Training the Team, Product Releases, Ensuring Quality, Design Philosophy, & More! | Reflections with Mr Butters #2
TRANSCRIPT REFINED FOR CLARITY
This has been one hell of a week. Welcome to Reflections with Mr. Butters, the show/blog where I have reflections with Mr. Butters. Woo.
Product Updates
We’ve had a lot of updates and a lot of things done. New products rolled out: the Pamplemousse Rose body wash is live. We also launched a bunch of new product info sheets, including the sensation guides, which are really pretty and useful. I’m loving the scrub sheets too, and you can check the website if you want to see them.
Production and Operations
Behind the scenes we’re deep in production. The amount of manufacturing we’re doing right now is absolutely absurd. We’re spending thousands every week to make sure we have stock so Bubby and Tabatha can ship your orders and get you what you need.
Since moving to South Carolina, there’s been some up and down with fulfillment speed, and that’s been bothering me. So I’ve made training a big priority.
The Team
Bubby is mostly good. If you’ve been with us for a long time you know he helped start the company and then took a roughly five-year break. Tabatha is brand new and she’s doing very well. She’s smart, eager, and learning fast.
Like anyone new, she’s reached a point where she needs a bit more training. We’ve had some order-accuracy issues recently — missing items, wrong sizes, duplicates — and that came from fulfillment. We did retraining on Monday, I reviewed the results, and we’ll run another session next Monday to fix what’s left.
We’ll keep at it until the team hits the standard I want. If you know me, you know I keep a lot of plates spinning. When one wobbles, I stare it down until it stops. It’s working. Overall I’m in a good mood because having the team handle day-to-day operations gives me the space to focus on the things that make the brand better.
Brand and Design Philosophy
That’s exactly how it’s supposed to work. I should be able to focus on the little niceties that elevate the brand while other people handle the routine. Those niceties make the company look better, feel better, and make the website stronger. They help customers and they make money. But you need mental space to do them. Without that, they don’t happen.
Product Design Spotlight: Mojito Scrub
Let me show you one of the product features I’m working on. There’s an uncompleted Mojito Scrub mock-up I need to finish. The design uses a classic Venetian-style frame on the outside with a modern aesthetic inside, meant to represent The Butters as a fusion of classic and modern.
I always call myself a modern classic. When I create products, I look back at discontinued or historical formulations and combine that with modern science. You don’t always need lab magic; there’s already so much knowledge out there.
I grew up with Encyclopedia Britannica and now we have Google, academic forums, and search tools that connect what used to be isolated. AI hasn’t been the miracle tool people expected for research, but it does make it easier to connect ideas and find information that used to be hard to reach.
Product Card Updates
The new product card layout includes a headline, details, product image, scrub level, product name, and a sensation number on the right.
Not everything has a scent — our Coffee and Sea Salt Scrub, for example, has no added scent and that’s clearly listed. I’ve added little icons to make everything easier to scan because people move fast online and often won’t read unless you make it visual.
I also added launch dates to the bottom of product pages. I like to archive our work because I treat hygiene as sacred, almost religious. When someone lets our products into their bathroom, they’re allowing a powerful and intimate connection. These products are windows into people’s lives, and I take that seriously.
Launch Announcement: Ultra Luxe Body Wash
The Ultra Luxe Body Wash is coming this week.
We’ve been developing it for a year and a half, testing different formulas to find the right modern take on traditional washes. Our earlier washes were Castile-based — safe and moisturizing — but I wanted something more scientific, with modern surfactants and mild antimicrobial properties.
Ultra Luxe gives you Hollywood-style bubbles while staying pH-balanced and safe for intimate areas. It handles both essential oils and fragrance oils well, lathers beautifully, rinses clean, and leaves skin soft.
I’ve been using it for months — on sinks, in showers, as handwash — and it’s the best body wash I’ve ever tried. The texture is thick but mixes with water easily. It works exactly the way you want a wash to work, and I’m thrilled to bring it to you.
The Return of Pamplemousse Rose
The first scented version will be Pamplemousse Rose, back by popular request. It originally launched in 2018 and didn’t have a sensation number, which is why it’s sensation #3 now.
It’s an expensive fragrance to source, so I wasn’t sure I’d get it back, but you asked and I did. It looks great, it smells great, and it has a refreshed logo.
Before this, I was using our Coconut Silk Soap, then I switched to Pamplemousse Rose, which will probably carry me through the New Year. I might make a Pamplemousse Mimosa variation — let me know in the comments if that’s something you want.
Peppermint Rose will also be great through February for Valentine’s Day and into Mother’s Day, and honestly the citrus and rose combo will carry through spring and summer too. As a soap in your bathroom, it’s pure fire. I can’t recommend it enough.
Personal Reflections
That’s the product news — lots of product, lots of people, lots of movement.
On a personal note, I’ve been unmedicated for about a month. I was feeling overly stressed and reactive while on medication. I’ll talk about this more in a dedicated video, but I narrowed it down scientifically and realized my meds were contributing to the problem.
When I first started medication, it was absolutely necessary. I was deeply depressed and couldn’t get out of it. Twelve years later, Wellbutrin isn’t always necessary in the same way. I still use it as needed for ADHD or when I can’t sleep, but lately I’ve been focusing on holistic supports — better sleep, better food, less overwork, and less stress.
Psychology is a science and it works when you actually do the practices.
Finding Balance Again
I’m drawing more, writing more, creating more, and spending more time at home. When I first moved here, it felt like college energy. Now it really feels like being back in class — learning, doing hobbies afterward, and mixing work with play.
It’s a beautiful situation and I have a lot of gratitude for it. When I was on SSRIs, specifically Zoloft, I often felt disconnected from my emotions. If you’re not depressed and you take an SSRI, it can flatten you out.
My depression tends to clear up fully and then return occasionally. That makes it technically chronic, but it also means I have long stretches of stability where the meds aren’t needed.
Right now, I feel good, life is moving, and I hope you’re feeling good too.
Thanks so much for watching Reflections with Mr. Butters.
Mr. Butters out, mwah.