Sharing the Entrepreneurial Spirit

by Wendy Achatz

December 23rd, 2010 · in Our Thoughts

My good friend Helga is so entrepreneurial! From building her own sustainable home to giving the best facial or back massage, I’m always impressed with her creativity.

Helga is one of the most openminded people I know. Most recently, my beautiful German friend has started her own business called Choices. She makes soaps and lotions the old fashioned, handmade way, using only natural ingredients — jojoba, olive and coconut oils in her soaps and pure essential oils in her lotions.

A couple of years ago I asked Helga to come to my house around Christmastime as a treat and learning experience for my kids. She brought a truckload of oils for lotion-making along with at least 75 different essential oils to blend and scent. My kids got a firsthand lesson! By the end of our party, my entire kitchen was slippery just like our arms, legs and faces!

The motto for the night? “Don’t put it on your skin if you can’t eat it!”

The lesson learned was that we absorb everything quite quickly through our skin into our bloodstream. It’s hard to find a good lotion in the market that doesn’t have parabens, preservatives and artificial dyes. Helga’s lotions are all natural and safe enough to eat! But I wouldn’t recommend too much — pie tastes so much better (if I remember that night we all had our share of pie too)!

I recently asked Helga to make me some soap in bulk… you can imagine how much we go through with five kids. And I also asked her to save the money on the pretty wrappings and ribbons.

In the photo above you can see the soap is in big logs ready to be sliced next week. I use a hot knife out of the dishwasher and it goes through like butter! Helga is disappointed that I don’t do something more creative. She, like me, sees her precious creations as her babies and wants everything to be perfect and pretty!

For now this crate of soap is sitting in my office; you wouldn’t believe how wonderful it smells in here! Ahhh… lavender!