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Letter to the editor

A business plan with a pleasing aroma

By ELIZABETH BETTENDORF Front Porch
Published September 21, 2007

Trista Page is a 36-year-old mother of two who has a degree in finance and likes to compete in triathlons.

But her friends, family and husband think of her in a different way: "They all call me 'the crazy soap lady,'" she said with a laugh. "I've even had T-shirts printed up."

Last fall, Page launched her all-natural line of scented handmade soaps, lotions, body scrubs, soy candles and fragrant reed diffusers from the kitchen of her Ballast Point home.

She named it Indigo Bee and put her products in hip aqua and brown packaging.

She typically works late at night or on weekends turning out small batches of scented soaps in aromas that can make a heart sing: cedar-sage, rosemary mint, lavender, magnolia and vanilla mocha latte, to name a few. Right now her house smells like the soap scent of the fall: pumpkin pie.

"Scent really goes back to our childhoods," she said. "I call it scent memory."

Page was born in St. Petersburg and grew up on a farm in Plant City.

"We lived in the middle of the country with lots of property and trees, and the scents I remember are orange blossom, night-blooming jasmine and freshly mowed grass," she said.

"My mom was always cooking so I also love cinnamon, clove and vanilla."

She sells mostly from her Web site, www.indigobeesoap.com, and by word of mouth to friends and friends of friends, plus a growing cadre of bay area day spas that contract for their own exclusive lines of fragrant products.

Pagegot the idea for Indigo Bee while visiting the Natural Health Studio Spa in Temple Terrace. The owner is a friend of hers. "They sell beautiful handmade soaps, and while I was getting a massage, I started thinking, 'I could learn how to do this,'" Page said.

It wasn't the first time Page dreamed of launching her own line of natural beauty products. The idea took root in 1993 when a finance course at the University of South Florida required her to develop a solid business plan.

The idea was good; the business plan was a bust. The professor gave her a B and told her if the plan was real, she would be bankrupt in five years.

Live and learn.

She went on to a career in banking, ultimately as a treasury manager for AmSouth Bank.

"I loved the job but didn't love working at a bank," said Page, who has been a mortgage broker for eight years.

She calls that her day job. Making soaps, lotions and other scented products consumes the rest of her time.

"I go to bed at 10 and get up at 6 and then go all day," Page said. "I don't sit down. I also have a very helpful husband."

Her husband, Chris Page, 37, is co-owner of Top-Notch Painting. They have two daughters, Keeley, 6, and Josey, 1.

Page's dream is to have her own office and inventory space in a warehouse her husband is building around the Port of Tampa.

She doesn't keep a lot of inventory on hand, partly because she believes consumers want fresh products, but also because she doesn't have room in her kitchen.

She thinks she hit on a great idea at a great time, when people want to know what's in the products they're using and want their homes to smell good. Her products evolve and change with seasons and consumer tastes.

What's she making this fall in her kitchen? When she's done with the pumpkin pie soap, she's got something called "Open Sleigh Ride" on the menu: It smells like pine trees and peppermint and snowy nights.

For $6 a pop, you can soap yourself up in a scented memory.

As for Page, well, she might be onto something big.

"I want to be the next Bath & Body Works and known as a company that started in South Tampa," she said. "I'm really passionate about this."

Elizabeth Bettendorf can be reached at ebettendorf@hotmail.com.

[Last modified September 20, 2007, 07:22:42]