Every meaningful journey begins somewhere.

Mine began with a simple gift...and a dear friend.

Some time ago, I gave my friend, Edie, a container of raw shea butter I had purchased while she was with me at a local farmers market. Edie is originally from the Caribbean - a former dancer, a former model, and one of those remarkable women who seems to age with effortless grace. She's about twenty years older than I am, yet people would easily guess we're the same age. I still joke that I'm just a little jealous. For this reason I value any anti-aging advice she is willing to share.

The next time I saw her, she smiled and said,

"Look what I did with your shea butter."

She had blended the shea butter with some of her favorite scented oils and proudly showed me how beautiful it had turned out.

I remember thinking,

"I want to learn how to make something like that."

It wasn't a business idea.

It wasn't a dream of becoming an entrepreneur.

It was simply curiosity.

That one simple moment planted a seed I never imagined would eventually become Grace & Glade.

Holiday Gifts Made with Love

I've always enjoyed giving gifts far more than receiving them.

There's something special about creating something with your own hands and knowing it was made specifically for someone you care about.

As the holidays approached, I decided I wanted to make handmade gifts for the people I loved.

I started with body butter.

Then I thought...

"Body butter doesn't quite feel like enough."

So I learned to make lotion.

Then lip balm.

Then beard oil for the men in my life.

Then face creams.

Eventually, shampoo and conditioner bars.

Before I knew it, I was creating complete gift baskets filled with products I had made myself.

By the time the holidays arrived, I had made forty-five complete gift sets.

Looking back now, I smile because I had absolutely no idea that I was teaching myself skills that would eventually become one of the greatest passions of my life.

At the time, I was simply making gifts.

Discovering Something I Didn't Know I Needed

I honestly believed making these products would be fairly simple.

I couldn't have been more wrong.

The more I learned, the more fascinated I became.

I wanted to understand why one ingredient behaved differently than another.

Why changing a percentage could completely transform the feel of a product.

Why some formulations felt luxurious while others missed the mark.

Why one shampoo bar left hair feeling light and healthy while another didn't.

Following recipes wasn't enough.

I wanted to understand why.

Every formula taught me something.

Every mistake taught me something.

Every success made me ask another question.

Without realizing it, I had discovered something I couldn't stop learning about.

Unity

Long before there was a business called Grace & Glade, there was a shampoo bar.

That shampoo bar eventually became what is now known as Unity.

I had already been using shampoo bars myself, so creating one felt like the natural next challenge.

When I gave my holiday gifts away, I simply hoped people would enjoy them.

I never expected what happened next.

Weeks later, people started reaching out.

"I'm out."

"Can you make me more?"

"Where can I get another one?"

"Are you ever going to sell these?"

"Tiffany...you make really great products. You should start a business."

At first, I smiled, thanked them, and went right back to learning.

But the conversations never stopped.

Friends kept asking.

Family kept asking.

Coworkers kept asking.

Even some of my most bougie friends - people who loved luxury salon products and were probably the last people I'd expect to use a shampoo bar - gave Unity a chance.

They loved it.

Not because it was handmade.

Not because they knew me.

Because it simply worked, and made their hair feel better than ever!

Why Grace & Glade Almost Never Happened

Here's something most people don't know.

I resisted starting a business.

For a long time.

Not because I didn't love creating products.

I absolutely did.

I resisted because I understood what building a business really meant.

It meant risking my time.

My savings.

My comfort.

It meant believing in something that might never become more than an idea.

If I'm being honest...

It still does.

I've never been someone who jumps into big decisions.

If anything, I question my own excitement because I never want to mistake one of my ideas for something that truly has the potential to become lasting and meaningful.

I needed time to prove to myself that this wasn't just another one of my ideas.

So I kept reading.

I kept researching.

I kept testing.

I kept reformulating.

I kept learning.

Not because I had decided to build a company...

Because I couldn't imagine stopping.

Somewhere along the way, I realized something.

Grace & Glade wasn't growing because I had decided to start a business.

It was growing because I had discovered something I genuinely loved creating...

...and because the people around me believed in it long before I believed it could become something more.

Why "Grace & Glade"?

People often ask where the name came from.

The answer has nothing to do with marketing.

It has everything to do with family.

Grace comes from the meaning of my beautiful granddaughter Annaleigh's name.

