What We’ve Been Up To During The Pandemic
By Rebecca Gallagher
What a ride we have been on lately. A Global Pandemic, a huge loss of income, so many financial worksheets to fill out, endless cleaning, the making of masks, and lots and lots of comfort food! I don’t know about y’all but we gained WEIGHT had to buy new sweatpants and decided to get back on a diet too! I played a whole lot of games on my phone, and wore out my roku players, lol. What a strange time to live through.
During this time, I also thought a whole lot about my business. Where is it going? Will it still work? Are we really going to be using this much hand sanitizer? So there was a lot of planning going on since there was not much else I could do, it is a struggle right now to get certain things, which I am sure most of you are aware of, I got sanitizer from my suppliers hoping to be able to get it out there for you, and guess what? I couldn’t buy bottles! They were sold out EVERYWHERE!!! Certain fragrances just run out of stock and they aren’t sure when they will be back in, some oils are more difficult to get in for the suppliers, and some things are just so high in price there is just no point. So right now, we are making do. I wonder all the time what others are going through.
Since me and the hubbs work from home, we don’t see people very much. He isn’t working often, since he is a DJ. Weddings have been few and faaaaaaaar in between. He also cannot do his normal everyday gigs, like he was at a bar and grille every Friday for the evening hours between 9 and 2. Here in Pennsylvania there is a rule of only acoustic music, no dancing, no DJs no drinking after 10 pm. Its been a real challenge getting by, but we have been more fortunate than most. We have not had to stand in any food lines or ask for anything other than the Gig Worker Unemployment. We qualified for the PPP for my husband’s business and also received a loan through the Small Business Association. We are aware that we have been more fortunate than a ton of people out there in the pandemic today. We are not in danger (YET) of running out of food, or healthcare. We are lucky.
With all that said, we are still going to have a rough few years ahead of us since the help we received were all in the form of loans. They have to be paid back eventually, EEK! And I have to say that there will be some juggling to make that work. Hubbs really really hopes to retire sometime in the next 10 yrs, and that puts my plans of a “GLOBAL SOAPY EMPIRE!!!” into hyperdrive! I really appreciate all of the support that all of you have given to us over the years so far, and I hope that you will continue to bless us with your support for years to come!
In the next year you will see the results of all this time I had to think. We have our new website, and new branding, (thank you to Kevin Holder of Kudzu Design). We have plans of expanding out offerings into more than just hard soap bars, solid lotion bars and a few bath products. With just me in the shop right now, there is always a time constraint, but hopefully I can get an employee soon to help me with some things, even if it is just labeling. Lip balms are almost ready for production, along with lip tints, and lip scrubs. We are researching our liquid soaps and packaging options, we are making the last few decisions for the line of perfumes and settling on our signature scent lines. I am so excited to share all of this with you!
I hope and pray that all of us and you out there pull through this. We are still in this together, no matter if you aren’t reminded as much anymore… Care about your neighbor, bring them a can of soup if you know they are struggling. Or better yet help at a food kitchen, donate to the Red Cross or a local food bank. Me, I’m making and donating masks to essential workers out there. We can get through this if we work together and help each other out. Stop each day for just a moment and think have I done something good for someone today? Have I worked towards that goal? If you have THANK YOU so much… We all appreciate you.
