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Standing out in the body care field

By Farnoosh Torabi | Special to amNewYork

January 29, 2007

Rashida Marie Morgan was inspired to become an entrepreneur well before she could even spell the word.

During the hot summer afternoons of 1989, when she was a fourth-grader, Morgan managed a tiny lemonade stand with friends at the community playground in Rochester.

"It wasn't about the money," said Morgan, whose freshly squeezed lemonade sold for 10 cents a cup. "It was the thrill of selling something that I wanted and chose to do."

Now 26, Morgan has kept up with her entrepreneurial spirit -- and her use of natural ingredients.

Last month she launched Marie Deneen, a line of bath and body care products made mostly with fruit and plant extracts like shea butter, coconut oil and cocoa butter. The new venture adds to a giant industry where bath and body products raked in more than $32 billion in domestic sales in 2005, according to industry publication Stylecareer.com.

But entering this fast-growing market has demanded patience, for Morgan, who, in addition to formulating, designing and selling the products, doubles as a full-time graphic designer for a celebrity magazine in New York. She works at least 50 hours a week only to return home to pick up where she left off with her small business.

Amid all the juggling, Marie Deneen took about four years to materialize, with 90% of the seed investment stemming from Morgan's own savings.

The rest, she said, came from family members and a couple of bank loans. The business is not likely to make a profit until another three to five years. Her goal is to distribute the products nationwide in various retail outlets like Sephora.

To separate Marie Deneen from the crowd of cosmetic and beauty lines, the business is banking partially on its social outreach initiatives as a competitive advantage. Recent surveys show consumers have more brand loyalty with products that help social and environmental causes. A portion of Marie Deneen's sales go to community projects in Jamaica and West Africa, from where Morgan imports the products' main ingredients.

Morgan mainly sells her products through MarieDeneen.com. They are also available at Tones Spa in the Bronx.

Farnoosh Torabi is a video correspondent for thestreet.com. Reach her at amSmallBusiness@gmail.com.