Who Is Ruthie Willis Successful Skincare Business Woman

The Story Behind Honey House Naturals
Continuing with our series of Women who have made a difference Kat's Boutiqueis very proud to be connected with Honey House Naturals
A farm girl at heart, Ruthie has always had an almost reverent love for anything that grows. She made it her business to learn the proper care and nurturing of things that stem from nature, including everything from children and flowers to fruit trees and honey bees.
Her respect and appreciation for nature have transferred into her own business philosophy for Honey House Naturals. Honey House Naturals was not even a glimmer in Ruthies eye when she began bee keeping as a hobby in 1980.
Behind her home in the Puyallup Valley, Ruthie had terrific fruit trees that she wanted to be better pollinated, so she took a class from the local bee keeping expert. Waiting patiently at the mailbox for her first hive to arrive, the three-pound package of hot, hungry bees was swiftly handed over by an anxious mailman. Thats where our story really begins.
The first year Ruthie had one hive, then three and, at the end of five years, seven bee hives. To improve her bee keeping skills, she joined the local bee club. As her work with the bees expanded, so did Ruthies family. Over the next 10 years, Ruthie had five children who would each help with the bee keeping in their own way. The family business continued to expand as they gradually went from 10 to 40 to 120 bee hives. Some hives were scattered in their backyard, others near a tulip farm in Puyallup and the rest in an apple orchard on the Olympic Peninsula.

Around July 4 every year, the family would suit up to move the hives to the mountains so the bees could make fireweed and wildflower honey. With an excess of honey and not enough friends to take it off their hands, the Willis family found that the local Farmers Market was ideal for marketing the liquid gold. Every summer the Willis kids could be found at the market, passing out samples of fireweed, huckleberry, blackberry or wildflower honey. Everyone was involved, even the youngest. At eight years old, he confidently managed the cashiering, making change with enthusiastic aplomb. Five times a week the family could be found anywhere from the Puyallup Farmers Market all the way up to the University District Market in Seattle. They were always trying to find new things to geplement the honey, making molded beeswax candles, homemade honey soap, pollen and fruited honey.

Eager to try something new, Ruthie began experimenting with different mixtures of beeswax, oils and emollients to create a product to soothe dry, cracked skin. Using a desperate family friend as her guinea pig, she eventually found the perfect gebination of ingredients that could heal even his seriously damaged skin, offering immeasurable relief. The popular Bee Bar was born. The family sold the original Bee Bar for several years at farmers markets along with other honey products. Because it was such a popular product, in 2000, Ruthie made the decision to promote the Bee Bar exclusively.

As the children grew up and embarked on their own paths, Ruthie developed a new family of friends and employees who now produce, package and promote the Bee Bar products from their Fife, Washington location. Almost a decade and a half later, Honey House Naturals ships to all 50 states and as far away as England and Guam. Although the Willis family no longer keeps honey bees, Honey House Naturals still emanates the sweet, warm scent of the hive. The Honey House has begee its own hive of activity in the production and marketing of the much-loved Bee Bar and its family of products. Honey House Naturals - Make It Natural
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