Closing Doors and a Meditation on the Nature of Change

Lela Barker

Visiting a Bedouin camel farm in the United Arab Emirates during a business trip to Dubai.
Visiting a Bedouin camel farm in the United Arab Emirates during a business trip to Dubai.

In the fall of 2003, I started an apothecary company. Truth be told: I had no earthly idea what I was doing. NONE. I was in the midst of a messy divorce, taking my first steps as a newly single mama on some pretty wobbly legs. I was broke, scared, and deeply humbled. I was raising two sweet toddlers who needed heaps of support and I was woefully low on energy and opportunity.

I had no job, no college degree, and no economic security. What did I have? A sharp mind, a burning desire to build some stability as quickly as possible, precious little to lose, a deep commitment to my children, and just enough chutzpah to believe that my life could be different than it was in that moment. As it turns out, that was enough.

Early packaging and some rudimentary photography... it was a "make it work" moment!
Early packaging and some rudimentary photography… it was a “make it work” moment!

With no prior business experience and very, very few dollars, I launched Bella Lucce from the kitchen of my 800 square foot house just outside Knoxville, TN. A few years earlier, my sister had navigated a health crisis, and that scare spawned my desire to know more about what I was putting in and on my body. I began making my own skin care and body care products with natural ingredients, and you could often find my oldest daughter Chloe and I mixing up bath salts, body soaps, and face creams in our kitchen. I never dreamed that my hobby would flourish into a business- I simply wanted to have more confidence in the products I was using. And for a time, I was almost so close to designing the best portable nebulizer for asthma you’d have ever seen, if it weren’t for my personal problems.

Fast forward to 2003 and I had moved into my parent’s spare bedroom on the opposite side of the state while working through my divorce with my Overland Park divorce lawyer. Both my daughters, my dog, and myself all snuggled in tight in a single bed. After being turned down for a waitressing job at a local steakhouse and standing in line for food stamps at my local social service agency (note: This is what “rock bottom” feels like), my mother gently suggested that perhaps I should set up a booth at the local farmers market to sell my products on weekends while I looked for a “real job.”

I took her advice… not because I had any real hope that the effort could be successful, but because I was suffering from a dearth of opportunities. I was woefully low on options, and my bills were accumulating quickly and what the hell else was I going to do?

Bella Lucce's first commercial kitchen in. It was *tiny* and we outgrew it within six months, but I was positively giddy about having my own space.
Bella Lucce’s first commercial kitchen in. It was *tiny* and we outgrew it within six months, but I was positively giddy about having my own space.

Oddly enough, I landed my first wholesale account before I landed my first farmers market. The details of the how and why seem unimportant at this moment, but my beloved Bella Lucce took off like a rocket ship. Within twelve months, I had signed my hundredth wholesale account. I cranked out bath bombs by hand as I watched PBS with my daughters, sitting on the floor together each afternoon. The girls and I ate dinner on boxes of empty jars that doubled as our dining table. And each Saturday, I’d load up my mother’s old minivan with packages and head to the post office. The attendant diligently weighed and stamped each one, a line of patient souls growing outside the door as they triaged dozens of parcels.

In 2004, I remarried and relocated to South Carolina. Signed the lease on my first commercial space, which I outgrew just six months later. Bella Lucce started appearing in magazine editorials fairly regularly. I signed our first distributor and jetted off to Dubai for my first trade show. 250 accounts, then 500, then 1000. A European distributor and training sessions in Vienna. Business dinners in Rome. Press junkets in Kuwait. Custom development meetings in Jordan. Distributors in Scandinavia, Madagascar, and South Korea. Sell-outs on a home shopping network. Ingredient sourcing trips to the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, the jungles of Ghana, and in villages down the rutted, red clay roads of Uganda as I worked to build ethical supply chains for dozens of exotic materials.

Bella Lucce has enjoyed press coverage around the world. A sampling, from left-to-right: Italy, the United Arab Emirates, and the U.S.
Bella Lucce has enjoyed press coverage around the world. From left-to-right: Italy, the United Arab Emirates, and the U.S.

