Focus on: 2018 - A Year in Review
Posted by Michelle Deken at
What a year!
You all made 2018 a very special year for Midnight Scentworks. It opened with a bang and never slowed down.
During 2018, I was thrilled to able to put smiles on the faces of 305 brides-to-be and mommies-to-be! I shipped bridal shower favors and baby shower favors to 32 states and Canada - whew!
And soap! Wow, did I make a lot of soap! 7,445 bars of soap, in fact, which turns out to be 2,326 pounds. Over a ton of soap! The boxed favors were a hit with my brides and moms as well. I made over 460 pounds of sugar scrub and 290 pounds of lotion. Geez. You guys are amazing.
Your favorite scents were Endless Love (by a mile!) followed by Raspberry Lemonade and Lavender. Great scents like Bamboo Grass - so fresh! - and Ginger Tea - a great universally-loved scent - were sadly underutilized. Try them out!
Personally the year was a lot of fun as well. I was able to volunteer with the Girl Scouts by being a Girl Scout Cookie Cupboard for a month and managing 24,000 boxes of cookies all while being in the heavy part of my busiest time for the business. I love supporting these youngest of entrepreneurs as they get a taste of running their own mini-business for a season!
My garage - for a month!
The year ended on a bit of a down note, as I injured my shoulder. You'll never guess how - seriously. I was on a carnival ride and tried to lift myself up from my tummy, and that was THAT! By November it was obvious I needed surgery, so I had a month to prepare my apprentice for soapmaking duties. (Isn't he cute?)
My husband - software developer by day, soapmaker by night!
Me post-op - good drugs had me smiling.
My favorite thing about 2018 (besides all the fun showers I was able to "attend") was being able to support female entrepreneurs around the globe via Kiva.org. Midnight Scentworks was able to make 171 loans to fantastic and brave women in 62 countries around the globe who are in business for themselves. I supported various entrepreneurs as chicken farmers, makeup artists, retail shop owners, beauticians, seamstresses and even one soapmaker! It's such a joy to see these women be able to pay back their loans and SUCCEED!
I hope you had a wonderful 2018 - and that 2019 is YOUR best year ever!
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Michelle, I was so happy with the soaps that I purchased from you for my daughters bridal shower. I had overestimated what I needed, but kept the whole order…glad I did because attendees took multiple bars and I ended up a few short! They smelled wonderful. I wasn’t able to get one, myself :-( so will likely be placing a personal order in a month or so to just have here at home. So glad you are doing a booming business! And I join you in support of Kiva.org…wonderful organization! You rock!