Virginia-born Suzy Brockmann is an artist, crafter, mom, small business owner, and all around rad Ma'am. Launching a business and small family hasn't been easy, but it sure has been rewarding. Learn how she keeps it all rolling here.

Where are you from, and how did you get started in developing scents and skin care?

I’ve been in Virginia my whole life - born in Williamsburg, moved to Richmond for college and slowly started planting some deep roots here. The start of my business began as a love story. I started dating this guy in 2013 and we both wore oils so we started blending our oils together for fun. These new oil blends sparked an experiment in using them to scent our own candles. The process of candle making was exciting and inspired me to explore more in the realm of crafting. I borrowed a book on soap making from the local library and started to make my own soap. As you can see, this led to crafting other things, most notably an all natural insect repellent that quickly became a top seller and continues to be every summer since. Now, 8 years later, I try to keep the momentum going and look forward to the next 8. Oh and that guy is my husband now and the papa bear to our two children :)

Describe your offerings and who or what has influenced them.

I offer handmade bar and liquid soaps, perfume oils, candles, room sprays, skin care, and postpartum products. I make all of this in small batches in my home studio with organic oils and herbs. My offerings are influenced by simplicity, practicality, and beauty. I have always been minimal with self-care products. I will happily live with a bathroom cabinet consisting of just toothpaste and jojoba oil. However, it is useful to have more than that, so my offerings consist of what I deem as useful items in daily life, but expressed with beauty in mind.

“My offerings are influenced by simplicity, practicality, and beauty.”

How has becoming a parent changed your work, products, or approach?

Becoming a parent stretches you to every extreme you can imagine. You surpass what you thought was a limit into another dimension you didn’t even know existed. This breakthrough has taught me how to zoom out and view things with a higher lens. This really puts things in perspective about the roles I serve as stay-at-home mom and work-from-home business owner. Being a mother is undoubtedly the most important thing in my life, but being a happy mother holds the highest value. I have learned how to advocate for my own needs and take care of myself. This has made me slow down and enjoy exactly where I am with my business. There is no pressure to grow it and I don’t overextend myself as easily anymore. I am grateful for every order that comes in and when my sales hit a lull, I am grateful for that extra time. I know that I need to reserve and protect my energy in order to happily serve my children and that is the most valuable thing I have learned since becoming a parent. 

“Becoming a parent stretches you to every extreme you can imagine.”

Do you have a goal or dream project?

I have a lot of wild ideas about where I want to take my business, but for starters, I’d love to place more attention on my postpartum products. I have this idea to create a postpartum zine that delves into each of my postpartum products and how to use them, but it would also have various birth stories, contributions from birth workers, and birth photographs. This zine would bring to light a lot of things about the birth world that go unsaid and how to be supportive to others during the postpartum period.