 I'm Marcia Joyner, and we are navigating the journey. And really, on this journey, there are times of the year, as you all know, and now, really, now, we are beginning the big season, the Christmas season, the gift-giving season. So, today, we're going to visit with Mama Dee. And this will be our first voyage into the gift-giving season. And that is because everything that Mama Dee has is handcrafted. And it is made, you have to send her an order, a request, and then she makes it. And then she packages it and sends it to you in time for Christmas. Or whenever you want it. So, we thought that now, because we always talk about the different seasons of the year, that we would begin right now. And so, I want you to meet Mama Dee. And Mama Dee has been a guest before. So, tell us about Mama Dee. That's an interesting name, Mama Dee. Where did a Mama Dee come from? Why are you Mama Dee? Well, other than the fact that you're a mother, yes. Yes. I am actually a mother. I'm a mother of seven. Oh, boy. And my house, when I lived in Georgia, was the neighborhood house that all of the children came to. I lived on a corner house with a big tire swinging and trampoline. All the parents would come to my house and knock on the door of my children here. And the children in the neighborhood, because so many are more tiny, they would just say Mama Dee before they saw me as a second mother or whatever. And the name has just followed me since then. Yes. So, then what I'm assuming, and correct me if I'm wrong, that all of your products are made with that same motherly care. Absolutely. I am a nurturer by nature. And I have thrown product away that I've made. Well, not necessarily thrown in a way. I'll take it to the shelter, you know. And I give it to like the women's shelter or the homeless shelter in my neighborhood because I want my clients to have the best product. What is your background in making product? What kind of education allows you to make these products? I am my college degrees of biology, forensic science. That is what I studied in school. I'm also a hairstylist and an executive pastry chef. All of that actually plays a role into what I do. So, as an apothecarius? Apothecarius, yes. So that's the blending and then the products and all of the things that go into making your products. It is. I do medicinal healing herbs. I use a lot of natural plants, fruits and vegetables. I'm basically a formulator. Kind of almost like a pharmacist, like how they get things and mix them together and give you your... So I do the same thing, I get plants, I get a lot of medicinal plants. I use fruits and vegetables, find out what the properties of them are. And I make my own little concussions for healing, for soft, moisturizing skin and different things. Well, now, the one that I love, absolutely love, love, love, and everybody in Hawaii should have it. Yes. And that is, what is it called? The island butter. The island butter. Okay. It protects your skin in the sun and it doesn't harm the coral. And I think that is just special. That is super, super, super. And everybody ought to have it. Yes. And we actually did a special price on it for the last couple of days. So we've sold quite a few of it. There are women that also use it for their babies. I got someone to be an order this morning for her baby, you know, because it's safe to put on your children. And like you said, it doesn't harm the ocean, the coral reefs or anything like that. And it protects you. Now, what is it? Or can you tell us without giving away your secret? I can tell you. I mean, the main ingredient, which I've discussed before on here, my secret ingredient, I won't tell you that one. But yeah, we have like shea butter. And shea butter has natural sunscreen properties. Our shea butter comes from Ghana. We have Caribbean cacao. Vitamin E, we use 45,000 units of vitamin E. So the sun and vitamin E works together. And just the collaboration of all the products that we have in there gives you a very nice sun, protected, natural. It repels water. And it doesn't have any of the oxides in it. So it's safe for babies and everybody. Absolutely. Because if you go to Waikiki, it smells like copper tone. A whole bee smells like copper tone. And it's like everywhere. So it's nice to know that there's something that is safe and it won't harm the coral. Exactly, especially with the new laws that Hawaii is putting in place with the sunscreen now. Because we're not, you know, they're working on the law about banning certain sunscreens. Yeah. So tell us now, we're talking about Christmas. And I know this is a long way off. But since all of your products, I think it's a long way off. But maybe not. It's not. September, October, November. No, it's not. And in fact, Walmart already has things for Christmas. They're just missing things. Yes. So tell us now, if we order from you now, and you will make it and package it in time for them to get it whenever they ask. Right. But you don't make it and warehouse it. No, I do not. We don't warehouse any of our products. We have a very quick turnaround turnover on them. As soon as I'm making them, those are most likely going in orders to be filled. Basically the only shelf time we have is like the curing time when certain products have to be cured. A lot of our products are made that day and packaged up in a box, like a lot of our lotions and things. And they're sent right out. So the way we are doing the Christmas items is we're taking pre-orders now. There will be a cut off date. On the pre-order, we have a $30 box, a $50 box, a $75 and a $100. Each box contains a little bit more. For example, the $30 box has about $50-ish worth of products in it. It comes in a beautiful box, hand wrapped with a pretty bow on it. There's also a hand written card on there in front of the card with Semele Kalikamaka and the inside, we