Thank you NABJ for recognizing my reporting on the people of my community. I work so others know their stories and voices are relevant, their ideas and contributions are powerful and their pain is real. Elaine Houston, reporter WNYT, Albany, NY
OUR STORY
I was a reporter who'd taken a new job at a television station when I felt the sting of corporate America doing what it does so often with women of color and that is try and marginalize me. It started very early; during probation that they began to insinuate I wasn't good enough. While that was management's belief, it wasn't mine. I knew I had the education, experience, solid reporting skills, the ability to project my voice in a professional public speaking manner and I knew how to be personable while giving the news.
However, I had to work harder than I'd ever worked in my life to fight against the box that my bosses put me in through their implicit bias.
It was because of that I decided that I had to tell the stories of women. I had to present a new perspective about women of color. I did that through my first book, THE FRIENDSHIPS BETWEEN WOMEN. It's a book of letters from women to women on perseverance. I next traveled to Africa and spoke to women in three countries on the challenges they faced and produced the documentary, TOUCH A WOMAN, TOUCH A ROCK. I returned home and started a new television series for women called TODAY'S WOMEN. All of these projects led me to start this website, www.SHEspeaks2me.com where I do stories on women of color from around the world. In 2017, I began holding an annual summit for women to help them transform themselves in the person God created them to be. That is what got us here, but what keeps us going is seeing women succeed. Elaine Houston
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New Paragraph
2021 brings us more ways to talk about issues important to women. Welcome to my 'New' podcast for women!
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https://wnyt.com/elainehoustonpodcast/
2020 BROUGHT US CHANGE; BUT WE ROLLED WITH IT!
Covid 19- has impacted us all in so many ways. But, not to worry, our annual women's summit hasn't gone away! It's gone online with ZOOM. Join in our monthly talks and learn and laugh!
Are you too Ambitious? Listen to what Relationship expert 'Shay Levister' had to say about women who are ambitious!
Is there someone out there for everyone? Relationship Expert, Shay Levister says there is. Even for Elaine!!!!!!!!
More Zoom Videos.
A Soda and a Conversation.....
Elaine sits down with artists whose work makes us all a little happier. Rochelle Porter and Jena Holliday started doodling when they were little kids but thought that's what all kids did. That was until they grew up and it became something they could not ignore. Today those doodles have turned into artwork that can be found on calendars, clothing, T-shirts exercise wear and most recently day planners. The planners are a collaboration with The Happy Planner which partnered with the artists to create limited edition covers. Find their work at the links below.
Stories on women that inspire...

WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT?
By Elaine Houston
According to Shay Levister, a lot. She believes there’s someone out there for all of us and having a relationship is better for you than not having one. That is if that relationship is a healthy one. She calls herself “Your Love Diva’ and believes helping women find the right man is her ministry. “I help women get out of abusive relationships. Women would contact me and tell me I was beaten by my husband and I’m sleeping on the floor, she says”.

Her past relationships give her the real world experience to take on such a daunting task. She says her first real relationship ended with her having a child and being left homeless and her first marriage was one more of convenience than of love. That relationship also included a big home and another child and lots of lies she says. It all fell apart and she had to look within to try and figure out why she was constantly in horrible relationships.

So she started dating more. “I went on 100 dates", she said. She did it for research through online dating. She kept notes and asked lots of questions of the men. She got to see patterns and says she eventually began to quickly figure out the men dating to find a serious relationship and those just out to have a good time. With the information she then wrote a book, ‘Diva Don’t Get Played’. She started coaching women and helping them find the love.
But, she was still making mistakes in her own relationships. “A married man came after the book”, she says. She says he was so manipulative and such a good liar that she married him without realizing he was already married. She knew she was now in trouble. So, she stopped examining the men and started examining herself and she discovered unconsciously that she was sabotaging herself. ‘I grew up in an abusive home where my father abused my mother and my grandmother was abused too.” She says carrying around that abuse did a number on her by making her downplay the way she was treated by men and giving her the wrong definition of what love really is. “It’s not enough to have knowledge because your subconscious mind is still working on you”, she says. She says that by refusing to date until she could heal helped her to get to know who she was. It taught her that a man couldn't make her whole and that she needed to be whole before she met a man so she could be with the right person who loved and supported her.

