SBA Names Anne-Marie Faiola
CEO, Bramble Berry, Inc., Bellingham
2011 Washington Small Business Person of the Year
Celebration honoring winners on April 21st – The Museum of Flight, Boeing Field, Seattle
SEATTLE – The U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2011 Washington State Small Business Person of the Year epitomizes the hobbyist’s dream come true. Anne-Marie Faiola turned a soap-making hobby into a multimillion-dollar business called Bramble Berry. From shea butter to lavender essential oil to palm oil, Bramble Berry now sells raw materials to soap and toiletry artisans worldwide.
Faiola practices what she preaches. “A good business comes from finding something that works and capitalizing on it…Success doesn’t happen overnight…It’s about replicating small victories every day.”
In 1998 when Anne-Marie Faiola was 20 years old and still in college, she pursued entrepreneurship-- her soap making hobby-turned-into-business quickly bubbled beyond her living room. A driving force for Anne-Marie and the company is her sincere love of the craft coupled with a desire to help others. Her mission statement is to “provide creative empowerment with LOVE – changing Lives, creating Opportunities, delivering high Value, and encouraging creative Expression through the five senses.”
With over 2500 products, Bramble Berry enables artisans to create everything from soaps to lotions to lip balms to mineral-based makeup and candles. Expanding beyond Bramble Berry’s niche, Anne-Marie also operates Otion (lotion without the “L”) - a retail store where she also offers workshops to teach customers the soap making techniques, and ELF Industrial - a soap mold manufacturing company.
Harnessing social media has strengthened customer relationships leading to increased sales because “people buy from people they like.” Anne-Marie blogs on her website, SoapQueen.com; has launched a YouTube channel called Soap Queen TV to share free instructional videos; tweets for @BrambleBerry with small business advice and soapy musings; and has a Facebook site with over 4,600 fans and loyal customers.
“An SBA 504 loan from People’s Bank and Northwest Business Development Association enabled Faiola to acquire her own 13,000 square foot office and warehouse building in Bellingham, and later to expand it by 3,500 square feet,” conveys Nancy Porzio, SBA Seattle District Director. “Bramble Berry has been profitable for all 13 years of the company’s existence. The sustained financial performance is a testament to her business acumen” added Porzio. “Dynamic, double-digit growth in sales from multiple income streams now generates annual revenue of about $3 million. Faiola has 32 employees, serves on numerous boards, and annually gives back about 8% of profits to charitable causes. These are key reasons why she was selected for the Washington state Small Business Person of the Year,” said SBA Regional Administrator Calvin W. Goings.
With her high-energy work style, integrity, desire to connect with the business community, and passion for the soap business, Anne-Marie Faiola is likely to clean up in the soap industry for years to come! “We enthusiastically select her as Washington State Small Business Person of the Year. Anne-Marie reminds us that the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in Washington state, and we look forward to honoring her success at the Awards Gala on April 21st,” said Porzio.
An independent panel of judges selected the winner based on several criteria, including staying power, business growth, increase in employees, response to adversity, innovation, leadership and contributions to the small business community, and evidence of community-oriented projects. As the state winner, Faiola will be traveling to Washington DC in May to compete with 53 other winners from across the country for the National Small Business Person of the Year Award. Information on SBA’s National Small Business Week 2011 celebrations in Washington, D.C. can be found at www.sba.gov
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