Gaia Essential’s Weblog

Back from the flames and into the market, Coastside woman rebuilds her business 

By Jean Bartlett  Correspondent 

Article Launched: Pacifica Tribune

At the Pacifica and Half Moon Bay Coastside Farmer’s Markets, shoppers flock to Debby Icide’s booth welcoming the entrepreneur and her sought-out skincare and aromatherapy products back after a two-month absence. There are soaps that smell of cedar, sage, fir and coriander. There is “Citrus Garden” which offers a “balancing aroma blend of orange, tangerine, lime and thyme.” There is “Cooling Foot Cream” with its “handmade creamy base of Shea butter for vitamin A and anti-inflammatory benefits.” “Ache Relief Massage Oil,” “Herbal Facial Cream” and “Honey Almond Oatmeal” soap are just a few of the Icide handmade items seen carried brisk in baskets through the jovial crowd.

.Debby Icide is not only a business success but a reason to believe. It happened on Aug. 31, 2007. It was 8:30 a.m. Icide and her visiting sister went into the kitchen to have a cup of coffee. Her sister smelled it first and opened the door to the garage. Immediately, thick clouds of acrid smoke billowed through the house. Her sister slammed the door shut. Icide, a Half Moon Bay resident and the owner of and creator of Gaia Essentials (pure botanical skin therapy), ran down the hallway and shouted to her showering husband — “We’ve got a fire!”

.“I called 911 and by that time the smoke alarms were blasting,” said Icide. “The 911 operator told us to get outside. We stood in the street and the fire department arrived in under four minutes. They were phenomenal.” “First, all that goes through your mind is personal safety,” said Icide. “Once that is taken care of, there is a moment when your mind is almost blank, because it is too much to absorb. Then you start thinking, what is in that burning garage.

Half the garage was my workshop. I had my pots and pans and all of my molds as well as my made product. I had 750 bars of soap in the garage. Just the night before I had unloaded all the equipment I use to take my product to market. On top of all of that, my car was in the garage.” “The car was the big concern; the fact that it could explode. The Fire Department had to get the car out and they sawed a hole in the garage and sprayed the whole thing down. Once they made sure all the flames were out, they used what looked to be the ‘jaws of life’ to saw down the garage door and get the car out. The house was shut down for the day while they checked the electricity.

It was Labor Day weekend and I couldn’t find a hotel and I had another guest coming in.” “To this day the exact cause of the fire is not specific. It is suspected that it may have started in one of the computers. But the bottom line is, when I went into what was left of my workshop and product space, it was all goo and all my equipment was gone. I guess I could have walked away. My insurance paid 80 percent of the value. But if I walked away, what would I do? I love what I do.

I love the fact that my product really seems to make a difference in people’s life.” Since her sister bought Icide her first natural soap, 25 years ago, Icide has been hooked on “real” soap. “Commercial soaps strip glycerin from their product. In fact, many commercial cleansing products are not even called soaps. They are called bars because they are actually detergents rather than soaps. Since that day more than two decades ago, I have never owned a commercial soap,” said Icide.

Prior to 2004, the St. Augustine, Florida native’s workplace was definitely not sudsy. “I’ve always liked cars and I spent 30 years in the auto industry. I started at 16. This is back in the late ’70s when auto technical centers were opening their doors to allow females to graduate from three-year programs in auto mechanics. Back in that day, the big car industries were seeking women candidates to meet their quota. I was absolutely qualified but I had tons of opportunities.”

A mechanic by trade, Icide went on to General Motor School and got her masters as a Chevrolet Tech. “Pretty much over the years, there is not a job in the auto industry that I did not do,” said the business woman. “From being a mechanic, to clerical work when I was pregnant, (Icide is the mom of three grown daughters,) to finance manager, general management, sales, finance director of five stores — the only thing I did not do was own a store.”

“In my early days I really wanted to be a crew chief for a race team. Living in St. Augustine, I was right by Daytona and rubbed elbows with all the NASCAR drivers back in the 80s. I loved it. I’m in the 100 mile an hour club. I drove a car, in excess of 100 miles on a race track. I would do the drag car races in Gainesville, Fla.”

In 2002, Icide and her new husband moved to Half Moon Bay. “I was tired of the car business by then and was ready for something new. For years I had ordered handmade soap products from this wonderful woman in Big Sur and something suddenly clicked. Why don’t I do this?” A 2004 move to Oregon allowed Icide to cut down her expenses and really get her business going. She created her recipes and her product, built her website and gathered a client base.

“We moved back to Half Moon Bay late in 2006 and by the time the Coastside Farmer’s Markets arrived in May of 2007, I was ready,” said Icide. “I had a great response in both Pacifica and Half Moon Bay. Since I hand make everything, I was really working six full days a week; a day at each market and then the days in between to remake and restock. Things were rocking.”

“After the fire it took me two solid months to get everything cleaned out, have the garage rebuilt, replace all the vents in the house, get all my ingredients and equipment and make my product. Thankfully my recipes were in the house so I didn’t have to redo them from scratch as well. Now I’m back in the swing of things.”

“People tell me I am a success story. I’m just grateful that I can make something that I am truly proud of and clients really seem to appreciate.”

Last day to catch Debby at this season’s Coastside Farmer’s Market is today in Pacifica, 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Rockaway. You can order through her website: www.gaia-essentials.com, email her at debby@gaia-essentials.com, or phone 650-728-7745 or 650-291-5757.