S01E03 Holly’s Story: What Nobody in Business Says Out Loud About Copycats

I’ve known Holly Silenzi for a while. I’ve been to her market tables, I’ve watched her show up consistently in this community, and my daughter has very strong feelings about bath bombs that do not contain a toy. But I didn’t know her full story — not the real one — until we sat down to record this.

Holly started Beyond the Bomb in 2021 on maternity leave, during lockdown, because her three-year-old cried when his bath bomb dissolved and there was nothing inside. Her husband said: they should put toys in them. She said: I’ve never seen that. Let me figure it out. She researched the market, found nobody doing it locally, and built something from nothing. Five years later she walked away from a 15-year career in social services to do it full time.

What I wanted to get into with Holly — and what I think every business owner listening is going to take from this — is the copycat conversation. The one that happens constantly in the group chat and almost never out loud. Holly has been through it more than once. She has watched people close to her go through it. And she had a framework for handling it that I genuinely wish someone had given me the first time it happened to me.

We also went somewhere I didn’t plan: donation requests, the pressure small business owners feel to give their work away, and what it looks like to finally have the confidence to say no. If you’ve ever felt guilty for protecting your time and your products — this thread is for you.

The moment I keep coming back to: Holly describing the insecurity she felt rolling into her first markets with a bright pink tent and loud colours when every other vendor had a muted neutral setup. She felt like she didn’t belong. Now people find her by looking for the pink tent.

When I asked Holly what she wants to be remembered for in her community, she said she just wants to show up for her community the way they show up for her. That’s the whole episode in one line.

Find Holly at @beyondthebombbath and online at beyondthebombbath.ca

Because your story matters. 🎙️