Sweet Knee is another amazing vendor that I met on twitter. I saw her amazing deal on The Giving Blanket and the great cause behind every blanket sold. For every one blanket they sell, they give one to a child who is awaiting their new family or one who is healing from illness. As soon as I saw this, I instantly knew I had to feature Sweet Knee on my blog.
Sweet Knee also produces skin care and diaper care products!!!! Here are a few of my favorites:
Q&A with Kristy:
What inspired you to start your business?
Hi, Iʼm Kristy, president and mama of Sweet Knee. My company came about like many do, as a result of a real life experience that left me asking why I couldnʼt find a solution to a very real problem. The morning after giving birth to my son in 2005 he developed a severe skin rash that would not respond to natural or traditional diaper ointments. Even after determining that the cause was the "gel" used in disposable diapers, and removing those toxins from his environment, he continued to have difficulty healing, even after receiving steroid cream from his doctor.
I decided to go back to my roots and turn to nature. I had grown up watching my mother turn to herbs and botanicals for healing and so that is what I set out to do. I had also had the experience of apprenticing under my mother when she formulated her own line of skin care and cosmetics for her spa when I was a young girl. With this all coming back to me now, I studied every book and consulted every herbalist and naturopathic healer that I knew and went into my home kitchen to combine this knowledge, quite literally in a pot on the stove. I came up with the solution to help my sonʼs rash completely heal very quickly. I didnʼt know it at the time, but I had developed the first Sweet Knee product, Bun Glaze.
At first, my family took notice of the quick healing and they all were so amazed that they started using it on their own rashes or cuts, eczema, fire ant bites and sunburn. Every day my husband came home and told me he needed another batch of my "good stuff" to give to a friend or family member. One day he came home and said that this was too good not to share on a bigger scale, and that we needed to create a business.
During the next year I developed more products and started forming what is now known as Sweet Knee. The name "Sweet Knee" is a nickname that we gave our son when he began crawling like a crab on one knee with the other leg extended straight to the side. That poor knee had a bruise one day from a very busy day of crawling. So we kissed it and called it his Sweet Knee. (Thatʼs why it is a singular Knee in the name.) Had we waited until the toddler stage, we probably would have named the company Sweet Knees and Elbows and Toes, because the boo boos happen all over now!
Our little Sweet Knee was the inspiration for the brand and my husband Brent was the cheering section and the scaffolding for this venture. We now have a lab here in SC and we are truly a mom and pop company, with lots of fun adventures and interjections from Sweet Knee himself! We do not source out our manufacturing, that is all done in house, and we like it that way better. I think youʼll notice the difference in the way we serve you too.
Iʼm thankful for all of the great customers that I meet and for all of the opportunities to give back to our community and to causes near and dear to my heart.
What exactly does Sweet Knee Skin care entail?
Sweet Knee is a little bitty comp any with great big amazing skin care and diaper care products for baby and child. Our products are manufactured by us in our own lab in South Carolina. We sell mostly through our online store, www.sweetknee.com, with the growing number of stores in the US and Canada carrying our line.
What advice would you give other female entrepreneurs?
You will need a very strong passion for your work, it should be your bliss. There will be many long and lonely late nights and early mornings, especially if you are a mom of young children. Don't let anyone discourage you, and follow your intuition. Plus, take care of yourself and know when and whom to ask for help.
Thank you so much Kristy!
No comments:
Post a Comment