Meet Julie & Matt Hina | Artisans & Nature Lovers

We had the good fortune of connecting with Julie & Matt Hina and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Julie & Matt, what inspires you?
We are inspired by nature. We find everything we need in nature and strive to capture its essence in each handmade product we produce. Nature heals, soothes, and nurtures the senses; something we aim to do for each customer that utilizes our products. Nature facilitates connection, love, and adventure which are all things we cherish deeply, particularly now that we’ve started a family of our own. Our 2-year-old son enjoys his time outdoors and we have dedicated our focus to ensuring that he understands and appreciates the magical qualities Mother Earth possesses.

We are also inspired by our son and preserving our precious planet for his generation. We are deeply committed to environmental sustainability and conservation. We have structured our business in a way that ensures we are pampering our planet with each self-care product sold. Nature has provided us with so much, and we feel a strong responsibility to protect it. We source our materials responsibly, provide carbon neutral shipping, and have partnered with Ecologi to participate in reforestation initiatives. Each item purchased plants a tree through our Ignite Hope Project.

Our customers also inspire us daily. We are touched by their stories and the heartfelt connections they make with our candles. The messages we receive about how our candles create a warm and inviting atmosphere in their homes, or how they help people unwind after a long day, drive us to keep innovating and creating new products inspired by the diverse beauty of nature.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
We started our business journey as candlemakers and have since expanded our product offerings to include body care products such as soap, body wash, and scrubs to fully encapsulate our growing passions. The overall well-being of our customers is at the heart of everything we do, from crafting our candles to curating our body care ingredients. We are driven by providing luxury products with clean ingredients that heighten well-being for the home, body, and mind. Our scents are carefully crafted to bring the essence of the great outdoors into our customers’ homes without the use of harmful chemicals. Whether it’s the soothing aroma of a pine forest, the invigorating scent of an apricot grove, or the calming fragrance of a lavender field, we aim to inspire and uplift with scents inspired by nature.

We are proud of our commitment to honoring Mother Nature not only through our fragrance choices, but also through our business practices. We’ve made great strides throughout our first year in business to ensure we are operating in a way that is environmentally responsible and we look forward to expanding on these practices in our next year in business!

Building a business as new parents has certainly been a juggle, but we have come a long way since we launched our business in the summer of 2022. It certainly hasn’t always been easy trying to strike that balance, but it has been an enjoyable and enriching journey guided by love. We dedicated innumerable hours to studying and product testing before we even launched the business. This allowed us to say with utmost certainty that we were bringing premier products to market. Our customers are worthy of luxury self-care products with clean ingredients, and we never lose sight of that, it is the guiding light of our business.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We have a toddler in tow everywhere we go, so our itinerary will be geared toward toddler friendly spots that have allowed him to be young, wild, and free.

First? We head to Swamp Rabbit Grocery for a nourishing breakfast and toddler play time. Not only is the food delicious and nutritious, but they also have a fenced in play area with picnic benches that is a dream come true for hungry parents to active toddlers. We are able to SIT AND EAT (we emphasize that because it’s a rarity) while our son plays.

Next, it’s off to Paris Mountain State Park for some forest bathing on toddler friendly hiking trails. While there are certainly more strenuous hikes available at this state park, there are so many great trail options for the little ones. We LOVE to get out in the woods for a hard reset and Paris Mountain State Park is one of our favorite places to go.

After a long day of hiking, it’s time to head to Gather GVL to enjoy a beer from Greenville Beer Exchange! This place has an open-air concept and is another great option for toddlers. Parents can quench their thirst, grab a bite, and let their little ones play and dance on the turf.

Another great place to check out with out-of-towners is the Small Vendor Saturdays at Greenville State Farmer’s Market. It’s a great way to support local businesses and find some great tourist gifts and handmade goodies to bring home. Greenville, SC is rich with talented artisans, and this is a great spot to find them!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
We dedicate our shoutout to our family. They have been so supportive of our business and enthusiastic about our handmade products. They have also been incredibly patient with us. Between being first time parents and launching a start-up business, we certainly haven’t been available in the same way that we were before. We recognize that starting a business has come with a cost. We have less opportunities for quality time; we’ve missed family gatherings to focus on business operations, we’ve missed holidays due to hectic market schedules. It has certainly presented challenges and we are deeply grateful for the continued love and support they have shown us. We are so lucky to have such understanding human beings in our corner and we love them immensely.

Website: https://www.threeoakscandle.com

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