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

Hi Taylor, thanks for joining us today. 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.

In April of 2020 my husband and I finally bought the 60 acre farm we had been living on for years. My first thought was to get a couple bee hives to help pollinate our garden now that we were in our forever home. After a very exciting first honey harvest I had a ton of beeswax left over and had no idea what to do with it. I’ve always loved the cozy warmth of candles but with so much fragrance in commercially sold candles i would usually have side effects from burning them in my home. So I researched how to render beeswax to make candles for personal use. And that’s when it all began. The more research I did the more information I found about the harmful results of burning paraffin candles and even scented soy candles could do to your health, some research even linking allergy and asthma symptoms in children. While also discovering the endless benefits of burning beeswax candles in your home. So it just made sense to continue my personal endeavor while also communicating my findings to friends and family. I soon began making beeswax candles for friends and family for Christmas and birthday gifts and they were hooked.. I was encouraged to attend a small artist market to promote my bee knowledge and sell my beeswax candles and it was a huge hit, selling out of most of my inventory. It was then that i realized that I may actually have something with this beeswax thing and I would need a lot more beeswax to continue my venture. SO naturally we got more bee hives, learning everything we could about caring for healthy, sustainable hives. I spoke to beekeepers in my area, young and old, new and experienced. And began gather beeswax from other beekeepers to render as well, since most beekeepers I spoke to just threw their beeswax away. This now helped beekeepers use every part of their hive, producing less waste, while contributing to the cleaning burning candle that a lot of supporters were looking for.

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 am not simply a candle company, I am a bee company that promotes to the betterment of all pollinators. Most of my profits from candle sales go back into creating an environment on our farm that benefit all pollinators and we are working to come up with ways to get the general public out to the farm in order to promote bee/pollinator education and to witness first hand the operations of my bee company, from candle making to harvesting honey to rendering beeswax. All while enjoying the the natural environment and native landscape. Teaching others the joys and benefits of keeping bees and making and using beeswax candles is the ultimate goal, not to become a rich or powerful. It is I want to care for nature the way it cares for us. I do hive consultations and set up for anyone who is looking to get started, providing resources and mentor the best way I know how, hands on and personal. I am not providing this false idea that i know everything there is to know bout beekeeping and honey bees, I learn something new every time I open my hives or speak with other beekeepers, and that is what is so beautiful about this experience. It is ever evolving and growing just as I strive to do everyday. I am so taken aback by the out pouring of support and encouragement that comes from engaging in something that serves me and gives me purpose.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A major lesson I had to unlearn was that business does not have to be about the bottom line and profits. I started my career in accounting and finance and worked for a major logistics company in Atlanta, Ga. My day-to-day consistently revolved around profitability and how to cut expenses while gaining revenue, which always meant how can we get more out of the workers without actually giving more for the productivity. It was a very toxic environment that fostered the idea of expecting more out of workers while giving nothing in return. I ultimately made the decision that not only was this career, or workplace, not serving me, but was changing who I was as a person; into someone who saw dollar signs instead of human beings with a life and family and tragedies and triumphs that had absolutely nothing to do with work. Upper management knew the benefits of using lower employees to get ahead. I was done. It wasn’t until after working so closely with my bees that I fully understood the worker(bee) is only has good as it’s queen, and that it is co-dependent relationship between the beekeeper and the bees. I’ve had a high demand for honey ever since I started this adventure but I tell all of my supports that I do not make the honey, it is all based on the bees. I could easily take all of the honey in the hive and leave nothing for the bees but in return I would sacrifice the health and overall well-being of my bees. That is something I simply will not do, no matter how much money I can get for my honey harvest. The bees are always taken care of first. Profit is never in the forefront.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

My following on social media of course began with close friends and family. When I started my business I had actually been off social media for quite some time. I knew social media marketing was important in the success and growth of my bee company so naturally I reactivated my accounts and just slowly started post about markets I was attending and info about bees. Not trying to force a following. I saw my social media following, particularly on Instagram, grow when I showed my face. I think people actually wanted to know what I had to say. The most important thing is to be so authentically you that when your followers meet you in person they are meeting the same person they see on social media. No fluff, no bs just you. I did struggle with that at first, critiquing myself whether it was voice or my energy or my corny jokes, but I realized that this is who I am in real life and people love me so why be so hard on myself when posting on social media. I just try to have a good time overall, I’m excited about the things I post so I try to project that same energy.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thecharmerbeeco.com
• Instagram: www.instgram.com/thecharmerbeeco
• Facebook: https://m/facebook.com/100078540783019