson, it has grown to over 400 members in most of the 50 states, Canada, the Philippines, Japan, the UK and Australia. During this time, HBN's central mission has never changed: to harness the shared energy and vitality of HBN members to address issues of consumer education, regulation, marketing and public relations, freeing HBN members to concentrate on achieving their business goals. In 2004, HBN was regionalized in order to allow it to more effectively target specific geographic regions of the country with relevant programs, thereby making HBN even more fun and effective for members where they are.

Donna Maria Coles Johnson, Esq.
Founder & President

Donna Maria is HBN's founder & President. Called "the essence of entrepreneurship," dM founded HBN after discovering the joys of making beauty products for her own personal use and to give as gifts to family and friends. After her best friend, Robin, was tragically murdered by her husband in 1998, dM was helping her family clean her home. While doing so, dM discovered that Robin had saved in a special drawer all of the bottles, containers and wrappers that held the handmade products dM had given her over the years. Touched and inspired by this clear indication of the meaning that handmade beauty products have in the lives of their users, dM knew that it was her mission to start an organization that would bring the unique benefits of handmade beauty products into the homes of every consumer, and to inspire and encourage the manufacturers of those products to maximize their potential as small business owners. You can read more about dM here.

return to top

Kim Baron
Chief Technology Officer

Kim Baron has been HBN's Chief Technology Office since May 2001. An expert in new technologies, networking and the Internet, Kim plays a pivotal role at HBN in shaping the future of the organization and maximizing present times as well. Kim's technological innovation in the handmade beauty business is well known, including her design of HBN's B2B Web site, www.MangoButter.com, as well as her several designs of HBN's websites over the years. Kim, the recipient of a B.A. in Human Ecology, began her Internet-related career in 1996 at ExecPC Interactive. From there, she moved to Silicon Alley based startup Sixdegrees before working on the Web site of the American Museum of Natural History. Now, at Fallen Muse Webworks, the Web site design company she founded last year, Kim designs and maintains Web sites with a special concentration in the handmade toiletries and crafts arena. Kim is a soapmaker and has been a member of HBN since 2000.

return to top

Lisa Bardsley
Director, Handmade Beauty Expo

Lisa Bardsley is the Executive Director of HBN's Expo, the handmade beauty industry's only wholesaler to retailer online marketplace. Slated to launch in 2006, HBN's Expo will be open for business at all times and at all places, providing the most convenient and cost effective way for retailers to browse and order the finest handmade beauty products available anywhere in the world. As HBN's Expo's Executive Director, Lisa brings an abundance of experience and enthusiasm to this position. Stay tuned for more information as this exciting program takes shape!

return to top

Canada
Regional Director: Open

return to top

Mid-Atlantic Regional Director: Open
Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Washington, DC, New Jersey, Delaware, West Virginia

return to top

Midwest Regional Director: Lori Kimble, The Scent Shack
Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana

Lori Kimble and her husband John Vaughn joined HBN as one of its first members in 2000. Since that time, they have launched Illinois-based The Scent Shack, a successful supplier of fragrance oils and soap supplies that have been pre-tested in cold process and melt & pour soap applications, as well as in candles.

Lori started making soap in 1994 as a hobby, and it wasn't long before she began to observe an improvement in her dry skin. She began researching properties of various oils and refining her soap recipes based on what she learned. While she occasionally strays, for the most part, today she still used the same basic recipe for her soaps as she did when she first started formulating them 8 years ago. She began selling her soaps in 1995 and opened The Scent Shack in 2000 in order to provide other "soapers" with the ingredients she found most useful in her own business. The Scent Shack has grown by leaps and bounds, and recently, Lori and John moved it into an 1800 square foot warehouse to accommodate continuing growth.

Says Lori, "HBN has continuously brought an increased level of professionalism to the handmade beauty industry and we have enjoyed our membership from the beginning. I am excited to be one of HBN's first regional directors, and look forward to helping other businesses realize their potential and to continuing to promote our industry to the highest level it can reach!"

return to top

Northeast Regional Director: Susan Ryhanen, Creekside Soaps
Maine, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut

Susan began making soap in 1997. After experimenting with "anything can be a soap mold", including plastic containers and shoe boxes, she decided a wooden log mold with a lid would serve her needs for cold process soap the best. Her husband built one for her and her soap mold problems were solved. Little did she know that the experience would launch a whole new business for her and her mold making husband.

