When she was younger, Beatrice Dixon suffered from bacterial vaginosis for eight months. One night, an ancestor gave her the ingredients to heal herself in a dream. From that insightful dream, she created the formula for a healthy, clean feminine wash.
In 2014, Dixon launched The Honey Pot Company, a plant-based feminine hygiene line created with a goal to provide women with a healthy alternative to feminine care that is free of chemicals, parabens, carcinogens, and sulfates.
The Honey Pot Company currently offers feminine washes, wipes, tampons, pads, and soon-to-be additional offerings in both the feminine hygiene & feminine care segments.
Follow The Honey Pot Company on Facebook and Twitter.
Transcript
Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia, it’s time for GWBC Radio’s Open for Business. Now, here’s your host.
Lee Kantor: [00:00:18] Lee Kantor here. Another episode of GWBC Open for Business. And this is going to be a good one. Today, we have with us Beatrice Dixon with the Honey Pot Co. Welcome, Beatrice.
Beatrice Dixon: [00:00:29] Hi. How are you?
Lee Kantor: [00:00:30] I am doing well. Before we get too far into things, for the few people out there who don’t know about the Honey Pot Co. why don’t you let people know what you’ve got going on.
Beatrice Dixon: [00:00:40] The Honey Pot Co. is a plant-based feminine hygiene company. We focus on women’s daily and monthly needs. So, we really span out. We do external washes, wipes, pads, tampons. And we sell in Target, Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, and a multitude of retailers across the United States.
Lee Kantor: [00:01:01] Now, tell us a little bit about your entrepreneurial journey. How did you get started as an entrepreneur?
Beatrice Dixon: [00:01:09] I got started as an entrepreneur out of the mother of invention being necessity. I had an infection that I couldn’t get rid of. Literally, I had it for almost a year, and nothing that I did worked. But finally, one night, my grandmother … one morning, I should say, my grandmother came to me in a dream, and she told me what to do, and I did it. And when I woke up, basically, she handed me a piece of paper, and it had a list of ingredients. And when I woke up, I wrote it down. I made it within a couple of days, and everything that I was dealing with went away after that.
Lee Kantor: [00:01:46] So, how do you kind of explain that to yourself, that occurrence?
Beatrice Dixon: [00:01:53] I explain it to myself precisely the way that it happened. I’m eternally grateful that my grandmother thought enough of me to meet me in another dimension because my grandmother died when my mother was very young and tell me what to do to heal my body. So, in the dream, she told me that she had been walking with me and watching me dealing with what I was dealing with for a while, and she just wanted to help me to get some healing. And that’s what she did. So, I just reconciled with it precisely the way that it happened. I don’t try to make it any more or less of what it is.
Lee Kantor: [00:02:32] Now, you had never met your grandmother?
Beatrice Dixon: [00:02:35] I had never met my grandmother. My grandmother died when my mother was young, way before I was even thought of.
Lee Kantor: [00:02:42] So, when this was happening, did you instantly recognize her?
Beatrice Dixon: [00:02:46] I recognized her because of pictures. And me and my mother look a lot like her. So, yes, I did recognize her.
Lee Kantor: [00:02:54] So, you were comfortable, she told you something, you wrote it down, and then followed it as she recommended, and got kind of miraculous results.
Beatrice Dixon: [00:03:04] Exactly. That’s exactly how it happened.
Lee Kantor: [00:03:06] And then, when that happens, so there was never a doubt of, “Should I take this seriously?” This was just very kind of matter of fact, this happened because you must have had other dreams throughout your life where people have spoken to you or no? Was this the first time that something like this ever happened?
Beatrice Dixon: [00:03:26] I had other dreams where I’ve had ancestors come and visit me, but I’ve never in my life, even all the way up until now, have I ever had a dream that was this clear and concise. This had a level of clarity to it that I had never experienced before. So, it has happened to me before, but just never in a way that was as clear and concise as this was.
Lee Kantor: [00:03:57] So, when that happened, and you write it down, and I guess you mix this concoction together, and then tried it, was an instant? Like you were like, “Oh, this is relief. Definitely, I’m going to keep doing this”?
Beatrice Dixon: [00:04:11] It was instant. I instantly said, “I’m going to make this into a company.”
Lee Kantor: [00:04:15] Wow! And then, so, at the point … so, now, it’s working on you. So, you feel confident. Did you have any trepidations of having somebody else try it where they’re not related to your grandmother, that you didn’t know that, “Hey, it worked for me, I don’t know if this is going to work for a stranger”?
