Today we’d like to introduce you to Nancy Hansen.
Hi Nancy, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
The product that started it all is what we refer to now as our signature spice, which is named, Khillah Magic. Khillah is my maiden name. My grandmother began mixing the spice and she taught my mother to make it and my mother would mix it for me to take to college to use in my cooking. Shortly after I met my now husband, I was making him dinner one night and I pulled out my grandmother’s blend and used it to season the food I was cooking. I told him about it and he responded with, “Oh, it’s a bit of Khillah Magic”, and the name stuck. When I married my mom didn’t live close by anymore and so I began purchasing the spices I needed and she taught me how to make the blend myself. my friends loved it, so I was happy to share it. When I had our second child I quit my teaching job to stay home and raise the kids. Becoming a one income family caused us to cut way back on spending as every penny counted. I felt bad that I couldn’t share as much but my friends were understanding and asked me to begin selling it. It felt uncomfortable with the idea as I love people through feeding them and sharing with them. and I didn’t think anyone would really purchase it. But upon much encouragement, I decided to take the plunge and sell it under Cottage Food Law. I did that for 13 years and I always had a dream of going commercial and wholesaling it to Horrocks, Meijer, Kroger, etc. However, raising our children was my first and foremost priority and so that goal took the back burner of “someday”. Just over a year ago, our friends were opening their bakery (Freshies in DeWitt- Check them out) and wanted to carry Khillah Magic. They were a huge blessing to us and that is what opened the door to us going commercial. I also added a few other items that I made at home for my family as health conscious alternatives, such as our dipping herbs, our ranch mix, and Khillah Magic Hummus. I hit the ground running summer of 2024 starting at Freshies Bakery & the DeWitt Farmer’s Market. I then worked with Horrocks and late summer they began carrying our spices and hummus. I would do samples at Horrocks once a week and people loved our products. That was very encouraging. Early Fall, my husband joined me in growing the business and we decided that we wanted our own commercial, which naturally made sense to have a retail space as well. I am also a knitter, and always had thought it would be super fun to own a yarn and coffee shop. The business started out as a fun side gig for me but had now become a family business. As we planned and dreamed of what we wanted it to look like, it made sense to bring my two dreams together, a cafe and a boutique all in one. We have fun items such as, our handcrafted sprays, handwash, and candles. In addition to those we have many other fun items but the one I am most excited about is the Malabrigo yarn. That’s my favorite brand of yarn and I am excited to offer beginner knitting and crochet classes as well.
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?
It was not a smooth road in the sense that I needed to focus on our family and the timing wasn’t always right. But over the last 15 months the Lord has really blessed and opened the doors and lead us to the decision of getting a storefront. Once we had selected the location we were met with municipality ordinance hurdles and that put things on hold for about six weeks. We did our own build out and the some of the work was hard and pushed us beyond our comfort zone. But we are so glad for the opportunity to grow and work together as a family.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
The Willow Where Our Roots Began mission statement is “Bringing people into pieces of our home to share goodness, joy, and beauty.” We want out customers to feel welcome and comfortable in our space. We want them to feel like they are stopping by a friend’s house. We consider our business as an extension of our home. So that perspectives drives our business model. If we don’t use a specific ingredient in our home then we don’t use it at the shop. When we make our food products we make them to perfection, just how we like it, we offer healthier options because as a family we are always striving for that at home. Our signature spice, Khillah Magic, is what made our hummus fantastically delicious, and it’s our hummus that put us on the map so to speak. We have been told over and over that our hummus “is the best I’ve ever had” and it is humbling to hear that. Hearing someone say that never gets old. We aim to use the best products we can such as organic milk, organic coffee, teas, and matcha, organic cane sugar in our syrups and baked goods, organic flour, grass fed butter, extra virgin olive oil, and organic fillo dough for our baklava. And we are proud to offer that as it is not the common practice. I am also proud of how our little family banded together and converted this space from the rough shape it was in into a beautiful space we are proud of and would welcome people into gladly. It wasn’t easy and there were nights that I literally was almost in tears from exhaustion but it makes this week, our opening week, all the more special. I am proud of our brand because it represents healthier nourishing options and a care for others. We prepare dips, artisan bread, pastries, coffee, tea, sandwiches with our house made pitas, our clean ingredient sprays, candles, handwash, yarn, and other fun boutique items.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Risk is scary! However, taking risks can sometimes change your life completely- perhaps for the better and sometimes for the worst. I used to fear risk and only wanted to stay in the familiar, the comfortable, the safe. And I would say that perhaps I still do but my brother and husband have challenged me to view risk differently, to view it as an opportunity, to view it as a chance to learn, and I would say risk is the answer to the dreaded question of “what if?”
I believe risk is where growth happens. Good and bad experiences both teach us; some of those lessons are filled with pain but nonetheless hopefully we cease the opportunity to learn from those mistakes. My brother once told me when I was about 18 years old, to learn but not to regret my decisions. I didn’t appreciate it then as I fully do now. I am one who will easily beat myself up over a decision and those words challenged me to change my perspective, to view my mistakes as learning nuggets and to do better. And I think the same can be said for risk… go ahead and make the decision to dive in and give it a go, but also think of a back up plan incase things go south!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @thewillowworb
- Facebook: The Willow Where Our Roots Began
- Youtube: @thewillowworb
