Scented Courage In A Bottle

It all started with a mom and her son.

A fear of the dark and of nightmares had left Debbie Glickman’s son a little uncomfortable as he was transitioning from his crib to a big bed. Aware of the calming properties that lavender holds, Debbie went looking for a spray that she could use on his bed before he went to sleep at night. It was during this search that she soon found that there was nothing geared directly towards children and their anxieties on the market. So she created her own, Fairytale Wishes.

Tell us a little about Fairytale Wishes, inc. and what inspired it.

Fairytale Wishes is a line of all natural aromatherapy sprays for children developed to help them with common childhood fear and anxieties. I have two children who are now 10 years old and 7 years old. When my youngest was very small and we were switching him from his crib to a big bed, he had terrible fear of having bad dreams and of the dark. I knew of the calming properties of lavender so I went to a bath and body store and found a lavender spray for about $20/bottle and told him it was a spray to have “Sweet Dreams” and it completely conquered his fear.

I did some research and found there was nothing out there specifically targeted to children for fear and anxiety, both of which are extremely common for kids. My wheels started turning and I got to work.

When was your business launched?

FTW was officially launched in April 2009 after about 8 months of development.

How many sprays do you currently have and what does each spray ‘do’?

Currently we have four sprays in the line. Each spray comes with a bit of “magic” glitter in the bottle and a mini-fairytale on the hang tag that you can read to your child–written by our “magic” Fairytale Wishes Frog, named Freddie.

Sweet Dreams Spray (lavender scent) that you spray on your pillow to chase away bad dreams

Monster Repellent (bubblegum scent) because in case you didn’t know, monsters are terrified of the smell of bubblegum because it gets in their fur and their fangs and gets all sticky so they can’t scare you. The mere scent of bubblegum sends them running for the hills! You spray this in your closet, under your bed, anywhere you think a monster might hide.

Super Hero Spray (peppermint scent) – This spray is for bravery and courage. Peppermint is a very energizing scent and a little spritz of this will give you courage to do things such as get on the school bus, go to the doctor for that yucky shot, audition for a school play, taking a test–you name it. The kids love it!

Happy Camper Spray (grape jelly scent) – This sweet smelling spray is for going away from home. We market it to kids going to summer camp. When they get homesick, they spray it on their bunk and the sweet smell makes them think of happy things and their homesickness goes right away.

Any new ones in the works? If so, care to give us a hint?

We do have a couple of new ones in development and when we get close to launching, we will let you know. We do have a book that we are pretty close to launching that will compliment the Monster Repellent. We are working on having a book to go with each spray.

How long did it take for you to create each spray? What was that process like for you?

I worked on them all concurrently. But from the idea to market took about 8 months which in actuality is pretty quick time frame. The process was a lot of fun for me. It definitely brought out my creative juices and I loved involving my children and their friends in my “test marketing”.

Have you always been entrepreneurial?

I guess to an extent I have always been an idea person. I worked in the advertising industry in Chicago for 15+ years and you need a certain entrepreneurial spirit to succeed in that business.

What is the most enjoyable part of running your own business?

The most enjoyable part of running my own business is that I can still be the mom I want to be and still have something for myself. I make it a point to shut down work when school is over so I can be with my kids. Sometimes after dinner, I let my husband take over if I need to finish up some things but it has given me the ability to “have it all.”

The least?

The least enjoyable thing for me is all the “numbers”. I enjoy the creative aspect much more than the profit and loss aspect.

What are some lessons that your business has taught you?

Patience. I am a person that when I put something together, I don’t like to sit and read the directions. I like to just do it. My business has taught me how important it is to learn the process and ask lots of questions.

Any advice you’d like to share with fellow mompreneurs that are just getting started?

  • If you are passionate about it, you can do anything.
  • Learn. Learn. Learn.
  • Ask lots of questions.
  • Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. They are inevitable and we learn from them to make us better.
  • Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
  • Know what you know and equally important what you don’t know. Find someone to partner with you that is great at what you don’t know!
  • Go out of your way to help other mompreneurs with any knowledge you glean along the way.
  • HAVE FUN!!!!

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