How local soap and body products store, LahVdah helped reopen the city of Hamilton
Venita Allen’s shop may be full of luxurious soaps, skincare, and other pampering products, but she had a feeling back in February that she was going to be needed on the frontlines of the coronavirus crisis.
“Everybody in the world bought up this hand sanitizer to make a lot of money, and I wanted to get it out to my community at cost,” she says. “No one should be making a lot of money off of an epidemic.”
With her worries about the future of the virus spreading in the United States, Allen used her pre-existing supplier contacts in the soap and skincare world to get the highest quality hand sanitizer, soap, and soap sheets she could find, investing extensively so that she could get products that would not burn or dry out her customers’ hands.
Remaining open as an essential business supplying companies with the hard-to-acquire sanitizer, Allen took this opportunity to give back to the community. She helped frontline businesses and organizations get the cleaning supplies they needed even if they couldn’t afford to pay her costs. She was instrumental in keeping golf players safe at the two Hamilton golf courses, for instance, as well as getting sanitizer to retail shops and salons as Ohio reopened.
“I love the feeling when you give someone something and know that it made their day,” she says. “I knew that people needed to see kindness when there wasn’t a lot of that.”
Her work with the coronavirus outbreak has been an extension of Allen’s mission to show love to her community through the products she creates and sells. She relies heavily on all-natural ingredients with moisturizing, healing properties, especially Argan Oil, which is featured in many of her products.
She and her business associate Lisa Macy make the atmosphere in the shop fun. They’ve been able to keep producing and mailing products because of a robust online presence.
Allen has used Facebook Live to host chats and connect with customers, as well as to host “flash sales” that make it fun to shop online and get good deals. Her Facebook page alone has 142,000 followers, more than double the size of Hamilton itself, and every video and Live event gathers hundreds if not thousands of comments.
“When you come in here, we want to be your family,” says Lisa Macy. “Some people just come in because it makes them feel good; it’s our happy place, a sanctuary.”
Prior to her Main Street location, LahVdah had a prominent location in Findlay Market, where Allen acquired many of the loyal customers who still purchase her products even if they live elsewhere in the world. She has also exhibited at many local craft fairs and festivals.
Allen didn’t have an easy time getting to where she was, with a difficult childhood and a lack of support system. She takes comfort in her strong faith in God and in the family and friends she has now. She retired from the Sheriff’s department where she had a career in law enforcement, and she feels blessed to have been making skincare that can meet her customers’ needs for over 15 years now.
“I try not to focus on the bad stuff, I just want it to help me to work even harder,” she says. “My life has made me who I am, and gave me my drive. Most people would have turned to the streets, but I believe God kept me from that.”
She finds joy in both helping the community with needs for sanitizing items and with products that make people feel beautiful, pampered, and comfortable.
“At least once a week, I make something new or try a new scent, so my customers can’t wait to see what’s coming,” Allen says. “I keep it new and fresh.”