Meet Stephanie Leshney | Founder, Dabble & Dollop

We had the good fortune of connecting with Stephanie Leshney and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Stephanie, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
The most important factor behind my personal success and the success of Dabble & Dollop has been family. Before I started Dabble & Dollop, I had worked for my Dad for twenty years and helped him grow his natural ingredient business. Building that company alongside my Dad, becoming CEO and ultimately leading us through a successful sale was an incredibly rewarding experience. I operated with a bigger purpose that was very personal and meaningful to me. Work was never just work – it was family- and it meant everything to me.

When I founded Dabble & Dollop, I wanted to incorporate the feeling of family into the business as well. At the time, my tweens were more than happy to opine on product design, test new scents and even helped me build shipping boxes on the weekends. Soon after launch, my husband left his corporate job as President of Mint Mobile and became my co-founder, making us officially a family business. Getting to work alongside my life partner, and creating opportunities for my three kids to learn and grow through the business is incredibly rewarding. The love and passion that fuels my work ethic has always been family.

So many of the values that my family embraces – love, laughter, joy, care, connection, compassion, substance and mindfulness – have all been woven into Dabble & Dollop’s product design and business operations. The result is powerful, meaningful, purposeful and a business that oozes authenticity.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Dabble & Dollop creates natural fruit-scented bath & body products for children including shampoo, bubble bath, body wash, conditioner, lotions and bath bombs. All products are designed to create customizable scent experiences through mixing, blending and/or layering. For example, a dabble of our Strawberry Bubble Bath with a dollop of our Vanilla Bath Whip creates a “Strawberry Shortcake” bubble bath. Drop a Coconut Bath Bomb and a Mango bath bomb to create “Tropical Smoothie” fizzy fun. What sets Dabble & Dollop apart is that we create an experience at bath time that is engaging, imaginative and fun.

My twenty year career in natural ingredients equated to unmatched expertise in formulating quality bathing products for children. I knew it wasn’t necessary for kids to sit in a bath with dozens and dozens of ingredients, hence I approached design with a “less is more” formulation philosophy with fewer than ten natural ingredients in every product, As a mom, I knew that product safety was incredibly important. This is why I invested heavily in safety testing and using 3rd party clinical data to substantiate our “ultra-mild” and “tear-free” claims. It was essential to create products that children would love AND parents would feel good about using.

It was never easy to build this business. In the first year, I faced all the typical startup challenges and on top of that navigated through an unprecedented global pandemic. The traction that we got as a direct to consumer brand did not withstand the notorious iOS update or changing consumer behavior on social media. Thankfully, we were able to partner with several .com marketplaces that aided in our growth – UncommonGoods.com, Maisonette.com, Anthropologie.com, Macys.com, Saks.com and Bloomingdales.com. We also opened an Amazon store in 2022 that quickly became an essential marketplace for the business. Receiving the Babylist, Parents Magazine and
Good Housekeeping awards helped solidify Dabble & Dollop as a trusted brand and created the momentum needed to thrive.

Whenever a challenge would arise, I looked at it as opportunity in disguise. I believe that when we experience a challenge, it really means that there’s an opportunity for improvement. Framing things this way kept me in a positive mindset and allowed me to move through the ups and downs with more ease. I’ve learned several important lessons along the way. One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is that it is inevitable that mistakes will be made. Rather than wallow in shame, I’ve learned to be grateful for those mistakes, as they’re the best teacher. I’ve also learned that the “perfect playbook” for success doesn’t exist. I took time to meet with proven founders who shared their secrets to their success. When I applied these “proven” methods, I learned that they didn’t always work. Another lesson I’ve learned is the importance of playing the long game. It was not easy to resist non-strategic, short-term growth opportunities, when the revenues would have been very helpful. Today, I’m faced with a huge national retail opportunity that would not have existed had I settled for the smaller, less optimum retail opportunities that weren’t quite right.

I want Dabble & Dollop to be the trusted name that parents turn to when selecting products for their families. My dream is for Dabble & Dollop to become a household name and every day we get closer to that goal. I want all families to experience the powerful ingredients of love, care and expertise that are infused into every bottle we sell. I believe the world is in desperate need of more love, laughter, joy, care, creativity, compassion, connection, substance and mindfulness. Dabble & Dollop was built with these values in mind.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Since I live on Naples Island in Long Beach, my entertaining usually starts at home. There aren’t many places in LA that you can walk out your back door, board a duffy boat and cruise around at sunset, make stops at waterfront bars and restaurants and head home, all while never getting into a car. My favorite spots to stop are Tantalum, Boathouse on the Bay and the Long Beach Yacht Club. Duffy sunset cruises are my favorite!

As a board member of the Aquarium of the Pacific, I always enjoy taking people there. I tend to spend most of the time showing off our sea otters – they never disappoint. And I love sharing about the Aquarium’s extensive conservation work with endangered sea animals and ocean health. There’s a very pretty lighthouse within walking distance of the Aquarium which is a great place to take in the views of the Queen Mary and snap some photos.

Almost anyone who visits LA wants to see the beach life. So, afternoon excursions to Manhattan Beach and the Santa Monica/Malibu area are a must. In Manhattan Beach I take friends to The Strand House for the beautiful views of the Manhattan Beach pier and dine at Fishing with Dynamite.

People also want to see Hollywood but walking around Hollywood is not really my cup of tea. Driving through that part of town always makes the itinerary for an out of town guest. But, I prefer to drive by the sites (I might suggest a quick photo on the walk of fame by Mann’s theater) and then take in the views from Yamashiro restaurant. If the Hollywood Bowl is in season, I would absolutely include an evening there- there’s just nothing like it. I love to go at least once during the summer months. There’s also a company that will take you by horseback up towards the Hollywood Sign that is a really special experience – taking in the sweeping views of the LA urban oasis while immersed in the natural habitat of the mountain/hillside is pretty epic!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I read “The Heart of Business” by Hubert Joly as I was starting Dabble & Dollop. Joly abandons old paradigms and provides a guide for leading with purpose and humanity. Profit is the outcome; not the goal.

“Why do we work? For power? Fame? Glory? Money? Or is it to be useful? To make a difference in the world? Or because we have to, so that we can do something else? How we answer this question influences our attitude towards work and how invested we are willing to be. Work can be part of our search for meaning and our fulfillment as human beings. If we each shift the way we consider the nature of work, from a burden to an opportunity, then we can start transforming business” – Hubert Joly

Website: https://dabbleanddollop.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dabbleanddollop/?hl=en

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-ross-leshney-829ab15