We were lucky to catch up with Kate Shanahan recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Kate, thanks for joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
Shortly after adopting my newborn baby in 2019, I shared with my friend and cofounder Tasha my frustrations around the difficulties in finding high-quality hair and skin products for my Black daughter. Tasha revealed that she was on a continual quest for her own family with teenagers and that the search didn’t get easier with age.
We both quickly became fixated on the idea of creating a joyful, authentic online shopping experience for mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, and friends to come and find beautiful hair and skin products while also supporting current and future Black beauty industry stars.
And so, Sweet Peach Tree Marketplace was born.
But there is so much more behind the short summary above. The wheels for Sweet Peach Tree Marketplace were likely set in motion years ago. In 2013, At 33 years old I was diagnosed with breast cancer (blog: https://www.sweetpeachtree.com/post/october-days-finding-beauty-in-difficult-times). With a five-month old daughter, I was grateful to be a new mom but overwhelmed with the immediacy and demands of undergoing surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. Before starting treatment however, my husband and I rushed to do fertility preservation. Knowing chemotherapy can significantly reduce the ability to get pregnant on naturally, we preserved embryos as our dream to expand our family was not going to be forgotten during this cancer battle.
Emerging from treatment, I was weak and strong at the same time. Weak from all that my body sacrificed during the intense rounds of chemotherapy and radiation but stronger than I ever knew possible given what I had just experienced – physically and mentally. The years after treatment consisted of steadily regaining my sense of how I belonged to the world. A life-threatening diagnosis can both affirm and rock your core beliefs and for me, it unlocked a sense of searching and restlessness – I knew there was more out there for my purpose but couldn’t put my finger on it. My work and career was still satisfying but not in the same way it was prior to my diagnosis.
The next few years were dedicated expanding our family. After multiple failed IVF attempts and three miscarriages, the fire in my heart knew that this wasn’t the way and called for a new direction. And that new direction led us to the life-changing and affirming gift of adoption. Tackling a new unknown chapter after cancer and IVF felt daunting but I was energized by the unwavering belief that our next child was out there. Within months, we were blessed a phone call to see if we could be in Atlanta by the next day. In a miracle for us, Emme’s birth mother selected us as a forever family. As I share in the Sweet Peach Tree October blog, I’ll never truly know the extent of how my cancer diagnosis as a new mom of a five month old affected my body’s ability to have more children naturally. And I don’t need to know. All I cling to today is that what were some of life’s darkest days somehow led me down a path to one of life’s brightest joys – our sweet Emme.
Once again, with a newborn at home I was thrown into another world that I knew very little about – caring for Emme’s sensitive skin and delicate hair. Google search upon google search left me overwhelmed and disappointed in how hard it was to find reputable, natural, safe and effective products for Emme. Since my cancer diagnosis, shifting to natural products was more of a priority for myself and my family than it had been previously. Additionally, one of my gifts is being keenly aware of recognizing what I do not know and absorbing advice from others that do. This understanding led me to taking multiple classes hosted by an organization called Styles for Kidz founder Tamekia Swint. Tamekia was so affirming and clear in her directive that a Black child’s hair is so much more than style – it’s about history, confidence, and self-esteem. And from that day forward, my mission to ensure that Emme felt proud of her beautiful skin and hair everyday of her life was cemented.
Tasha and I both struggled to find products and when we did, we would have to go to multiple sites for multiple products and we lamented that it shouldn’t be so hard.
Tasha and I were determined to solve this problem. With a combined entrepreneurial drive and with Tasha’s incredible eye for design, aesthetic, and beauty, together we started Sweet Peach Tree Marketplace.
Kate, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Our goal is to be the place that every household goes to find high-quality, natural hair and beauty products for the whole family. By curating various products from multiple Black-owned brands, we hope to be the one-stop shop for all skin and hair needs while elevating our brand partners. With a passion for celebrating beauty and the uniqueness of each individual – we aim to honoring families of all shapes, sizes and shades – biological, blended, foster, adoption – we want to take the work out of the product search and provide ease to each of our customers.
We also often get asked the question if our products are only for Black families and our answer to that is while we serve a market that in our experience must search harder to find high-quality, effective products in one place, the products we sell are effective for all. Body butters have changed how I moisturize my own skin. The body scrubs and bath milks smooth and soothe my skin like nothing I have used in the past. My hair shines with the nourishing shampoos and conditioners. And knowing everything is natural, effective and smells amazing makes me feel good about what I am using. And each time I use a product, I think of our brand partners who are working tirelessly to share their own mission and product with the world.
There are times that I wish Tasha and I started our online shop earlier but then I quickly remember that without Emme, there would be no Sweet Peach Tree Marketplace. Yet, when I reflect, I firmly believe that the foundation for Sweet Peach Tree started years ago – with the restlessness of my post-cancer experience, the IVF journey that led us to adoption and the open, honest friendship with Tasha that allowed me to voice my vulnerability and questions about being a mom to a beautiful Black daughter.
We hope to share both our passion for natural and high-quality hair, skin and beauty products for the whole family while elevating Black owned small business brand partners. We also aspire to be a space for parents and individual to feel supported and confident in their product choices. And ultimately, our goal is to make the customer’s life easier with a one-stop shopping experience.
Sweet Peach Tree Marketplace – ‘A sweet celebration of beauty. A sweet celebration of you.’
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
Before we were partners and cofounders of Sweet Peach Tree, Tasha and I previously worked together in consulting. Professionally, I admired Tasha’s drive to consistently push our team to do better. And personally, I quickly picked up on Tasha’s love for all things beautiful and stylish on our frequent video calls. Tasha’s impeccable taste shined through with every virtual meeting. By the time my family adopted Emme, my once colleague was now my dear friend.
With Tasha I could be open and honest and vulnerable as a mom of a newborn again after a seven-year hiatus. I shared with Tasha my many questions about caring for Emme’s sensitive skin and delicate hair. I shared my frustration with what felt so accessible when choosing products for my biological daughter was now proving to be more difficult with Emme. I struggled to find natural, quality and effective products that would moisturize, protect and nourish her skin and hair. It was through dialogue with Tasha that my unapologetic and unwavering passion to ensure that Emme would grow up feeling beautiful, celebrating her inner and outer beauty with access to both information and products came to light.
It was Tasha who responded with steadfast encouragement when I timidly shared my idea for an online shop. Without hesitation she said, ‘let’s do this,’ and with that Sweet Peach Tree Marketplace went from idea to reality.
How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?
In our early brainstorming sessions, Tasha and I consistently aligned on ensuring that the customer experience was one of ease and positivity. When we consider our clients, we aim for authenticity and making sure that our customers feel valued. We take pride in the brands we support and the products we feature and aim to show it through all aspects of the shopping experience. From browsing the website to opening a package from us, we want our customer to feel special and excited when choosing to shop at Sweet Peach Tree Marketplace.
We share our stories and our experiences in hope that our authenticity builds trust. And from that trust, we aspire to build a customer base that believes in the power of curating high-quality, natural hair and skin products for the whole family from Black-owned small businesses. We want to reach every household that has a need for safe, beautifully packaged, effective products. We aspire to build brand loyalty through our social media, blog posts, emails, our pop-up shops, pictures and videos. And we love celebrating our customer as much as we love celebrating our brand partners and offer a Loyalty Points Program as a way of saying thank you for each and every customer.
Contact Info:
- Website: sweetpeachtree.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sweetpeachtreemarket/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SPTmarketplace/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/sweetpeachtree2
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/sweetpeachtreemarket/