What started as making a few candles here or there as gifts for family and friends has turned into an extensive organic skincare line and a full-time career for one Sugar Hill resident.
Tanessa Schulman, a 1994 graduate of North Gwinnett High School never imagined that she would be the owner and creative force behind Woodlands by Schulman, a boutique-style organic skincare line.
Schulman laughs about how she hated chemistry in high school and thought she would never use it in her future endeavors but life has a funny way of working out.
“Science was my worst subject. I was an all-A student except for science. I was a strong C, C minus. I didn’t like it. I didn’t understand it. I didn’t have a good teacher but it wasn’t my thing,” said Schulman. “And somehow I ended up basically in science because I am mixing everything and having to understand.”
She married in 2007 and told her husband that she wanted him to make her a farmhouse table.
“We didn’t even have a power drill and my husband goes ‘Yeah, yeah, I’ll look into it and see what kind of tools I need to get,’” said Schulman.
Her husband made her the table of her dreams and friends and family started asking him to make them tables too. At the time, Schulman and her sister, Tabitha Keys had a booth at The Queen of Hearts Antique Store in Buford where they refurbished and repainted furniture to sell. They began to sell tables that her husband made in their booth, always selling quickly.
A year later, Schulman and her husband took their furniture business to American Redemption in Suwanee and began focusing on custom furniture orders. Schulman would design the pieces while her husband constructed them. Their furniture business kept them busy for five years until the economy turned sour.
In October 2022, Schulman was asked to make a charcuterie board for a fundraiser for North Gwinnett.
“We made the charcuterie board and I said, ‘We should make our own board butter,’” said Schulman. “I looked up recipes for board butter and I found one that had beeswax. Beeswax is good stuff.”
During the process of making the board butter, she was heating the beeswax in a crockpot and she said it made her house smell amazing. Schulman loved the scent and decided she had to have that scent in her life all the time. That was when she came up with making candles. Once again, her family and friends fell in love with the candles and requested that Schulman make some for them.
After making the candles, Schulman said, “I started looking up beeswax and what more can I do with this because I love this stuff and lip balms were next. I love lip balms.”
She formulated the lip balm and her sister urged Schulman to sell the lip balm and candles. At first, she resisted the idea of selling them and began to make additional items primarily for her own use.
In March 2023, Keys approached her sister again about selling her things. She convinced Schulman to sell her candles at a small store, Living Well Farmer’s Market in Suwanee. Keys was her sister’s spokesperson while Schulman was having serious doubts.
“I was standing there going ‘I can’t sell my stuff in a store. I can’t do that. I am not anyone special. I am not a professional,” said Schulman.
Luckily, the owner told Schulman that they would love to have her sell her candles at their store.
A year later, the Woodlands by Schulman brand has over 30 products. Schulman and her sister came up with the ideas for the new products while Schulman researched them and made them. The sisters would then try the new products and they would love them.
An idea for a body serum came up and Schulman was unable to find a recipe or even a hint of what that would entail. That did not deter her and she began pulling from her knowledge of the various oils and other ingredients that she has worked with in the past.
“I just started figuring it out and I am sitting here laughing at myself,” said Schulman. “I almost failed science. The joke is on me. I was just looking at God like ‘Really? You couldn’t have done something a little easier for me. The Lord works in mysterious ways.’ If I could find my science teacher I would apologize. I told her I am never going to need this and that was a lie.”
Along with selling her products on Etsy and at Living Well Farmer’s Market, Schulman and Keys sell at various festivals, marketplaces, farmer’s markets and more. They are winning over people one product at a time and they are enjoying every minute of it.
The Woodlands by Schulman skincare line is handmade using only the best organic ingredients including beeswax and oils like jojoba, grapeseed, coconut, wheat germ, carrot seed and more. The products are scented with natural fragrance oils of lavender, frankincense, sandalwood, rosemary, tea tree and sweet orange. The fragrances are sophisticated and earthy, matching the brand’s aesthetic.
For more information on the Woodlands by Schulman line, where they will be selling their products next and more, follow them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/woodlandsbyschulman. Visit their Etsy page at https://www.etsy.com/shop/woodlandsbyschulman/.
