Steeped in History: Sage & Folly Historical Apothecary | The Hustle

Is there a recipe for major profits hidden in the pages of a 250-year-old book? I got a hold of the recipe book for 18th century beauty. Sage is turning heads with beauty products and tempting taste buds with herbal teas. Ooh, that's really good. She makes her products with natural ingredients and a heavy dose of historical accuracy. My name's Sage Tausey, I'm 13 years old, and I run Sage & Folly Historical Apothecary. In this episode of The Hustle, we'll learn how Sage used product research and a passion for history to create the Sage & Folly brand. We'll also look at how she positioned her brand and products to reach new customers, while giving each one a timeless experience. Who are your customers? Who's buying your products? People who are interested in just history, kids who are like, oh my gosh, this is so cool, I wanna be like you. I get a lot of veterans who just love what I do. So it's really broad spectrum, but usually 30s to 60s interested in history. Sage loves American history. Instead of going to concerts, she dresses up for historical reenactments. I work with Children of the American Revolution, and I'm currently serving as the Western Regional Vice President on the National Board. And so I'm hosting a conference and I do a lot with that. When the pandemic called for an afterschool hobby, Sage used her passion for history to inspire the creation of products people use every day. My parents said, do something that's not watching TV or doing video games. Instead of inventing new products, she relied on recipes that have been trusted for centuries. So this is the 1774 book called the Toilette de Flora. And this is where I get all of my beauty recipes. It was the recipe book for the ladies on the farm to have fun and enjoy all of the beauty and stuff that they were seeing that the French court did, but still be reasonable with what they had. When Sage started making herbal teas and selling them in her colonial outfit at history reenactments, people noticed. And when they learned she was a history whiz, they tested her knowledge. I get a lot of people who are like, who are you to talk about this? Like, why do you know all this stuff? I'm a history nerd. I love just learning everything. And my history teachers have definitely been a big part of that. So when people say stuff like that, I tend to just hit them with facts. Creating products that teach history to customers is a central part of Sage's brand. Your brand is more than what you sell or do. It's how people perceive you as a company. Customers form an idea of your brand in many ways, through your products, your service, your website, and social media. And all of those things should give them the same great impression. A good perception of your brand usually means customers will come back. One thing that I really enjoyed was having repeat customers come back and like, we tried this, it helped with whatever it was. I just love hearing people coming back and like, this stuff worked, what else do you have? I wanna learn more. When I look at Sage and Folly's product line, I see her love of history everywhere. Learning and sharing history are central to its brand identity. Everything that I work with is service oriented. It's not about the money. Like, most people would say business is, that's what your success is. For me, it's just being able to have fun and share what I've learned. Every company has a brand identity. Finding it means thinking hard about your purpose, your values, and how your product or service reflects those things. By following her values and making the perfect products for history fairs, Sage has a firm brand identity. It's even part of her company name. Sage and Folly comes from, part of it, my name, Sage, but it also means wise. And so I think of it as the wise knowledge from our ancestors that so many people have forgotten. And then the Folly, it means kind of silly, fun, ridiculous, and that's where I get kind of like your pink powder or your fairy nectar. Sage also chooses markets that are on brand for her company. I use these products just on a regular basis. Are you using anything right now? I actually have my powder, my white powder in my hair, acting as a dry shampoo, which is kind of like the great grandfather to dry shampoo. Are you in any stores? So I do wholesale with Samson Historical out of Lebanon, Indiana. And then I sell in person at Mount Vernon when I do their three events a year. And then I do some farmers markets during the summer and I go to other reenactments, but I'm not in big stores yet. When Sage decided to grow her inventory, she needed to find the right materials and products to expand her line. Sage dove into a process that companies spend big money on, product research. I did a lot of research just talking with people and learning from what they've learned. I researched from Colonial Williamsburg, Mount Vernon, the Toilette de Flora, American Duchess a little bit. And it is really hard to read because all the S's look like S's and all the S's, it's complicated. Product research means determining what to make, how to make it, and whether or not a new product can be successful. It takes a lot of effort and there are no guarantees a new product will work, but doing the research increases your chances of success. Part of the process is checking to see if a similar product already exists or existed hundreds of years ago. When I kind of come up with a new idea, I start cross-referencing immediately. Before I even start making stuff, I'm on websites, I'm on books, I'm looking at stuff and like, is this historically accurate? As I do research, I get a piece of paper and I just write down everything and come up with like, what can I