Three years ago, while staring out her downtown Toronto, Canada, corner-office window, Gayle Campbell didn’t see concrete and pavement like everyone else. Instead, she saw tropical white sand and turquoise blue waters.

Still enjoying the afterglow of a recent island vacation, she wondered whether there was a way to bring back that relaxed beach feeling. She asked herself whether she could find a way to marry the calm serene feeling one gets from spending time at the beach with the financial benefits and rewards offered by corporate life.

So while working full-time as a high-flying VP in a downtown financial institution Campbell started carving away time in her schedule to work on a high-end bath and beauty products business. Soon she was trading Bay Street for Beach Street and her new product line, Island Caribe, was being sold in top-end Caribbean resorts including the Four Season.

STICK TO YOUR VISION

How did she do it? By keeping her mind on her goal to divide her time between Canada and the Caribbean and looking out for opportunities that would support that dream.

“I knew I wanted the opportunity to travel,” says Gayle, “and I knew I wanted to create something successful that was genuinely connected to the Caribbean – a place that people around the world connect with unwinding and relaxation."

Vacationing in the Turks and Caicos in 2007, Gayle had her “a-ha” moment. A frequent traveler herself, she tapped into the fact that when many people travel they like to bring something home with them that, for even a brief moment, allows them to relive part of the vacation experience.

While there were already a lot of existing spa products available in the Caribbean, there were few that appealed to the changing consumer demand for natural, paraben-free and eco-friendly alternatives. Moreover, few, if any, were based on ingredients that were indigenous to the region. So Gayle started working on a line of high quality bath and beauty products and with that Island Caribe was born.

TAKE BABY STEPS

“I started my business part time before quitting my day job,” says Gayle. “I worked on my business plan, did some market research and developed a few products. It doesn’t always have to be go big or go home. You will learn a lot and help minimize your risk by doing a soft-launch and adjusting as you go along.”

And for Gayle, this approach worked. She used the financial stability of her day job to help launch her business. She kept costs low by focussing on a few key anchor products. She then went after select top notch resorts and quickly landed her first retail client Sandal Resorts. Other resorts soon followed. Island Caribe is now available in multiple locations across the Caribbean and has a line of 18 products.

FOCUS ON THE KEYS TO SUCCESS

"It doesn’t always have to be go big or go home. You will learn a lot and help minimize your risk by doing a soft-launch and adjusting as you go along.”

“In bath and body care products, a strong brand is critical,” says Gayle. “While there were a lot of things I compromised on, packaging, presentation, and quality were not some of them. I called these minding my ps’ & q’s – subtle things that really do matter in the end. I think it’s important to invest where it counts. For me the key to developing a strong sustainable brand was to create a line of products that lived up to what I had promised.”

According to Gayle, “You have to know your business, and the keys to success in your industry.”

In the bath and body care industry, the way branding, product quality and distribution are handled can make or break your business. Island Caribe’s customers were looking for a product that lived up to its brand promise of luxury, quality and elegance, and everything her company did, from its website and the resorts where the products are sold, to the scents and the product names, is aligned to live up to that – all set against a backdrop of sun, sea and serenity.