Suzy Batiz is a hustler. She ran a tanning salon, bridal shop, clothing boutique, and recruitment startup. She is a jeweled tracksuit and designed denim high heels. At one point, she even sold lingerie by having her boyfriend at the time pick up a catalog at strip clubs. “It was a really good business for a few months,” she says. "Until the owner of the bar, who had three fingers missing, called my boyfriend into his office and said, 'Where's my cup? “” Batiz, 55, is no stranger to the struggle of entrepreneurship. A myriad of business ideas failed, not to mention she filed for bankruptcy twice. After some deep soul-searching, she realized what was holding her back:she was too focused on money. “I always thought money was going to get me out of every situation I found myself in,” she says. “I would be loved and appreciated if I only had money.” Fast forward several years to 2005. Batiz had sworn to shut down and had just spent four years on a spiritual sabbatical. She was at a dinner party when her brother-in-law asked her, “Can bathroom odors be trapped?” Batiz sat up immediately. She knew about essential oils and knew she could create a product that blocked odors below the surface of toilet water. “I felt like a zing on my left arm and the front of my leg,” she says. "It was like the lights were on brighter and I thought I could do this. And so Poo-Pourri – yes, Poo-Pourri – was born. What started as a simple idea at a dinner party has turned into a nationally recognized business valued at $400 million. The founder herself is worth an estimated $240 million, tied with Reese Witherspoon on Forbes 2019 list of the richest women in the United States. She lives in a 15,000 square foot church-turned-home in Dallas that is the envy of interior designers around the world. Batiz, who has wavy blonde hair and a broad smile, says her success can be attributed to a profound shift in priorities. “Success is an inside job,” she says. “Nothing outside will ever satisfy you. Success is not about money. It's about feeling good about yourself and having a richness inside. THE LUXURY OF LOSE IT ALL Batiz's journey has not been easy. “I grew up in Arkansas with poor parents who did good (stuff), bad (stuff), crazy (stuff) and weird (stuff),” she says. To say that Batiz grew up in a dysfunctional home would be an understatement. Her father was a bipolar alcoholic, while her mother was addicted to painkillers. Her parents eventually divorced and her stepfather assaulted her. She was married, bankrupt and divorced for 20 years. At 21, she attempted suicide. At 23, she had a baby and entered into an abusive marriage. She escaped this marriage and was homeless with two children before marrying a second time. “The way I talk about it is I was skiing a double black diamond and lost a ski halfway up the mountain,” she says. "I was always trying to hold on, to pull myself out of some sort of hole that I always seemed to be in. She hustled for several years until she was 38, when she filed for bankruptcy for the second time and fell into a deep depression. "If I didn't have my children and my family, I'm sure I would have tried to kill myself again," she says. “I was done – just emotionally and psychologically. I was done with business; I was done with life. Batiz is grateful for this time in her life because she had what she calls the luxury of losing everything. “We rarely have a moment where we get nearly to a full stop,” she says. “It really gave me time to look within and face myself and see what I had done.” I tell Batiz how, despite the challenges she's faced over the years, she seems so confident and calm now. "I've done (considerable) personal work over the past 15 years, daughter," she laughs. EXPONENTIAL GROWTH About that four-year spiritual sabbatical, which came after its lowest point:“I found happiness and success in my own being for the first time in my life,” she says. “And I had sworn the closure of the business.” Cue the aforementioned dinner. A self-proclaimed closet hippie, Batiz had been experimenting with essential oils for decades. “I came home and just started mixing and mixing and mixing,” she says. “It took me nine months. Nobody thought it was a good idea. Everyone thought I was completely crazy. But I knew I could do it. I have felt it. Poo-Pourri is a pre-work toilet spray that works like this:you spray the product in the toilet bowl before using the bathroom. It creates a film on the surface of the water, which traps odors. Batiz created version after version, constantly searching for the perfect concoction. She asked her husband (now ex) and friends to test the product as much as possible. "I'll never forget the day my husband came out of the bathroom and was like, 'Oh my god, we're going to be millionaires. That works! Do you realize what you have done? Said Batiz. "It was just super exciting. Her ex-husband created a shoddy website and Batiz started giving his friends the product to try. His first client was a friend of a friend who wanted to sell Poo-Pourri at his gift shop in Dallas. Soon another store called, another, and so on. Someone suggested Batiz bring her product to market, which she did. “It literally grew from word of mouth like that,” she says. “We made $1 million the first year.” Now, 13 years later, Poo-Pourri is available both online and at countless brick-and-mortar