There are so many women she says who don’t know what a healthy relationship looks like but she finally does. She married again to a husband she says who loves her and her children and she now uses what she happened to her to help other women, holding nothing back. ‘’I had a 50,000 dollar wedding with a married man and this is now a gift and God is able to channel through”, she says.

For more information:
FB and IG: @shayyourlovediva
YouTube: @lovein30days
Latest Interview: https://www.boston25news.com/news/not-just-dating-sites-opportunities-abound-online-dating/YPLAYU2CVOPSSX4IBBQ3OSEEPQ/?_website=cmg-tv-10020



BEATRICE DIXON;
SHE
heals the sweet spot
courtesy: Ron Hill photography
By Elaine Houston
Let’s get right to it, Beatrice helps heal women’s vaginas. Her company is called THE HONEY POT
and unbeknownst to me The Honey Pot
she says is a pet name for the vagina. She is not squeamish when it comes to talking about vaginas. “Half of the people on the planet have a vagina and why should I feel hesitant to talk about it no, I don’t feel apprehensive", she says.
Her company was started after she herself developed bacterial vaginosis which lasted for about a year. “It ’s not a yeast infection, it deals with your PH balance and it smells and it’s uncomfortable," she says. She says she went to several doctors but got no results. “Doctors gave me medicine and it was a bandaid,” she said. She says the infection was based on what she was bathing with. “It is based on what you’re using on your vagina and the fact that it can knock your PH off,” she says.
The answer would come in a very strange dream about her grandmother. This is what she says her grandmother said to her. ’’She gave me a piece of paper and told me to remember everything written down on that paper. She told me I was dreaming and to wake up and write down everything on that paper.” She wrote down all the natural ingredients given to her in the dream, used it and her infection cleared up. “Five days it was gone. I immediately said this needs to be a business," she said.
So, for the next year and a half she made batches of her creation and gave it away to women. “The internet wasn’t big then. It was 2013-2014 and it was word of mouth and people with vagina issues would be sent to me," she said. She worked at Whole Foods at the time and says customers would come in looking for probiotics and after they left the store she would walk them to their car and tell them about her product. She soon created a website and with five friends and her brother she started building THE HONEY POT
in earnest. Remarkably, through family and friends she raised nearly a million dollars. Along with selling it on her website, she sold it at expos. At one in particular in Atlanta, Bronner Brother, she was very successful. “We sold 600 bottles and that was the moment we knew we were on the right track,” she said.
Word of mouth was still working for Beatrice, a representative for TARGET
stores heard about THE HONEY POT
from her hairdresser, and the rest as they say is history. Beatrice’s product is now in 11-hundred TARGET
stores. In February of this year, Beatrice and her products were highlighted in a commercial about Black History and Women’s History. “The feedback was overwhelming, it was great. Black women felt represented, and young black women too, “ she said.
But, not everyone was happy with the commercial, some critics trolled social media leaving negative remarks regarding the commercial classifying it as racist and suggesting she was saying that her products were not for white women. Here’s an excerpt of what Beatrice said. "…the reason why it is so important for honey pot to do well, is so that the next black girl that comes up with a great idea she can have a better opportunity, that means a lot to me." The TARGET
commercial is added below so that you can take a look. But Beatrice was undeterred by the critics. “That was just ego, it was upbringing and those people are entitled to whatever they want to think just as I am entitled to think what I think," she said.
She says she wasn’t concerned the controversy would impede sales (and it did not) because she doesn’t run her business on fear. “ I would not say anything different if I had the opportunity, “ she said. She says the reason she’s adamant about black women succeeding is because black women receive the least in venture capital funding. In fact, a 2018 article in Entrepreneur magazine https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/324743
said black women entrepreneurs receive less than one percent in venture capital funding.
