Meet Deb Gray

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Deb Gray a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Deb, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.

It has been a journey! Growing up in a culture that defines your “worth” in how you look and what you do, gave me a lot of challenges to recognize and overcome. There have been some VERY hard times, but through these times I learned a lot! First of all, I am stubborn, which has been a benefit in growing. When a challenge presented itself, I hit it head on. Most of the time this did not feel very good, but I learned about me and why I reacted or felt. Digging inside and being willing to see who I am and grow for the better. Life situations can be hard but persevering is not an option! Life has changed a lot and so have I. Be willing to see thing through different eyes and grow.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I will start by saying that none of this was planned! Over 20 years ago I decided that we needed to get goats. I am an animal lover with a soft spot for dairy goats so this seemed to be a good choice for 4H projects. We started milking and soon had a lot of milk! Several people suggested making soap so eventually I started doing that. I loved the soap so decided to sell some. This was a hobby for a number of years but eventually, after learning to make lotions and moisturizers the hobby grew into a business. My confidence grew with the business. I learned how to put together a website, got professional looking labeling and developed formulas to add more to our line. Many years into this I did a business plan. That was helpful and gave me focus. Since the business just happened, I never had a focus. Although, I always knew that helping people in some way, is a passion for me.
My line of skin care is natural and made here. I have hired someone to come in and make the products and she does it the way I always did. From scratch and not massed produced. Ingredients are very important to me because giving our skin what it needs to get and stay healthy improves how we see ourselves as well as our overall health. This has helped me grow in my self esteem and confidence as well. Hearing and seeing the difference our skin care has made for people makes me very happy!
I also have a dairy goat farm. My goats continue to provide milk for the products and they are loved and spoiled! We offer farm visits so people can experience mingling with the animals and learning about them. People and goats enjoy this! I warms my heart to see people really enjoying something that I take for granted.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

The first thing that I realized is that even though I have a great product, not everyone cares and that’s OK! In the beginning I sometimes felt a twinge of rejection if someone decided they weren’t interested. That is not personal! It is just life! For me, this was part of developing self confidence.

I tend to think and act fast. Things that seem like a great idea may not be. Think things through and sit on an idea for a little while. Talk to others and listen to what they say. Have some people in your life that you trust to be honest with you.

Life isn’t about “me”. My business exist for others. I want to produce the best products that I can and believe in what I have to offer. The goal of this is to help others have more self confidence by helping them have healthy skin. Sometimes I feel like this is a small thing, but small things matter!

Do you think it’s better to go all in on our strengths or to try to be more well-rounded by investing effort on improving areas you aren’t as strong in?

At first I went all in, but eventually realized that that was not a good idea! As the business grew I started delegating some of the work. Just because I can do something does not mean I should. I now focus on what I feel should be done by me such as marketing and developing products. Also managing the goats farm. I decided to teach my helper to make the products and I am very blessed that she does such a good job!! Someone also does my bookkeeping. That was never a strength even though I thought it was!

This came about because as the business grew, I slowly became a bit overwhelmed. Of course other parts of life are still there so everything together was a bit much. A friend asked me what I felt I did best and that started me thinking about what did I need to do and what could I have others do. Now I am not sure how I did what I did! Actually, I was not doing things as good as they could be done because I stretched myself too thin.

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REW Photography

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