Today we’d like to introduce you to Sue Whaley.
Hi Sue, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in the Chicagoland area. My father and his family had been farmers in Wisconsin. He taught me all about gardening and instilled in me a love of the flowers, herbs and plants that grew. When I was 19 I started really developing my love of herbs and collected every book I could find on herbs, growing them, using them eating them…whatever! 🙂 I dreamt of having a farm someday and growing herbs and raising animals. Around this time my mother had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and she had started to develop bed sores from her time in the wheelchair. I had been developing some herbal concoctions and asked her if I could try them on her. She agreed, and we tried them. THEY WORKED!!! 🙂 and….. I was hooked. I continued making herbal products and bath and body products.
Every day life went on and around the age of 36 I moved to Florida. Still dreaming of that someday farm,,,, I learned even more about herbs as it was a whole new growing environment. I could grow things that didn’t have a chance in Illinois. And I met my husband Mark there. We decided to move to Tennessee in 2006 and in 2007 we bought our farm in the rolling hills of middle TN. We named our farm Bountiful Acres Farm and I got right to work building the dream!
I planted herbs and an orchard and we got wool sheep, dairy goats, chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, guineas, rabbits and so much more! Oh what a marvelous life I had been blessed with! In 2009 I started to sell some of my soaps and herbal products at little craft shows. We soon realized that this really could be something, so we did lots of shows and sold LOTS of products. I began offering classes at the farm, on how to make the products as well. Then in 2016 I opened my first retail location in Lebanon, TN. I also started offering my products wholesale, and within a year we had picked up 137 accounts in most every state. It was an amazing time.
Oct 2017 we were hit with a doozie! Mark, my husband, was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma. A cancer that at that time had no cure. It was a week from hell as we had lots of doctors visits and had family to tell all while keeping that farm going and a thriving business to run. One week to the day we had an overnight flood at the farm. We woke up to the farm being covered in deep waters. The barn where our 53 sheep slept was in about 6 -8 foot deep water and then sheep were being swept away. I got in the waters and tried to save as many as I could. Battered and bruised at the end of the day, we had 27 sheep die that day and I rehomed some of the survivors and by the end of it all I had 14 sheep left. It was heart breaking. Then shortly after that day our landlord raised the rent on our building by almost double. I knew that I couldn’t do that while trying to help my husband with that battle that laid before us. So we made the tough decision to close our retail location. I attempted to keep our wholesale side of business going while we faced daily treatments and many hospital stays.
Eventually I had to close all of business and focused 100% on Mark. Bountiful Acres Farm was closed.
In 2019 Mark lost his earthly battle with cancer.
I was alone, my dream seemed to be slipping away, and I had no idea what my future would look like.
But God,
All along I choose to Praise Him, even in the storm. Even when it made no earthly sense. Everything was taken away. The husband I loved, the sheep I’d wanted since I was little, the farm even seemed like I may loose it…. I may lose it all
Then slowly hope….
My sister and her family moved to the farm to help. They moved into the house my husband and I shared and I built a tiny house out of the former business studio.
I got to homeschool my niece and nephews for awhile, and I went to work in a garden center. The smile was coming back to my face..slowly.
Five years after Mark had died, I met a new man at church. I knew the moment I saw him that I was gonna marry him! LOL I even told my sister that day. And sure enough, we married in 2024.
As he got to know me he started to see my love of the herbs and products that I had made and the herbal gardens I still grew and he encouraged me to start again.
With all the encouragement I need I did it! I started again…..but this time it was different! Blooms and More Co is the new name of our company. And we do all natural, real products that are made in small batches fresh from the farm. If I can grow the herb for the product, I do. Or it has to be sourced from a place I trust. I use no fragrance oils or colors(like we used to do in Bountiful Acres Farm). There are no fillers or harsh chemicals. These are products we all use in our families and we love!
My husband has also built me 2 new greenhouses(something I’ve always dreamed of), rehabbed an old camper that we turned into our Traveling Apothecary that we take to shows, and helped me build my dream business once again.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been a smooth road.
Between cancer, floods, and other struggles it has been a challenge. (I went into that on the previous question)
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I make herbal based products fresh from the farm. I started making these when I was 19 and turned 61 this year. So its been my lifes passion. I believe that the products I make really have helped people and pets.
Our companies slogan is “We have an herb for that” and its true.
It seems funny to me to toot my own horn, but I do very much enjoy helping people feel better or get relief with something that they have been struggling with for a while. Whether that person thought herbs worked before or not, once they see the herb(s) work, they come back again and again.
I also work very hard to keep our prices at a point that everyone can afford them and therefore get the benefit they need from herbs.
I think what sets me apart is that I’ve been doing this for a very long time…its not just a side hobby I’ll try
What’s next?
I plan on keeping on…… growing more herbs, teaching more people and sharing more herbs with more and more people.
I’d like to see some of our products in retail locations once again as well
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.bloomsandmoreco.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bloomsandmoreco/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BloomsandMoreCo
