Today we’d like to introduce you to Barbara Hector.
Barbara, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My journey really started in 2017. I was pregnant with my twins and their dad and I were living together along with my now seven-year-old son. We were dealing with financial difficulties and I was dealing with the woes of and itchy belly, which gave way to the idea that I could make and sell sugar scrubs. The twin’s father gave me the extra push to get started by going to get the ingredients I needed to make my first scrubs and so I got busy. I only had two scents at the time, Tea Tree Lemon (still a hit today) and Lavender Rosemary (no longer a thing). I started selling to friends and family through social media and the feedback was more than I would’ve ever expected. That feedback motivated me to make Sweet B’s Scrubs a real, full-time business.
In February 2018, the twins were born and things once again got difficult, so Sweet B’s took a back burner. However, in August of 2018, I got serious again and almost every weekend from August 2018 until October of 2019, I was vending at different farmers and artisan markets in Houston. It was hot, sometimes rainy, sometimes very fruitful and other times a waste of time. I unexpectedly got pregnant by a wonderful man I met and got close to in 2019, but that overdosed on anxiety medications and ended up losing his memory. This led to a deep depression and a period of isolation for me. I had to dig deep and find the light at the end of the tunnel while also trying to be a presence in my new child’s father’s life in hopes he’d regain his memory. That never happened, though. In fact, he passed away of another overdose on April 17, 2020. That grief has been difficult but unfortunately, I completely understand why he did it. He’d been through a lot.
As for where I am now, which is an amazing space, by the way, it took that period of isolation for me to dig deep, get to the root of years of sadness, anger, loneliness, and feelings of unworthiness and finally move forward. One day in March of this year, my spirit was moved to get back to work, so that’s exactly what I did. Ever since then, online business has been pretty consistent for Sweet B’s Scrubs and with each and every order, my motivation and appreciation gets greater. I now have four beautiful babies to go hard for and I can’t wait for what our future has in store.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been an easy road at ALL. From dealing with financial hardships and bringing twins into the world, to getting evicted from our apartment and having to move back home, to going through a break up with the man I still consider the love of my life, to not making the money I thought I’d make online and through vending, it has been a long and difficult road. The hardest thing I’ve had to go through was being pregnant with an unexpected child and having to make the decision to even get back on my feet and get back to business so I could provide for her and my other kids. But that’s also the BEST decision I’ve ever made.
Please tell us about Sweet B’s Scrubs.
Sweet B’s Scrubs is an all-natural skincare business. I started to deal with skincare issues like dry skin, acne, oily skin, etc. I started and specialized mainly in sugar and salt body scrubs. My first and best-selling Tea Tree Lemon sugar scrub helped me tremendously with my itchy belly when I was pregnant with my twins. I am most proud of the fact that despite my hardships and absences, my customers have been there and have supported me heavily on my most recent return. I am also proud that as much as my customers have loved their products, my products are made to love them back.
Pricing:
- Orders under $10 ship free
- Orders over $45 ship free
- Regular 8 oz sugar scrubs are $12
- Regular 8 oz salt scrubs are $15
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sweetbscrubs.com
- Email: sweetbscrubs@gmail.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/sweetbscrubs
Image Credit:
Jonathan Davis
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