Creekside Soaps was born in 1999 when Susan began selling her handmade soaps locally and communicating with other soapmakers on the Internet. She came across so many soapmakers who were struggling to find the perfect mold that she and her husband decided to launch a business selling soap molds, cutters, dishes and other soapmaking equipment. Susan's husband is the brains behind the design and craftsmanship while Susan tends to the day to day business tasks and, of course, makes and sells soap.

Creekside Soaps has grown by leaps and bounds since it was formed, allowing Susan to retire from her full-time teaching job so she could devote more time to the business. Today, Creekside soaps sells retail and wholesale to business and hobbyists around the country.

Creekside Soaps has been an HBN member since April 2000.  Says Susan, "Having a home based business is a dream come true for me.  My husband and I work hard and enjoy what we do as well as the opportunity to work together. HBN's informative newsletter,  cooperative advertising opportunities and special workshops have allowed us to increase our business skills and expand our sales. Many of our wholesale customers were directed to us though HBN's website. As HBN's Northeast Regional Director, I'm delighted to be able to share my knowledge of the Handmade Beauty Network with soapmakers throughout the northeast.

return to top

Pacific Regional Director: Dennis Fioravanti, Essential Wholesale
California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Hawaii

Dennis Fioravanti is president of Essential Wholesale, a 4-year old company, has Private Label and Custom Formulation divisions, along with hundreds of raw ingredients and naturally derived cosmetic bases (more than any other company in the country!!). Essential Wholesale plans to add at least 100 additional bases in 2004, plus several new raw materials and is certain to continue as a leader in the industry. Dennis, Essential Wholesale's co-owner, has been involved in developing various businesses for over 15 years and enjoys the challenge of growing something from nothing. That’s why you rarely see him at his desk. His wife and company co-owner, Kayla is the creative side, overseeing all product development. Dennis "simply" grows the business.

South Regional Director: Bobbi Guerra, The Purple Sage
Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama, South Carolina, Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico

Bobbi and The Purple Sage have been members of HBN since 2002. Bobbi's interest in handcrafted soaps and toiletries is an outgrowth of her quest for natural remedies for home use. Along her journey, in 1997 and 1998, she completed an intensive herbal apprenticeship with Rosemary Gladstar at Sage Mountain Herbal Retreat Center in Vermont. The apprenticeship included a natural spa night and herbal soapmaking, after which Bobbi says she was "hooked." Since then, she has continued her soap making, and also includes lotions, face cream and more. Along with her husband, David, Bobbi and The Purple Sage attend several large regional shows and have a website where they sell products.

Says Bobbi, "Joining HBN, meeting Donna Maria, networking and communicating with other soap makers has made this business a pleasure. I am looking forward to working with Donna Maria and HBN to continue sharing the joys of handmade beauty with HBN members throughout HBN's Southern Region and beyond."

return to top

Southwest Regional Director: Maggie Hanus, A Wild Texas Soap Bar
Texas, Kentucky, New Mexico, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma

Maggie launched A Wild Texas Soap Bar in 1995 after teaching herself to make cold process soap in a tiny log cabin she and her husband and friends built on 20 wooded acres near Austin, Texas. Since then, she's moved her ever growing soap operation into a small manufacturing facility down a winding path through the woods. A Wild Texas Soap Bar tries to tread lightly on the earth by reducing, reusing, and recycling whenever possible and by using only safe, natural ingredients. Maggie enjoys studying herbalism and aromatherapy, and she incorporates medicinal native Texas plants into many of her unique natural products.

"The position of Regional Director is calling me," says Maggie. "HBN has done so much to help me grow my business, as well as hundreds of other small businesses around the globe. My membership dues have definitely been money well spent. I continue to be inspired by Donna Maria's leadership, guidance and enthusiasm, and I welcome the opportunity to serve our growing industry as HBN's Southwest Regional Director."

return to top

West Regional Director: Open

return to top