Today we’d like to introduce you to Eva Higgins.
Hi Eva, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
As a small-town girl from Gadsden, Alabama, I grew up working in the garden with my grandmother Eva (my namesake). We would grow herbs and vegetables and my job was to water the gardens every day and pick weeds. I can remember her growing Aloe Vera, peppermint, calendula, and many other herbs and spices. This fostered my love of nature and keeping things close to the root; which lead me to major in Forestry Science at Alabama A & M University and later grad school in Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering at Iowa State.
I started on the path of entrepreneurship because I wanted to make my own way and I was tired of working on someone else’s dream. I applied for a role at my job, and I was told that I could not be “made a manager”. Instead, the role was given to someone that I had actually trained. That was it for me, I decided to make myself a boss. I began to work on a business focused on my roots and what I had learned as a developer on Agricultural Systems and in Forestry.
I started my candle company called Oily Mantra Co that is my passion and then I left my 9-5 and started an IT Consulting company called Cardinal Delta LLC which is my calling and thus my path of serial entrepreneurship was born.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
The road has not been smooth, as you know; there are quite a few candle companies out there. I focused on soy wax candles during a time when many local, small shops were still using petroleum-based paraffin. We use 100% cotton wicks, no aluminum, and prop 65 compliant fragrances and essential oils. This helps us keep a clean footprint with our candles, bath, and body products. It is something that I take great pride in, knowing that I am contributing to a healthier environment for my family and clients. Everything is made by us or locally sourced from sustainable farmers in the area. We pour, mix, and create every product by hand in small batches to control quality.
The beginning of 2020, we expanded to home products as a result of the pandemic. We have focused on those things that we can make ourselves since many items were out of stock or hard to find, like the ceramic containers for our candles. Recycling our containers (except the tins for candles), was about overcoming obstacles with container shortages, that lead us to create the rock glass candle (actually a Whiskey Rock Glass). This provides extra value to customers since it can be kept for beverages or sweet tea. Delivering that extra value; that just makes our products that much better, I think.
We have managed the challenges by providing greater value for our customers, in how we make and source our products. For instance, our Tea Tree Treatment balm takes 4-6 weeks to make and it is only made once the temp gets above 80 degrees, so once it is gone it is gone for the season. It is an infusion process that delivers a natural benefit for eczema, rashes, bug bites, and skin irritations and it works for everyone because of the natural infusion process that we use. It takes longer but uses less ingredients to get the job done, helping us keep prices lower.
It has not a been easy, but we are better for all the trials and tribulations.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
As a maker and artisan, what sets us apart is our core business beliefs and values, in that I do not make anything that I do not use myself. That is important because I can actually speak to the use of the products, the benefits, and best practices. I love being able to chat with my customers about bath and body or a need that my customer has for a specific product. Many of our salve, body butters, and soap began as a request from a customer. Oat milk soap is used by my kids, I send essentials oils to my daughter in college and her softball teammates use them too!
We specialize in doing the little things very well, simple remedies like using eucalyptus for sore muscles, peppermint for allergies, and grapefruit oil for oily skin. We already know these things, but many people need the deliver systems like shea butter, coconut oil, or jojoba to create a non-comedogenic oil for use on skin and face. We provide that with 5 ingredients or less for most of our products and that makes me extremely proud.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
I have to keep it simple. Neither my husband nor I have contracted Covid. We are vaccinated but we follow all protocols when we created our products and actually, we created a heavenly alternative to the vodka base hand sanitizers that were used during Covid.
Because I had many of these products in-house like Aloe and 99% alcohol, we made Spearmint Eucalyptus hand sanitizer that is still being use by our customers today. We also donated boxes of hand sanitizer to many local churches and Farmer’s markets in the area to help out with the shortages.
More than anything Covid taught me to pivot and from that change, we started a podcast. Fundamentally Business with Eva Higgins is about doing the little things in business that lead to big wins. It focuses on those small businesses that that are unique, know their why, and how to deliver quality to customers. It is available now thru all podcasts platforms like Apple, Spotify, and iHeart Radio.
We are currently looking for business owners, movers, and shakers that want to talk about their business and how they leveled up! The link to contact us, to be on the show can be on our website at www.cardinaldelta.com/podcast. Covid also taught us the power of engaging with our tribe. We started conducting trainings, workshops, and speaking engagements once things opened up with small groups. This got us back in the game and kept up the customer engagement.
Contact Info:
- Email: oilymantra@gmail.com
- Website: www.oilymantra.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/oily_mantra
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/oilymantraco
- Other: www.cardinaldeltallc.com
Image Credits
Kathy Thomas Photography
Tejwani Morris for Hair and Makeup
