2012: The Year of the Great Reconnect

Hey Herb'n Villagers!!!  This won't be a long post, but I did want to take a moment to reflect on 2011.  In years past, the dawning of each new year would bring about a sense of worry for me.  Although I was grateful that I had lived to see another year, I always worried about "who" the next 365 days would take from me.  Talk about depressing, eh?

Anywho, as 2011 hit the scene, I chose to change my mindset.  Rather than worry about things that were out of my control, I decided to go a different route.  With a string of failed resolutions trailing behind me, I made the decision to mark the incoming years with themes.   In looking back, I had so much to be grateful for that honestly, my first theme was a no brainer-- 2011 would be my year of living in the spirit of GRATITUDE!  I'd take time out regularly to reflect on the good and not-so-good moments in my life, and extract something from each of those moments to be grateful for.  And, I noticed something else too.  When I stopped worrying about who the year would take from me, I began to take notice of who and what the year brought into my life.

Another good thing that came out of all of that reflecting was the epiphany for my 2012 theme:  RECONNECT!!!  When I really started pondering all of the people, experiences, and things I was grateful for in 2011, I realized the relationships that I took for granted too.  And in the spirit of being brutally honest with myself, I'd realized that I have been a terrible friend, cousin, business associate, etc.  I don't return phone calls, I rarely make time to hang out (albeit, I'd always make plans to go, but then later, back out giving some lame excuse as to why I couldn't go).  I'd forget to send emails, and if I said i'd do something, I often forget that too!  I know it's terrible, but this is me, looking in a mirror, and being transparently honest with myself, and y'all.

So this year, I plan to renew my relationship with GOD, to nurture those special relationships in my life.  And to show those close to me how important they are to me, and how grateful I am to have them on this journey with me for whatever stage they entered.   There is a saying, that people enter your life for reasons, seasons, and lifetimes, well whatever the reason, I plan to cherish, appreciate and live in the moment of it :)

I truly thank y'all, my family, friends, customers, fans for your encouragement and motivation.  And I pray, good health, good wealth and plenty of happiness for your 2012's and beyond!  I LOVE Y'ALL!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

New Lip Balm Line: Fleur De Lips

My new Lip Butter Line, FLEUR DE LIPS, is finally online!!! This is something i've been  playing around with for quite some time, trying to get the packaging, and labels just right.  But they're here now, so no worries!  The new line boasts an array of flavors and colors including:  Pina Colada, Bubble Gum, Peach Daiquiri, Spearmint and Bare It All (unflavored or colored).  And I packaged them in these super cute and compact .25 oz. slidey tins.  Now some folks have voiced their concern over the tins not being as sanitary as the tubes, because you're using your fingers to apply the balm, but, my remedy for this is to apply it the way that I always have, by applying directly to your lips, and just rubbing it across.  Easy Peazy!!!

Here's a few of them:

Say What Nah? New Store Location!!!

Yes, yes y'all!!! You heard me right!  Herb'n Development Handmades now has a brick and mortar store location!!!  In early September, we moved into a store co-op called Diva's Paradise.  DP is a jazzy boutique in New Orleans East that lends itself totally to the empowerment of the entrepreneurial spirit.  Inside of it's walls, it hosts several small businesses, including mine!  I love this aspect of it, because I love being surrounded by so much creativity and passion!  Aside from HDH, there's also:
* Buttons & Bows - a posh children's boutique
* Gla'more Galore - A spot to find the hottest shoes, purses, and apparel
* Ebony & Ivory   - An awesome make up & eye lash bar (Ebony makes her own make up :)
* Ladies First        - The lingerie counter, for your sensual side
* Birds of Paradise Day Spa - Where you can rejuvenate your body, mind, and spirit
And there's also a jewelry & accessories counter too!!!

You may be wondering how all of this works under one roof.  Inside, there are multiple stations which are separated by counters and partitions.  Each is individually owned, and we all pay rent monthly.  It really is a fabulous setup, just something you gotta see for yourself.

I'm super excited to be doing this, if for nothing else than the experience of it all :o)  Check out the pics below, and tell me what you think!!!

My Interview With New Orleans Rising

Hey y'all! I was just looking back through a few of my saved files, and I came across my very first spotlight article.  This was written by New Orleans Rising, and I swear, I was sooo excited!!!  Take a look, leave a comment, and tell me what y'all think.

My wife Leann had a dilemma. She wanted some good bath soaps for her daily "I love me time". She wanted to do this while supporting a local New Orleans business. She didn't want to go to Bath & Body Works. Great as it may be, it's not local. She looked online and found Herb'n Development.com. We were blown away at what an amazing product line they have and the quality was superb. I looked into it a little further and loved what I found. This wonderful litlle online bath boutique was locally grown and made. The owner Tedra has been doing this for over 3 years. She is a native of New Orleans and still is proud to call it home. She explained to me it all started when she was tired of the national chain of natural hair care products. She said to herself "How do I know it's all natural? Because of a label?" I thought to myself you know she makes sense. It does, how do you know that your "natural" products are truely natural? I couldn't tell you that but, what I can tell you is that Tedra uses 100% natural products straight from Whole Foods. It started with hair products for neighbors and friends. Tedra's business blossomed from the neighborhood store to the online buisness you see today.


Her product line includes shampoos, haircare products, sugar scrubs and whipped soaps that look like Willy Wonka made them. Don't be fooled by thinking that this is all Tedra does. She also is married(12 years) and has 3 beautiful daughters. If that isn't enough she also protects and serves with the New Orleans Police Department. Trust me, if you ever see her out on the beat you'll know she's one of the good girls. If you think Tedra only cares about turning a profit think again. In 2010 after Haiti's devasting earthquake Tedra sprung into action. Herb'n Development with the help of contributions from the NOPD hosted "Soaper Saturday". This is where Tedra along with 40 volunteers made soap for Haitian victims. In total they made over 1000 bars of soap for the earthquake victims.