Beatrice Dixon: [00:04:36] Well, what I did was I gave it away for like a year and a half. So, I just gave it away to friends, friends of friends. And what was happening is a lot of those people were having the same results that I was because I didn’t want to just put it in a bottle and sell it. I had to make sure that it worked for other people. Plus, I had to kind of perfect the formula, right? Like I had just made it for myself. But it’s kind of like with cooking or with anything else, you don’t just make something and just put it out into the world. You have to try it first, and then get other people’s results. And so, I gave it away to hundreds of people before I sold a bottle.
Lee Kantor: [00:05:24] So, that was kind of a market test. Did you ever take it like to a lab or a scientist to say, “Hey, what is making this work?” or did you-
Beatrice Dixon: [00:05:34] Yeah. Yes, I did, eventually. Yes.
Lee Kantor: [00:05:37] So, at some point, there was more structure around the formula, I guess, in order to replicate it?
Beatrice Dixon: [00:05:45] Absolutely. Yeah, when we got into Target, it had to come out of the kitchen, right?
Lee Kantor: [00:05:52] Not your kitchen anymore. Like, it had to come out of like a-
Beatrice Dixon: [00:05:55] Yeah, it had to come out of the kitchen. When we got into Target is when we went to a manufacturer, we started working with chemists. And then, they made the formula in a way that that it needs to be made for mass production. Then, that’s when we did a clinical trial as well.
Lee Kantor: [00:06:20] Now, when it’s going through those stages, is this still like kind of your thing that you’re working, I guess, on the side at one point and then it became a full time endeavor?
Beatrice Dixon: [00:06:32] Yeah, it wasn’t full-time for me until 2018. Once we were actually well into Target is when I went full-time. We got into Target in 2017.
Lee Kantor: [00:06:43] So, now, how did that relationship kind of blossom?
Beatrice Dixon: [00:06:47] That came about because the buyer had heard about us through a mutual contact, and she just reached out through email. And she reached out, and we got back, and we met with her a few times, and then she expressed an interest in bringing our brand into the store. And it took a year. We had to go through all the same channels and jump through all the hoops of fire that everybody else does, but it just takes time. But, yeah, it it took a lot of time, a lot of paperwork, a lot of money, raising capital, doing all those things. But it just takes time. There’s just not really no other way around it.
Lee Kantor: [00:07:36] Now, it sounds like throughout the process, you’ve had a lot of kind of positive encouragement from a variety of either dreams, and people, and companies. There had to be some downs too. Like how did you kind of navigate the ups and downs of doing something like this?
Beatrice Dixon: [00:07:56] The ups and downs of doing business, there’s not really much ways around that, is there? It’s just like it’s just life. You can’t get around the ups and downs. That’s impossible. So, you roll with them. You know what you can control, you know what you can’t. And whatever you can’t, you kind of have to dive to, and then put parameters in place that make it a little easy for you, easier the next time around, so that you’re not running into the same situation.
Lee Kantor: [00:08:28] Well, some people go through a challenge like this, and starting a company is definitely a challenge, and they hit roadblocks. And for some of them, they’re like, “Okay, this is too hard,” they’re out. But for whatever reason, you decided to keep kind of going boldly forward and not letting any type of setback kind of get in your way. Like is the dream that strong, the belief in what you got going on so strong that it just gets you through that? Like, what do you attribute that resilience to?
Beatrice Dixon: [00:08:57] I mean, look, I mean, I have employees, I have co-founders, I have family that relies on me. I have responsibilities. And there’s no plan B. So, for me, like if I made a decision, I’m going with my decision. I’m doing what I said I was going to do. But that’s just who I am. I’m black or white. I don’t waver. You understand what I’m saying? Once I make a decision that this is what I want to do, I’m doing it, and I’m committed to it. But I think that that’s in you. That’s not anything that I’ve been taught. That’s just in my blood. Does that make sense?
Lee Kantor: [00:09:54] Yeah. I mean, I think in order to be a leader, you have to have that kind of like burn the boats behind you kind of attitude that we’re going to move boldly forward.
Beatrice Dixon: [00:10:06] And, yeah, we’re here now.
Lee Kantor: [00:10:10] That’s it.
Beatrice Dixon: [00:10:11] That’s how I feel.
Lee Kantor: [00:10:11] Exactly. And there’s a there’s a book called The Obstacle is the Way. And what that means is that everything in front of you isn’t really in front of you. It’s just you’re going to have to get around. It is part of the path to get to where you’re going. It’s not there to disrupt you. It’s there just part of the path. So, don’t complain about it. Just figure out a way around it.
Beatrice Dixon: [00:10:33] Yeah. That’s by Ryan Holladay, right?
Lee Kantor: [00:10:35] Yeah.
Beatrice Dixon: [00:10:36] Yeah. I’m a bit of a stoic. So, yes, I’m with you.
