Natural Products Expo West

Natural Products Expo West 2009

We had such a blast at Expo this year. Before the show there had been a buzz about attendance given the present economy, but we found the show to be full of energy and excitement. Perhaps that is in part to the type of businesses the Natural Product Expo showcases: creative entrepreneurs bringing forth new, natural, green products designed to meet the demands of the current crises we face in obesity, health care and environmental pollutions. What a great group of folks! It's always fun meeting new people and building on the relationships we have begun over the years. I was happy to spend more time with Fern Ramsey From Himalaya Herbal Health Care. Anyone that knows Fern knows what an energetic, positive fireball she is. She rocks! The folks from Mothering magazine were there and it was great to meet them. I coveted one of their tote bags as well as the recent Mothering magazine, which I read from cover to cover on the flight home. I especially loved the article about mother's who work from home. I'm a grandmother now but I still remember how it was to be a single parent working two jobs while going to grad school trying to juggle so many things. The article had some great ideas on how to find balance and I passed it on to my daughter Kenda to read. Also ran into Stephanie and Maxine from Kiwi magazine. They are always so warm and friendly. When we started advertising with them I began reading their articles and love their fun approach plus I'm finding lots of new recipes to cook for my family. Always love running into the Diva Cup women. Carrine is pregnant now and that is so exciting, of course we're all joking about how she won't be needing the diva cup for a while. Part of the fun of expo is being introduced to new products and sampling each others wares. I just loved Good Clean Love's Caribbean Rose Oil, even though they advertise it as an aphrodisiac love oil, you can bet I'll be wearing it daily just to smell good, it really is that divine. Kenda got to catch up with the Born Free folks as well as the charming Robert and John from Sigg and the Happy Babby People who had many wonderful healthful foods for making baby and children's early years tasty and nutritious. (Little Hunter will be trying everything.) Mimi, our national sales rep was so busy at our booth that she hardly had time to walk the floors like the rest of our team. The woman was on fire, what can we say? She did however love her visits with Diedre from mindful mama and Zigi from my spa shop. We are so thrilled to have met so many great potential business partners and sales reps from all over the country. Our booth was a happening place and Kenda, Mimi, Bronwyn and myself so enjoyed the attention that Noli n Nali received. It was Bronwyn's first Expo with us and she jumped right in to all of the excitement. We even got a visit from Phil Smith our web and graphics Guru and Stephen Dix, Mysterioso Extraordinare (Is that a job title?) Anyway, we had a blast and we are grateful. Thanks to everyone who stopped by.
Ann Whittington

Chaos, Joy and the Paradox of Having it All

As we welcome 2009, Noli n Nali wanted to honor and pay respect to all of the working moms, stay at home moms and single moms out there. You work so hard. How do we juggle it all? So much is expected of us. Sometimes we ask ourselves, “Is this the norm?” Having children and running a business. We have normalized changing diapers while on a conference call with a CEO of a company, sometimes we feel like we are going a little crazy… Whatever possessed me to start a business? Why are we moms? I’ll tell you why! At the end of the day we may be exhausted and have a headache from kids screaming and laughing at high decibels. But, we are moms because we find joy in the laughter during the day and pure bliss when they fall asleep in our arms at night. We can even learn to accept the spoiled milk smell that was lingering on the back of our shoulder all day next to the cereal that was crusted on our sleeve and laugh. We are moms because we can’t wait to receive that weed bouquets they picked out especially for us and we long for those wet kisses. We are moms so we can dry tears, teach love and learn patience. We are mothers so we can cherish what is still pure and unspoiled in the world, our children.

As a collective of four women who span different generations we have a common thread that weaves us together. We are mothers, grandmothers, aunts, friends, sisters, visionaries, and business women. We all share a common goal of wanting to create healthy happy lives for our children and constantly strive to create balance and harmony in both our homes and business lives. The transformation that occurs when we become mothers is like no other. Suddenly you find yourself accountable to someone else who is so deep in your heart that you would do anything to protect this little helpless being. As mothers we came together with a common goal and vision. We all care greatly about the sustainability movement and dream of leaving the legacy of a pristine planet to our children and our children’s children. They deserve to see and experience all the beauty the world has to offer.

It was at my baby shower, reading the ingredient lists and realizing that many baby-care products contained harsh and harmful ingredients, that I found my calling. "I didn't want to use harsh chemicals on my son's skin or my own for that matter, I had a deep desire to nurture and protect him. I wanted to use only gentle and pure ingredients on my baby." This awakening was the inception of Noli n Nali. Once I starting reading labels I was stunned by the number of toxic chemicals used in our everyday skin products. I began to contemplate the larger impact this has on our environment and I wanted to do something about it." At Noli n Nali we feel a sense of obligation to educate other mothers for the safety of their children and hope we have contribute in some small way to making a difference.

At Noli n Nali we all work to not only consume healthy organic food, but also to use only the purest organic and natural products on both ourselves and our children. As my mother said to me when I had my first son, “You don’t need to be perfect you just need to be good enough”. I laugh now because at the time I was very hard on myself and really thought there was such thing as “perfect”. I now see what she meant. We are all working at being more eco friendly and conscious. As long as we continue to evolve and move towards this common goal we will achieve success! Being a green business, we appreciate all that the world is doing to shift consciousness and move towards greener practices. May your year be filled with love, beauty and prosperity!!!