The HTF Hot Seat: Cedar + Stone

It’s always fun meeting new people, which is why we came up with the idea of The HTF Hot Seat – a regular post to introduce you to the creative dynamites behind some of your favourite hardtofind products. This week’s seller in the spotlight: best friends, Cedar + Stone director, Kate (above left), and manager, Keri.

We are known on hardtofind for our… Australian natural, vegan skincare brand. We have a Youth, Men’s, Women’s and Alchemy range. Our Alchemy range is pretty special – it’s a range with deep meaning and is close to our hearts. Our soaps/cleanse bars are cold pressed and filled with good quality oils, clays and essential oils. We have more than 60 products and always developing more so things never get boring!

Right now we’re inspired by… a Violet Gray Intention Circle we attended recently. It was set in the hills of Mullumbimby, at an amazing house with an open fire and breathtaking views of the sea. It was a group of 15 women coming together to set intentions on the amazing super moon. We made a bracelet with crystals, had a cacao ceremony, ate delicious vegetarian food, meditated, walked in nature and really let go of all things that our usual day is made of. So right now we are FULL of inspiration after a major reset! We love to clear ourselves and re-centre in nature so that we have fresh eyes and essence.

Our favourite part of the making process is… seeing something come to fruition that has come out of our brains! For example, at the Intention Circle, while in meditation, Alex (the runner of the circle) came round and sprayed our Heart Space Mist over each one of us. We nearly cried because that product has come out of Cedar + Stone’s team of creative heads and into a product that is now being used with such intent. It was a good feeling.

We work from… Kingscliff, a beachside town in Northern NSW. We are moving to Currumbin in the Gold Coast in January to a bigger premises so our creative brains are on overload at the moment with what we can do with a bigger space. Guaranteed to have a kid section in it, though, as there are a few C + S kids floating around.

A typical day for us involves… wake at about 5.30am, reset and breathe in the new day. Kids get dropped off at school. Get to work, essential oil diffuser on, herbal tea diffusing and then we are into the work day. Orders are always first so we can get the morning courier, then every day changes. That’s one thing that we love about C + S – no one day is the same. You never know what surprising email is going to come through. We can come to work thinking we are doing one thing and end up having to do something completely different. Afternoons are usually at the beach with the C + S crew of groms surfing, then home life, dinner, homework, washing and all that jazz. Then back to work on the computers for a bit at night. Never a dull moment – we love it.

Our proudest business moment was… This is a hard one to answer! Naming just one feels like it will take the power away from so many of the epic moments we have had. But maybe the most surprising one was, three months in – when we were only operating from one of our home kitchens and selling at markets – getting an email from Urban Outfitters out of nowhere. It went from a few products to thousands pretty much overnight. It’s also a proud feeling to have a business full of conscious workers. We try to be conscious to the earth and all its inhabitants as much as we can. If we can be kind to one another it really does make the earth a better place to be in.

When I started my business, I wish I’d known… Cedar + Stone was going to become what it is today! It was really just playing with ingredients in the kitchen. Lucky we love it, otherwise it would be hard on those nights that we’re up till 1am with orders and answering emails to USA. One thing we could share is that if you are thinking about starting a business, make sure it is something you’re really passionate about. You don’t want making money to be your driver of your business. Money will come when passion is there. With passion comes determination, love for what you do, drive, strong work ethics, easily accessible creativity, joy.

We’d describe our personal style as… eclectic. We don’t really have any one style, we just like what we like when it sets off that ‘woah!’ dial inside. We’re inspired by other creatives rather than mass produced. You can feel the intent in the product and that makes you feel good inside.

Our last purchase was… a Mahiya dress. Now that we stock them on Cedar + Stone so they are in our showroom its so hard to resist!

The first thing we do when we wake up is… stretch!

The motto we live by is… be kind to one another (stolen from Ellen Degeneres, but it’s so imperative! We are all here living on the same earth trying to live a life full of joy and love, so let’s help each other out along the way) and do what you love and love what you do – it just makes life way easier!

We’re hoping 2017 will bring… a happy healthy and thriving family. That affects everything else so that’s the most important thing.

Everything tastes better with a little… love, raw chocolate, inspiration, cashew cheese, hot sourdough, creativity, chai, sauerkraut, yoga, sunshine, super charged smoothies, friendships and laughter.