Lee Kantor: [00:10:41] I was hearing some stoic attitude in there. Now, speaking of stoicism a little bit, that, I don’t know if everybody embraces that. Do you find that that’s a good trait for entrepreneurs?
Beatrice Dixon: [00:10:56] I do find that it’s a good trait for entrepreneurs because the longer a bit of time that your company is around, the more employees you have, the more investors you’ve taken in, the more time that it takes. Just the more of everything, right? You’ve asked for that to be there. So, there has to be a level of responsibility that you’re not going to try to alter the things that you can’t change. You’re going to be here right now because that’s the only place you can be. And the fact that nothing lasts forever because it doesn’t.
Beatrice Dixon: [00:11:35] So, yeah. Like I think that those traits are extremely important for being an entrepreneur because it requires a higher … I hate to say higher because I don’t really believe in levels. I just think that it requires a level or a measure of thought that can really roll with the punches however they come or play the cards however they’re dealt because you just never know what’s going to come. You never know what’s going to show up. You never know what failure is going to happen. You never know if a building is going to get burned. You just don’t know. Nobody knows what’s going to happen tomorrow or even in the next hour. So, you really just have to be there prepared and ready for whatever the outcome is.
Beatrice Dixon: [00:12:35] And when you’re a business owner, you’re literally pulling something out of thin air. In my case, I took something that came to me in a dream. That one product has morphed into over nearly 50 products, right?
Lee Kantor: [00:12:52] Yeah.
Beatrice Dixon: [00:12:53] I have to pull things out of my mind, which is out of thin air in a way and make them real, and then have people to execute on that. And so, there’s no way that I can’t afford to practice stoic or stoicism as a spirituality in a way or just a way of life, whether you call it that or not. For me, there’s no other choice. And I definitely believe that it does require a level of stoicism to be able to handle your business in a way that doesn’t make you crazy.
Lee Kantor: [00:13:32] Well, I agree. And that’s, I think, the ability to separate what you can control from what you can’t control is a great way to keep someone sane, because if you get all crazy about things you can’t control, then that’s going to seep into a lot of places that you don’t want it to.
Beatrice Dixon: [00:13:51] Yeah, and you’re wasting your time.
Lee Kantor: [00:13:52] Right. So, I look at also entrepreneurship as kind of an art form because entrepreneurs create something from nothing. And I think there’s some magic to it. And I think that it requires a lot of faith and belief in oneself and a future that doesn’t exist yet. So, congratulations on the success that you’ve built in your in your business, and then kind of the legacy you’re leaving behind. Can we talk a little bit about that legacy? Because as a woman of color, what you’re doing, I believe, is inspiring other people, and you’re kind of giving them a roadmap to success. How important is that to you?
Beatrice Dixon: [00:14:38] That’s extremely important, not just for humans of color. Humans of color are definitely within the pathway of why I want to be successful. And the reason why people of color, specifically women of color, why they’re so such a passion place for me is because of the disparities that happen in capital. Part of part of the disparity that’s happening in the world of venture capital is because venture capital is private equity, funds, hedge funds. These capitalists, they’re not necessarily seeing a lot of black women entrepreneurs growing, scaling, exiting their business, right?
Beatrice Dixon: [00:15:27] So, it’s important for me for two reasons. One, because culturally, I want black women to understand that you’re not selling out if you exit your business. If anything, you’re practicing a level of self-preservation because of all the work, and all the effort, and potentially all the equity that you had to sell in order to get to where you’re going to, right? The reason why people exit isn’t because they’re trying to sell out their company.
Beatrice Dixon: [00:16:09] The reason why the exit is because they put so much time and effort into getting to that exit. And unless they do that exit, a lot of times, you make gains, a little bit of wealth. But a lot of times and businesses and companies like mine, unless you exit your company, you’ll you’ll make a six figure salary. When you raise money, you can pull a little something out for yourself. But unless you exit your company, it’s really hard to see the return on all of the investment that is not only your money, but your time, your effort, the faith and belief that you have to have in yourself, the energy that you have to pour into your business. I mean, I literally have to give Honey Pot everything. You understand what I’m saying?
Lee Kantor: [00:17:02] Yeah.
Beatrice Dixon: [00:17:02] And so, the reason why I want to be successful, specifically as it relates to black women, is so that when that next black girl is going to sit down with that investor, and talking to a venture capitalist, and she can put in her investor deck towards the end after she said the money that she wants to raise, she can be able to also say, “I’m modeling my business after Honey pot,” if she’s in the consumer packaged business, consumer packaged goods, if she wants to go on to value retail, if she wants to do all these things, and she wants to show that there is a pathway to exit. There is a pathway to success as me being a black woman on business that’s growing scalely and wants to exit their company. That’s important because when I raise capital, I didn’t have a black woman on business to put in my debt. You understand what I’m saying?