And with all of that explosive business growth came building expansions. Hirings. Firings. A lawsuit or two. Pitch decks. Sales meetings. Investor meetings. Vendor meetings galore. Being courted for a reality TV show. Walking the halls of Congress to lobby for small business. And lots and lots of time on planes. Which lead to…

Lots and lots of time on my therapist’s couch. I’m not in the least bit ashamed to share that with you. Growing a business has been the singular most challenging experience of my life. I’ve survived divorce, cancer, cranial tumors, natural childbirth, and bankruptcy… and I’m here to tell you that none of those experiences challenged me more than growing my business. Nothing forced me to go further outside my comfort zone. Nothing forced me to believe in myself more. Nothing forced me to become a stronger leader, or to check my expectations at the door, or to face down my darkest fears, or to become a more attuned “people reader” than running a multi-million-dollar manufacturing firm that hundreds of people around the world counted on to feed their families. Let me tell you, friend: THAT is some heady stuff.

Thankfully, our packaging and photography got better over time. I'm especially proud of this handmade soap, wrapped in a beautiful handpainted mud cloth that I sourced directly from Mali, Africa, retailed in handmade baskets that I sourced directly from Uganda.
Thankfully, our packaging and photography got better over time. I am especially proud of this handmade soap, wrapped in a beautiful handpainted mud cloth that I sourced direct from Mali, retailed in handmade baskets that I sourced directly from Uganda.

I love the hustle and there’s almost nothing I enjoy more than dreaming up (and pursuing) new opportunities. But while so many of us pray for the kind of opportunities I enjoyed, I can tell you that explosive growth is both a blessing and a curse. Overtaxed adrenals. Cash flow crises. Kids who miss their mom. A husband who often got the remnants of what was left of me at the end of the month rather than my best. And one very, very tired Lela who felt like she had summited the mountain of business only to find that the view at the top wasn’t quite what I had expected. It took me a long time to make peace with that difficult realization, but I finally came to my senses while on a beach in Thailand.

In 2011, two senior managers resigned at my company in the span of one week. There was no great scandal underlying those departures. One was following her husband to another state as he began a new job; the other was simply tired and fried. I was accustomed to people coming and going- that’s part and parcel of business. But my #1 and #2 leaving in one week was more than my brain could process. It was the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back.

Perched atop a forklift in Genoa, surrounded by our Italian distribution team in their warehouse.
Perched atop a forklift in Genoa, surrounded by our Italian distribution team in their warehouse.

I calmly told my husband on Friday that I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, but I was going to find somewhere pretty in which to have that breakdown, away from the watchful eyes of my daughters. Sunday afternoon- less than 48 hours later- I boarded a plane bound for Phuket. I spent 10 days face-down in Buddhist temples, journaling on the beach at sunrise, and meditating daily in a floating sala surrounded by lily pads. I took wheatgrass shots three times a day, retired to bed by 7pm each night, and forced myself to take inventory of my life and my business.

And what I realized in those ten days was this: Bella Lucce was my training ground, not my destination. I had always seen Bella Lucce as my “end game”- the alpha and omega of my entrepreneurial life. But I realized that the experiences I’d accumulated were simply a set of training wheels, preparing me for what was to come. The idea of using the wisdom and strategies that I’d cultivated in life and business to support others was born in a kayak, drifting through a series of caves in Southeast Asia. I flew home and got to work. Fifteen months later, Lucky Break launched in November of 2012.

If you must have a nervous breakdown, this is a lovely place to do it, yes? My villa had an outdoor shower, a meditation sala, and a private pool. I did some good thinking here...
If you must have a nervous breakdown, this is a lovely place to do it, yes? My villa had an outdoor shower, a meditation sala, and a private pool. I did some good thinking here…

A lot has happened since then: I’ve watched my sweet girls enter adolescence. I waved one off to college in the Midwest. I relocated from Columbia to Atlanta. I’ve been blessed to do some passion work via nonprofit boards and personal philanthropy. I’ve seen much more of the world. But at the end of the day, I’ve also been working 80+ hours a week for more than five years, balancing Bella Lucce and Lucky Break. It’s been a fulfilling (but tricky) five years.

