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Karen Haitos, Lebanon, PA (2026)

01/28/2025

Love: The Ultimate Business Strategy

Love isn’t just good for the heart—it’s the ultimate strategy for your business.

When kindness, integrity, and service are at the core, your work creates trust, builds lasting relationships, and inspires transformation—inside and outside the workplace.

Here’s the truth: when you plant seeds of love in your business, you’re building something far greater than profits.

You’re creating a legacy that truly matters.

Let all that you do be done in love. – 1 Corinthians 16:14

How has love impacted your business or community? Let’s share and inspire each other below!

01/26/2025

This little section took me FOREVER to clean the wallpaper paste. I kept finding more and more layers of paper and gunk.

I need somebody to tell me if I’m taking this wallpaper paste removal too far. My perfectionist tendencies are driving me to remove every last bit. Help! (And I ruined a perfectly good manicure 😩)

I think we’re re-papering above the wainscoting and some sort of wood below.

All suggestions and advice welcome!

01/25/2025

🍯 Nature’s secret for rosacea-prone skin? Honey!

Between kitchen renos and grandkid cuddles, I’ve spent years perfecting honey-based formulas for sensitive skin. When it comes to calming rosacea, raw honey is truly magical:

• Calms inflammation & redness
• Fights bacteria that trigger flare-ups
• Deeply hydrates
• Strengthens skin barrier

Meet your skincare besties:
💛Clean B Gentle Honey Cleanser (54% raw honey)
Gentle enough for daily use, tough enough on irritants
💛Bright, Tight & Smooth Honey Mask (80%+ raw honey)
Your weekly reset for calm, glowing skin

Your Simple Honey Routine:
AM: Cleanse → Moisturize → SPF
PM: Cleanse → Moisturize
2-3x/week: Add 15-min mask after PM cleanse (or whenever your schedule permits)

Pro tip: Our local wildflower honey makes all the difference! Give your new routine several weeks to reveal naturally radiant skin.

Ready to transform your skin? Questions about your routine? I’m here to help! Ask away below or DM.

01/22/2025

💡Fun fact: Jojoba oil isn’t actually an oil—it’s a liquid wax ester. And today, it’s frozen solid!

Here’s the backstory: Our store was without heat for several days (old building (and old boiler)
struggles), and today is my first day back. While finalizing the year-end inventory, I grabbed this
bottle of jojoba oil only to find it completely frozen.

Honestly, it made me laugh. Even in a frozen state, jojoba is one of my favorite skincare ingredients to work with.

So, what makes jojoba so special?

💛Skin Mimicry: Jojoba is incredibly similar to your skin’s natural sebum. This means it absorbs beautifully and hydrates without clogging pores—a win for all skin types, especially sensitive or
acne-prone skin.

💛Stability Superhero: Thanks to its unique molecular structure, jojoba is one of the most stable plant-based oils (okay, wax esters). It doesn’t go rancid quickly, making it a perfect choice for
natural skincare products.

💛Balanced Hydration: It helps regulate your skin’s oil production, meaning it can balance oily skin while soothing dry patches. It’s like the multitasker of skincare ingredients!

Even frozen, jojoba proves why it’s a staple in Essentially Haitos products. Its ability to nourish, protect, and balance skin is unmatched—no matter what the temperature says outside.

If you’re like me and winter dryness has you reaching for the gentlest yet most effective skincare, keep an eye out for jojoba oil in your products. It’s a cold-weather MVP!

How are YOU keeping your skin hydrated this winter? Let me know if I can answer any skincare questions in the comments!

01/21/2025

I stayed in a friend’s apartment this weekend and I saw this card on her desk. Very specific.

I’ve been struggling lately with the direction of Essentially Haitos. I LOVE ingredient research, experimenting and making new products for our customers. It’s the best part of the “job” for me. And it’s also killing me.

Am I honoring our core mission to the best of my ability when I’m constantly researching new products?

Or am I spreading myself too thin and drifting from what Essentially Haitos initially set out to do? Help women who struggle with their skin (like Alicia did - and honestly, me, too, at the same age). All Alicia wanted was to feel confident in her skin, to go makeup-free if she so desired, and for somebody, anybody, to help her get there.

That’s why Essentially Haitos exists.

Back to the “Finances for Feminists” business card. It’s specific. Targeted. That financial adviser knows EXACTLY who she serves.

Good reminders often pop up in unexpected places and in unexpected forms. I think Someone☝🏼is speaking to me. 😊

01/16/2025

When Data Goes Rogue…

Small business life means wearing ALL the hats. Today’s role? Data detective.

I sat down to clean my email list (coffee in hand, obviously). The mission: identify subscribers who’ve been MIA for 72 weeks. That’s a year and a half of complete silence. No opens, no
clicks, no window shopping. Nada.

Final check before hitting suppress, because you know... trust but verify?

Plot twist: 38% of these “inactive” subscribers opened emails IN THE LAST 30 DAYS.

