Being “geographically undesirable” doesn’t just stymie potential paramours – it affects retail, too. For about a decade, Brenda Rea sold her Olivespa line of natural body products at Queen Creek Olive Mill, the pioneering local business she owns with her husband, Perry. It’s a gorgeous location, but it’s a trek if you don’t live in the East Valley.
When Rea found a vacant building on roughly 24th Street and Thomas Road in Phoenix, she jumped at the chance to open her own brick-and-mortar shop and expanded production facility. “It is a pretty good central location for a lot of different parts of town,” she says. “It’s close to home for me, which is nice, so I don’t have to travel to the mill. It’s only 45 minutes [to Queen Creek] – it’s not that bad. But 10 minutes is much nicer.”
In November, she opened her bright, white and beautifully styled boutique, where she offers dozens of products crafted with the family gold: olive-oil infused soaps, lip balms, body butters and oils, salves, masks and deodorant, made with pure essential oils and no artificial anything. “The mission that I have is making products that are natural and not harmful to you,” Rea says.
Reflecting on her journey from homespun soap-maker to bona fide entrepreneur, she’s still a little awed. “It’s crazy. I never really envisioned this in the beginning,” she says. “I didn’t see it going in this direction, but here we are.”