Lately, I’ve been feeling the need for a purge, to burn away that which isn’t essential. I asked myself about what’s serving me well. I meditated on what facets of my life are challenging me to grow. I took inventory of what feeds my energy and what drains it. I thought about what’s “next” for my family. And the more deeply I dug into my own psyche, the more I realized that I’m clinging to Bella Lucce because of my own insecurity.

Sitting in on an lesson at a rural school in Morocco. We eventually sponsored that school for several years, supplementing teacher salaries while providing a library, playground supplies, and backpacks filled with school supplies to the kiddos. Some of my favorite work!
Sitting in on an lesson at a rural school in Morocco. We eventually sponsored that school for several years, supplementing teacher salaries while providing a library, playground supplies, and backpacks filled with school supplies to the kiddos. Some of my favorite work!

She’s like a warm blanket that I’ve been clutching for fifteen solid years. So much of my identity is tied up in my role as the founder of Bella Lucce. In the back of my mind, I’ve always known that if Lucky Break fails in spectacular fashion, I can always fall back on my beloved Bella Lucce. Will people even recognize my name if that company ceases to exist?

It’s time to find out.

I’m finally ready to pull the ripcord. Cut the umbilical cord. [Insert your own odd analogy about cords here.] It’s with great pride (and a tinge of sadness) that I share that the doors of Bella Lucce will be closing at the end of this week. I’d be lying if I said that there weren’t some tears as I cleaned out my office a few weeks ago. But my family and my teams (at both Bella Lucce and Lucky Break) have been so incredibly supportive of this decision, and I know in my gut that this is the right move.

Teaching a workshop in Ghana. The ladies and I created a shea butter- based hair pomade product that's still created and sold today. All proceeds benefit a nonprofit that works with widows and orphans.
Teaching a workshop in Ghana. The ladies and I created a shea butter-
based hair pomade that’s still sold today. All proceeds benefit a nonprofit that works with widows and orphans.

Change is a hard concept for me. I often joke that I practice Buddhism because the heart of the religion is this: the world is in a perpetual state of change. And I’m stunningly shitty at processing it. There are facets of this decision that are bittersweet. But mostly, I feel excitement. I’m excited to welcome additional mental and emotional bandwidth as I streamline my life and reduce my “to do” list. When I think of flying off this cliff and fully spreading my Lucky Break wings, I’m giddy at the thought of what that could mean for me, my family, my team, and my clients. And thanks to some clever deal-making, pieces of Bella Lucce will live on, even if they aren’t visible in an incarnation that you immediately recognize. *wink*

I started my first business because:
1. I wanted to prove to myself that I had the power to fashion my life into whatever I desired.
2. I wanted to role model tenacity and courage (on nearly reckless levels) for my daughters.

One of my favorite sourcing trips: learning about cocoa production in St. Lucia.
A sourcing trip to St. Lucia to learn about cocoa production (these are beans drying in the sun). I so enjoyed the sourcing trips: rose farms and essential oil distilleries, raw clay being pulled out of the mountains, argan oil cooperatives where women smashed nuts between rocks, protected shea parklands in East Africa, and spice factories in India. Every drop of it has been fascinating!

I’ve recently come to realize that my life has gotten a bit more bloated than I prefer. My soul is stirring and it’s time to shake things up. To again show my daughters that whatever served you well yesterday may not be what serves you well tomorrow. That part of our journey involves constantly taking stock and fine-tuning our existence. And that sometimes those “fine-tunings” morph into big leaps of faith… but those leaps of faith are always where the magic lies.

This has been the most wonderfully transformative fifteen years of my life and I’m grateful for every step. Starting a business is a revolutionary act and I’m so proud to support product-based entrepreneurs who are on similar journeys. It’s unimaginably hard, but this work is so worth doing.

I once took the Bella Lucce team skydiving. Good times! We also enjoyed some amazing travel all over the world. You all are what I'll miss most!
I once took the Bella Lucce team skydiving. Good times! We also enjoyed some amazing travel adventures together all over the world. You all are what I’ll miss most!

