Simply Betsy Company

, I wanted to use my creativity and artistry to create healthy skin and body products using only natural ingredients that I grow myself. So I took a class at a local community center and then I started experimenting! I worked late at night in the basement after we put the kids to bed, and pretty soon I came up with the first batch of soap that I considered good enough to come from Simply Betsy Company! I started selling from my car when I dropped the kids off at school; I’d sell at neighborhood parties; then I got invited to show at a very nice farmer’s market with lots of other local artists. For a while I was in a friend’s shop. As I went up each level, Simply Betsy Company developed a following, which gave me a mailing list of people to invite to the shows I was doing – and they came! It wasn’t long before Renaldo was helping me look at locations for our first brick-and-mortar shop. We had a lot of setbacks on our way to today. We actually had to stay in our first shop as we were homeless at the time. As the shop evolved and we learned about being in business, we changed locations several times. As that was happening, Renaldo lost his job and we were homeless again for a time, so there was housing transition to go through; other problems included keeping the children in school, clothed properly, fed and rested. But we kept moving forward, I kept developing new products for Simply Betsy Company, Renaldo kept working on our marketing efforts, and we handled it. As my son approached high school graduation, our present location became available and now he comes back from college to help out. I still do shows, Hessler Street Fair and North Unions Farmers Market and Holiday Market. We opened in the heart of downtown Cleveland, in the 5th Street Arcade, a long way from my West Side basement! People from all over come to Simply Betsy Company to purchase my healthy skin and body products – including visiting athletes and musicians, because of the Rock Hall. And this year, Simply Betsy Company won Best Gift Shop in the Cleveland Hot List competition. We are a small business helping to grow the local economy. We would like announce the relocation and opening of our new showroom and manufacturing facility in the former Cleveland Clinic administrative center and one-time headquarters of Parker Hannifin Corporation. Cleveland providing more jobs for our community. Simply Betsy Company has grown and thrived as our family has worked together through the years to make it happen. We’re ready to move forward in our city, with our city, because we are a part of our city.