We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Maggie Dellemann-Zadina a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Maggie, thanks for joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

Living on an island in Alaska has always thrown in it’s unique benefits and challenges, so when health issues came up for me – it was more realistic for me to first try and address the situation myself, if could do so safely, before seeking help from through medical services here. I’ve never been very good at taking OTC medication, so plant=based remedies were a natural path for me to explore. When I got a cyst on my foot, I discovered essential oils for healing and started using them for health and wellness for myself, and also started blending for others upon request and for gifts. The passionate interest blossomed quickly, the more I learned, the more I loved. Soon after I discovered one could actually go to school to become certified in Aromatherapy, and I wanted in. I worked 2 jobs to save for the course, and in January of 2015 I traveled to Sedona, AZ to attend Stillpoint Studies. It was an extensive, in-depth course broken up across three months, and the last educational journey was learning about the art of distillation. Respectfully harvesting the plant material, working with the ancient techniques of copper still distillation and seeing & smelling those first drips of Pinion Pine Hydrosol and essential oil that alchemy helped create – it was pure magic and I was hooked immediately. During the follow-up lecture after distillation, we discussed rare essential oils, ones with endangered plants and ones that weren’t being distilled in many places or by many distillers. My instructors specifically mentioned Sitka Spruce as one of the rare essential oils not being distilled anywhere, after France had infestations wipe out the majority of their Sitka Spruce. My heart jumped at that and my mind immediately started racing – I raised my hand, “I live on Kodiak Island, AK and we are surrounded by Sitka Spruce trees.” My instructors, who also own a company that sells essential oil and Hydrosol, Stillpoint Aromatics, replied with, “If you start distilling, we’ll buy every drop you make!”
And with that, I graduated with my Certificate in Aromatherapy and came back home inspired and motivated to continue learning how to be a distiller of essential oil and Hydrosol. I purchased my first still, a 200L Split Top Rotating Copper Alembic handmade by Iberian Coppers in Portugal.
The birth and growth of my small business, Emerald Isle Essentials, has been quite organic, pulling inspiration and product options from the island flora. Kodiak Island is also known as the “Emerald Isle” because of the magical way it greens up in the summer season, thus the beautiful namesake for the business. The part that got me the most excited, and continues to this day, is the distillation process. We aim to offer a growing line of artisanal hydrosols, respectfully harvested and created from plants growing wild on the island, and those we grow here in our EIE gardens, including Sitka Spruce, Lavender, Yarrow, Rose, Lemon Balm and more. The world of hydrosols is still new to many and it has so much to offer! Hydrosols are the second product of distillation alongside essential oils. However, unlike essential oils, hydrosols are water-based and much gentler and more subtle in their aroma. Because of their gentleness, they make a great healing option for pets, kids, sensitive skin and regular use for all.
Along with creating specialty, small batch hydrosols and other plant crafted healing remedies, Emerald Isle Essentials is committed to offering insight into the world of distillation and hydrosols through plant-based education and experiences. I feel so fortunate to have discovered this world and be able to embed my life and family in it.

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?

My name is Maggie Dellemann, I was born and raised in Wisconsin, & have lived in Kodiak, Alaska for the past 15 years. Since arriving in Alaska, learning about and applying more holistic ways of living and creating from nature has grown continuously. This is also what initially drew me into the world of aromatherapy. Distilling local Pinon Pine in Sedona, Arizona during my Aromatherapy Certification Program was especially inspiring, and stuck with me. Shortly after, I started Emerald Isle Essentials and it has been a never-ending learning experience and adventure ever since.

Emerald Isle Essentials is inspired by Kodiak Island & whole of Alaska. We are dedicated to creating top quality plant-crafted wellness products, with a passion for working with local Alaskan botanicals. Our goal here at Emerald Isle Essentials is to create blends that soothe, support and heal. We only use respectfully sourced ingredients, and we either grow or wild-harvest as much as possible from right here on this amazing island.

Made from the goodness of the Earth, for the goodness of your body.

Here on Kodiak we are carpeted in lush vegetation from mountain top to shoreline. Depending on the season, an ever-changing variety of foliage can be found. One special tree can be spotted all-year and island wide: the beautiful Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis). These resilient trees are why I started EIE and they hold a special place in my heart.
Our Emerald Isle offers so much and I want to share it with you all.

​Wild Crafted • Alaskan Botanicals • Aromatherapy Healing

Have you ever had to pivot?

I can imagine most, if not all, small businesses can relate to the massive pivots caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In our case, at the time the pandemic hit, most of our income was brought in by markets, bazaars and other live shows, while our special orders and our online shop supplemented.

Suddenly, all live shows ceased, along with a large portion of our dependable income and created one of the biggest problem-solving endeavors I’ve encountered thus far as a small business owner. So, with the support and vision of my husband (our behind-the-scenes visionary), we invested in bulk ingredients for Hand Sanitizer, which was already part of our product line. We scoured the depths of the online world searching for materials as ingredients and packaging depleted almost immediately and managed to ship enough to the island to fill numerous bulk special orders of our Hand Sanitizer for on and off-island businesses.

We made it through the most challenging moments with the support of each other, our community and all the businesses who supported small while staying safe.

Now, 2+ years later, our Hand Sanitizer is still a top seller, we have enjoyed several safely executed live shows and are preparing for yet another pivot, this time in our personal life as we countdown the welcome to our second child in 2 years, a baby girl due at the end of August!

This life is full of pivots, and being a small business owner seems to offer its (sometimes more than) fair share. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world, even during the most challenging of those pivots and unexpected obstacles. The support and love of my family, friends and amazing customers + community keeps it all in perspective, and keeps the inspiring motivation going and growing.

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

Emerald Isle Essentials sells through our own site and various retailers. It was a choice made from the beginning, as organically as we started it was the natural way to go + grow, it seemed.

In my opinion, the pros consist of being able to independently manage the way our products are presented and offered, especially since many products are seasonal and the product line changes throughout the year based on plant creations and availability. The learning curve of operating the website and online shop was constant for a while and I am grateful for how much I learned and can now apply to continue growing and refining our products and business. However, I sometimes can’t help but wonder if going through a platform would have helped catapult our business and products to a higher level and how that would have or could have change our growth.

We are currently in the process of a major website recreation through a new host and feel very excited about its upcoming debut, as well as the plan to branch out to offer our products through a platform as well. I’m eager to learn more about the pros and cons of both as we dive in further to our Ecommerce possibilities this year.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.eiessentials.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emeraldisleessentials
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/emerald.isle.essentials
• Other: https://vimeo.com/370526034

Image Credits
Gretchen Powers