Today we’d like to introduce you to Edie Goodwin.
Hi Edie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Our mother was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer in 2017. Chemotherapy causes the skin to be really itchy. My first recipe of sorts was for an itch cream. It did ok for our mother. When it was time for radiation, her Radiation Oncologist suggested we get her stuff that we used on our tattoos. It is sticky and not soothing at all. I asked her Dr if I could try making a cream for her instead. She said to go for it, but to make sure it wasn’t astringent. When I got home, I started doing research. What I came up with is what we sell today. It was the first recipe I tried and it worked! Our mother had 33 treatments of radiation with only a slight pink to her skin. No pain and didn’t have to go back for her two weeks skin recheck.
Radiation therapy can continue to burn the skin for up to two weeks post-treatment. It doesn’t just burn on the surface but can do a deep burn. The burns from radiation can affect the skin for months after treatment as well. The skin is tender to even the softest of touch. Most people going through radiation can’t even wear the softest of cotton without it causing pain. With our cream, women were able to wear a sports bra!
Once our mother was done with her cancer therapy, we all took a few months to decompress from the year long battle we had all just been through. I had continued making the cream for us because we liked using it. Then Stephanie and I were talking and decided to see if other people going through radiation wanted to try it. So we started brainstorming on a name and came up with Goodwin’s Skin Soother because that’s what it does, soothes the skin. We opened an Instagram account for the cream and started following different hashtags that were associated with cancer. Before we knew it, we had people messaging us their names and mailing information. By the end of 2018, we had sent out 200 samples of 2 oz each! The results that were coming in were amazing! Women were having the same or similar results as our mother. We were getting messages about our “miracle cream” asking when we were going to start selling it. They wanted to buy it for themselves as well as people they knew that could use it. We opened our Etsy shop on January 31, 2019.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It’s been smoother for the most part. With our product being so specialized, it’s been slow going. Our products can be used by anyone, we use them daily. The cream helps with so much more than burns. But our main focus is still radiation patients.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Neither my sister nor myself have backgrounds in research or science-related fields. I was in the music industry for seven years then took jobs that were customer service-related. My sister has been in a film-related job and in customer service jobs and is currently an assistant for a family. I love to look stuff up. I’m the one that knows a lot about nothing, lol. Little snip-its that I find interesting seem to come up in conversations here and there, but I can’t remember someone’s name for the life of me. Stephanie can remember names and numbers from 20 years ago. We both have always loved helping others. Stephanie has been my rock and the reason Goodwin’s Skin Soother came to fruition. Without my sister’s support, we wouldn’t have been able to be where we are today.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
Customer service! The customer is the most important part of a business. We get a lot of orders on word of mouth and reviews. One of our customers found out about us in the line at Costco.
Pricing:
- Skin Soother $45
- Happy Mouth $22.50
- Sun Block $22.50
- Eczema Oil/Jr $32.50
Contact Info:
- Email: goodwinsskinsoother@gmail.com
- Website: www.goodwinsskinsoother.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/skinsoother
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/skinsoother
- Other: TikTok @skinsoother
Image Credits
Jason Schwartz; Maria; Amy; Laurie; Lori; Lindsey; Annabelle