do? How is this gonna work? And then just kind of start testing it, make friends and family test it. I think sometimes they find me annoying, but. Sage and Folly's growing product line means the research is paying off. And speaking of products that George Washington might've used, I had to try some. So over here you have your 18th century tea. Your prosperity tea back here is a recipe that dates back to early 1600s and it was used by Scottish, Irish, really everybody. And it said that if you drink it and focus on bringing money and luck, it will come. I can't promise that it works, but it has been around for hundreds of years. Your 40 Winks tea, I like to say it's the recipe Martha Washington used. I don't know for sure, but I like to think that it is. But it is documented that she had a sleepy time tea and that's exactly what that is. Can we try some of these? Yeah, which one would you wanna try? I wanna try the prosperity. You say that it'll bring luck and maybe some financial help to me. So let's give it a try. All right. Yeah, it's really floral, herby, almost like it's sweet. There's a little sweetness in there. It's really great. The teas were impressive and the stories behind them, even more so. One of my favorite teas to talk about is the Young Hyacinth tea. It was thrown overboard at the Boston Tea Party because it was one of the favorite teas at the time. Yeah, I love the story. It said that it's called Young Hyacinth because they picked the leaves when it was young. So they curled up. And then part of the tea drinking experience is watching it unfurl in the water. Building a sweet, inside-out brand is great for business. But you still have to move product. That means paying attention to what your customers will or won't buy and making hard adjustments. My bestseller changes every event. So I get Utah, caffeine. My black teas didn't sell as well as they usually do because I learned that Mormons can't have caffeine. Have you had any fails along the way? Definitely. No business is a good business if you haven't grown and had fails. My failures have been more of how to sell. I'm always changing my display because some things work with smaller items and some things don't. One example is my beauty tins. They were originally push-top tins and they kept getting stuck and I couldn't open them. And when I did open them, powder was everywhere. It was not fun. But now I switched to screw-top tins and they're so much easier to open. And there's a lot less product lost. And so that was definitely something that I learned from. Changing her display or anticipating what kind of tea will sell best makes a huge difference. And it's called positioning. Positioning means improving or adapting your products for a specific market or specific customers. Like those who don't drink caffeinated tea. When it comes to positioning your brand and products for better sales, every detail matters. If Sage gets them right, she wins more customers to her brand. With such cool products, it's no wonder Sage has a busy schedule. But her plans to grow her business are revolutionary. I'm always looking to do more speaking events. That's one of my favorite things to do. I talk to different service organizations. I go to schools, Chautauquas, libraries, as well as reenactments. Ideally, if I get an investor and in a few years I'm able to have a storefront, that would be amazing for me. But school is definitely top priority. With a strong brand, potent products, and a growing sense of how to position them for new customers, Sage and her business are making strides. Her story is full of lessons for entrepreneurs everywhere, not just history lovers. Any entrepreneur who wants to start something, I would say pick something that you love or want to learn about. Because if you pick something that you're like, oh, this will make me money, you're not gonna have fun with it and you're not gonna wanna keep doing it. And that's definitely one thing that's kept me going. What did we learn from Sage and Folly? If you wanna grow your business and win customers, it pays to think of your business as a brand and pay attention to how customers perceive you. Making sure those perceptions fit with your values and purpose means defining your brand identity. Know who you are and communicate that to customers consistently through every touch point. That's how you build customer loyalty. You can also grow your brand and business with product research. Determining what to make and seeing how it compares to what's already out there is all part of the hustle. And once you have new products, selling them takes positioning. Adjust your product or service to suit new markets and new customers, but not in a way that goes against your brand identity. Whether it's hair pomade or herbal tea, every product says something about who you are. Doing what you love for the right reasons is a sure way to own your brand and make great products. And while you're at it, you might just make history. Before we go, where can people find you? I'm on Instagram and Facebook with my name, Sage Tausey, or you can find me at my website, sageandfollyapothecary.com. And then I'm always looking for more events and speaking engagements as well. I'm definitely gonna have to check you out at Mount Vernon one of these days. Thank you so much for being here. I really appreciate it. Of course, thanks so much for having me. You guys, that's a wrap for this episode of The Hustle. As always, make sure to like this video, subscribe, share it with your friends. And if you're an entrepreneur watching, let us know about your business. Maybe next time I'll be asking you about your company. Thanks so much for watching. I'll see you guys in the next episode. 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