Lee Kantor: [00:17:57] Yeah.
Beatrice Dixon: [00:17:57] And I think that that’s important because no matter what you say, humans believe through their senses. Humans believe by what they can hear and what they can see. And a part of why there’s such a disparity with black women, specifically, in venture capital is because there’s some BS in there. Don’t make me wrong. But another part of it is that you don’t necessarily see us growing, exiting, and selling our businesses at the same rate that you see other people. And so, that’s why it’s so important.
Lee Kantor: [00:18:33] I think it’s critically important. And I think it’s important. I don’t think there’s any shame at all in selling the company because the company isn’t you. I mean, the art comes from you. There’s other paths for you to go down. This isn’t a one-and-done situation. If you can do this, you can do lots of things. So, why limit yourself to one thing? So, I don’t think that that paradigm is even fair to you to even consider because this isn’t you. You might be part of it. You birth it, but it’s not you.
Beatrice Dixon: [00:19:06] It’s not, but people don’t necessarily know that, man. People see their business, and they think, “Oh, that business is my baby, and it’s like my family, and I love it because I put everything into it.” But the reality is your business is not your family. Your business does not care anything about you. It’s the humans in your business that may care, but business doesn’t care. Business is commerce. It’s money. It’s transactions. And there can be social responsibility. There can be those things built into that business. But the point is that I want to communicate to the culture, specifically the black woman culture, is that if you exit your business, and you can walk away from your business with $10, $20, $30, $40, $50, $100 million, guess what you can do?
Lee Kantor: [00:19:58] You can help more people.
Beatrice Dixon: [00:19:59] You can start another business.
Lee Kantor: [00:20:00] Exactly, yeah. Help more people.
Beatrice Dixon: [00:20:02] Exactly. So, what it is, it’s a perspective and it’s conditioning.
Lee Kantor: [00:20:11] And then, sometimesm people have self-limiting beliefs too and that-
Beatrice Dixon: [00:20:15] They do.
Lee Kantor: [00:20:16] And that gets in the way, and people can self sabotage. But I’m with you. There’s a lot of opportunities out there. And there is an opportunity cost. When you’re doing one thing, you’re not doing something else. So-
Beatrice Dixon: [00:20:27] Exactly.
Lee Kantor: [00:20:27] And it might be time to hand something off to somebody, and let them run with it, and let’s see what they can do with it. And then, while you go build some other thing.
Beatrice Dixon: [00:20:36] Or you can just go free up and just be retired. You travel the world because life is … another principle of stoicism that I have tattooed on my fingers is to learn how to die, so we can live. You understand what I’m saying?
Lee Kantor: [00:20:58] Yeah, you have to know that there is an end for all of us.
Beatrice Dixon: [00:21:02] There is an end. Everything has an end. So, if everything has an end, and I’m absolutely going to die, without question, I have to get busy living my life. And my life is not all about work.
Lee Kantor: [00:21:21] Right.
Beatrice Dixon: [00:21:21] That’s a part of why I must exit my business because I don’t want to work the rest of my damn life. That’s silly.
Lee Kantor: [00:21:32] Right, but it sounds like you want to serve the rest of your life. You want to help others.
Beatrice Dixon: [00:21:37] I do. I do. I Love humanity.
Lee Kantor: [00:21:40] And you can help them in a lot of ways. I mean, there’s lots of ways to help folks.
Beatrice Dixon: [00:21:45] Yeah, yeah.
Lee Kantor: [00:21:46] Well, again, congratulations on all your success. If somebody wants to learn more about the Honey Pot, what’s the website?
Beatrice Dixon: [00:21:53] The website is thehoneypot.co. You can also get to our website from thehoneypot.com because we own both. You can follow us @thehoneypotco on Instagram, and Twitter, and all those things. And if you want to figure out where to buy our products, you can go to our website. You can sign up for our newsletter. For if anything happens, it’s good for you to sign up for that so you can be informed. The other thing is go to our store locator. Put in your zip code, it’ll tell you retailers that were in nearby.
Lee Kantor: [00:22:25] Good stuff. Well, thank you so much for sharing your story. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.
Beatrice Dixon: [00:22:30] I’m grateful. Thank you for asking me to be here.
Lee Kantor: [00:22:32] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on GWBC Open for Business.
About GWBC
The Greater Women’s Business Council (GWBC®) is at the forefront of redefining women business enterprises (WBEs). An increasing focus on supplier diversity means major corporations are viewing our WBEs as innovative, flexible and competitive solutions. The number of women-owned businesses is rising to reflect an increasingly diverse consumer base of women making a majority of buying decision for herself, her family and her business. 
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