Buckham’s Bay business sisters

BUCKHAM’S BAY – Two Buckham’s Bay sisters, only 12 and 14, have invented their own human and pet personal care products, while operating two separate businesses under the same roof.

Ella, 14, and Abby, 12, Trueman are the owners and operators of respectively, Pausome Pets and Lifted Spirits.

Ella operates Pausome Pets, a company that makes products for pets with the most popular one a Paw Balm designed to protect paws, pads and the dogs who own them from extreme heat, the cold and road salt.

Abby operates Lifted Spirits, a company specializing in all natural personal care products for humans.

Both companies started roughly in the fall of 2019.

“The girls were helping their grandmother with her business,” mom Rebecca Trueman told West Carleton Online Saturday, Nov. 27 from their Buckham’s Bay home. “They really enjoyed that. The girls were like, I want a business, I want a business.”

So, after a ton or market and product research, the family came up with an idea for a paw balm for dogs. The product is applied to the paws of pooches before going for a walk. The balm protects the dog’s feet from the cold, the heat, but especially damaging road salt. The product is all natural, so if the dog licks his or her paws, there is no risk if the dog ingests some of the balm.

Abby, watching and helping, decided she wanted her own business as well, and launched Lifted Spirits, a company that makes all-natural beauty supplies including skin balm, body scrubs, charcoal-infused deodorants and one of the company’s most popular items, shower steamers.

“Around cold season, shower steamers are one of our best sellers,” Abby said. “We have our own separate business, but we help each other, and all our products are on the same website.”

The business sisters help produce the products, package and sell, and go to trade shows together, back when people were allowed to go to trade shows.

“We just finished up a virtual craft fair,” Abby said. “It’s mostly been the Facebook page these days.”

But the sisters’ products can be found in stores as well. In total, 10 stores are carrying the siters’ products.

Pausome Pets paw balm can be found locally at the Constance Bay Pharmacy, but Ottawa Valley stores like Owl Café, Chew That, March Road Pet Foods and K9 Agility also carry the brand.

The company also delivers to the Ottawa and Arnprior area.

Ella says the idea for paw balm came from observation and research and filling a market need. Ella is autistic and has always found it difficult to connect with people. But she loves animals and enjoys spending time with her dog outdoors.

“The idea came from our dog Kingsley,” she said. “We were noticing our dog’s feet were getting hurt with all the road salt. He didn’t like to wear shoes, so we thought a balm would work well. It protects their feet and helps heal cracked pads. It is edible too.”

Ella says a lot of similar products use petroleum products, making them unsafe to ingest.

After the idea came the research.

“We started online, and tried samples from other companies’ products,” Ella said. “We tried to see what we could add to make it a better product.”

The balm lasts a long time and never goes bad in the can.

The product was designed for pets, but Abby liked it too, and it sparked an idea.

“I used to use in on my hands in the winter and that’s where the idea for one of my products came from.” Abby said. “We create new products all the time. I am usually making an order every night after school. It’s a lot of trial and error. Trying the products on ourselves and the dogs and it sometimes becomes a real mess in the kitchen.”

The sisters say the two companies have been growing despite launching just half-a-year before the outset of a global pandemic.

“We’ve been promoting it at different events,” Ella said. “Through COVID, our orders actually went up.”

The two owners find different joys in running a businesses.

“I find the product testing more fun than anything else,” Abby said. “But I love sales too. I love the trade shows and being able to meet people face-to-face.”

“I like the trade shows too,” Ella aid. “It helps me feel more confident when I’m talking to prospective clients.”

“Having a business helps you connect with people, and you get to hear about their day-to-day lives,” Abby said.

If you are interested in learning more about Ella and Abby’s products and business, you can visit their website at liftedspirits.ca.