Last week, after the window at HoneyBee Sage was shattered, something happened that I honestly wasn’t expecting.

Before I could even figure out what came next, people began asking:

“How can we help?”

My first instinct was to do what I usually do... Figure it out! But the truth is, HoneyBee Sage could use some help right now.

And because you all have celebrated the wins with me, I want to be honest about this season too...without putting ALL my business in the streets.

This summer was tough! Really tough!

Like many small businesses, we experienced the seasonal ebb that, for our business, comes with summer. At the same time, HoneyBee Sage was carrying a second location that was not generating enough revenue to sustain itself. That meant our King Drive location was essentially helping carry the weight of two businesses.

For a while, I kept believing we could push through it.

Payroll still had to be made. Inventory still had to be purchased. Vendors still had to be paid. Rent, utilities and everyday operating expenses didn't stop because revenue slowed down.

And little by little, things began to pile up. Then came the busted window. Another blow!

We do have insurance, and we are filing a claim. But insurance is a process, and the expenses and responsibilities of running a business don't pause while that process plays out.

Ironically, that broken window also brought some things into focus.

I had already been wrestling with the decision to close our underperforming Third Ward location. The events at King Drive made it even clearer where our attention, energy and resources needed to be. So I made the difficult, but necessary, decision to close Third Ward and bring our focus back HOME.  That was step one.

Now we need to stabilize the foundation.

This campaign isn't about saving an unsustainable location. We already made the hard decision to let that go. It's about giving HoneyBee Sage's King Drive flagship some breathing room as we catch up from this season, rebalance cash flow and move forward with a healthier business model.

Funds raised will help us:

• Meet payroll and protect the jobs of the people who help make HoneyBee Sage what it is.
• Replenish the herbs, ingredients, café supplies and products we need to serve our customers and generate revenue.
• Catch up on operating expenses and vendor obligations that accumulated during this difficult season.
• Absorb immediate business disruptions while our insurance claim for the damaged window moves through the process.
• Strengthen King Drive as we consolidate operations and rebuild from one solid foundation.

I'm not asking the community to fund a business model I know isn't working. I've already taken responsibility for changing that model.

I'm asking for a little breathing room while those changes take hold.

HoneyBee Sage has spent years pouring into this community, not just as a place to buy herbs or grab a cup of tea, but as a gathering place, an employer, a classroom, a sober space, a home for wellness, and a place where people can simply come as they are.

Now our community has been asking how it can pour back into us.

I'm finally willing to receive it.

If HoneyBee Sage has ever made you a cup of tea, taught you something about an herb, given you a place to gather, employed someone you love, donated to your organization, supported your event, made you feel seen, or simply given you a place where you felt at HOME, we would be incredibly grateful for your support.

And if giving financially isn't possible, you can still help tremendously: shop with us at King Drive, share this campaign, bring a friend, book an experience, leave us a review or simply keep telling people that HoneyBee Sage is still here.

Because we are.

We closed a location. We did not close the vision.  We are taking the lessons home, strengthening the foundation and building smarter from here.

Still healing.
Still building.
Still elevating.

With gratitude,

Angela Mallett
Founder & CEO
HoneyBee Sage Wellness & Apothecary

Thank you for your generosity and support.