Hello There!

I'm Barbara, the creator of products and head of branding at U-Bee-Well ™. Off the bat, I'll be honest.. I NEVER thought I would be a business owner. AND, honestly, I never really knew what being an entrepreneur was all about until last year. I'm coming off of a deep pursuit of folk music. Before that, I was a teacher. Go figure. 

In my pursuit of music with The Spinning Leaves (the band I am in), I wanted to use music as a tool to create community and build bridges between people everywhere. In the time I was highly focused on making my livelihood with The Spinning Leaves, we connected and became quite attached to both farming and crafting movements ALL over this country. 

After spending a month on a farm in New Hampshire that we landed on during one of our first tours, my mind and heart opened up to TRUE connection - human to human, human to planet, food from the ground.  Our last morning on the farm, I woke up heartbroken to leave, deeply knowing that this experience had forever changed my life.  I did not know, however, the ENORMOUS impact it would have on my life's work and how that month would spawn a new way of living for me, entirely.

The only thing that has remained consistent in my life, through it all, is that I want to make this world a better place.  My strange path to becoming a business owner has not always been easy, but the challenge is worth it.  Not only will U-Bee-Well be supporting beekeepers, farmers, and the communities that surround them, we will be directly advocating for the world's bees - the pollinators of the earth and a vital link in the world's food chain.  I am confident that I've found my vehicle for bettering the world - in lip balm! 

photo by; Kelsi Windmiller

My heart and soul got into U-Bee-Well once I started developing a relationship with the Philadelphia Bee Guild  http://www.phillybeekeepers.org  and the Philadelphia Bee Company , http://philadelphiabee.com  learning the true value of bees as pollinators and the problems which they are facing in our modern age.  One BIG problem facing bee colonies today in our region, is the fact that most queen bees are raised in the south and shipped north.  It is very hard for these queens to adjust to the northern climates, and many of them die off.  With the queen gone, the hives collapse.

I saw an opportunity to help change this situation.

Initially, 10% of funds from U-Bee-Well's future accounts will go specifically into a queen bee rearing program for independent bee keepers in the northeast. The BIG VISION is that, as sales increase, we will be able to start supporting independent beekeepers all over the country and all over the world.

We are turning buying a lip balm into an opportunity for everyone to help save the bees! 

 

 "Buy A Balm.  Save A Bee." 

It's a solution which doesn't involve you building your own hive or planting your own garden (although it would be fantastic if everyone did this, not so realistic..). 

photo by; Kelsi Windmiller

**U-Bee-Well is in a unique situation to do good.  Although we are a tiny start-up, we have accrued national accounts with prestigious companies such as the likes of Anthropologie and Birchbox.   And we can't let these opportunities pass by.  We need to head straight for the BIG VISION now!

**By contributing to this campaign you will be helping on so many levels. You will be not only helping a heart-felt start up with a FANTASTIC product(!!!),

YOU will be helping farms, farmers, the communities that surround those farms AND bees!

In short, I hope to help save MILLIONS and BILLIONS of bees with my endeavors here at U-Bee-Well. It is so important for ALL of us, and so I'm hoping that you will open your mind and heart to help make this business grow! 

What We Need & What You Get

**Ideally, I will raise $18,000 through this campaign. 

This money will help with;

~Getting U-Bee-Well's online branding together (making sure that it is clear EVERYWHERE that when someone buys a balm they can feel SO good about not only having a great product, but also that they are helping the world at large!)

~Buying Materials so I can hand craft the 15k lip balms!

~Getting a good Website!

~I need to update my equipment so I can make many more lip balms at a time!

~I would REALLY love to get a little machine that will help me put the labels on perfectly

~Some costly business fees, licenses and things..

...

*IF I don't make my goal, my priority will be to buy the materials to make 15,000 lip balms.

EVERYTHING will help, and buying supplies will certainly be a big deal in itself.. otherwise, not sure how I'm going to produce so many lip balms!

…

***There are INCREDIBLE gifts that you can choose from in this campaign!  In addition to the gifts, PLEASE remember that your contributions will also be a gift knowing that YOU were part of making this world a better place! 

With that said..

I am VERY very VERY excited to present this list of artists, artisans, and craftsman who have all agreed to lend a helping hand for our campaign.  Some of the artists are established, and some are up and coming. The majority of the prizes have a bumble bee theme to them.  I have pretty much used this campaign to produce my ideal store. I am hoping that through this, YOU will also fall in love with the artists involved! Some of the gifts will require some communication with me.. AND I love and encourage that communication.

In the event finances are not possible for you to contribute, simply sharing this link with your friends and families means the world!! (Thank you for THAT in advance).

Thank you so much again, for taking a few moments to watch the video, to learn about U-Bee-Well and for your support. 

Alright, Lets DO this!!

~Barbara

PS; 

Ohhh! If you LOVE the song playing, it was written by James Michael Baker (AKA Rumi Kitchen, from Johnny Showcase) and the group is The Spinning Leaves! Check 'em out!

PPS; Special thank you's to Carpe Diem Construction for the design of the logo,  Koofreh Umoren for helping to make this video, the artists involved making so much beauty.. and to Don Shump from the Philadelphia Bee Company.

PPPS; and BIG thank you's to my advisors, my main man, friends/family, AND to my ~*~baby girl~*~; who give me a universe of inspiration and encouragement .. and the courage to Dream Big..  out loud :).

Photo by; Kelsi Windmiller