That means in order to grow their business they have to rely on friends and family for funds, as Beatrice did or get angel investments (not family) . “There needs to be representation of black women owning, growing fast and eventually selling our business to create wealth in our communities. It is extremely important for HONEY POT
to be successful,” she said.
Follow Us on Twitter @TheHoneyPotComp
Follow Us on Instagram @TheHoneyPotCo
Follow Us on Pinterest @TheHoneyPotCo
http://www.thehoneypot.co
Her "OWN' THING
By Elaine Houston
The saying
‘Necessity is the mother of invention’ fits Pamela Trice to a tee’. It was her need to help her daughters maintain healthy hair and save money that caused her to do her homework and create the TRESS ORGANIX ALL NATURAL
hair care product line. ‘’When you have all girls money is an issue and then they all have different types of hair. I couldn’t afford to buy different products for all of them”, she said.
Growing up on the Southside of Chicago, Trice said she thought she would go into the medical field. Instead she worked for an energy company, law firms, where she worked as an accountant , and as a dialysis technician. While she was committed and wanted to be the type of employee with a strong work ethic and eventually a retirement plan, she could never get there because at those company she was always laid off. So, it was during one of the layoffs that she turned a page. “Why can’t I figure out something of my own”?
Again, everything started with her daughters. She had been laid off again and childcare was becoming more and more expensive so once again, her mind went back to creating an all natural haircare product for females with all types of hair. Her girls were her first guinea pigs, especially a daughter who had a relaxer and color and then massive breakage from dry hair.
“After going to numerous beauticians to try and stop her hair from breaking out, I started sitting at the table and researching ingredients to stop it from breaking off and the way to do that was to add moisture”, she said.
She started researching all natural ingredients and began mixing formulas. “I started watching tutorials and videos and I started mixing things”, she said. But, her research didn’t end with her just mixing things, when she got a product she liked, she contacted her friends and had them try it out and give her feedback.
They liked it and a haircare line was created. But, it wasn’t as easy as it sounds and when you are dealing with something as personal as hair, there’s a lot of angst in creating a product that women would develop faith in to help them solve their hair care problem. One of the first heart pounding moments came from a friend who had breast cancer and lost her hair to chemo. She was using the product and Pamela got a call from her. “ I was so scared, I was hoping it didn’t fall out, I was so nervous“, she said. It was the exact opposite. “She called me and said, this is the best stuff I ever hand. She said, I don’t know what you have in there, I don’t know what you did but you have a home run”.
And the compliments have kept coming since 2015. Pamela has her products in three stores in Chicago and goes to numerous hair expos selling her products. And, while she wants to make money she feels another big part of what she does is educate.
“Keep it trimmed and moisturized and remember when you lost your hair, it didn’t happen overnight and it won’t grow back overnight”, she says. Pamela’s daughters help her sell the products and she says a couple are better salespeople than she is. Because they’ve watched her she believes they now have the entrepreneurial spirit too.
“I think I have instilled in them the understanding that you have to create your own ideas, dreams, and work hard on it. You have to put in the work and never give up", she said.
https://www.tressorganix.com #mompreneur #womenworking #herownthing
SHE
never thought wealth and prosperity were out of her reach and today she's stinking rich! Meet the author, international motivational speaker, BOSS
Lady, Candace Holyfield
SIX
Figure Renaissance
WOMAN
By Elaine Houston
Candace
Holyfield had always been a hard worker but one day she realized working hard wasn’t the only way to become rich. She owned a business where she traveled to homes throwing spa parties for kids and she was doing quite well for herself, but what she saw at one home left a mark on her. “I knew I was missing some information; I’m working too hard, and then I had a shift”, she said.
She says the home where she and her team were giving the kids the spa party was a mansion, with a nanny and a maid. The dad was a pilot for FEDEX. However, his wealth didn't make her feel small, quite the contrary. It made her reexamine how she was doing business. Seeing his wealth made her realize she had to make her money work harder for her instead of her working so hard for it.
Candace grew up in Memphis, Tennessee and says she had a good childhood. Two strong women were her role models, her mom and grandmother. Both worked in the medical field. One was a nurses’ assistant and the other worked at St. Jude Children’s Hospital. So, it seemed logical that she too would go in to medicine. “No, I did not want to be in the medical field, I thought I would have a boutique”, she said. But, she would eventually end up working at a lab.
