To our Contributors: We Made It!

We did it! Well we didn’t get to $25,000, but since we tried, we raised $5,270 in 30 days! That is phenomenal!

We have adapted our launch strategy to be leaner and smarter to most efficiently use the funds that are your contributions. We have enough to:

  • Purchase materials for and build our distillation unit
  • Pay permitting and collection fees for sustainable harvesting from regional national forests
  • Purchase fuel to distill your perks
  • Purchase bottles for your perks and mail them to you in June
  • Purchase and start seeds for transplant to the greenhouse
  • Purchase growing medium and organic fertilizer for planting over half of the greenhouse in May

The greenhouse’s owners have offered their support in these ways:

  • Repair/replace the damaged roof
  • Repair other hydroponic system failures should they appear
  • Subsidized rent until we begin sales

By contributing, you have shown us your deepest trust and respect and we want you to know that we take that very seriously. We are now accountable to every one of our contributors and surprisingly, it feels great! You have shown us that you believe in us and that you’re invested in the success of this business.

Here are a few special thanks from Ian!

  • Mom, thank you for always listening to me, helping me see flaws in my logic and for a capacity to love that I can only hope to aspire to!
  • Dad, thank you for teaching me about real human consciousness, to love to explore and learn and what it means to place principals at the core of my work! I hope to learn from you again when I pass from this world.
  • Ian Bryan, thank you for believing in and encouraging me to follow my dreams, for giving your time for marketing and planning and for making this a possibility. You are the most supportive boss I ever had and now you are my friend!
  • Tracy Brown, you were the first contributor and you did it without hesitation and at first glance! Thank you for your confidence! (You were definitely a front-runner in the supportive boss department!)
  • Richard McDonald, you put up with me through my ups and downs over the last month! You have given generously, with your contribution, your enthusiasm and with the countless hours you have spent advocating for me and strategizing with me!
  • Don and Robin Meyer, you constantly kept me on my toes and oozed confidence in my abilities and character!
  • Alana Jelinik and Mischa Hedges, you volunteered your time and valuable insights to help me improve the campaign!
  • Katie Vie/River Island Apothecary, meeting with you was absolutely wonderful! You’re enthusiasm and support boosted my confidence and helped me know that I was doing the right thing!
  • Jennifer Flynn, you advocated for me before you even met me! You are the voice that is helping legitimize the industry/market need for a local distiller!
  • Alejandro Moreno, you stepped up (out of your comfort zone) and advocated for me when I needed it most; without even being asked to! You said what I could not and in the process re-invigorated a passionate community of change-makers! You absolutely made the end of this campaign!
  • Green MBAs, your contributions make up the majority of the funds raised in this campaign! You held true to the deep sense of community that we developed together and rallied up a storm at the end! I think we may be on to something here… Let’s all start the businesses that we would love to! Let’s do it together! You can bet you have earned my contribution to your campaign!
  • Nils-Michael Langenborg, true to your style you showed up out of nowhere and absolutely crushed that final push to $5,000! Thank you so much man!
  • And finally, to all of you who shared on social media, when you probably didn’t want to (I know I don’t usually want to)! You shared again and again! 421 times (doesn’t count the shares I don’t know about)! You shared enough to get us to the 2nd page of search results for “Asheville Essential Oils” and absolutely fill the first page and a half of search results for “Blue Ridge Aromatics!”

The next several weeks will be really exciting! This is the part we’ve been looking forward to… we’ll keep you posted about the progress we’re making! Thank you!

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