will hand write your message. You just tell you pre-order. You give us the name and the address of where you want it to go and you tell us whether you want us to mail it in October, November or December. Oh, how wonderful. Yes. Yeah. So you could do it today while we're thinking about it. Yes, absolutely. I actually have, as I was coming here to the studio, I had someone that did some pre-orders and I told her I would finish with her as soon as I, but she did her pre-orders. Because she lives here on the island, she wants hers mailed out the first week of December. Yes. She wants to live in the mainland made like they were sent earlier. What is in the package? What are the products that are in the package? It's a variety mix. We have scrubs, lotions, soaps, just a variety mix of products. Everything is very carefully hand crafted. It's all pretty aesthetically pleasing to the eye and the most important thing is it's natural because our model is don't put anything on the outside of your body that you won't put on the inside. That's a good idea, that is a very good idea because we do that. We put all kinds of stuff on our stuff that we wouldn't ingest. Right. So, how are some of the vegetables and the things that we normally eat that you're using in the product? Well, being in Hawaii, our ecosystem is a little bit different than everyone else. Our air is very clean because we're in the middle of the Pacific, you know. So we have a lot of negative ion water because of our falls and stuff. Our fruits and vegetables here are different than the fruits and vegetables on the mainland. They are very wholesome. Hawaii has the best seaweed. We have the best noni fruit and this is exactly what I do. I go around. I have a lot of clients that actually bring me fruit to help keep the cost down on my product. And I just take it, I'll put it in a blender, puree it, pour it right into my product. You know, everything's carefully measured. I write down the properties, for example, this has antioxidants, this has vitamin A, C, B, D. A lot of them have kits where we have the kit with the witch hazel and other things in it where you mist your skin to open your pores and then you apply the product and then you put a sealant on. Again, everything all natural. Wow. And all of that comes in the package. You get a nice package, yes. All right, so you have the skin care and what else? We have the soap and the skin care and what else? We have products for babies. We have products for pets. We have teeth whitener. We have a country healing sound and country is actually a plant. Country now that sounds like my grandmother used to have. Yes, yes, yes. It's very old school. A lot of the elderly people here on the island are very familiar with it. They're used to doing like being outside playing and getting a cut or sore or something and taking a polish and putting on there and healing it up very quickly, you know, so yes, that's very old and it's very efficient, works outstandingly well. So come free and then what else? Come free, like I said, the teeth whitener. We have eyelash growth serum. We have lip serum, lip scrub. So basically we cover your body from head to toe. You know, our shield, our logo is a shield and the shield represents a protection for your body and for the environment because all of our products are environmentally safe. So we have lotion, lotion. What's the name of the lotion? So if I wanted to order it, what would I? Yeah, well, we have the lemon grass. We have many different scents in the lotion, but this is a picture here of the lemon grass. Lotion cream is what we call it. It has castor oil in it. Castor oil is old school. Oh, that's really old. Yeah, it has a lot of emollients and things in it. So that's really good. OK, so we have lemon grass, oils, lotion, lotion and soap. And then we have what kind of soap is this? We have like various soaps. We have 52 different soaps. 52 different soaps. Well, no wonder you're this soap that is being displayed now. It is actually a plumeria. Well, of course, the color is plumeria. Yes. So that is really nice. This right here is actually a shampoo bar. It is made with manuka honey and honey from the Big Island. And shampoo bars are very popular because you don't have to worry about liquid restrictions when you're traveling. So those are extremely popular. This is chocolate macadamia nut. We've got two pounds of chocolate in there and 16 ounces of macadamia nut. So if you have allergies, please be careful with that. And when we package it, we do put it as a separate. It smells like it's edible. Oh, but that's soap. It's soap. Yes. When you're taking a bathroom, you just smell the chocolate. This right here is our lavender. The lavender is really soothing. Yes. Yeah. I like to use that one at night time. So it's very. So you sleep well. Yes. Sleep well, absolutely. Yes. So those are a few. This right here is actually a wedding favor. We do wedding favors. We do baby showers. We do birthday parties. We do soirees. You know, we have people that are contact me. I had someone contact me yesterday that she has a Christmas party coming up and she wants to order 30, you know, gifts for her Christmas party. So yeah. And so now you sell not only this way, but at Etsy also online. We sell it Etsy. If you you can to get to Etsy, you can actually go to soapbymamaD.com. And then you make an order there. Because yes, everything on Etsy is homemade. Yes, everything on Etsy is homemade. So you can go to Etsy. You can purchase from us there. We are on Instagram. I post daily on Instagram. I go on Instagram and this is our contact information here. I go on Instagram and I do talks like four or five times a week. The other day I actually do my talks. It's kind of like story time with Mamadi. And the conversation the other night was a lady asked me about Yoni