I hope you’ll join me in raising a toast to dozens of employees over the years, 15,000+ wholesale orders, 60+ passport stamps, and almost 2 million products sold. It’s been a wild ride and I will forever be grateful for this adventure. If you have a memory of Bella Lucce, then I hope you’ll share it with me in the comments. When we close the doors for the last time on Friday, I’ll be on a boat floating somewhere off the coast of Mexico. But I’ll have a good bottle of Malbec at the ready and I’ll be indulging in a walk down memory lane. I hope to be able to come here and read your memories, too.

Onward and upward, friends. Always.

About the Author

Lela Barker

Lela Barker hails from the deep-and-dirty south (ATL, represent!), where she spends her days helping makers and product designers navigate the pitfalls of product pricing, brand development, and wholesale strategy. She launched her apothecary brand in 2003 and bootstrapped the hell out of that little business to cultivate a portfolio of 1500+ stockists worldwide, generating $12million in revenue and establishing successful distributorships in the Middle East, EU, Scandinavia, and South Korea. Lela is the keeper of a well-worn passport and the maker of the finest lemon meringue pie you’ve ever put in your mouth.

23 responses on “Closing Doors and a Meditation on the Nature of Change

  1. Theresa Peoples

    Decisions like this can be very gut wrenching and I can only imagine what you have being going through. I have learned so much from your experiences and I wish you nothing but the best!

    Thank you Lela!

  2. Pam Rodgers

    Lady, you are going to fly no matter what you do. I KNOW this. I can’t imagine the difficulty of such a decision, but it sounds like it’s for the best. You helped me immensely when I was stunningly shitty at processing (I remember sitting in my car at a park on a BHB call crying about wasted money and trademarks and starting over and trying my dambdest to NOT sound like I was crying). I will never forget it. Thank you. I’ll be thinking about you Friday knowing that you will come back to work life kicking so much ass. Because that’s what Lela Barker does.

  3. Amber Gunsalus

    This is such a fabulous journey you have shared. Thank you so much for your transparency. It reconfirms for me you are the right mentor in my journey with my small business. Thank you for learning some hard lessons and sharing your wealth of knowledge so others can learn. I look forward to following you as you take on the next challenge, because I know you will continue to share. Cheers to you!

  4. Andrea Evans

    Lela, You are an amazing person and you have an amazing and inspiring story! Kudos to you for having the strength and wisdom to enter another stage of your life, without the business…but actually, this business has its own legacy of changing lives and impacting others globally! Cheers to the next chapter!

  5. Kayla Fioravanti

    The first time I met you was on the streets of Washington D.C. and I so clearly remember you saying, “We can’t pull the ladder up behind us.” In Bella Lucce and Lucky Break Consulting you have not only kept the ladder in place, but you lit the way for others to succeed. Change is hard, but change is so fundamentally good. Proud of you.

  6. Abby Alverson

    So, so many good memories! Thank you so much for the opportunity to work at Bella Lucce. Your love, support and training are still greatly appreciated. Blessings as you move on to the next great adventure!

  7. Kajal Dhabalia

    Lela, you consistently knock my socks off with your authenticity, vulnerability and transparency. What an amazing journey you’ve had—one that only courage, determination, sweat and tears can bring. I have no doubt that you’ve just made room for new magic and abundance to pour in….how you still ran Bella Lucce and got Lucky Break to where it’s at now— is phenomenal! I can’t wait to see how Lucky Break expands and evolves when she’s got you truly full-time at the helm!

    Ladies, hold on to your hats, I have a feeling Lela’s going to take us to whole new levels we’ve never seen:).

    So, so happy for you! xo

  8. Kathleen O'Laughlin

    I have not met you yet Lela. I know about you from spending time with Donna Maria and the Indies in Ixtapa Mexico…on a boat as a matter of fact. When I started to read this story, I was completely relating to your journey of struggle and changes. My guess is many people were inspired by this, so thank you for your honesty. One more caveat, I am 61 and looking at time from a slightly different angle.

    I couldn’t read fast enough to find out if you were letting Lucky Break go or your business. Whew! I still get to work with you and your wonderful services that support Indies. So…blessings to you and your family on your new journey. Quite sure you will strive and be thrive by cutting loose an obligation whose time has come to evolve. Yes honey, onward and upwards with abundant good wishes from fans and friends, even those you haven’t met yet.

    Blessings, peace, and joy to you.