Glade comes from the meaning shared in both Annaleigh and my son Joshua Lee's names - a meadow, a clearing, a peaceful glade.

Together, they became Grace & Glade.

The name reminds me every day why this journey matters.

There is another small detail hidden within our logo.

The "G" is more than just a letter.

It is also a leaf, representing the botanicals that inspire my formulations, and a subtle halo- a quiet reflection of my faith and a reminder of the values I hope guide both my life and this company.

It isn't meant to stand out.

It's simply a reminder of what matters most to me.

Looking Ahead

I don't know exactly where this journey will lead.

If I'm being honest...

I still don't.

What I do know is that I still love creating.

I still love learning.

I still get excited every time I have a new idea to try.

And I still smile every time someone tells me they've run out of one of my products and asks,

"When are you making more?"

I hope that feeling never gets old.

For most of my life, it has always felt easier to believe in other people than to believe in myself.

I've always found it more natural to encourage someone else, help someone else, or celebrate someone else's dreams before my own.

Building Grace & Glade has asked something different of me.

It has asked me to set some of my fears aside.

To trust not only my own hands, but the people who kept believing in me when I wasn't quite ready to believe in myself.

Every friend who asked for another bottle.

Every tester who gave honest feedback.

Every coworker who encouraged me.

Every family member who reminded me to keep going.

Piece by piece, they gave me something I struggled to give myself.

The courage to try.

Maybe that's what Grace & Glade has been teaching me all along.

That sometimes faith isn't only believing in yourself.

Sometimes it's having the humility to believe the people who love you when they tell you they see something in you that you cannot yet see yourself.

If Grace & Glade continues to grow, I hope it never loses the heart it was built on - curiosity, generosity, gratitude, and a genuine love for creating things that people enjoy using.

With Gratitude

No one builds something meaningful alone.

Grace & Glade may have begun with my hands, but it has been shaped by the kindness, encouragement, honesty, and love of so many people who walked beside me.

To my son, Joshua, and my granddaughter, Annaleigh...

Thank you for inspiring the name Grace & Glade. Your names will forever be woven into this company, and I hope one day it becomes something you're proud to be connected to - not only in name, but in heart.

To my daughter...

Thank you for giving me one of life's greatest blessings - my beautiful granddaughter. Without Annaleigh, there would be no Grace in Grace & Glade, and for that I will always be grateful.

To my dear friend, Edie...

Thank you for changing my life without ever intending to.

One simple sentence -"Look what I did with your shea butter.."- sparked a curiosity that became a passion.

You have remained one of my most trusted product testers from the very beginning. Your honesty, your encouragement, and your willingness to tell me exactly what you think have made me a better formulator. Through you - and through the generous feedback of your daughter and granddaughter - I discovered that products I originally created for myself could beautifully serve hair completely different from my own.

You helped me understand that Grace & Glade could be for everyone.

I honestly don't believe these products would be what they are today without you.

Thank you for your friendship, your generosity, and for believing in me every step of the way.

To Edie's daughter, Simone, and granddaughter, Kaycee...

Thank you for trusting me enough to test product after product and for sharing your honest experiences. Your feedback helped me create products that work for a wider range of people than I ever imagined possible.

To Charity...

Thank you for your helpful feedback and the encouragement along the way.

To Nancy and Nelly...

Thank you for believing in me before there was ever a business to believe in.

Thank you for testing everything I placed in your hands, for your honest opinions, your encouragement, and for reminding me that maybe this dream deserved a chance.

To my mom...

Thank you for being my biggest cheerleader.

No one celebrates my successes quite like you do.

Thank you for proudly sharing Grace & Glade with anyone willing to listen and for believing in me, especially during the moments when I wasn't sure I believed in myself.

And finally...

To every friend, family member, coworker, and early tester who accepted a handmade holiday gift, tested a new formula, offered honest feedback, or simply looked at me and said,

"Tiffany...you should do this."

Thank you.

This story isn't about one person building a company.

It's about the faith, love, and trust that so many people placed in me when I wasn't always able to place it in myself.

I hope every product that leaves my hands reflects the faith you've placed in me and the love you've shown me along the way.

Thank you all for helping Grace & Glade become what it is today...and for believing in what it may become tomorrow.