As a part of the Morning Lazziness series about empowering women who are encouraging and doing incredible things with their ideas in society, I had the pleasure of interviewing Joani DiCampli.
Joani is 55 years old lady living in Rehoboth Beach, DE, with her husband and son, sharing her inspiring story.
Did you face any challenges at the start of your business?
I faced a lot of challenges as I never owned a business, let alone create a formula and learned from all of them. I didn’t even know how to start a business, create a formula, where to buy supplies and how to put all of it together. Two of my hardest challenges were
- I let a business partner come in at 20% for his time and no money as I did not believe in myself that I could do this or scale my business. As I learned more about the business, I saw red flags and asked to go separate ways, and he did not make it easy for me. He wanted a good amount of money for me to buy him out. I was so devastated about this and laid in bed for a week. I did get up and fought back for my business, and I did get my 20 percent back and did not have to give him $100,000.
- I trusted a manufacturer to make my product, and they ended up stealing my formula and private labeling my formula to other businesses. In these two challenges, I had to pivot, believe in myself, and move forward. I did just that, and my sales have been better than ever.
What is the story behind the Boobalicious sexual wellness product? How did you start it?
I was laid off from my corporate job, and I was working part-time at a Boutique. It was a hot summer night, and I was waiting on customers when I felt this awful boob sweat under my breast and not to mention an odor. I was 47 at this time and going through menopause and started sweating in areas we don’t discuss as women. At that moment, I turned to my co-worker and said there should be an all-natural breast deodorant, and I am going to create one and call it Boobalicious.
Can you share with us the funniest story that happened with you when you pitched your idea?
I walked into this farmers market with a pink basket and Boobalicious and wanted to talk to the owner to sell it there. There was a customer there and was curious about what was in my pink basket. I told him, and he was cracking up and said, let me buy 2 for my wife as she sweats like a pig at the gym. He did buy two as a joke as it was a breast deodorant with funny names like Lickable Lemons, Crazy Coconuts, and Perky Peppermints. He did reach out to me and told me that this stuff really works. My wife went to the gym, and she did not sweat.
What’s the most exciting thing about working in a sexual wellness industry?
For me, as an older woman, not wanting to feel sweaty and smelly, I was losing my confidence and being sexy as a woman should be. Especially when you want to be intimate with your husband or significant other. So to give women their confidence and sexy back by using Boobalicious to stay fresh and confident all day and less sweaty 🙂
According to you, what is this world missing the most?
Kindness is so important to be kind to others as you never know what someone is going through. We should be spreading kindness every day, as I show it in little ways. One thing I like to do is buy someone coffee who is behind me in line waiting to pay for it. I pay for it and walk away, and I know I put a smile on someone’s face.
What makes your brand different from other brands in the market?
I use all-natural ingredients that you can read, pronounce and understand what each ingredient is. I offer fun scents, and I give back to Miracles Do Happen in Delray, FL, to help women in recovery.
Who are some of the most interesting people you have interacted with?
On my journey, I pitched Kevin Harrington the original Shark from Shark Tank, met Daymond John, Brittany, and Jax from Pump Rules, great entrepreneurs like Grant Cardone, Elena, Cindy Eckertt, Forbes Riley, and Danelle Delgado. I have been mentor by most of them and have learned and grown so much because of them.
According to you, why should women maintain a personal hygiene regimen, and how are your products beneficial in this?
Great question. As women going through menopause, sweating, or having body odor, it is important for us to feel comfortable in our own skin.
Boobalicius helps relieve the sweat and odor that some of us have, and Boobalicious is vegan, so we are not putting any toxic on our body, we offer great scents, and we even have one for your Lady Parts. Having a personal hygiene regimen is so important to me as a woman because I am so uncomfortable with the sweat and odor under and in between my breasts that when I wear Boobalicius it keeps me confident all day and not embarrassed when I am around others, and I can be myself.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started,” and why? Please share a story or example for each.
- Make sure you have a lawyer to read any contracts or documents – As I said earlier about my partner that I trusted so I felt there was no need to read our partnership agreement.
- When signing up for a Manufacturer, do your research – When I did get mine, I should have done more research, made sure they had quality control, should have signed an NDA – you really need to do your homework when looking for one.
- Get a mentor – in the beginning, I had to learn everything from Google and did not know there was mentors/coaches to help you grow your business as I feel if I knew this right away, it would not be taken me as long to grow my business
- Network and go to events. When I learned this, I started going to events to network and meet like-minded people that have grown their business to millions. These are the people you want to be around to learn how they did it since networking is where I found my mentors and have learned a lot of valuable knowledge from them all.
- Drop any toxic friends along the way as friends that are toxic, negative complain as they will bring you down with them. I dropped a few friends like that, and it really felt great as I did not miss the complaining or negative talk. You will be surprised if your mindset shifts because of this.
What are your plans for the future, how do you plan to grow this company?
My plan is to be a well-known brand and to help women in recovery as my products help pay for two of my three children’s recovery, and I want to give back to help other families that are going through this.
Lastly, what does success mean to you?
To be successful is to help others be successful- when I first started my entrepreneur journey, I was surprised when I reached out to others to ask them a question, for example, where did you get your container, no one would get back, so I made a promise to myself that when I am successful, I will help others that are starting their journey. I am happy to say I do help others that reach out to me.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