If your worried about having to call the bank for access to you IRA account to buy their products don't. Most everything you see in her store site runs between 4 to 15 dollars. Whether your her next door neighbor or ordering online from across the country Tedra's number one goal is you. Herb'n Development's number one goal is for you to have a down home southern experience infused with hospitality , a superior product, and a positive personal buying experience. When you walk away with their product you will not only walk away with a great experience, you'll also step out of the bathroom feeling great as well . Herb'n Development's product can be found in Fleurty Girl shops in the New Orleans area and at French Address in Slidell.





Herb'n Development





Fleurty Girl


http://fleurdislisfaithful.blogspot.com/2011_04_01_archive.html

Love Suds: Oliveira Bags

The Herb'n Mixtress is constantly on the look out for fresh, hip, and funky businesses, especially where conscience living, and sustainability are concerned. These are the types of folks that I like to shout out and give props to for their contribution to the green movement in my Love Suds collection.

So without further adieu... The Herb'n Mixtress is giving a big soapy, sudsy shout out to Oliveira Bags!!!  I recently came across her cute little shop while perusing Etsy, and when I saw this  MY BAG, I knew I just had to get it-- it called out to me. The "my name is Tedra, and i'm an impulse buyer" post will come a bit later :p  Back to the bag, it's the perfect go-to for on the go girls (and guys) like moi, especially for use during Farmer's Markets and festivals.  Aside from making reusable shopping bags, you can also find reusable sandwich bags (awesome right!) and haute designer, and most importantly, multi-purpose Gourds.  And the perk of course is, the more I use it in lieu of the plastics, the smaller my "footprint" becomes, and let's face it, I can look that much more interesting (okay, maybe not).  But never the less, I feel more and more like i'm doing my part.  You can too!!! Find her and her bags @ Oliveira Bags

Worth It Wednesday!!! Class Is In Session!!!

Anyone who knows me, knows that I take education very seriously. If and when I felt my little Herb'n Village didn't have enough homework, much to their dismay, I'd crawl the Internet looking for age/grade/potential appropriate assignments to supplement their schoolwork. And, when it comes to me, I will read just about anything I can get my hands on, just to learn something... anything.... new. With that being said, I've been giving a lot of thought lately to my business savvy, making sure to target my strengths and weaknesses. This self assessment led me to discover one of my biggest hinderances --my lack of education (dunh dunh duhnnnhhhh) sans the cornball sound effects.

I'm a self taught soap maker, whose made great strides in my business life. But here lies the problem: I have no formal education in the business arena. Now even though my Mama taught me that "anything is possible," and gave me a million "if I believe it, I can achieve it" speeches, I knew that my soap making skills would only take me so far. I needed some type of business background, if I intended to actually make it in this biz. So with that in mind, I recently decided to return to school, now majoring in Business Entrepreneurship. Today was my first day of summer school, online classes-- YIKES!!! I'm a bit nervous, but, I moreso excited to be embarking on this new course in my journey! My goal is to emerge as the young business woman and entrepreneur that I see myself as already, with the knowledge to back all of my soapy smarts up! I know it won't be easy, but, I'm confident that I'm up for the challenge. Because after all, "if I believe it, I can achieve it," right Mom ;)

Say What Nah?

In the spirit of restructuring a few things, I've decided to make it a priority to keep y'all updated on the happenings in the land of the Herb'n Mixtress. With that said, I have some exciting news!!!

I've been asked to be a writer for a new up and coming local magazine!!!  The other day, while checking my Mixtress Mail, seriously... that's my inbox's nickname, I opened an email that had me beaming from ear to ear for two days straight!  In it, the writer introduced herself to me, told me about her new magazine coming to New Orleans, and asked me if i'd be interested in being a Contributor and get paid for doing it!!! Say what nah?!?! Me?!?!  I swear y'all. I was so excited, I coulda did a couple of cart wheels in my living room.  Okay well maybe a few of those forward tuck and roll things, but y'all catch my drift.  Anywho, I looked over the press kit, and liked what I saw, so guess what... I'M IN!!!  More deets are on the horizon, so stay tuned :)

Next up...  Body Oils are on thee way! (In my Martin voice).  The Mixtress has been busy mixing up her latest sexy and sensuous creations, Bangin' Body Oils!!!  Ooh la laaaa.... you say? Well you should because these oils are amazing!!! Soft and silky, sultry and sexy, have been just a few of the feedback descriptors used by our testers.  My oils blends vary based on each design objective, that include energy, relax, pray, release, and the like.  This line may or may not have southern derived names, I really haven't decided yet.  Hmmm... this actually sounds like a set up for a give-away ~ y'all better pay attention!  Look for the Oils to hit the shop around mid-June.

Last, but not even a lil bit least, and this is not a definite, but HDH may be participating in the Fierce, Fly, Fabulous In The City event, on July 2 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.  This Natural Hair Expo, will be held during the Essence Music Fest Weekend, complete with classes, sample giveaways, and of course-- vendors, like moi!  Now, the reason I say that this is a maybe, is because as some of you know, being the Herb'n Mixtress is not the only hat I wear.  In my other life, as a Police Officer, this is one of our busier weekends, and even though, i'm not scheduled to work, I may still be called in.  So, y'all say a little prayer that we are able to participate.  And, in the mean time and tween time, i'll be in prep mode, for the just in case.  One thing is for sure, I'll let y'all know as soon as I know.  Don't worry about it though, God is able!!!

Make Scrub Not War!