We recently connected with Michele Beattie and have shared our conversation below.

Michele, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I’ve always been entrepreneurial. I am very connected to nature specifically healing from what’s in our backyards. I started dabbling as a “kitchen witch“ 30+ years ago when my children were small have always used alternative medication when applicable. Was a nurse and saw both sides of the spectrum from pharmaceuticals to homeopathic remedies and really wanted to pursue the natural side, especially after seeing positive results from using plant and mushroom extracts and materials that I have foraged. The business has grown and expanded based on customers, interests and reaction to new products, always trying to provide the healthiest options whether it is candles, skin care, products, soaps, and pet products. We make almost all of these products and sell in our brick and mortar shop.

Michele, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I have aways considered myself one to make health choices, having grown up with a european mother I was aware from a young age that many product we sell in the US are full of chemicals and toxic ingredients. I started making my own salves when my kids were babies instead of using MD prescribed steroid cream for skin irritations and winter eczema. Fast forward 25 years, my older daughter Devon, now mom of three and a co-owner of Hazel and Bee organics, asked me to make my “magic salve” for her daughter Scarett, who was suffering from extremely itchy dry skin during her first winter after birth. I had forgotten how much i enjoyed working with my hands and creating. I started branching out and making other products, candles, lips balm, creams and taught my self to make cold processed soap( my favorite thing to make) I starting giving all of my homemade goodies to friends and family at the holidays and then i had repeat requests and hazel and bee was born ( named after my pugs ) . We started with an online store and after 2 years felt we needed a store front so that customers could smell, and sample our products. We opened our brick and mortar location in beautiful Manchester Vermont in the fall of 2021. I was an RN before H&B, and managed both for a few years until it was no longer feasible. Hazel and Bee Organics is a mother /daughter team, we make everything in house, try to source raw materials as local as we can when possible. We believe in providing affordable organic skincare and alternative choices to the chemical filled options widely available . I only use plant base oils, essential oils and natural colorants , such as clays and plant root powders ( where applicable-Soaps) additionally I am a beekeeper and use my honey and beeswax in many of my products. Honey is an amazing ingredient and heals so many different issues, both topically and orally. I am the formulator, i make and create the products, Devon works in the role of marketing , advertising, managing the website and all the behind the scenes tasks. We believe in family, health, happiness and creating a product people feel good about using . I believe our passion and commitment to customer service sets us apart from others as well as the fact that we make great products, that aren’t not only pet friendly as well as can be used on the whole family ! We try to educate our all customers on the benefits of using our natural/organic products and hope to empower others to take control of their health and overall wellbeing.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

I was working as a registered nurse when H&B was started, I worked lots of overtime and used the extra funds to acquire ingredients ,raw materials, accessories and tools needed to make our products. I did this for a few years until I felt confident that H&B was established and I had enough repeat customers to commit to H&B full time.

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

We have a website, we use Wix as the platform. It has been fairly easy however we are currently considering moving to a different platform. The reason being is that our point of sale system in the storefront doesnt integrate with Wix . This has caused some minor issue, especially the it comes to gift cards. They are not able to use in the store if purchased on line and visa versa. The pros about having a website is that when a customer visit the shop from out of town and want to continue to use our products is help with customer loyalty. We also have many customer send out products around the country as gifts.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Hazelandbee.com
• Instagram: Hazelandbeeorganics
• Facebook: Hazel & Bee Organics
• Linkedin: Hazel & Bee Organics

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