soap. Now, Yoni is a Sanskrit word for like vagina and uterus and stuff. And they actually have a soap that you can, you know, and that was what our discussion was about the other night. And it got a little bit intense. I had to let people coming on know, OK, if your children are watching, tell them no. But it's just story time with Mamadi. And we're on like four or five times a week on Instagram between hours of seven and eight p.m. Hawaii time. Wonderful. Yes. So you talk about all of the things you make and other things. Yes, we talk about all the things we make. A lot of my clients have questions as to how to use a certain product or the benefits of the product. So they post a question and I answer. Yes, we need to take a break. OK. And when we come back, we'll talk more about the product and exactly what we need to do to get ready for all of these events coming up. OK. Thank you so much. We'll be right back. OK. Thanks to our think tech underwriters and grand tours, the Atherton Family Foundation, Carol Mon Lee and the Friends of Think Tech, the Center for Microbial Oceanography Research and Education. Collateral Analytics, the Cook Foundation, Dwayne Kurisu, the Hawaii Community Foundation, the Hawaii Council of Associations of Abarbon Owners, Hawaii Energy, the Hawaii Energy Policy Forum, Hawaiian Electric Company, Integrated Security Technologies, Gailin Ho of BAE Systems, Kamehameha Schools, MW Group, the Schuyler Family Foundation, the Sydney Stern Memorial Trust, Volo Foundation, Yuriko J. Sugimura. Thanks so much to you all. Aloha. I'm Marcia Joyner and we're back. And today we are talking with Mama D. And I know it's early, but we're getting ready for Christmas. So Christmas Mama D. Soap by Mama D. But it's more than soap. It's more all kind of beautiful, organic, handcrafted product. So now that we're getting ready for Christmas or the holiday, not just Christmas, but holidays because we have a lot of stuff coming between now and then. So what are all of the things that you're offering? Well, before I go into that, if you don't mind, I want to throw a little trivia question there because a lot of people don't know what my name initially started out being my soap company. When I first started this company, it was not called. When? How long has that been? This November will make three years that we've been in business and initially for one month, the company was called something else. Oh, OK. And very few people know this. Previously, it was called. I was like, yeah, I don't know. We have a slide with it. There it is. It was called Take 10. Take 10. And this is actually one of my first products that took a photo of. And the reason the company was called Take 10 because my idea was if you just take 10 minutes out of your day and for yourself. So that was initially how my products started. And in doing so, I kept telling people, OK, my company's Take 10. And they say, Mama D, why did you call it Take 10? And no matter how much I said Take 10, everybody kept saying Mama D. And they say, I'm going to get some of these products. Yes. As someone said, you need to just take the take 10 down and call it Mama D's. And I said, you know what? You're right. Yeah, because I remember the first time I saw you at one of those big fairs. And everybody said, did you see Mama D? Did you go to Mama D? Mama D. And, you know, I'm looking for this old woman. And so, yeah, I was absolutely delighted, especially when you told me about the one for the skin, the soap for the butter. Yeah. Yes. So coming up for the holidays, we have some awesome, awesome sense and that we're going to be making our packages out of any of the packages that you ordered during the day during the holiday. Your prepackages will contain one or more of the different scent. This year for 2019, we're using pumpkin spice. And I think I brought some of that to you all last year, the soap and stuff. We have eggnog, Christmas spruce, peppermint bark, gingerbread, white mint, nutmeg, rum cake, Arabian spice and star anise. Wow. So that's a really large line up. So all of our products for the fall will be made out of those. You know, we will still have our regular go tos like the avocado and thing. But because it's the holiday season and with the purchasing of the holiday packet, it will be those. So OK, so I need to put in my order. Yes, yes, everyone needs to get their order in. Yes. Yeah. So do we decide among those different spices or is there a way that we can order some of this and some of this and some of this? Yes, we are allowing you to. That's part of the advantage of doing your preorder. You get to select what you want and we will build your box accordingly because some people just want a box full of a variety of lotions. Some people want a box full of a variety of soap. Some people like their box to be mixed in that. Well, I want, I'll tell you right up front, I want the soap shampoo. OK, because one of my children, she travels for a living. Yes. And so that would make it easy to get through all of this stuff that you've got to go through to get on the plane. Yes. Instead of carrying little plastic bottles. Exactly. And that is the reason people love the shampoo bar because you don't have to worry about those restrictions. And the fact that, you know, they're really, really conditioning. And so you don't have to worry about more plastic in the environment. Yes. Exactly. Cut down on the carbon footprints. That's what we're out here to do. Well, when you live in Hawaii, you're more conscious of the carbon footprint than most places. Absolutely. And you know yourself when you and I went to eat one time, I carry my own bamboo straws. Do you have them with you? My own utensils. I do not. They're in my other purse. I apologize. But yes, I will be selling those as well. Now, yeah, I have to tell you about this. She has and it's