Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Carmen Joyce . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Carmen , appreciate you joining us today. Crazy stuff happening is almost as certain as death and taxes – it’s technically “unexpected” but something unexpected happening is to be expected and so can you share a crazy story with our readers

Okay so I’ve been an entrepreneur for the last 8 years in which I was selling my artwork online and at in-person markets. I liked the freedom of having my own schedule and the lack of pressure from other-but money was inconsistent.

Three years ago, I became a beekeeper and that changed how I saw my future as an an entrepreneur. For months I wondered how I could incorporate my art with bees and one fated day I was immediately propelled into figuring it out!

I had been attending a wildcrafting intensive in the mountains of western North Carolina one week in July. I barely had cell service and the days were so busy that I didn’t get to check my social media much. I’d get up really early, drive 45 minutes to the site, get back to the cabin when it was dark, make dinner and food prep for the next day and go to bed. It wasn’t until I was on my way back home that I noticed I kept getting alerts on Instagram. I kept wondering what it was. I thought maybe the same person had just scrolled down and “liked” all of my posts. It wasn’t until I stopped for gas that I realized I had thousands of alerts and after a quick investigation I realized I had a Reel that was blowing up! At that point I think it had around 10,000 views and I thought that was awesome! By the time it was over that Reel had 2.6 million views and I had thousands of new followers.

But it wasn’t over yet! A week or so afterward I recorded myself rescuing a swarm of bees off the road. I recorded myself doing it just like all the other things I do with bees. I threw together a little video while sitting on my couch later that night and before I knew it I was watching the views on this new Reel go from 0 to over 5 million! I also have to mention that Jamie Lee Freaking Curtis shared my Reel on her Instagram feed! That was after it had started going viral and Andy McDowell, Brooke Shields, Clinton Kelly all started following my account but the one that trips me out is Milla Jovovich follows me on Instagram! Guys, Milla Jovovich knows the sound of my voice! I can’t even handle it. My followers moved up from around 4,500 t0 now over 109k. I have to tell you during this time I was so stressed (hey good stress is still stress) that I got a cold sore!

This unintentional surprise “fame” (I use that word very loosely) changed many things about how I would approach my small business. The ideas I had in my mind for handmade salves, lip balms, and other hive products needed to manifest quickly since I now had an audience! My orders increased by 8600% (wow!) and my revenue increased by 29,104%. How is that even possible?!

While this very unexpected turn of events has been nothing short of a blessing, I’ve also had to learn how to more effectively manage my time among other adjustments I am in the process of making. I started meeting with my local small business center and I’ve discovered many opportunities through them that I would’ve never know about otherwise.

I’d liken the experience to being swept away by a river current, but you’re strapped to the boat. You aren’t worried about falling off you’re just worried about keeping up and learning how to pace yourself.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a beekeeper (@noogahoneypot) and artist (@carmencayart) and I’ve spent the last couple of years learning how I can merge my talents to turn NoogaHoneyPot into a successful business.

I am a mixed media artist and my medium is mostly photography. I use an alternative photographic process called cyanotype and I conduct workshops along with setup at markets and festivals. My art has allowed me to immerse myself in the natural world around me but it wasn’t until I moved to Tennessee four years ago that I realized that’s what I needed to heal from the challenging field of mental health. I have a Masters Degree in Counseling and after working in the field for 15 years I realized just how much it was wearing down my mental, physical and spiritual health.

Then came bees.

My father was a beekeeper along with his cousin. They would spend hot summers in Florida tending to bees and collecting honey to sell locally. I’d always wished I could get into the hives but my mom would never let me. As I got older I shadowed a beekeeper before becoming one myself. I currently manage 12 hives and next year I will be expanding to 22 hives.

The beekeeping world has been traditionally male dominated and that’s one thing that keeps me motivated to stand out in my field. Since becoming a beekeeper I’ve caught lots of swarms, removed and relocated bees that live in people’s homes, taught kids and adults of all ages about bees, and I’ve helped one middle school in my area start a beekeeping club and bring a hive to their school. I rescue honeybees that need help and I give them new homes in a safe place!

I’ve worked really hard to build my own unique brand of hive products. What makes me different than most beekeepers is the care I put into my products. I forage for, collect, and dry the plants and herbs I infuse with oils to make salves, lip balms, and teas. I only use locally sourced beeswax in my products. I don’t order in bulk from China, mix things together and call it a day. I take pride in my knowledge of medicinal plants and herbs and my ability to teach others the importance of bees and plants through the purchase and use of my products. I send a “Pollinator Packet’ with every purchase which is a mix of pollinator friendly seeds that anyone can grow. I hand collect and sort them from my own garden.

I’m excited to, in such a small amount of time, be able to have partnered with some great folks to do some wonderful things in the community! I also started NoogaQueenBee, a group for women and minority beekeepers. Through this nonprofit I was able to acquire a grant to start a community apiary and because of that I’ve been able to teach many folks about how important bees are! I even had one sweet girl named Olivia come visit me when she was in the area to see my beehives! Her mother found me through Instagram. How cool is that! Now she’s trying to talk her neighbor into letting them get bees. This is the kind of community I aspire to build!

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

The best thing I can tell you about social media is to keep going! Even if you don’t get a lot of “likes” or a lot of views on Reels or videos, etc. don’t give up! Make sure you are posting content regularly. I try to post a Reel at least every other day. The best thing you can do for yourself is keep a file with photos and videos in it that you will be able to use in the future. It’s difficult to find material good enough to record every day so it’s nice to have a pool of items to choose from.

The next thing that I think is important is to make sure you have aesthetically pleasing material to share. Use photo editing software (I use VSCO) for all of my photos and videos. You want to keep the same “look” when it comes to edits because this will actually become part of your brand as well. You want someone to come across one of your photos or videos and be able to recognize it without seeing who posted it. It me a long time to figure it out but I finally realized people paid more attention to my account when I only posted photos of my art rather than of my dinner and my dogs.

I also encourage collaborations that make sense for your brand. Make sure you talk beforehand and set the goals for your collaboration. I’ve worked with people in the past and I’ve ended up doing most of the work because there weren’t clear cut roles. To that end, if you discover the collaboration no longer works for you don’t feel like you need to stay somewhere that is no longer serving you (that goes for in life, too).

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Building a good reputation relies on three things: consistency, honesty, and humility. Everything in a business depends on good customer service as customers are the reason you can sustain a business. There are times when you need to “fire” a customer and times you need strong boundaries with people but for the most part people keep coming back to you because they like you and they trust your product will be consistent. When they order a mocha frappa latte with extra m&m’s they will get the same thing each time and if they don’t get the same thing they always get they trust you will fix it. This is how you get repeat customers.

I always try to lead with kindness but if I am being honest, sometimes I am having a bad day and I might not respond the way I want to or should’ve. This is where honesty and humility come in. Being able to respond to people honestly has given me better credibility because people see that I am human. I think this happens so little in our world that people find it truly refreshing. When I’ve been overwhelmed and have had orders I’ve needed to send out but haven’t had the time to get them completed as quickly as I’d like I always reach out the person and tell them honestly about needing some more time. Sure you have some people who are going to demand you do something when they think it should be done but more often than not I find that people are kind and understanding-even encouraging-and I think that’s because I am approaching them honestly and with humility.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.noogahoneypot.com
• Instagram: @noogahoneypot
• Facebook: facebook.com/noogahoneypot
• Youtube: Noogahoneypot
• Other: Email: [email protected]

Image Credits
Carmen Joyce @noogahoneypot