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Country Meadow Interview:

Tell us a bit about yourself (name, location, personal stuff).
My name is Rebecca Wood.
My husband and I have been married for 26 years (we were high school sweet hearts!) and live just north of Seattle, Washington. We have two grown daughters, two granddaughters, 2 dogs and a pond full of fish. Even though I am country at heart (picture rolling green fields, cows grazing and yellow buttercups dotting the landscape) I love living in the ‘urbs where everything is just a hop, skip and jump away.

What inspires you? Where do your ideas come from?
It all started back in 1998. I love making and receiving handmade items so one year I was searching for something different for Christmas and came across a few books on how to make your own soap. It was pretty scary making that first batch but after the first few I was hooked!

In the beginning I was using a very basic soap recipe but I was amazed at the difference between handcrafted soap and the commercial soap you typically purchase at the neighborhood grocery store. That inspired me to learn how to create my own more complex recipes as well as branch out into other skin care products. I knew I could make better products using simple beneficial ingredients instead of the filler oils that are in so many mass produced products.

What are your favorite materials to work with?
I love working with all raw ingredients. Even though I have been making products since 1998 I am still amazed that you can take a handful of raw ingredients and end up with a fantastic product.

Apart from your on line business, what do you do?
I love to garden, read (fav’s: Stephen King & Anne Rule), watch the Food Network. (love those cooking shows!).
Both my husband and I have Harleys and it is pure joy to be able to take off for the weekend.

When did you start Country Meadow?
I started making products in 1998 and we were officially licensed in 1999.

Did anyone inspire you to start you business?
Nope…it was purely by accident.
It’s like an addiction. Take soap for example. You create the most wonderful bar of soap in a lilac scent. Then you do another batch in rose. You can’t just have women’s scents so you start adding unisex fragrances. Pretty soon you are up to your eyeballs in soap and your shower just can’t hold anymore bars and your family still has not used the last 15 bars you gave them last month. So you start selling and selling and selling, which is pretty nice because now you can recoup some of the hundreds of dollars you originally spent starting this little ‘hobby’.

What powers your website?
Simplicity.

Name 3 websites or businesses that inspire/captivate/captures your attention.
I am inspired by anyone (famous or not) that has created something from nothing.
It takes a lot of guts, determination and sheer will power to create a business from the ground up. I love to read about the successes and the failures and hope I can take something away from each article to use in my own business venture.

Your Favorite Music?
At the moment: K.T. Tunstall

Do keep up with the business trends regularly? No, why not? Yes, why and how?
I always have latest trends in the back of my mind but we don’t necessarily follow them. Our products are created with the hope that they will have staying power and not become the latest casualty of a passing trend.

Did you design your own Website or business idea?
Back in 1998 I created our first website…it had taken me a huge amount of time and I was constantly revamping it. Over the years we had gone from a very basic site to one of those cutesy sites with all the fancy backgrounds. (I know, I know…I can hear you all cringing at the thought!).

Fall of 2005 I decided with the direction our company was going it was time to get a professional website done. After several discussions I gave N.E.W. Websolutions total control over the design and colors of our new website. The new site has easier navigation, better product catagories, order history and better shipping estimates. I have been extremely pleased with our website design team as they have created a simple functional website that still allows me to add a little personal touch.

My biggest issue and we are still working on it is product photos. We can create and manufacture great products we just can’t seem to take professional pictures. I’m hoping someone will take pity on us and offer to help!

What do you think makes your business interesting?
We offer many types of products from soap, body creams and sugar scrubs to various gift bags, boxes and baskets. There is a scent type for just about everyone including unisex ones that both men and women love.

We consider our products specialty items. Made with simple ingredients our products are luxurious in nature and yet still very affordable.

Your advice for people just beginning to start a new business, new design or product.
Start out slow. You may have grandiose ideas but start small and keep it simple.

If you have a dream follow it. You may have to take a detour every now and again but if you keep your dream alive you will eventually get there!

3 years from now how do you see your goals?
We work quite a bit by word of mouth and referrals. Our products can be found in local boutiques and specialty stores as well as our website.
This year we are working more on print ads and marketing our products nation wide with the hope that some day we will be exporting our products to various countries.

Your motto in life and business is?
I try to subscribe to the KISS theory….Keep It Simple Stupid!

If you were not running your business, what would you be doing?
As mentioned above I really like watching the Food Network and the cooking shows….Emeril’s, Paula Deen, Bobby Flay…..
I think I would really like to be a chef.

What is your favorite search engine and why?
Google..just because it is so well known. Sometimes I will use MSN.

Do you have a celebrity following? Have you been in any press, tell us about it?
Celebrity following: Not yet!
We released our first press release in April 2006 announcing our new website and product line: Simply Soft.

In 2005 we had a write up on www.fivestarreviews.com.
In their Annual Soaper Star contest our lotion won first place in the Best in Lotion category and our Ile de France clay mask won honorable mention in the Best Facial Product category (we only submitted the two products).

*** We are also scheduled to do a live radio interview with Gary Connolly I believe sometime this week!