The Teeny-Tiny Bee began in 2016 when my children went away to college. I have spontaneous Identical Triple Boys. Our weeks were always filled with soccer practices, soccer tournaments and school events. When they all went away to college at the same time, I had empty nest syndrome fast! While there were some great things about being an empty nester (no laundry being the main benefit) my weekends were now boring. My weekdays were still busy as I am a software engineer but I needed something to do on weekends. One evening I came across a video of a homesteader making her own hot processed soap. I thought that looks interesting. I’ve always loved homemade soap so why not try to make it. I started researching and found out there were so many different kinds of soap you can make, not just hot processed but cold processed, melt & pour, liquid soap, jelly soap, dough soap the list goes on. Like a true hobbyist I decided to try making them all. I tried cold processed soap first. Luckily my first batch turned out fantastic (at least I thought so). I still have one of my first bars! My next two batches were total failures but I stuck with it trying to determine what went wrong and improving with every attempt. By my 4th attempt I was hooked, I wanted to try to make every kind of soap that I could. While they’re all fun to make, I enjoy making cold process art soap the most; I love making soap that has an artistic flair. From there it all spiraled. Friends started requesting other types of products from me. I went into researching and formulating skin care products and hair care products. I tried different formulas, different techniques, read books and blogs and experimented until it turned into something I loved. I’m always reading product labels to see how they compare to mine and how I can improve my formulas. I love creating new products.
I was selling my products to the neighbors; my goal was to recover some of the cost of my hobby. I started making wedding favors & shower favors for friends and relatives. My husband never said a word when I had 75 cactus soaps all over the kitchen for an Arizona wedding.
My boys have always pushed me to turn my hobby into a business. They have finally finished school. Two became MD’s; they are in their residencies now. The third become a healthcare consultant after graduating from Yale’s School of Public Health. With the encouragement from them, my husband and 2 wonderful step daughters, I finally decided now was the time to start The Teeny-Tiny Bee. I hope you enjoy my products as much as I enjoy making them and thank you for supporting our Teeny-Tiny business.
