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

Hi Shem, what are you most passionate about?
I am most passionate about my relationship with Jesus Christ. I love my wife, kids, friends and business, but none of them compares to Jesus. From the moment I surrendered my life to him and accepted his forgiveness, my life has been totally flipped upside down. Instead of being a selfish and looking out for only me, I’ve learned to love of others because of him. Instead of looking around for other women to satisfy my desire for affection, he has taught me to love and be faithful to my wife. Instead of greedily looking around for more money, more things, a bigger house etc., he has taught me to be grateful for what I have and to be at peace. This may seem absurd, perhaps even unbelievable. It’s not. A relationship with God changes everything.

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?
We make plant-based bath and body. Our items are unique because we don’t use any filler ingredients. Every single item we offer is 100% made from plant-based materials, with the small exception of our deodorant (which has beeswax and baking soda) and our charcoal soap, (which has activated charcoal). Our products are incredible! In fact, if we aren’t personally addicted to a product, it doesn’t make the cut. I use the term business-wise to refer to myself. We’ve made a lot of mistakes on the way and had to learn to problem solve. I think experience is the best teacher and, after 7 years, you kind of learn what works and what doesn’t. It has been incredibly hard and painful trying to run a business and keep it healthy. Had I known how challenging it would be from the beginning, I might not have done it. At the very least, I would think twice before trying to start something from the ground up again. The biggest lesson we learned is to stay out of debt at all cost and not get ahead of ourselves. We wanted to be a big brand right from the get go, but that was foolish. Patience is the name of the game.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Well, the beach for starters. San Diego has epic beaches and, even on a windy/cold day, the beach is a great spot. As far as restaurants go, Pizza Port in Carlsbad, Local Tap House in Oceanside and, my personal favorite, Casa De Bandini. For fun treats, I’d take them to Vista’s very own Peppertree Frosty for Malts. In the evenings we would go to Booze Bros, Brewery, my favorite spot and play some board games and enjoy their 1-800 Tropics IPA.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My wife deserves a huge amount of credit. She has weathered the ups and downs of marriage, business and 3 kids (one on the way). She is a homeschooling, patient, quiet, fun and supportive gal. I don’t know what I did to be so fortunate to have her.

Website: www.mrbsnecessities.com
Instagram: @mrbsnecessities
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mrbsnecessities/

Image Credits
Michelle Popp and Daniel Teeny