Personal touch: Adena Surabian's maternal instincts led to the development of a line of natural baby products and notice by Whole Foods Market.

When Adena Surabian was growing up wanting to become a professional singer, she never imagined that one day she'd be able to rattle off the smorgasbord of toxic compounds found in most bath products--the chemicals in shampoos shown to cause nerve damage or the trisodium EDTA, a suspected carcinogen, used in baby lotions.

And don't even get her started on parabens.

"Parabens are preservatives. They've been linked to breast cancer," she said.

Surabian's intimate knowledge of soap compounds came about a few years ago when her 17-month-old daughter came down with a rash all over her body.

Doctors couldn't determine what was causing it, so they told Surabian to figure out what ingredients her baby products had in common.

Surabian went online. What she found stunned her.

"The ingredients were coining back as big-hazardous, potentially harmful, possible irritant," she said. "I couldn't believe I was putting this on my kid"

It was there that Surabian. who had managed an online child-safety business, decided there was a market for baby products made of all-natural and laboratory-safe ingredients.

While there have long been a number of botanical and eco-conscious healthcare and beauty products, few were marketed for children.

Surabian sensed she was on to something.

"As I did my research, I felt like I could improve what was out there," said Surabian, who lives in Simi Valley.

She refinanced her home and with $75,000 and through a friend and the Internet found a chemist, who soon created a shampoo.

It was surprisingly easy, she said.

"I told him what I wanted. I gave him a list of ingredients that I like. He gave me a formula," she said.

Eventually, Surabian, 36, recruited a manufacturer, distributor and a fledgling sales team. Soon, they designed a package with Surabian's own children gracing the bottles. "They were the only models available to me," she said.

Lining up customers

The sales team eventually lined up a handful of natural stores and local beauty salons.

The first bottle of Nature's Baby shampoo hit the shelves in October 2004.

While sales were solid, things really took off after Southern California sales rep Kim O'Leary approached the Austin-based natural grocery chain Whole Foods Market.

"I worked with the regional sales team to get the products approved." she said.

That support meant Whole Foods went over the ingredients of Nature's Baby with a fine-toothed comb to see exactly how natural its ingredients truly were, said Robin Rogosin, supplement and body care buyer for Whole Foods" southern Pacific region.

"Even the cleansing agents are very mild." said Rogosin. whose office is based in Sherman Oaks. "The product worked well even though it had very clean ingredients."

Nature's Baby also had an interesting narrative that translated well to consumers, she said.

"The story was really compelling because it was all about how she had to create something that was mild enough to use on her daughter." Rogosin said. "We liked that."

Soon, Surabian's fledgling products were appearing at more than 400 Whole Foods stores across the nation. It was a boon to business.

"Being invited and accepted into Whole Foods is a huge compliment to us," she said. "They liked what we stood for."

500 locations

Today, the Nature's Baby Product Inc. line has 13 products including Mother's Little Helper, an all-purpose deodorizer with enzymes that removes bacteria-causing odors: an all-natural face and body moisturizer; and all-natural diaper cream.

Like many organic products, Nature's Baby tends to retail for slightly more than similar name brand items. An 8-ounce bottle of all natural face body moisturizer sells for $11.95: a 16-ounce bottle of shampoo and body wash retails for $17.95.

The products am still mostly dreamed up by Surabian and developed by three chemists and four formulators on contract.

The products are manufactured out of plants in Newbury Park and Chatsworth and distributed to about 500 outlets and 30 reps.

For now. the company has a Ventura Boulevard office in Woodland Hills, although most of the work is done at home so that Surabian can still be involved with her two children.

"I'm a mom first. I want an active pan of (my children's) lives. I couldn't do that having to work in an office." she said.

Surabian has also corralled her mother. Beverly Wolvek. to handle marketing and her father, Phil Wolvek, who serves as chief financial officer. A brother. Jeff. takes care of the accounting.

Even with lots of help, the hours are long, said Beverly Wolvek. who retired years ago after owning a successful health spa.

For example, she recently spent a long night preparing a shipment to be sent to a trade show Japan.

"We work from six in the morning to 10 or 11 at night. We do what it takes."

In fact, Nature's Baby expects international sales to be the next phase for the company. Overseas retailers are already calling and Surabian is leaving for Asia this month.

"It has a life on its own. They are finding us," she said. Surabian said demand will keep growing because parents don't want to put chemicals on their children.

"We have to be concerned about the products," she said. "Babies start out natural. How long they stay that way is up to US."

BY CHRIS COATES 

Staff Reporter

Spotlight

Nature's Baby Products Inc.

Founded: 2002

Core Business: Natural baby products

Employees in 2005: 6 full-time,
35 sales representatives

Employees in 2006: 6 full-time,
20 sales representatives

Revenues in 2005: $500,000

Revenues in 2006: $800,000

Driving Force: Demand for baby care products with
organic, safe and luxurious ingredients.