Meet Alison Johns

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alison Johns a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Alison with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?

I am proud to share many traits with my Dad. One of those being his work ethic. My Dad was self made and worked tirelessly to achieve his goals and success.
Growing up and as an adult, many knew my Dad because of his business and kindness in the community to his customers, and friends alike.
My Dad recently passed away this October. It has been a great loss, but myself and my family have found comfort in the many former customers, employees and associates that reached out to us to tell us how they admired my Dad as a business owner and great man, as well as how he helped them and their families for years.
My Dad truly left a legacy, that I see in myself and my business every day. I am proud to be his daughter and to have followed in his footsteps of owning my own business as well, and being recognized by those in my community just as he was.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I have always had a love for bees, holisitc health and helping people. These passions have lead me to the person I am today. I am an Emergency Department Nurse, Holistic Health Practitioner, Sustainable Beekeeper and Business Owner of Honey Help Apiaries.
Through my work with the bees and holistic medicine, I have been fortunate to be able to combine my education and experience into cultivating Honey Help Apiaries. My honey and bee goods are sourced by myself and my great team of employees from my now 32 chemical free hives. All products are made by me and include all natural ingredients of holistic grade to promote health and wellness, naturally and effectively.
As a Nurse, I respect the need for pharmaceuticals, but I very much believe there is a definite need and benefit to holistic medicine. One of my favorite quotes is “Let Food Be Thy Medicine” Honey and certain herbs have been used for years to treat ailments and disease long before pharmaceuticals. I am proud to share the gifts from our gracious bees and holistic ingredients from our earth with my customers.
Additionally, at Honey Help Apiaires, we take pride in our holistic and natural approach with our bees too. This means following sustainable beekeeping practices for all of our hives to nurture and sustain our bee colonies and treat them with love and kindness for their constant work for us and our earth.
Examples of our practices that differ from 98% of other beekeepers that follow traditional beekeeping: We do not feed our bees sugar- sugar is not metabolized by the bees. It makes them sick, and shortens their already short lifespan which is just 6 weeks. It also contaminates their honey to then be sugar honey, rather than pure honey. We do not smoke our bees with chemicals or treat our hives with chemicals. We use essential oils, cinnamon and more to keep our colonies thriving and free of chemicals that harm the bees, our environment and pollute their honey that you then eat. We also smoke our bees with sage and lavender to relax them and allow us to inspect them and care for them.
At Honey Help Apiaries, our mission is to save the bees and help our sweet friends thrive. Traditional beekeeping is for the mass production of honey, chemical treatments, sugar feeding and viewing the bees as disposable. We are untied in our efforts to put the health of the bees first before mass production of the resources they gift us.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Some of the best advice I have ever received is that we never stop learning and to both welcome and accept that.
Through my business, I am constantly learning. This shows me that my business will continue to grow and be successful because I seek opportunities and strive to continue to educate myself on how I can be better and how my business can be better.
When we become complacent in our lives or business or we have realized that we have achieved the goals we once set, it’s then time to get back out there and set new goals and achieve those as well.
Running a business, is not for the weak, but it will help you find your strength, your discipline and confidence as running my business has gifted me

What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?

The past year has been my year of motivation. I have hit the ground hard this year to continue to grow my business and have been met with success.
I am proud to say that in this past year, I have successfully opened a storefront and event studio for my business.
I have pursued and established a wholesale contract with Walmart,
And I was selected amongst many other amazing businesses to be apart of the Goldman Sach’s Small Business Program that I will be starting this fall.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Honeyhelp.store
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/honeyhelp
• Other: Store Address:
  22811 Greater Mack Ave, Suite L4
  St Clair Shores, Mi 48081
  Located in downtown SCS
  313 409 2658

Image Credits

Myself, and Renee Launduyt of the Grosse Pointe News