a great item in a little package. Yes. When you go, it has bamboo forks and spoons and a little carrying case and a bamboo straw. So they're your very own and you don't have to worry about the plastic forks and spoons and the paper straws and all that kind of stuff. Right. Exactly. Yeah. And that is absolutely. I would love that more than all the other products that I would love. Yes, I will have those during the holiday as well. Yeah. Because when, even though I have silver, I don't have the plastic at home. But after I saw you out with this, I thought, yeah, we, we all as a nation need to look at things like that. And there's no reason that we can't carry it with us. Exactly. Instead of going to these high end coffee shops and they give you paper straws. And you know, the other thing is napkins. They give you a napkin under your cuff and napkin with your sandwich and napkin with and back in the day, everyone carry kerchiefs with them and kerchiefs, you know, and they use that same one over and over. Whereas now you just find yourself having napkin paper. Yes. Yes. Yeah. So we're environmentally conscious and we're doing our part. I do beach cleanups and all of that to help the environment. That is wonderful. So now we left off at the soap. Yes. The shampoo soap. Tell us some more. OK, now with the shampoo bar, basically, you would just get in the shower or lean over the sink. You would wet your hair. You use the shampoo bar soap up your hair really good and rinse it. Like I said, it has a lot of conditionings in it. If you don't want to use the liquid conditioner, we do have a conditioning bar as well. We have two conditioning bars. One is for your body and one is for your hair. Oh, OK. And then after all of that, what about the fragrance in it? We don't use no fragrance. We use essential oils, but the honey and milk, we don't put any fragrance in there because when you take this out, it smells like you're opening a jar of Manuka honey and just smelling it. You know, you can just smell the pure honey in it. So there's no essential oils or anything in it. And the milk, you have a choice out of kosher goat milk or coconut milk. Kosher milk. Yeah, kosher goat milk or either coconut milk. A goat is kosher. It can be. It can be. I got to ask Jay about that. Yeah, it's just it just speaks of the process of how they're killed, but they weren't killed real unruly or nothing, because a lot of times they get that adrenaline rush that coys in their system and stuff. And yes, and it just, you know, when something's kosher, it speaks about that particular method. Oh, so that it's not OK. It hasn't been inhumane and killed. OK, yeah. I'm going to ask you, OK, no, but that's such a great idea. Yeah, that is a great idea. Yes, I saw a show just this weekend with this buffalo milk where they the buffalo are have piped in soft music and they give a massage with them and they just express it out. Yes. Yes. And then when they're ready, they go into the machine themselves, you know, and but it's amazing this the difference in how we're thinking about animals. Right. Yes. Well, you know what they say, you get more bees with honey when you're just really smooth and nice and things flow right. Then it goes according to as planned by nature, you know. So that's the reason, like with a lot of our products, we incorporate nature into it as much as possible because so many people have gotten away from that, you know, and we're trying to bring people back to the natural way of doing things. Yeah, especially here with so many products, so many plants. Oh, my goodness. A lot of the herbs, like you saw a picture of the pestil just in a lot of the herbs. I sit down and grind them while I'm watching television or something. That is some calendula that I have. There's some dried up calendula and I just sit down and mash it all up and take it and pour it into the product. This is a picture of a top shelf of mines in my laboratory with all different types of herbs and things in there. I feel my buckets up with them, but a lot of it is handpicked. I was picking some moringa yesterday. I took the moringa, picked it all off the branches, laid it out flat to dry. And then today I will take it and grind it up, you know, mash the seeds and get my seed oil out. Wow. That's a lot of work. Well, when you buy it out of the store, it has preservatives in it, you know, and it defeats the purpose. So I prefer handmade. I do, too. And so how long does it take you to make all of this? Or have you do it all the time? I do it all the time. And the thing about it is I'm happy doing it. This is my happy place when I'm stressed or something. I grab a pestil and something and, you know, start doing it or cutting something up. It's very therapeutic for me, but I do have help. I'm not doing it. You know, I have a staff that works with me. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to turn everything else out. Well, now, one more time, let's see if we have your address, how to order and all of that stuff. OK, Mama D's. So you can go to Instagram. On Instagram, you would just type in by mama D, B-Y-M-A-M-A-D. And you can send us a follow on there. You can sit in during the evening and listen to our story time, our story talk, and you can also join us on Facebook, the same link by Mama D. You can send us an email at soap by mama D at gmail.com. Our telephone number is up there. Or you can simply go to soap by mama D.com and order. Well, Mama D, it is always a pleasure to have you here to talk about all these wonderful things. And you don't have to wait till Christmas. You can order at any time. And I just want to add one tip bit. We can put CBD in any product you want. Oh, OK, but that's an option. You don't have to have a very good no THC. No. No. OK. Thank you so much. It's been a pleasure and we'll see you next time. Thank you.