Today we’d like to introduce you to Christie O. Duffy.
Hi Christie, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I grew up on an island in Lake Erie, called Put-in-Bay and am a fifth-generation Island Girl. My great-grandmother, whom I’m named after, also lived on the island and raised her 12 children there. She made a medicinal salve, that we simply referred to as “Gramma’s Salve.”
We didn’t have fancy Neosporin for cuts and scrapes, but instead, we had the salve. It was gooey and had such a distinct medicinal scent and anytime I scraped my knee or wrecked on my bike, this bottle of salve would come out of the medicine cabinet. It always made me feel better and healed all our family’s ailments.
Much later in my life, I was teaching elementary school and raising my two daughters on the island, and my oldest, Anna became very ill. After many doctor appointments – including several to the big city of Cleveland – we discovered she had a peptic ulcer and many food allergies During this healing journey, I also realized I had high levels of mercury in my body, most likely because I grew up in Lake Erie, that at one time, was heavily polluted. Something had to change.
During this healing journey, I started bringing myself to the TRUTH of what is in our food, food, cleaning products, and finally, body and skin care. The journey toward better health began. Any mom would do the same! I also became more away of environmental pollutants, like our island well water that we’d all been drinking. Water filtration became important. I remember getting rid of our processed food, changing the way I cleaned (vinegar became my best friend!), decided to buy different bath and body stuff, instead of the usual products purchased at the big stores.
However, even the “natural” stuff wasn’t so natural after all. I had to read and educate myself. And, because my family and I used to bath and body products EACH AND EVERY SINGLE DAY, these chemicals were being absorbed into not only my body but my young daughters, too.
I recalled my great-grandma and how they must’ve all lived on the island all those years without the products we’d all been using. So, I called my mom, who called her sister, (both still lived on the island) and I got the secret family recipe for my Gramma’s healing Salve. I thought this would be a better product to use, versus other store-bought “healing” ointments.
After gathering the ingredients, I made it and that familiar healing scent came back to me, bringing my childhood memories along with it. This gave me confidence. I could make stuff and control the ingredients myself! I made my now best-selling product, Lavender Balm the next night.
I became so curious and began playing in my kitchen almost every night after school. These concoctions were then brought into school with me to give away to teachers, the school secretary, Randi, and even the principal! I then started giving out my balms and salves to my students when they had boo-boos. They all loved it. My students encouraged me to sell my stuff. So, I did.
I opened a small BnB on the island in 2012 and turned the old garage into a small shop. Inside this shop, I began selling my line of organic healing remedies. Just three things at first. I wanted to test them out and see if people would buy them. They did! I began planting my plants to use inside the products and with my love of gardening, this just came easily to me. Lots and lots of lavender!
I took a huge leap of faith and in 2016, I left teaching after nearly 20 years in the classroom, to pursue my dreams. One was to build my business and the other was to live on Maui. So, my youngest went off to college, and I decided to winter on Maui! I sold my products there each week at a farmer’s market and learned all about the healing properties of plants. I had time to get creative and learn and grow.
One local farmer even allowed me space on her farm to grow my lavender. The time I spent on that Hawaiian island helped me develop my line of over 40 products, which includes cold-processed soap and skin care. Four years of wintering there, gave me such inspiration.
My two daughters, now all grown up, continue to help me with the business by providing honest feedback. They will always tell me how I can make my products and my business better. I’m always about growth, no matter how hard it is and they’re right there with me, always supporting me.
I am now taking a much bigger leap of faith! I just sold my island BnB and shop and am living on the mainland at age of 49. I hope that my micro business can expand into a year-round business with online sales, and markets and possibly open up another, new shop. And, I just got married, too! We shall see what life has in store for my business and me next.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Many struggles. But the biggest ones have been money and time. Never enough of either. I’m an entrepreneur, but a very careful one. So, money has always been an issue. However, I’m very, very good at budgeting. Living on the island for so many years was a cyclical life. Summers were plentiful with tourists shopping and buying, but then half the year, I had to live off the money made during the summers on Put-in-Bay.
When I wintered on Maui, I could sell my products, but it was just enough to break even. I look back upon that time as my creative and developing time of the business. Exhaustion. When I began this business, it was a subsidiary of my BnB, so I was teaching school during the day and then in spring and fall, cleaning rooms at night at the BnB. I made products whenever I could (mostly at night and during the weekends in the winter).
So, I overlapped during the first several years or so. Meaning, I taught school AND ran the businesses. Summers were always exhausting and trying to balance work and home was a big challenge. It was much easier after leaving teaching, however, the stress of paying the mortgage was also in the background and the health care was much better as a teacher.
I was running a BnB, a shop (that not only carried my products but other items, too!) and I had the online store going as well. It was, let’s say, A LOT to manage. But, being a former teacher, I knew how to work long hours and handle problems that would arise. I am fortunate to have a lot of natural energy. My youngest has referred to me as the “energizer bunny.”
Making new products takes time, too. So many, many batches have been dumped in the trash. It’s rare that a product is made for the very first time and never needs tweaking. All of my products have been improved over the decade of making them. The business is also going through a rebirth! The former name of the business was OntkOrganix. I know, I know. You can’t say it. Neither could many people.
I gave it this name because I was honoring my father’s Slovak family name of Ontko. But, as any businesswoman knows, you have to be open to criticism and let go of what’s not working. The name, even though unique, wasn’t working. Your Only Earth is now our new name! We asked our customers to help out with the renaming and we feel it truly fits. We have only one Earth. The products come from the Earth. And, our packaging is Earth-friendly – no plastic.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Integrity. I believe in doing things BEST, no matter the cost. So, the people of Shark Tank wouldn’t want me because I don’t show enough profit – YET. I don’t place my products into plastic containers – even though the cost savings is crazy high. After living in Maui, I learned how bad plastic is for our Earth. In the beginning, I thought because I was using plastic that could be recycled, that I was doing a good job. But, I’ve come to learn that recycling isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. So, glass and tin are it!
My products are truly plant-based. I use actual real plants inside my products through a process called infusion. The plants go into the large carried oil of olive, sunflower, or coconut. Then, with heat and time, the oil changes. The plants are strained out and the remaining oil now carries the properties of the plant. It’s like eating a baked potato with the skin and all! You get all the benefits of the plant using the infusion method.
Harmful chemical preservatives are also omitted from my products and they’re made in small batches. I still make all my products. Yup. Every single one. And, I love the process! It’s like baking, but without the calories. And, my lab space smells amaaaaazing. “Keep it simple” and “Slow and steady wins the race” are the ways I think describe my small business.
I currently have one employee who helps with online distribution. My sister helps with the bookkeeping and I have a fancy designer who helps with the website and label design. I also have one part-time saleswoman who is helping me with our first mainland market at the IX Center in November.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
I think I was seven years old, and I was playing island Little League softball for the Yellow Team. My first time running into home base during I slipped and then skidded into the base, scraping my leg. I was mortified! But, a member of the team, picked me up and paraded me around and my embarrassment fell away.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.YourOnlyEarth.com
- Instagram: @youronlyearth
Image Credits
Kelly Krassow Photography
