Clean Slate

 Over the last few months I have found resolution in several areas of my life, personal as well as professional. The two things are pretty closely linked, Bear's is my only source of income at present. Through all the craziness of the last few years, Bear's stayed the course and survived even when I was inconsistent or struggling. During the last year while I was concerned about my health, Bear's kept chugging away in the background. Since 2013 Bear's has been there helping me fund my dreams, even when the sales were slow, it was enough to keep me afloat with my family's help. 

Now, as I come into a space of not needing to be in survival mode, not waiting for answers, and not being worried about moving my workspace; I am met with the terrifying and exciting prospect of a clean slate. 

All my truths have been told, the chips have fallen, and the cookie has crumbled. I love the scene in Runaway Bride with Julia Roberts where she is trying eggs cooked all different ways in order to find which one she likes. Always in the past she went with whatever eggs her partner chose. In that same way, Etsy has been determining what I can and cannot sell for several years. The confusion between hemp and CBD made me dependent on Etsy (as one of the few places I was able to get approval to sell hemp skincare) and their rules and changes took the shop from successful to barely alive. The moment a product would start selling well, it would get deactivated for a violation it wasn't violating and my whole shop would get shadow banned. This cycle happens every few weeks, making it impossible to grow on Etsy. 

I didn't want to ruin another shop with inconsistency so I wanted to wait until I was able to get settled in Colorado before I started anything new. January of this year I confirmed my health was ok and it was something benign in my lung, not cancer. Then there were some family and personal things that needed to be dealt with. In a weird way, once I started ticking things off the list, it became easier. They say when it becomes more uncomfortable to stay the same than to change, you change. 

Some of my plans were codependent and based on other people, but not in a mutual way. With my new-found clarity, those plans changed. As I started think about what I wanted to do moving forward, I really want to have creative freedom. I want to make what I want to make and tell you about the benefits without worrying about if I will lost my livelihood because I said hemp or brightening. I miss selling my Vitamin C Mask and the Magnesium Muscle Rub. I miss being able to speak openly without Etsy customer service going through every message. 

Bear's Beauty and the base products will stay on Etsy, as is, for the time being. The Misbehaving line for acne, the cleanser, and the deodorant are some of my best sellers and will remain there. Magnesium Butter, anything without hemp, and anything that can be made better is coming with me over to Jerra's Apothecary. This concept will be all the wonderful things I want to sell, however I am able to offer it to you. I will try to keep popular items stocked, but will be under no obligation to do so. Creativity is the name of the game. I may even offer some of my art and jewelry. I want a place to offer my herbal tinctures and more therapeutic preparations. I am so beyond excited. 

Loner's Apothecary is still in the works long term, but CBD is on the back burner. I do offer custom formulas and have access to the range of cannabanoids (CBN for sleep, CBG and CBD) please email me with any questions, BearsBeauty@yahoo.com 

As I move forward, I feel excited to start creating and to keep building. Bear's Beauty and Jerra's Apothecary will play off of one another. If there are products that you miss, let me know, I will revamp them and bring them back.

I am excited for the next few months and while I know it will be a lot of work, I am stoked to be finding my purpose.