It's been almost two months, since I've launched Your Product Hub and I gratefully have met with over a dozen local vendors that make a wide variety of products. All of those vendors came to me seeking assistance in placing their products in new venues. And, although I immediately hit the streets to find those businesses new venues, I also wished that they would all take my advice and redo their business' story. For you see, each one of those budding businesses lacked a compelling story about their product or their business. In my opinion, a product's story is the element that creates the product's value and connects it on a personal level to the consumers who will purchase it. Here's one of those stories that I connected with and I'm certain you will too!

As most of you know, I spent almost a decade at Whole Food Market, mainly involved in their marketing program. It was from that experience that I learned how important telling a product's story is to its success in the marketplace. From that experience, I also met my friend and now client, Amber Smith, co-owner & creator of Darling Gourmet Biscotti (formerly known as Biscuit Gourmet Biscotti).

Amber, who works full time at a local hospital as an Occupational Therapist, came to me at Whole Foods Market(WFM) Hillcrest over three years ago. She said she was ready to tackle the arduous process and the tsunami of paperwork, involved in getting any product into WFM . I absolutely loved her product! Everyone at WFM loved her product and we got started wading through all the paperwork!

With most of the hard work behind her and as we were beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel....everything stopped! I received an e-mail from Amber that everything had changed and that she needed to put her business on hold. What she told me next would not only change her life but wouldalso change her business' story forever!

It seemed that while visiting her mother, who had been suffering a long time illness, her sister suffered a blood clot in her brain, while with Amber, and passed away! Although that tragedy alone would have been unfathomable, it was then followed shortly by the death of her mother. Despite those tremendous, profound losses, Amber continued to be determined to bring her biscotti to market. She said that by doing so she would honor the memories of her mother and sister, who were her biggest supporters and cheerleaders!

In the following months, Amber would experience one more death, the death of her grandmother. Although I knew that her biscotti business should be the last of Amber's concerns, we continued to correspond via email, meeting sporadically at local coffee shops. I watched Amber heal over many months and slowly she began to revive Biscuit Gourmet Biscotti. In fact, in 2014 her business was nominated for a Martha Stewart's American Made product award. We also started to begin to look at introducing her biscotti to more coffee shops.

As she moved forward, Amber became convinced that she would need to re-brand her company because her name Biscuit Gourmet Biscotti often confused prospective customers-was it a biscuit? A biscotti? The new name that she chose, Darling Gourmet Biscotti, came directly out of one of her mother's favorite words-darling! Her new logo would aptly include a heart because her product was now filled with the hearts and the love of those who made her business possible but were no longer present to witness its growth.

It is now 2015, and everything is different! I no longer work at WFM and Biscuit Gourmet Biscotti is now Darling Gourmet Biscotti! Two weeks ago, after three years of unbelievable challenges, Amber came to me ready to hit the streets. In three years, her story and her business' story had changed completely! It transformed from a story of two friends who just loved to bake biscotti into a story of over coming enormous personal obstacles and challenges, of perseverance and of making your dreams come true, in spite all of those obstacles!

I always find those stories very compelling. How about you? So what's your story and does it need to be re-written? I can help!!!

To find out more about Darling Gourmet Biscotti and where you can currently purchase it by visiting her website.