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

Tami, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

I endured years of painful and weepy eczema. I was embarrassed to wear shorts or tank tops, afraid that people would stare or wonder what was wrong with me. Then in 2021, I received a skin cancer diagnosis. I remember that day vividly and for several days after that I could not get the words out of my head “You have skin cancer”. I then decided to take charge and make a change. I did my research and made the I chose to begin a fresh wellness journey focused on clean and natural skincare.

With my research I discovered tallow. I learned that tallow had aided many others with eczema and various dermatitis types, I decided to give it a try because it allowed me to stay committed to my new values of clean and natural skincare. Remarkably, my eczema improved significantly in less than a week. Working in the health care field for over 2 decades as a Respiratory Therapist, I witnessed patients enduring the same pain and discomfort, this transformative experience empowered me to launch my own business focused on tallow.

Tami, 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?

My name is Tami Taddo Richards. I was born in a very small town in Montana but grew up in sunny California. I was always the creative type. I loved dancing, choreographing for my local theatre, and performing in musical theatre. I received my bachelor’s degree in Film with an emphasis in Screenwriting. After college, I went on to Respiratory Therapy school and passed my state boards to become a full-fledged Respiratory Therapist, RT.

As an RT I worked with newborns and infants in the NICU as well as children’s hospitals in LA, CA. I loved my career and was challenged and rewarded daily. Then the healthcare field took a massive change when COVID hit. Shortly into Covid, I found out I had skin cancer and that’s when I took matters into my own hands to change my habits and battle my diagnosis. Upon discovering that tallow is a natural, sustainable product I used it. Tallow has been so life-altering in numerous ways and has been so beneficial in treating my eczema and skin needs that I choose to devote my life to tallow and start my own tallow skincare business.

We’d really appreciate if you could talk to us about how you figured out the manufacturing process.

I handmake all of my products in small and fresh batches. The whole process was a massive learning curve. Each product has been through a lot of trial and error. I had to find the perfect consistency, the perfect feel, the perfect scent, and the perfect formulation.

For almost all of my products, each one had about 10 different recipes until I found the right one and there were tons of note-taking, messy spills, and of course celebrations.

It was important to me to find the right suppliers for all of my ingredients. To find clean, pure ingredients, support small businesses, and fair trade suppliers. My tallow comes from a fully regenerative, multi-generational family farm in Washington, and all of my other ingredients have a similar source as well.

The same goes for my containers and labels, all are from the US and are manufactured by other small or family-owned businesses. It is important to me to support small and family businesses because I am one as well.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

I am a fully bootstrapped business. I am fully self-funded and there are some days where I don’t know how I’m going to make it, then there are other days where I can’t believe that I actually am going to make it. I work very hard and truly believe in my vision, values, tallow, and how beneficial it is for our skin and people need to know more about tallow and how it is a natural alternative to skincare.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://taddostallow.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taddos_tallow/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TaddosTallow2

Image Credits
Yasmin Alishav