In fact, she did so well she was promoted to the director of the lab. But, she says she wasn’t making enough money, so she quit. For 12 years on and off, she’d held onto a job at an area restaurant. She made good money there with tips and whenever she was in a bind she would go back to the restaurant. But as fate would have it one day she was assigned another section in the restaurant where the tips weren’t flowing, so she quit. She understood early in life that money was power. It was about this time she knew she needed a trade or skill to make the kind of money she wanted.
So, she enrolled in Concord Career College in the massage therapy program and earned a massage therapy degree. “You had to learn about the body; bones, muscles, the full body, disease and anatomy”, she said. She then tested for her license and failed. You guessed it, she went back to the restaurant . She took that test again three months later and passed and started working at a national spa chain. She then worked for a friend and that friend advertised in Group On and did well. Candace was beginning to see that being in business for herself was in her bones. At the spa chain she had earned the reputation as being one of the top ten masseuse. But, when she tried to advertise her own spa on Group On she says they turned her down.
She later discovered that Group On hadn’t considered her legitimate. So, she got a website and a FACEBOOK business page and it worked. "Group On put me on their sites and three or four days later I was making 6-to 8 thousand dollars”, she said.
Her business was called I Love Candy Spa Parties
and that was the business she owned when she met the rich pilot. After that party, she worked another one -this one for adults-and again, it was one of those aha moments. “We did one party for adults and the house was so big, we did massages, and everything in their bathroom”, she said.
Again, she wasn't threatened by the wealth, she was inspired and intrigued having that kind of wealth for herself. So she talked with six masseuse and convinced them to go independent and rent space from her. They did, and she was making more money now because she was collecting rent from them all. They all had a huge following and a reputation for being excellent at what they did.
Unwilling to stop there she strategized and even though she was climbing the ladder, paused and helped them climb; teaching each one how to advertise on Group On for themselves and the result was unbelievable. “ We all made 100.000 individually. We all made a shit load of money”, she said. She says they were doing so well because they were so skilled that they had a lot of repeat customers.
Now, they didn’t need Group On and the tables were turned but she says Group On wouldn't let her go. She says it would take nine months before she could sever ties with them because she was now making big money not only for herself but for them too.
Throughout her life, it seems when things went bad, Candace took a risk and it worked out in her favor. This next time was personal. She says she discovered her husband had cheated on her and had a child with another woman. She sold all of her business equipment or gave it away and moved to Atlanta. She had scoped out Atlanta previously by going to conferences and events and had hobnobbed with the rich and famous. Not because she had celebrity crushes but rather to promote her massage business. So, when this terrible thing happened in her life she moved there, and she got to work booking massages for celebrity events.
She did extremely well. She then realized she had a wealth of knowledge about the industry and started booking business consultations on Instagram on growing your business with Group On. People ate it up. “Someone called me and paid me to talk to them on how to make money with Group On”, she said.
She retired from giving massages; finally able to let her money work for her. Now, she does marketing for spa professionals through her company, Six Figure Spa Chick. She believes in creating her own thunder and has done things other black spa owners have rallied around, like a spa awards event, a retreat, refresher courses, and more. She was written up in American Spa Magazine
in 2017 and last year at her Spa Expo in Atlanta she was expecting 300 people and sold tickets for 500.
Her tips for others wanting to start a business but have allowed fear to stop them. “You are in control, what do you want”? Whatever you are going through in your life, you have the pencil and paper, so erase your bad story and write a new one.”
author, motivational speaker, holistic practitioner, CEO of spa boss tribe, www.candaceholyfield.com ilovecandyspa.com
By Elaine Houston
For
most
of her childhood and teenage years almost all the adults in Salka Valerio ’s life failed her. Born in Brooklyn, to immigrant parents she describes those parents as lacking the skills and devotion to really invest in a child’s life. As a result she moved around a lot, felt unloved and lost her way. Let’s begin with the happiest time-that was when she lived in Honduras until she was 5 years old. “ I lived in Honduras with my aunt and uncle and grandmother, was loved, spoiled and it was good, walking to the beach and having a good time,” she said.