stores like Bed, Bath &Beyond, and Target. The company has sold over $300 million worth of products. REMOVE BARRIERS Most people know about Poo-Pourri not necessarily because they bought the product, but because they saw one of the company's viral videos, which have over 350 million total views. on Youtube. In 2013, several companies were trying to copy Poo-Pourri, says Batiz. She knew she had to take her product to the next level. “I knew I had to look for some sort of alternative, rebellious marketing movement — guerrilla-type marketing,” she says. "Girls Don't Poop", the company's first viral video, has 42 million views and counts on YouTube. The two-minute clip features a perfectly styled redhead in a fitted turquoise dress and pearl necklace. In a true British accent, she describes a secret burial, hmm… at sea. Within days of the video's release, the company sold its entire inventory and was $4 million out of stock. "Suzy doesn't just do things for the sake of making money," says Nicole Story Dent, senior vice president of creative for Poo-Pourri, who worked closely with Batiz on the viral videos. 'business. “She makes choices because they enlighten her and feel good in her gut. It may seem weird to people watching on the outside, but it ends up making us money and building the brand even though that's not our goal. What Batiz is most proud of when it comes to Poo-Pourri isn't her wild financial success, she says, but rather how her company has helped people talk about a taboo subject. Several years ago, Batiz sat next to a 65-year-old gambling lawyer on a robbery. She told him about her business. "Oh my god, I got it from a friend," the man said before telling her a very personal story in the bathroom. "All of a sudden he looks at me and he says, 'I can't believe I'm a 65-year-old man sitting here talking to you about my poo,'" Batiz says. That's when it clicked in his mind that Poo-Pourri was more than just a product. “Poop is everywhere,” she says. “There are the poop emoji. And now we're talking shit. I really attribute a lot of that to us. We did this because we used humor to help break this taboo subject. Gillian Ferrabee, founder and president of Kite Parade, has been friends with Batiz since the two connected professionally in 2013. "Suzy understands how to bring up taboo topics so people can get on board with minimal resistance," says Ferrabee. “She never sits on her laurels. It continues on its way at the speed of life. SEARCH WITHIN I ask Batiz if self-care plays a big role in his life. Let's just say I'm not waiting for his response. Each week, Batiz has a therapy session, meets with his spiritual coach and mentor, has a three-hour deep-tissue massage and an hour-long intravenous infusion. She exercises and meditates daily. She also has her own nutritionist and medical director and sometimes practices reiki, a kind of Japanese touch therapy. In fact, she'll tell you about other, hmm...natural remedies she's involved with. This emphasis on self-care – what Batiz simply calls “staying in balance” – is a necessary antidote to his hectic life. "I operate at such a high-energy pace that a lot of the things I do are just good hygiene to make sure the fast-paced life I'm living doesn't build up and kill me," she says. Batiz found out she was on the 2019 Forbes list of the richest self-made women in America when her colleagues showed her a photo that featured her alongside hitters like Witherspoon, Rihanna and Kylie Jenner. She assumed that her colleagues photographed her. "I was just like, 'Holy (guacamole), I can't believe this is happening,'" she said. A few days later, Batiz's friend sent her the country song "Girl Goin' Nowhere" by Ashley McBryde. It tells the story of a young woman who succeeds despite the odds stacked against her. One text reads:“And where they said I would never be is exactly where I am. The gravity of everything Batiz had accomplished really set in. “I lay on my kitchen floor for about four hours one Sunday morning crying to the point where I just couldn't get up,” she says. Batiz says this surge of emotion was not due to her external financial success, but rather because she realized she had broken generational poverty in her family for decades to come. “If I had one wish, it would be for people to know they could create the life they want — that anything is truly possible,” she says. "While I'm excited about the success of Poo-Pourri and where we're going, it's more about me being an example of what's possible. Jamie Friedlander + publishes Jamie Friedlander is a Chicago-based freelance writer and former editor of SUCCESS magazine. His work has been published in La Coupe , VICE, Inc. , The Chicago Tribune and Business Insider , among other publications. When she's not writing, she can usually be found drinking excess matcha tea, traveling somewhere with her husband, or surfing Etsy late at night. Jamie Friedlander https://www.moyens.net/author/jamie-friedlander/ 4 things I learned from keeping weekly lists Jamie Friedlander https://www.moyens.net/author/jamie-friedlander/ Why Randi Zuckerberg put his Workday on hold to pursue his passion Jamie Friedlander https://www.moyens.net/author/jamie-friedlander/ 10 Ways Your Name Affects Your Life Jamie Friedlander https://www.moyens.net /author/jamie-friedlander/ Time is money:what is 1 hour really worth to you?
