For years, Amy Seiss spent a lot of time cleaning her rentals properties in South Florida. Between the rental properties and her own home, Amy felt she practically lived with a mop or sponge in her hand. When she began to have headaches and fatigue, Amy complained to her long-time friend, Audra Conklin, who was currently working as an educator for holistic skin care companies. The women soon realized that it was very likely that Amy’s constant exposure to harsh cleaning chemicals was compromising her health.

Audra and Amy have been friends for twenty-five years, first meeting in high school on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and they had talked for years about going into business together, but the time had never been right. But, soon after Amy’s health scare, Audra was downsized from her company. After Audra returned from a rejuvenating month-long vacation to Alaska, the two women sat down to develop a plan to work together. Both were environmentalists and believed that harsh chemicals were affecting the health of millions, so they decided to develop a line of natural cleaners that would work well and be safe to use.

After buying and testing many “natural cleaners” that are currently on the market, Amy and Audra could not find one product that did not contain unsafe chemicals that cleaned to their standards. After lots of testing in Amy’s kitchen, the women developed a line of cleaning products made from food-grade natural cleaning agents and added pure essential oils for fragrance and to enhance cleaning properties. They named their company, Modern Mermaids, and came up with the slogan, “because we need to breathe while we clean!”

Audra had a marketing background and realized they needed to talk to consumers and see how they reacted to their product. They took Modern Mermaids cleaning products to “green markets” around Palm Beach County, judged the reaction of people trying the products and spent a lot of time educating shoppers about the danger of harsh chemicals in the home. People loved them, and their cleaners, and soon they had to stop using Amy’s kitchen and hire a local eco-friendly manufacturer to begin producing Modern Mermaid products. Now the products are bar coded and can be sold in local stores.

Amy currently lives in Jupiter with her husband and two children, and Audra lives in Ft. Lauderdale so she can be close to her son. Audra would frequently visit Amy before they went into business together, and even then she was aware of chemical hazards. Amy remembers Audra unplugging all of her plug-in air fresheners every time she visited. “I told her I needed those! I had children with stinky diapers and a dog in the house. But, Audra taught me how unhealthy those chemical fragrances were for my family.”

“Our cleaners are actually edible before you add the essential oils,” says Audra. “And the essential oils are 100% plant derived.”

I asked Audra what simple ingredients could I use to clean my home, and she suggested I try peroxide in a spray bottle with baking soda as an exfoliant if needed. And, she told me that the natural cleaners work well, but they may take a little more elbow grease than people are used to. Both women believe that most consumers would rather work a bit harder to keep their families healthy.

“Women are much more likely to be concerned about household chemicals,” says Audra. “Several men have tried to convince us to use artificial ingredients in our cleaners because it would be cheaper and easier to manufacture, but we refuse to put our names on anything less than 100% natural, safe products.”

Amy and Audra laugh when they recall those first six months of product development done solely in Amy’s kitchen. “It’s amazing that our friendship, and my marriage, survived,” says Amy. “We did nothing but work on Modern Mermaids – everything else in our lives was put on hold.”

Today, the “Mermaids” have found a better balance. Audra again has time to exercise and to read the mysteries and natural magazines she enjoys. She is even able to enjoy a “girl’s night out” now and then. And Amy is once again cooking for her family, volunteering at her son’s school and, of course, she is a part of the “girl’s night” fun.

Helping others learn to “live green” is a passion for Audra and Amy. They have recently started to do home parties where they serve organic food and wine while educating party-goers about ways to live healthier “green” lives. And, even after all the stress of starting Modern Mermaids, the women are still very close. Amy says, “We fight like sisters, but we laugh like best friends!”

To learn more about Modern Mermaids, visit their website at www.modernmermaids.com, or call 561-779-4983.