A bunch of articles on how to overcome obstacles when starting and scaling a business for .Ìý

And here's a bunch of articles with my DIY recipes!:

MacKenzie Smith, aka was our first ever social media manager and still pops in once in a while. She also has the most popular grilled cheese blog on the entire internet, and her recipes have taught many of us dubbers how to cook delicious food and love it. Follow her .Ìý

Jessica Assaf was our first-ever intern and our first-ever employee and now she’s the badass co-founder of the best CBD line on the market, . She is a hugely influential activist, stalk her .Ìý

Katie Klencheski/SMAKK Studios created our first-ever branding. Katie has one of only .1% of creative agencies owned by women, and she is a genius. .Ìý

did ourÌýcurrent brand and is a beautiful, zen human who also teaches virtual yoga from LA. Follow along .Ìý

Ìýdesigns beautiful special editionÌýswag for us and makes the most joy-inducing illustrated goodies.Ìý

Ìýillustrated both of Adina's books and is filling the world with adorable tutorials and pictures.Ìý

Maddie GubernickÌýwas our amazing summer intern while she was in high school, and now she has her own store in NYC! She carries the products she used to make by hand with us, obvs.Ìý

ThereÌýare a ton of people who have found their way into our shea butter-scented family along the way. Please please follow and fall in love with these great artists and brands just like we have:Ìý

The past few have been hellish for us as founders, small-business owners, employees, and just humans. The election of Trump in 2016, with all of its blatant fear-mongering and dehumanizations didn’t feel like something new, but it did feel like something imminently dangerous. I remember, after panicking about minority rights and civil rights, starting to fall into a deep anxiety about the future of small business.Ìý

It already felt impossible to start and run a small business in America and since then, over the past four years, I’ve watched our business almost unravel from the complete lack of infrastructure and community in this nation’s manufacturing and distribution economy. BEFORE the global crisis that is Covid, we struggled to have vendors meet their deadlines, to get our massive business partners to understand how to work with a small company like ours, and to not be taken advantage of by middle men at every step along the way. It has been exhausting and frustrating and twelve years in, we still question ourselves all day, every single day.Ìý

I’ve always understood that running a business is harder for me because I’m a woman and I wasn’t lucky enough to launch with a million-dollar loan from daddy. But the Black Lives Matter movement revealed to me something that I should have already been understood: just how much harder it could have been for me. The less privilege you have, the more difficult all of those struggles are. In many cases, they become insurmountable.Ìý

My hope is that we can use all of the difficult lessons we’ve learned at ¶Ä²©ÍøÕ¾ to help, in whatever small way we can, to raise up more diverse voices in the natural products space and to add to a spirit of cooperation not cutthroat competition among small, independent brands. That’s why we’re committing to our new ¶Ä²©ÍøÕ¾ x Collabs project.Ìý

Since having this idea, I’ve been stalking brands and having conversations with so many new people. It was truly the best part of 2020. I got to meet so many great makers and founders all over the country and work together to development amazing new products with them while ALSO trying to start or save or grow our own businesses while ALSO trying to survive our realities.Ìý

• Any art: Photography, poetry, photo essays, drawings, memes.

• DIYs: Teach us how to do something that you really think everyone should know how to do. We only request that you treat us like super basic beginners because well, we are. Some ideas: sewing, cooking, baking, tincture-making.

• Products: Formulate a product that is 100% all-natural, 5 ingredients or less, and unique. Or help us develop something we’re already working on!Ìý

• NEW: Let’s make something new together! As long as it’s good for people and better than what’s out there, we want to hear it.Ìý

You will be compensated for your time, labor, and receive commission on sales. Just reach out so we can chat about what you have in mind and how we can work together!

Your work will appear on our website and in our new zine.Ìý

So what do you have in mind? Let us know.