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

Hi Jennifer, thanks for joining us today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

At Grass Fed Skin, we are intentional about every ingredient we source. This means carefully selecting suppliers with high standards, prioritizing local and U.S.-based businesses, and supporting small, regenerative farms whenever possible. Our main ingredient, beef tallow, comes from farms where we personally know the farmers, the butchers, and their methods. We’ve visited these farms and butcheries ourselves, ensuring a supply chain rooted in quality and transparency. By keeping our sourcing close to home, we’re not only supporting our local economy but also offering customers a product crafted with care—free from the mass-produced ingredients typical of big cosmetic companies. We know our customers appreciate these details.

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?

As an Occupational Therapy practitioner and Physical Therapist, my husband and I have always grounded our practices in wellness and holistic health. We believe in the power of natural, God-given remedies and have often found that the best outcomes come from approaches outside the pharmaceutical focus of allopathic care.

When we discovered the benefits of tallow, it quickly became a staple in our home for a variety of uses, from soothing rashes and bug bites to healing burns and beyond. It also became our go-to daily moisturizer, as we saw firsthand how it works on a cellular level to support long-term hydration. We began sourcing beef suet from the same farmers who supplied our food, rendering the tallow ourselves to create nutrient-rich wellness products we used daily and shared with friends and family. The enthusiastic feedback and growing requests encouraged us to take the leap—from practicing therapists to full-time business owners—dedicating our energy to expanding this small venture into a brand centered on quality, care, and natural healing.
Now we offer a full line of carefully crafted tallow based wellness products.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

We have seen peak periods of growth when we are present ourselves for markets and in person events versus hiring staff to attend in our place. While this may not always be feasible, when you can be the face of your company and represent the brand exactly how you want to, customers connect with you and remember your brand from that personal connection. Owning your own business means representing your brand where/when/how you want to and that uniqueness appeals to customers over large corporations.

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.

We sell through our website, on Etsy, we have a couple of products on Amazon and we sell in person at local markets. When we sell at markets we have the highest revenue in the shortest amount of time and we get to meet customers and market our brand in our local community. Online we are able to reach customers all over the US and make our products available to those who may not have access to quality products like ours, so that is rewarding. We also sell through an online wholesale platform which gets ours products on the shelves of stores all over the US. Amazon has pros and cons, however when anyone can leave a review (even those who have never purchased your product and may be in competition with your brand) and you can not respond to those reviews it can feel unfair. Amazon is nice for companies that may not have space to store their inventory, because they can store and fulfill orders for you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mygrassfedskin.com
• Instagram: @grassfedskin
• Facebook: @grassfedskin
• Other: Faire: https://www.faire.com/direct/grassfedskin?utm_source=brand_app&utm_medium=link

Image Credits

Brittany Shackleford