Today we’d like to introduce you to Lucas Klein.
Hi Lucas, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
What essentially started as making products for friends & family for birthday gifts & holidays slowly grew into a full time business. In the early 2010s, my husband Patrick started making bar soap & herbal body care products in our Chicago suburban apartment & selling a few things here & there on Etsy. Patrick worked various management positions in retail visual merchandising while I worked as a manager at a bank, helping with branding, design, & finances in my free time. Neither of us ever imagined it would become something long-term. However, our little side project evolved bit by bit each year as we invested more time & energy into finding out how to turn a creative passion into something sustainable.
We “officially” launched Fox Naturals in 2014 & spent the next several years building the brand through local pop-ups, farmers markets, & community events around Grand Rapids. Those early years were incredibly valuable because they allowed us to connect directly with people, hear feedback, & fall in love with the community. A major turning point came in late 2017 while we were driving to Chicago to see family for Christmas. We drove past a building on Wealthy Street with a “For Lease” sign in the window. That particular shop front had been vacant for about 10 years & was in need of some TLC. While still in the car, we called to schedule a showing for when we returned to Michigan. Upon seeing the space (which was just a peek since at the time still had holes through the floor), we fell in love with the vintage brick architecture & took a chance as the first tenant. We opened our doors officially in April 2018, and 5 years later doubled our shop size.
Over time, we refined our product offerings while continuing to focus on affordability, accessibility, & sensitive-skin safe options. While we still make skincare, body care, and hair care, fragrance became our biggest creative outlet. Today we’re best known for our botanical perfumes inspired by nature, memories, folklore, & storytelling. Creating perfume allows us to blend artistry with craftsmanship in a way that feels deeply personal.
What we’re most proud of is that despite our growth, we remain very hands-on. We still formulate, make, package, & sell our products ourselves, & we get to meet the people who use them every day. Fox Naturals has grown with such love, acceptance & support from the community. We love being able to create experiences, build community, & make things that help people feel a little more connected to themselves & the world around them.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Absolutely not. But then again, neither are Michigan roads. Like most roads around here, you can still get where you’re going if you’re willing to navigate around the potholes. Every stage of our journey has come with its own challenges.
One of the biggest leaps was leaving the security of “traditional” employment to become fully self-employed. There’s no manual for that transition. Suddenly you’re responsible not only for doing the work you love, but also for every decision, every expense, every setback, & every success. Learning to trust ourselves & our vision was a huge part of that process.
Another challenge has been building a business as partners. Patrick and I have very different strengths, which is one of the reasons Fox Naturals works so well, but learning how to balance a life partnership with a business partnership takes intention, communication, & a lot of patience. Over the years we’ve learned how to lean into our individual strengths while still moving toward the same goals.
I also think one of the less talked about challenges of entrepreneurship is learning how to tune out the noise. When you’re building something unconventional, there will always be people who tell you why it won’t work, why it’s too risky, or why you should play it safe. At some point you have to stop giving those voices space in your head & focus on the people who believe in what you’re creating.
More than anything, being your own boss requires courage. There are plenty of days where confidence comes easily, & plenty where it doesn’t. You have to learn how to lead even when you don’t have all the answers, make decisions with incomplete information, & keep moving forward despite uncertainty.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Over the years, Fox Naturals has evolved quite a bit, but perfume & fragrances have become the heart of what we do.
While we still create skincare, body care, and hair care products, we’re best known for our botanical perfumes and our aptly named “Discovery Sets”. What started as selling travel perfume rollerballs at our neighborhood pop-up markets has grown into a collection of more than 30 signature fragrances, along with a rotating lineup of seasonal scents inspired by whatever has captured our imagination at the time.
One of the most exciting parts of our evolution has been creating a space where people can experience fragrance in a more personal way. We built a custom perfume bar inside our shop where guests can book one-on-one perfume blending appointments & work with us to create a personal scent that is uniquely their own. Watching someone discover a fragrance that feels entirely “them” never gets old.
What sets us apart is that we’re not following trends or trying to appeal to the widest possible audience. We create fragrances that tell stories. Some are inspired by nature, some by nostalgia, some by dark and mysterious places, & others by moments that are difficult to put into words. We trust our creative instincts & make the kinds of scents we would be excited to wear ourselves.
What I’m most proud of though is what we’ve built as a whole. I’m proud of our collection of products we’ve created by hand over the years, the community that has formed around our shop, & especially our small team of employees that helps make it all possible. Running a small business is never a solo effort. We’ve been fortunate to surround ourselves with talented, caring people who help guide customers, support our vision, & keep everything running day to day. Seeing that team grow alongside the business has been one of the most rewarding parts of the journey.
At the end of the day, we’re still a small, independent company making products we genuinely love & sharing them with people who appreciate the artistry & experience behind them.
We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
That’s actually a tough question because Fox Naturals is such a personal business. If you know the brand, you probably know quite a bit about us already.
One thing people may not realize is that Patrick & I have been together for 18 years. We both grew up in the Chicago suburbs & eventually made our way to Michigan in 2013. In many ways, Fox Naturals has grown up alongside our relationship, so the business is really woven into our life story.
As for a truly random fact, I have a clownfish that’s older than our relationship. She’s 20 years old & has somehow outlasted multiple apartments, jobs, and my 3 cats (RIP). At this point she’s less of a pet & more of a tiny orange roommate who’s been quietly judging my life choices for two decades.
Pricing:
- Sample Size Perfume 5ml: $16
- Mini Size Perfume 15ml: $44
- Discovery Set (5ml x any 3 scents): $44
- Full Size Perfume 50ml: $77
- Custom Perfume Blending starting at $80
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.fox-naturals.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fox_naturals
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Foxnaturals/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/fox-naturals-grand-rapids-3
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@foxnaturalsapothecary