    Best

    Kathleen O’Laughlin

  9. Maggie Hanus

    I’ll never forget when you sent me pictures of our wild soaps in India years ago and me thinking wow, she doesn’t even know me (and I had never heard of Bella Lucce either at that point) but what an incredibly helpful & thoughtful gesture! At that very moment I knew you were a leader. And look at you now…still helping and inspiring makers all over. I’m so happy you get to “simplify” your life (if even just a little bit). I know you’re going to continue to do awesome things though! R.I.P. Bella Lucce.

  10. Wendy Valderrama

    I’ll never forget you saying “there’s no shame in taking your ball and going home” in Brick House Branding circa 2016. You were keenly picking up on the worn out but still pressing forward life of a fellow maker, and gave her the space to consider shuttering her doors without a hint of perceived failure or shame. And that coming from a self-made busOnes success whom you’d expect would only, ever, counsel to do more and never stop! That maker is still going strong, but those words were used in my life to have the courage to take stock of my own life and see that it was a season for something else. I’d never expected to receive that from a class built to build stronger, smarter businesses. But that’s what you give: honest, true to real life feedback that you can’t find anywhere else. You are real with yourself and real with your clients and that transparency is the most inspiring thing about you, Lela Barker! Thank you for sharing your stories, your wisdom, your very heart & soul with us all. Onward and upward indeed! Your legacy is going to grow exponentially as you build into the next generation of makers and business owners!! That’s a legacy so worth pursuing unhindered XOXO

  11. Erika

    Reading the product descriptions on the Bella Lucce website introduced me to the power of storytelling through copy as an entrepreneur. I read great copy and product descriptions before, but not through the lens of a brand owner. It was at that moment a few years ago that I began to slowly do things differently. Implementing various pieces of the puzzle and allowing my insecurities and fear keep me from doing exactly what you described: Jumping off the cliff and fashioning a life stirred by our souls.

    Thank you for taking each of us on this journey with you and sharing your knowledge, wisdom, and honest feedback along the way. I’m ecstatic to be a part of BHB this semester!

  12. Amanda Manol

    I usually detest blogs, but I ran across this post while hunting down my new fav. line Bella Lucce (yes, I’m WAY behind on discovering it’s magnificence!)
    As a fellow entrepreneur, I found this really, really spoke to me in what I’m also going through.
    Thanks for all of your amazing work. You’re an inspiration!

  13. Danelle

    I was just turned on to the best lotion I have ever used at a spa today…found out it was Bella Lucce Thai Coconut Lemongrass Silk and Honey. As I excitingly searched online to obtain this awesome find, had trouble locating where to order, and just found this article. I’m totally bummed out.

  14. Birgit Tolman

    I loved reading your story – so inspiring! Love how you kept everything with the same initials….LB whether it’s Lucky Break, Lela Barker or your beloved Bella Lucce…it is amazing to see how you wove that infinite thread through all.
    Much love to you
    Birgit
    Your absence has gone through me
    Like thread through a needle.
    Everything I do is stitched with its color.
    W.S Merwin

  15. Shannon

    Wow! I just grabbed a bottle I had left over from a while ago to confirm I had the name right and found this when I searched. I loved your products, really wish it had been sold or turned over to employees and given new life.

    Chocolate scents were probably my favorite all time, but so many great ones!

  16. Formerly "Nourishing Effects"

    I am literally in tears right now. Your products were the best beauty products I have ever come across and I have been saving for years to be able to wholesale your products under my business name. I finally have everything in place and am ready to go only to find you are closed :'(
    I understand and respect that you needed to do what is best for your family and your mental health but did anyone take over the company?

  17. Pam

    I just went to order the green tea and crushed rice scrub and OH NO! Please tell me someone else is making your awesome products!!!!!

  18. Connie Hill

    Lela you were always far larger than your beauty company. You were destined for this. I’m incredibly happy for you on your continued journey through life. ConniefromTennessee

  19. Laura Harte

    I am Laurie Harte and have owned a spa in Indiana for 20 years. We featured your products and were devastated when you closed. I have never been able to replace with other products and can’t figure out your ingredients to make our own. Anybody handling wholesale because my spa is just not what it was with you.

    Laurie

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