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Healing Herbs LLC
Owner:
Alicia Chisholm
Editor's
Note:
I only
recently met Alicia and I’m ever so impressed. Alicia
Dulaney-Chisholm was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes at the
age of 12 and as a result of its complications was totally blind
at 28. But that hasn’t stopped her from developing her business
Healing Herbs based around a unique product she developed,
Harmonize Naturelle, for natural pain relief. The nerve damage
from diabetes, Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy (DPN) caused
excruciating pain, numbness, tingling, burning, and cold
sensation
in Alicia's lower extremities. She was prescribed harsh
narcotics and anti-depressants, which had serious side effects,
did
little to lessen the pain, and made her feel "like a zombie ".
Alicia was determined to find an alternative, non-narcotic
method to
relieve these painful symptoms.
Determination to help others with similar pain issues led Alicia
to form her company, Healing Herbs LLC. As she faced
the physical challenges of her diabetes and its complications,
she took the ones of her new business. She needed computer
skills
to conduct online research on the medicinal properties of
certain herbs and contacted the Association for the Blind for
assistance.
The Association taught her to operate the JAWS program, a screen
reading software that enables the user to navigate the
computer through use of the number pad by hearing rather than
sight. Through in-home training with the Association for the
Blind,
Alicia learned to operate her computer, email, and the
internet. Alicia founded Healing Herb to market her product.
Utilizing
her computer training, she is able to handle independently all
the business needs associated with her company: creating
labels, printing invoices, and using the internet to research
potential markets for her product.
And I've tried her serum
and have given samples to several friends....it truly is
amazing!!
Founded:
Research was started in, the year of 2,000 but Harmonize
Naturelle, was not ready for marketing until January 1, 2006.
Location:
Charleston, South
Carolina,
Employees:
2
Annual Sales:
The answer to that particular question cannot be answered at
this time, because I have only been in business
nine months
Q: How did you
start (or become owner) of the business?
It was totally my idea and all of the
capital came out of my savings. .
Q: What made
you choose this type of business?
I do not believe in legal medication, because all legal
medications may help one type of illness, but has awful and
horrific side
effects, and I am a firm believer in organic and natural
alternative solutions. .
Q: What is your
background? I have a
master’s degree in psychology, and a back ground in
pharmaceuticals.
Q: What are
your biggest challenges as an herb business?
My biggest problem is getting the
word out that Harmonize
Naturelle, really works and is not a snake oil, because so many
scam artist have made it hard on the companies that have a
product that does what it really claims to do.
Q: What are the biggest rewards of being
an herb business? My biggest reward is talking with people,
and answering
there questions, and when they call with there positive feed
back, to let me know how well Harmonize Naturelle, helps relieve
there chronic pain, that is the greatest feeling in the world.
Q: What is
your philosophy of customer service?
My main objective is to help people with pain relief, either
with my
knowledge, or some other way, because I believe when you help
people you will be rewarded and not only with finance, I have
been known to send people Harmonize Naturelle, free of charge
when they are on a fixed income, and can not afford to purchase
the product, so my philosophy is the customer all ways is the
most important aspect of my business.
Q: What makes
you stand out from your competitors?
I have two important factors that makes my company stand out
from my competitors and the first reason is, my company, it is
not
all about making money, but really helping people stay out of
pain. And the second reason is the way Harmonize Naturelle
is formulated, only with certified organic, herbs and all natural
ingredients. None of my ingredients are synthetic, and no water,
glycerin, alcohol, or fragrance are added to my formula. The
base of Harmonize Naturelle, is certified organic, extra
strength,
virgin olive oil. .
Q: What plans
do you have for your business?
My goal for my business is to become into a multi million-dollar
corporation, within 7 years, and when people mention pain, the
reply
will be Harmonize Naturelle.
Q: Is your
family supportive of your business?
Some of my family members
are supportive, and some are not.
Q: What do you
wish you’d done differently with the business?
I wish I had had some marketing advice because I have wasted so
much money and time on incorrect marketing.
Q: What do you
think people starting out should know about getting into your
type of business?
People should know that just because you have a dream or
passion, that you should research your ideal extensively and
very
carefully, because if you do not you will waste a lot of money,
and energy.
Q: has the
Internet helped/hurt your business?
I do not know if the internet has
helped or not, because besides having a
web site up and running, I have not done anything to promote
traffic to my site.
Q: How long has
it taken for your website to pay off?
My web site has not begun to pay off
yet because I have not done
anything to promote marketing to the site.
Q: What things
have you done to promote your website?
I am looking into the most, cost
effective marketing
advertising strategies for web sites.
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