As new parents, Jenna and Callum were cautious of which products to use on their daughter Penny’s delicate skin. It was a special package from Jenna’s mother in South Africa that introduced them to ‘Simply Bee’, a range of natural and organic products that they fell in love with. Using sustainable and organic ingredients while practising ethical and responsible bee keeping, their skincare is made from natural beeswax and infused with essential oils, keeping even the most sensitive of skin nourished and hydrated. They launched Bee-utiful Beginnings to share these tried and tested products with other families. Here, Jenna talks to The Natural Parent Magazine about what inspired them to start their business, the challenges they have overcome, and their hopes and dreams for the future.
The passion: What inspired you to set up your business?
In 2021, we began our journey as new parents and welcomed our beautiful, baby girl Penelope. As most new parents, we were cautious and unsure of which brands to trust particularly when it came to her skincare. Shortly after Penny was born, we received a beautiful package all the way from my mother in South Africa. It was filled with an array of natural and organic products that we simply fell in love with. As new parents, these were the type of products we had been looking for. We have been using the products daily and can’t get enough of them. Penny’s skin is hydrated and nourished and she is yet to experience any type of skin reaction or a nappy rash.
If this wasn’t amazing enough already, we discovered that ‘Simply Bee’ uses sustainable and organic ingredients while practising responsible bee keeping. All the products are natural, use bees wax and are against animal testing.
We have enjoyed using the ‘Simply Bee’ product range so much that we couldn’t help but want to share it with the rest of New Zealand.
The launch: How did you start out in the beginning?
We started out by contacting Simply Bee to see if they would allow us to be their agents to sell the products here. Upon this confirmation we received some samples from the company and shared them amongst our family members, friends, and even our antenatal group and found it was a hit.
Markets were our next avenue that we were recommend by friends and family to try, and we have had great success and exposure with receiving lots of positive feedback. We have also received lots of orders by giving out samples of the products.
The innovation: What was the biggest breakthrough for you with your business?
Having products stocked in stores and cafes that share the same vision for natural-based products, we have amazing support from our local café Two Spoons and Health by Logic in Silverdale.
