From 200 lbs of honey to a skincare business

Our main story today is about Pam Phinney and her company, Plainville Homestead. Every entrepreneur has an origin story, but Pam’s pretty unique. She started her own bath, body, and skincare company when her beekeeper ex-husband left her 200 pounds of honey.

Pam, take us from here*.

🚊 How I started Plainville Homestead

My ex-husband is a beekeeper, and he left me 200 pounds of honey. I asked myself: “What do I do with all this honey?”. I decided to make something out of it, so I first started selling honey and then started making body scrubs. The rest is history.

As I started making skincare and bodycare products, I learned more about the chemical processes behind making the products possible. I realized that there’s a lot of greenwashing in this space and that there's a lot of fear-mongering. I want to educate the consumers: “not organic” does not mean “dangerous”.

💡 What makes Plainville special

I make high-quality products at an accessible price; I want to make simple skincare products, where customers don't need to buy a lot of stuff.

I stick with simple ingredients and list all the ingredients. Some indie brands don't make their ingredients public in order to protect their formula, but I don’t want to do that. 

Consumers should know what goes into the products. I want to educate consumers on the chemical processes that take place and encourage them to ask questions.

🔦 Biggest challenge

My biggest challenges are juggling work and taking care of my son, and to increase Plainville’s brand awareness.

I’m a single mother. The truth is, I don’t get a whole lot of sleep. I work a lot at night after my son goes to bed, and also do my best to get work done when he’s not with me. 

View Plainville Homestead's products here.