She then moved back to Brooklyn and lived with her mom until she was nine and she moved to Norfolk, Virginia with her naval stepdad. The town was a cultural shock for her but she says bigger than that challenge was the abuse she says she suffered at the hands of her mother. “She wasn’t on drugs, wasn’t neglectful but was physically abusive, she hit me with a broomstick and once I went to school with a knot, on my head,’’ she said. Now that she’s older, she says she thinks her mother suffered with mental illness and harbored deep resentment towards Salka’s father. ‘I tried to commit suicide and the psychologist was asking questions and she couldn’t say anything she liked about me, she got on the subject of my dad and she said I was a liar like my father and I just felt she didn’t love or like me. I definitely felt she was against me,” she said.
Things got worse she says when her stepdad allegedly tried to molest her . Wanting to run away from it all she made a decision to leave and that decision would change her life forever. A 17 year old boy she met showed empathy and said she could escape with him and stay in New York City with his aunt and uncle. “The next morning we went to go on the greyhound and he said he had to go to a court case and he would meet me the next day in New York City,” she said.
Her need to escape trumped thoughts about her safety so she boarded the bus and when it stopped in New York City the uncle and aunt met and embraced her as if she was one of her own children. “They fed me and showed me new clothes, I was like these people care for me; they got me clothes and products, soap, shampoos, shoes and clothes. They were waiting for me and welcoming me.” she said.
It was a farce, she says they they were part of a human trafficking ring. Salka says she was beaten and raped that same day by the so called uncle. “I was trying to fight and crying and I got knocked out and woke up handcuffed to a pole in the basement. He raped me and had other guys sexual assault me for a long time until I submitted and said I would do whatever he wanted, “ she said.
According to the Department of Justice and the State Department, New York and Queens are documented destinations for trafficking because of their location on the eastern corridor. Salka was 14 when she began being trafficked. She says it lasted two years. “I had 5 different traffickers in all - from Brooklyn , on to Queen’s, Long Island, Boston, and Connecticut,” she said. In all that time, Salka says no adult ever seemed concerned about her; no one offered help or asked if she was in trouble. “ No one wanted to notice me. I ended up in the emergency, picked up by law enforcement, in public places, I went to the store, no one intervened, “ she said.
It gets worse, although she was a victim, she was treated more like a criminal. She got away from her traffickers and ended up in the Covenant House,- a minor she was locked up in a detention center in the Bronx and once she was checked out she was put on a plane in shackles, pregnant and sent back to Virginia to her mother and stepfather. “I am 17 and I’m dealing with trauma and I wasn’t a good mom and didn’t want to deal with the baby and my dad was incarcerated. CPS came and took the baby boy and put him in foster care, “ she said.
This is a story would leave you in tears if things didn’t finally take a turn for the better.
Salka made it back to New York City and enrolled in Job Corps. she later ended up in Endicott, NY and started taking college courses in criminal justice. It was while she was in class that she realized there was a bonafide definition for all the trauma, victimization, and abuse she suffered. It was called ‘human trafficking’ .
With her voice cracking and her heart breaking, she describes the feeling that day when she realized her past life was finally validated.
Today, at 34 years old, she is a champion for those trafficked . “ I wanted someone to say I’m going to hold your hand and I promised myself when I get out of all this darkness, I’m going to be a light for someone else to get out of this,” she said.
She’s also making a name for herself for her activism for the poor and marginalized. She now lives in Binghamton, NY and works for the Crime Victim’s Assistance Center.
She ran for political office in 2018 and lost but sees it as a win. “He won by 100 points, not a lot. It said I had support; people were supporting me, It said a lot. I felt good about it. I did not feel like I did not win.
THE 'EYES' HAVE IT!
By Elaine Houston
Back
in
the day, a kid wearing glasses was subjected to being called ‘four eyes’ and was certainly not considered one of the cool kids.
