I love attending the Neal’s Yard Remedies Summer Conference. This year the conference was at the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista Hotel. Right off the bat I learned Orlando, Florida in July is hot, humid, and can downpour at any moment. So it follows if you go to Orlando in July, bring a flat iron and an umbrella.
It’s not possible to cover everything we learned that was packed into the Friday evening through Sunday early afternoon, but these were the highlights.
I already knew Neal’s Yard Remedies is an amazing family-owned business making products with natural and organic ingredients, free from harmful chemicals. I knew they never test on animals. I knew they trade ethically with their suppliers, protect the environment and wildlife. What I did learn was Neal’s Yard Remedies has partnered with Made Safe to certify these products are free of carcinogens, endocrine disruptors, GMOs, pesticides, harmful solvents, and toxic volatile organic compounds. There are plenty of products on the shelves calling themselves natural and organic, yet hiding ingredients behind trade secrets and fragrance. Third party certification is the only real test of how safe products are, and Made Safe is providing it.
New Product Introductions
New product introductions and a new catalog are always exciting. Coming soon is an addition to the ever popular Bee Lovely line, as well as bee-utiful new packaging. There are some very special essential oils coming, including organic immortelle, neroli, and rose absolute. The Deliciously Ella products will include a limited edition body lotion and body wash. The skincare kits have been re-introduced with new packaging including a gorgeous, organic cotton bag. The holiday collection which will be available in October will include bath salts in three soothing and uplifting fragrances.
I was excited to hear about a partnership beginning with Credo Beauty. Neal’s Yard Remedies will have a limited range of products available in the Credo stores. Credo’s mission aligns very much with Neal’s Yard Remedies. How cool to be able to see these amazing products on their store shelves, and increase the brand recognition!
Karen Clark was a keynote speaker on social media. There is a ton of opportunity to get our personal brand as well as the Neal’s Yard Remedies brand out there. She stressed the importance of building relationships and serving. In other words, connecting with followers rather than collecting them.
Finally, Marianne Friedlund was introduced as Vice President of Sales and Training. Marianne has a background in direct sales and leadership that makes her a perfect fit for Neal’s Yard Remedies. She announced a future leader program that has had a 90% success rate for promoting leaders. Seriously! Count me in. Who wants to join me?
For more information about beginning your own organic business with Neal’s Yard Remedies check out this blog post. Continue the discussion on Facebook.
