Left to right: Sheldon Hill, Stella Sehn and Ron Riemann of BBB
Credit: BBB Award for Business Ethics 2016
Speak with Stella Sehn about her company and it doesn’t take long to see how she and her husband, Sheldon Hill, have built a loyal following for Sweet Pure Honey. With passion and energy like sun on a prairie wildflower and dedication to quality and community matched only by the bees that produce their honey, these entrepreneurs are a natural for the BBB Award for Business Ethics.
“When you’re running a family business on a family farm, everything begins with ethics,” says Sehn. “And that comes through in everything we do from our all-natural organic product to our hand-packaging to our contribution to our community.”
From raw honey to organic bath and body products through to beeswax candles, Sweet Pure Honey offers its products online and in person through farmers markets throughout southern Alberta. Discerning chefs (like Connie DeSousa at Calgary’s Charcut) also use Sweet Pure Honey in their culinary offerings. But this company, and the family that runs it, goes far beyond its product offering. Sehn very clearly stands for making a difference in the world through entrepreneurship.
When I realized I was a leader, I saw that I could be a role model for women and for entrepreneurs.
“We support women’s charities in our community because I know what it takes for some people to come from nothing and have nothing but a dream,” says Sehn. “Not everyone has the support I have in my family. When I realized I was a leader, I saw that I could be a role model for women and for entrepreneurs and it feels good to be a contribution in the community.”
Sehn’s blog and social media sites have thousands of followers, most of whom she believes are inspired by her honesty and authenticity.
“It’s important to me to be honest about our family and our business and mental illness and all of the challenges we face because other people are facing them too,” she says. “Being transparent lets people know they’re not alone in their struggles and their successes.”
For us being ethical, being a contribution to the community, earning an honest living and having a strong family is success.
And success, says Sehn, goes beyond the bottom line.
“How successful are you if you’re failing in your marriage or as a parent,” she says. “For us being ethical, being a contribution to the community, earning an honest living and having a strong family is success.”