Some of that had to do with the styles; they just weren’t cool. In fact, a black pair or a brown pair, maybe dark cherry, those were the only options and the price always burned a hole in the pockets of parents. As a result some kids had to go without glasses.
Present day, there are now more colors but Heidi Hertel still felt the way she had to shop for glasses for her two daughters left a lot to be desired.
“I was disappointed with the process of buying glasses and the products we had to choose from, she said. “
She also knew there was a direct correlation to being able to see and academic achievement. “It's estimated that 80% of what a child learns is through vision; the fact that we can get affordable, well-fitting glasses to kids in an easy and fun way means that hopefully we're helping them in the classroom and beyond, she said.”
That’s right, her disappointment led her to start her own business, making affordable glasses for kids in great colors. It’s called “ Fitz Frames” But, she doesn’t make them the old fashioned way. She does it by using 3D printing to make custom eyewear. “Talking with and meeting customers who have used our product is amazing each and every time. To hear about kids feeling good about themselves and our glasses is incredible , she says. “
Heidi, who earned a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center had no experience as an optician, but allowed her passion to drive her in this new direction and she urges other women to follow their passions too.
She says starting a business will mean there will be a lot to learn and most often they'll have to raise funds. “It is challenging, but not insurmountable, especially with the right support , including advisors, female founded networks, etc., she said.”
Her final tip to women? “To women who want to fulfill their dreams of starting a business, I would say, Don't let your finances or lack of education prevent you from pursuing your dream! www.fitzframes.com
SHE rises AGAIN
wants you to FEED 'HER' HUNGER
WE ARE POSTPONING OUR FUNDRAISER
BECAUSE OF THE CRISIS WE FACE RIGHT NOW WITH THE CORONAVIRUS-- BUT HOPE TO RESCHEDULE. WE ARE STILL ACCEPTING DONATIONS.
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!
We are VERY
excited!!! That's because SHEspeaks2me.com just created a non-profit arm to our website, It's called: SHE Rises AGAIN, Inc.
That means in 2020 we will NOT
hold a women's summit but rather we will spend the year fundraising. The WOMEN'S SUMMIT will return in 2021
bigger, with more giveaways, speakers and more classes!!!!!
Right now, we want to concentrate on fundraisers
for 2020 because along with the WOMEN' S SUMMIT we want to hold a WOMEN'S WEEKEND
RETREAT.
We need money to do that and we need your help. We will have FOUR events this year, PLEASE
come out and support us. The first event is April 2nd, 2020. That's when we join Harriet's Kitchen
and sell SOULFOOD dinners.
Five or more orders delivered FREE.
Just TEXT OR CALL
HARRIET AT 518-469-2885
The menu includes: Fried chicken or fish, green beans, mac & cheese, cornbread, potato salad, and cake! The cost is 12.00 per dinner.
For 4.00 more get extra sides or Peach Cobbler, or Banana Pudding.
Thanks for your support!
ELAINE HOUSTON
HATS OFF!
There are a lot of women wanting to become entrepreneurs. But before you do that 'Harriet Rosebud' suggests you ask yourself several questions.
By Elaine Houston
Is your product compelling, is it unique and have you done your homework?
The super successful miliner had to ask herself those questions over 30 years ago and each time she makes a hat she is still looking for the ‘wow’ factor. “I make things that people have never seen before, she says.” Raised in Florida, it was her mother she says who first inspired her. “I grew up looking up to her and watched her try on hats and that never left me, she says.” But like many people, Rosebud was doing the 9 to 5. For many years she worked for a company in human resources until she was laid off.
It was then she decided to try her hand at making hats. Using her severance pay she began taking classes at the Fashion Institute of Technology as a way to release something dormant, the artistic side of her life.
However, her first try at a show didn’t go so well. “I made white hats and people just walked by my booth, I sold none of them, she says.” She says she went home distraught and dumped all the hats into a bath tub full of dye and started to sculpt them with her hands. “I just molded and shaped it and the dye took to the fabric and it came out funky, she said.” She cut the buttons off her coat and attached them to the hats.
