They Dared to Dream...
The daughter of immigrants and the son of a father born in poverty, Linda and Brian Kaminski put everything on the line--investing their savings, mortgaging their home, selling the family car, borrowing on credit cards, and when that fell short, selling many of their possessions--to research advanced skin care formulas and start their own skin care business.
Without a car, Brian pedaled a bicycle around town while Linda gave away skin care samples to shoppers in the parking lot of their local Wal-Mart. Today their company, L'Bri Pure n Natural, based in Mukwonago, Wisconsin, is the nations leader in providing aloe-based skin care, beauty, and nutritional products through a network of independent Consultants.
The road to leading a multi-million-dollar company began in 1977 when then 20-year-old newlywed, Linda Kaminski, was introduced to the concept of direct selling. She eventually quit her secretarial job to devote herself full-time to the direct selling business, becoming the top seller for a national skin care company. Meanwhile, Linda's husband, Brian, was employed in the aluminum foundry of Milwaukee's sprawling Briggs & Stratton factory. Molten aluminum in excess of 1,220 degrees Fahrenheit was poured into dies for casting the block and parts of lawnmower engines.
On one day in 1985, at about noon, a forklift delivering a large pot of molten metal to the die casting area slammed on the brakes. Like a wave splashing over a break wall, super-heated aluminum spewed from the pot, soaking Brian Kaminski from the waist to the floor. Brian was rushed by ambulance to the Burn Unit of Milwaukee's St. Joseph Hospital.
Following initial treatment at the hospital, Brian was sent home with strict orders to treat the third-degree burns with a prescription salve and bandages to prevent life-threatening infection. It was difficult to remove the bandages to put on the salve without further damaging the burns, Linda recalled of the ordeal. Brian recounted, It got worse and in a few days I could hardly walk. It wasn't healing.
Linda added, We kept up this routine for about five days and Brian was still in pain and the wounds looked terrible. A friend suggested that they try aloe vera. The Kaminski's were aware aloe vera was a popular home remedy for minor burns, but Brian's burns were definitely not minor.
At this point, Linda said, we had nothing to lose because the salve and bandages were not working. She removed the bandages for the last time and spread aloe on the damaged skin. Within two days, the pain subsided and Brian's legs appeared to be healing. On the follow-up visit to the doctor, the physician scolded them for not following his instructions.
Linda remembered, He gave us a long lecture of how lucky we were that some major infection hadn't settled into the skin. He told us the prescription salve contained certain things to help ward off infection and that there was a reason you keep the burns covered. The doctor insisted they stop using the aloe and return to the prescribed salve and bandage treatment.
We just felt good about the aloe, Brian said. So we kept using it, and I got better. There was no scarring. The doctors and nurses were amazed how well my burn healed, and we attributed it to the aloe. Brian recovered and returned to work at the foundry, but within six years he left his factory job to work fulltime with Linda in her home-based business.
In 1998, remembering their experience with aloe vera, Linda and Brian decided to start their own skin care company with formulas based on aloe vera. Brian explained, Most skin care products begin with water as the basic ingredient. Instead of water, we decided to use aloe vera as the base.
According to the Kaminski's, aloe vera contains 75 nutrients, 200 active compounds, 20 essential minerals, 18 amino acids, and 12 vitamins. Nicknamed the burn plant, aloe vera has been the subject of numerous scientific inquiries and has been used as a healing agent for thousands of years.
Working with bio-chemists, Linda and Brian supervised the formulation of several aloe vera-based, all-natural skin care products. Brian stated, We wanted skin care formulas that were pure and natural, of the highest quality, and that would promote healing to help people have younger, healthier skin. We made sure everything was well within FDA regulations and was documented to be healthy for the skin.
Combining their names, Linda and Brian named their new company L'Bri Pure n Natural, pronounced Lih-Brye. The bio-chemists went to work to create a comprehensive skin care line of cleansers and moisturizers. The Kaminski's were told the work would take up to a year and the price tag would be high.
To meet the research and development costs, Linda and Brian mortgaged their home, raising $200,000. They borrowed $150,000 on credit cards, committed their entire family savings, and then sold their boat, car, and a number of household goods. Without a car, Brian rode a bicycle around town.
Finally, the first products began arriving from the lab. Among them was L'Bri Daily Moisturizing Hand & Body Lotion, made with aloe and 41 other ingredients, including vitamins, natural botanicals, Echinacea extract, ginseng extract, and cucumber essence. The office and distribution center were located in the basement of the couples suburban home.
Linda said, We knew our products were superior, and people would love them, if they tried them. The couple leased a compact car and Linda drove to a Wal-Mart parking lot to give away half-ounce samples of the lotion and other products. At this time we were so far in debt, the business was now about survival, she added.
Linda continued, I positioned the car so I could see people coming out of Wal-Mart. I asked people to try a free sample of our pure and natural lotion.
Many people accepted the samples and soon Linda and Brian were filling orders from their home.
In the years since, Brian estimates the company has distributed more than 100,000 free samples of various L'Bri Pure n Natural products.
On one recent morning, while walking through the busy shipping department, chatting with happy employees and watching L'Bri Pure n Natural cartons fill UPS trucks, Brian told a guest, I was confident that if we worked hard, did the right things, sold a good product at a fair price with good service, we would be successful.
Linda and Brian Kaminski's amazing story is now the subject of a book, Dare to Dream.
Here are a few excerpts. To receive your own copy of Dare to Dream click here.
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