Red
Ireland#2General Comment
Mon, September 10, 2018
We were recently made aware of this post regarding Naples Soap Company, Deanna Renda, and her now ex-husband Mr. Renda. This post is inaccurate as it pertains to Mr. Patrick Renda, Patrick Blake Renda, who was and is an innocent party taken advantage of by Ms. Renda/Kelly/Lipman/Wallin like so many others. In researching the matter it came to light that Ms. Renda/Kelly/Lipman/Wallin has used may employees, investors, vendors, and her ideas/story are "borrowed". Ms. Renda/Kelly/Lipman/Walling didn’t come up with the idea of eczema soap, it was already out there. She "borrowed” it from a vendor. Naples Soap Company was a very troubled company until her former husband was asked by Ms. Renda/Kelly/Lipman/Wallin to join and take over day to day operations, HR, sales, IT, media, etc… The company was almost insolvent with only $5000 in the bank and closing stores left and right from a prior partnership. Given Mr. Renda's extensive experience investing in public and private companies on an institutional level, and assisting various private companies as an investor and consultant, he took over the impossible task of stopping the bleeding and pivoting a company sure to fail at that time. In a very brief 4.5 years Mr. Renda took a company with no cash, a lot of debt, high turnover, no brand identity and a few products and turned into a retail juggernaut growing top line 40% plus a year and in the process attracted VC money, established a strong relationship with banking creditors, cemented a JV with one of Japan’s oldest CPG companies for exclusive distribution and repositioned the brand and company as a lifestyle brand selling skincare. Mr. Renda was the sole reason the company became a success and is a success today. Without Mr. Renda's extensive business acumen and operational abilities NSC would have failed.
During Mr. Renda's tenure, he spent 60-70 hours a week, 7 days a week, visiting stores, managing daily operations, handling HR issues, implementing new technologies and driving sales. Right up to his final days in Fall of 2015, Mr. Renda was securing what would become the new warehouse and office building for NSC. Mr. Renda built the foundation and put all the processes in place for the success the company was experiencing (multiple awards including Florida Retailer of The Year 2015) and in place for the future growth. It turned out, Ms. Renda/Kelly/Lipman/Wallin was leading a double life and tried to force Mr. Renda out of the company with the help of the CFO, Mr. Jim Milner, that Mr. Renda had brought in from Robert Half. It wasn't until many secrets of Ms. Renda/Kelly/Lipman/Wallin's started to become known did then Mr. Renda leave the company. The success of the NSC had very little to do with Ms. Renda/Kelly/Lipman/Wallin as she likes to claim in press and other. It is our findings that Mr. Renda should in no way, shape, or form be affiliated with content in the original post.