Excuse me, Klaviyo?!

Here’s the thing: data should be your compass, not your chaos creator. One double-check just saved me from losing hundreds of people who actually want to hear from us.

Lesson learned? Behind every data point is a real person. And sometimes the tools we trust need a reality check (looking at you, Klaviyo analytics ).

Fellow business owners - has your tech ever made you question everything?

Drop your “trust but verify” moments below!

01/09/2025

We’re FINALLY doing it!!!🥳🥳🥳 We’re renovating our kitchen!

We originally planned to gut it with all new cabinets and layout - until we got the estimates. 😳

Change of plans! Now we’re keeping the layout AND the cabinets - and yours truly is doing the majority of the dirty work and cabinet refinishing.

I have never attempted anything this grand in my life!

Funny thing is, I’m not intimidated at all. I guess I don’t know what I don’t know. LOL.

Follow along to see how I do (could be quite an entertaining experience).

01/10/2022

Intending to do something, thinking about it, planning it may make you FEEL like you’re making change (I know it does for me).

BUT until you (me) actually DO IT, you’re just treading water.

Impact your life - and the lives of others - by ACTING on those intentions.

Have a great day!

11/09/2021

𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙖 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙨, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙙𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙍𝙀𝘼𝙇!⁠

Product production, marketing plans, emails, photos, updating website, content creation….Whew!⁠

If you don’t laugh, you’ll cry (which I did for a few years, but hey, live and learn 😉).⁠

Tips I learned along the way (and from fellow product bosses) to maintain sanity and a sense of humor during Q4:⁠

✔️Plan production and make products so they’re ready to go by the end of Q3 / beginning of Q4 (if possible) – and schedule a Holiday photo shoot (or take Holiday pictures)⁠

✔️Know your weaknesses (product photos for me!), make a plan to work through them – and work the plan!⁠

✔️Don’t get discouraged if you don’t sell as much as others. The first 2 seasons are tough on new makers but keep pushing - every little experience in the creative world teaches you something.⁠

✔️Stay true to yourself and your product all year long, don’t feel pushed to participate in all the big sales going on around you. Keep your eye on honesty and quality.⁠

✔️And my favorite, reflect in writing, in detail, after each Holiday season. Use your notes and improve upon your processes year after year.⁠

Although we’re all in the midst of Q4 and we WILL get stressed, remember that we deliver beautiful, quality, hand-crafted items to people who love them and love us for creating them.⁠

What are your tips for staying sane (and family-friendly 🙄) throughout Q4? Please share!

11/05/2021

🧐Did you know you can create a major impact with your buying decisions and that matters now more than ever? That’s why I’ve decided to take the Pledge. ⁠
⁠
By pledging to make 1 in 5 of our purchases from a small business, together we can help real people contribute to their families and households, hire teams, create jobs, and build up local communities.⁠
⁠
Will you join me in making magic happen for small businesses?⁠
⁠
Whether you shop online or offline, consider supporting a small business first. ⁠
⁠
Don’t know how to find an online small biz? Start here: www.shop1in5.com and be sure to follow ⁠
⁠

11/03/2021

𝗜 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿-𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸, 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗹𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀.

Those traits are a part of me, but when I really need to get things done, I become my alter ego. Her name is Ace (don’t ask).😜

♦️Ace is decisive and acts quickly. She knows that ACTION trumps over-thinking every time. She also knows course corrections are normal and NOT a sign of failure.

♦️Ace knows she is here to serve and does not lose sight of that. She needed somebody just like herself not too long ago.

♦️Ace is a no bu****it girl. She doesn’t accept it from others – and she sure as s**t doesn’t accept it from herself. Accountability is her middle name.

Readers, meet Ace ‘Accountability’ Haitos (she looks and dresses like Kim Possible in case you're wondering). 😊

Who do you call on when you need to push forward in uncomfortable situations? 𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 call on your personal superhero, or am I just weird? I’d love to meet you both!

10/30/2021

Guard your time. Period.

My alarm goes off at 5:00 a.m. everyday.

I'm not a ma*****st. I'm not a 5:00 a.m. 10-Step-Morning-Routine-Warrior. I'm simple a wife, mother, business owner who WANTS A LITTLE PEACE AND QUIET and for EVERYBODY TO LEAVE ME ALONE!

(There, I got that off my chest.)

I started this habit 20+ years ago when my four children were young (and needy 😂). A 5 a.m. wake-up was a small price to pay for a quiet cup of coffee and a few chapters of my latest read.

The kids are (mostly) gone and my husband is retired, but I guard that quiet hour like a lioness.

Is there time you ferociously protect? I'd love to know! Let me know in the comments below.

Karen Haitos

01/28/2025

01/26/2025

01/25/2025

01/22/2025

01/21/2025

01/16/2025

01/09/2025

01/10/2022

11/09/2021

11/05/2021

11/03/2021

10/30/2021

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