The next morning she went back to the show and she says she sold out. Actually, she’s had a lot of successes. She sold her hats for a large part of her career to more than 300 stores a year. She also had a showroom in Atlanta at the Apparel Mart which is a huge building of trade shows set up for companies to spot and purchase the latest in fashion apparel. It was her visibility at the Apparel Mart which led to one of her biggest opportunities, one she still talks about.
“In 2005, I was approached by a large company, Sandy USA, which was an art based company, to do miniatures; small Harriet’s hats, she says.” That meant her products were promoted and sold around the world. It raised her visibility and sent people to her website for the real things and her sales expanded. That lasted for about 5 years, but then the recession hit and many stores and companies that sold her items went out of business.
But, 'Harriet Rosebud Hats' did not stop. They adjusted. "I had to quickly transition my business and I got on social media. I didn’t see it as a demon or devil and I learned it was the way to go, she said.” She says social media levels the playing field for companies because it puts their products in the hands of everyone. So, her hats can now be purchased on Ebay, Amazon, her website HarrietRosebudhats.com
and weekly she holds her own home shopping type show on Facebook.
She swears by social media and urges women to get comfortable and familiar with it. While you will see her on social media, you won’t find her at every fashion event selling her wares. She says doesn’t believe you should always follow other people’s lead. “I am a strong advocate of creating my own music. I have always believed when you begin to grow you must create your own smoke and fire she says.”
One of those creations is The Great American Hat Show.
She says it is a theme event with a fashion show , music, classes, and other artists. She says people from around the country attend. This year it takes place on April 25th and she welcomes people to come and see the smoke and fire and then go home and create their own.
www.harrietrosebudhats.com
California Woman creates all natural, aluminum-free deodorant
by Elaine Houston
Arguably deodorant is one of the top five necessities in our daily hygiene routine. Toothpaste is number two, soap, number one and then deodorant. And, it has a very specific purpose; to keep our under arms dry. But for Stacia Guzzo deodorant didn't enhance her day, it changed her life.
It all started when her mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005. The family was somewhat baffled because there was no family history of breast cancer and what doctors had to say about it perplexed them even more. “Doctors said the tumor was influenced by her environment, said Guzzo.”
So Guzzo started doing research and says she began to wonder if there was a possible connection between aluminum in her mom’s deodorant and her breast cancer. It’s a controversial topic. Some believe there’s a connection, others say the research just isn’t conclusive.
But, her mother’s illness was enough for Guzzo to search for a deodorant without aluminum. Problem is the California woman couldn’t find one and eventually went back to what was out there then, deodorant with aluminum. Shortly after that, this teacher and her family moved to a rural area and teaching jobs were limited, so she stopped teaching. Along with the fresh air, and the picturesque backdrop, there was also lots of bees. So she used the wax and began making soaps, lip balms and also decided to try her hand at making an all natural deodorant. The deodorant was initially just for her and she worked tirelessly on it trying to get it the right consistency. “It was hard and didn’t go on well, she said.”
This may have seemed daunting to some , but not Guzzo. ‘’I was born with something inside of me where I always strived to figure out my potential, if I feel there’s anything left on the table then I know I haven’t gotten there yet, she said.”
Her hard work paid off as others were looking for an all natural, aluminum free product too. “I was making it in batches of six and selling it at Farmers Market’s, she said.” A big break came when a company found out about her product and offered her a chance to “White Label” it. That’s when a company purchases your product but puts their label on it. She accepted and soon she was out of her kitchen and into a studio. ‘I bought a wax melter and learned to make 250 to 500 batches, she said.”
She now had part time help and moved into a warehouse She came up with the name, 'Smarty Pits’
while driving. Stamping that name on her products shifted her company into high gear. “It was the gas, the fire needed, she said.” In 2017 she had four employees, today she has 18 and makes 2500 sticks of deodorant a day. But, making money alone isn’t as fulfilling for Guzzo as also trying to help find a cure for breast cancer. And, now with her company she's able to do both. She donates some of her profits to cancer research . City of Hope, a cancer research center in Southern California has received 63-thousand dollars from 'Smarty Pits’.
For more information, just go to www. smartypits.com
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