Meet Kobe Harris, Owner of Kobee's and his Eco friendly Beeswax Lip Balm
At Bulk Apothecary, we take immense pride in supporting and showcasing the brilliant makers we supply products for, from Beeswax to fragrance oil and everything in between. Each month, we shine a spotlight on one of these creative souls, sharing their inspiring journey with the world.
This month, we’re thrilled to introduce you to Kobe Harris, owner of Kobee’s an extraordinary talent in the maker community. Kobe’s passion for creating high-quality beeswax lip balms that are sustainable has left us in awe, and we can’t wait to share his story with you!
One Lip Balm at a time is the motto. Kobee’s Beeswax Lip balm tubes aren’t only cute and compact, they hold greater meaning, in fact, they showcase the reason why they do what they do. Big change can start small. Kobee’s wants to create big change and encourage customers to do the same, one tiny lip balm at a time.
Kobe, we are so excited to showcase you this month. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Hello! My name is Kobe Harris, the founder of Kobeesco All Natural, Handmade, and Sustainable Lip balms. We are a personal care brand that uses simple ingredients, plastic-free/compostable packaging, and is all handmade. I started this brand out of my dorm room in college back in Chicago Illinois. I wanted to create a better-for-you product without you having to guess what types of ingredients are in your products and why they benefit you. Combined with my love for bees and the outdoors, Kobees was off to the races.
What was your inspiration behind the name of your company?
I am a huge outdoors person, I love hiking, nature, and bees. I was doing research on packaging and bees at my university around the time of the inception of the company. I had a buddy say the name at random one night when we were all hanging out “Why not Kobees?” And it just stuck, started designing labels and products the next day.
What is your personal favorite product you have created?
The first product we ever sold!! Our beeswax lip balm. That will always be my favorite product, even as we add more SKUs, flavors, and different types of personal care products. It it took around 7-8 months to finish the formula and another 6 months to start selling, it was amazing to see the product that was an idea in my head actually come to life. Creating products is hard, and time-consuming. So I truly applaud anyone who has taken on that challenge and has something that was only an idea in their head actually come to fruition.
What is one piece of advice that has helped you in your business?
Just stay focused, stay patient, and put in the work. Business is not always what you see online, people growing at an always rapid pace and seemingly unlimited amounts of money are always being made. That is definitely not the case for the vast majority. Just learn to appreciate where you are at, plan carefully, and know that it will take longer than you initially expected to get where you want to go. If I were to look at my business the first couple of years it would have a lot of ups and downs, with more downs than I can count. Just staying focused on making high-quality products, testing new ways to grow, and being patient with myself allowed me and the business to start growing significantly over time.
What is your favorite Bulk Apothecary product and how do you use it in your business?
My favorite bulk apothecary product is definitely BEESWAX. I mean the name is basically in our company named KOBEES, basically all of our products use beeswax. I remember the first time I ordered 1 55lb box of beeswax and thought this was the coolest thing ever. The tiny pellets made for a lot of good content in the beginning stages of our business, beeswax is our most used product and I assume it will continue to be so in the future.
Do you have any words of wisdom to offer any aspiring makers?
Building a business is hard, make sure to take some time, reflect, and realize all of the cool stuff you are building from time to time.
Before we go, can you share with us how others can best check out more of you and your work?
I would check out our website kobeesco.com, or check out our social media, Instagram: kobeesco.balms and tiktok @Kobeesco
If you want to learn more about eco friendly packaging and Beeswax check out our blog Beeswax Wraps!
