When we purchased Floré in 2019 we bought the entire business: the incense recipes, the packaging artwork, client list, and all the raw materials and equipment. We even took over the space that had been occupied by Floré since the late 80’s, a space that is so infused with the scents of so many oils that it has a fragrance all of its own.
Several months prior to the purchase, we had the honour and privilege of apprenticing with the original founder of Floré and learned the craft of incense making directly from her. It was a truly magical time and we felt blessed beyond words by the opportunity that was before us. Among the most sage pieces of advice offered to us by the founder was to always follow our guidance.
We are two practical farm girls, we believe in the rhythms of the natural world and the power of community. The values that would guide our ownership of Floré stemmed directly from these shared ideals. We would work our hardest to make our product as sustainable as possible, keep the supply chain local, reduce waste, and focus on distributing our product to a wide array of businesses beyond the existing clientele.
Following our guidance, we made our first major business decision: changing the name of the business’s best selling fragrance, Native Smudge. We knew it was a risk to the financial health of the business, but from the moment the opportunity to purchase Floré became a reality, so did the fact that our best selling product felt like taking a name that was not ours to take.
And so we did what our mentor told us to do: follow our Guidance.
The name of this blend represents a lot to us. We both took leaps of faith leaving our former careers with steady pay cheques for the uncertainty of small business ownership. Guidance represents the beginning of a journey; one that requires taking risks while always keeping honesty and compassion in mind if we are to be the business owners we want to be.
Fragrantly yours,
Kayte & Kristi
