Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Samantha Zurek Gordon. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Samantha, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
In 2005 I read the novel “The Secret Life of Bees” and it made beekeeping sound almost enchanting. I was hooked! We purchased fully established hives in April and put them in my parents back field. We had absolutely no idea what we were supposed to do. The book “Beekeeping for Dummies” was our guide and we brought in the back field with us as a sort of instructors manual. We weren’t even sure how to light a smoker! But that summer we were able to harvest some honey and took it to the Northside Farmers Market. We enjoyed it so much that we expanded to 10 hives the next spring. Findlay Market was next! It’s been 19 years now and my mother has since passed away. My husband Scott runs everything with me now. We stayed at Findlay Market for almost 12 years then moved across the street to our current location, 1815 Elm Street 4 years ago just a few months before the pandemic. It’s been a roller coaster, but we have very supportive customers and have landed on our feet.
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 love taking care of the bees. I’m a person with a never ending to do list. The bees help calm me down and feel centered. You have to be very present and thoughtful when you open the hives. They’ll let you know if you’re rushing or not paying attention with a sting or two. The business was secondary. It came about naturally. We had a little extra honey and beeswax so we started making things like candles, lip balms, salves, creamed honey and jam. The demand for our products quickly outgrew what we were producing. To keep up we will source honey and beeswax from other local and national beekeepers. Our shop on Elm Street and our other location The Chocolate Bee in Northside are full of all kinds of gifts from the bees. We love what we do and we love the connections we make with people visiting our business. We currently have 12 – actually 11 hives – one hive was stolen in November. The hives are scattered around Cincinnati and a few in New Richmond. It’s a labor of love to take care of them but I don’t plan on giving it up for many, many years.
Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?
We make our beeswax candles, lip balms, salves, creamed honey, and jams. It has for sure been trial and error, watching YouTube videos and reading how to books to figure it out, but I think we have a reputation for high quality products. People visiting from out of town come back and tell us they make a point of stopping in whenever they’re in Cincinnati. I love sharing the knowledge I have gained from doing this for almost 20 years.
What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?
Bee Haven was not a planned business. I was going to sell a few candles and a little honey at local farmers markets to help make ends meet while I homeschooled our 3 daughters. Setting up every weekend at Findlay Market launched the business into a full time career. It happened slowly and easily, and when we out grew our space we moved across the street to 1815 Elm. That was the scariest time. Looking at a big white box we had to fill with products and hopefully customers was daunting, but I feel we have been successful! Each year is better than the last.
Contact Info:
- Website: beehavenhoney.com
- Instagram: beehavenhoney
- Facebook: beehavenhoney