SANTA CLARA — From earrings to keychains and loose-leaf tea balls, it’s crystal clear this jewelry business is just getting started.

“I just love crystals,” Keelee Brinkerhoff, owner of Wilde Botanical Company told St. George News. “I’ve loved them ever since I was a kid. I have pictures of me when I was little stuffing rocks in my swimsuits. I was like, these are special and I need to take them home with me.”

Brinkerhoff said her business was a “COVID baby,” born after the resort she served at in Ivins was forced to shut down. Prior to the pandemic closure, she had been a server at the resort since age 16.

With a goal to make earrings she would wear herself, she took $30, made her first batch of simplistic crystal earrings and began to sell them on Facebook to friends and family.

When the resort reopened, she went back to serving while running the jewelry business on the side. In 2022, she took the leap into full-time business ownership and has been doing it since.

“I love the small business community and I love helping other small businesses as well,” she said. “It’s so rewarding to watch them succeed. As a small business owner, you realize how important that support is, especially in the beginning years when you have so much doubt in yourself.”

Wilde Botanical Company has since expanded to crystal keychains, crystal hair clips, loose-leaf tea balls and more. The metal tea balls are placed in mugs while the attached crystal acts as a weight.

“It’s definitely more of a bougie way to enjoy your tea regime,” Brinkerhoff said. “I just wanted to have something for my morning tea that’s pretty. I’m all about romanticizing the simple things in life.”

As a mother of three boys ages 8, 6 and 9 months, her business allows her to express creativity while spending valuable time with her family. 

“I get to set my own hours, be creative and make things that I want to wear,” she said. “When I see other people out in town wearing them, it’s one of those moments where it’s like, I made that and someone actually loves it enough to wear that out. It’s definitely a surreal moment.”

Her products are made with genuine stones, manmade stones and tumbled sea glass, which allows her to have items at various price points. All earrings are either stainless steel or gold-plated stainless steel.

 “I work with stones that I’m drawn to at the time,” she said. “There are different meanings for some of the stones. I think if you are drawn to the stone, it’s meant for you, regardless of what the meaning behind them is.”

Brinkerhoff said citrine, for example, is a sunstone and can represent light, high vibrations and abundance. Quartz is a clearing energy that represents new beginnings, while rose quartz is a “love stone” and represents prosperity. 

The crystals used in her products come from a mixture of local and online retailers. A variety of crystals come from Dixie Rocks and Fossils, which was the first store Wilde Botanical Company was able to sell their jewelry line in.

“I love the owners,” she said about Dixie Rocks and Fossils. “He was that person that was like ‘Come on, let’s go.’ I definitely have a little special place in my heart for them.”

To give back, Wilde Botanical Company has a special line of dog earrings and paw prints that were created as a fundraiser for RSQ — a nonprofit animal rescue in St. George. Earrings are $20 a pair and can be ordered through the Wilde Botanical Company Instagram page. All proceeds for the dog earrings go directly to RSQ.

For those who may be fearful of starting their own business, Brinkerhoff offered this advice:

Push through the uncomfortable. Anything new you do is going to be uncomfortable. Push through it anyway, and you will grow from that. If I had stopped three years ago, I wouldn’t be self-employed or be where I am today

Products by Wilde Botanical Company are available at the following local retailers; Dixie Rocks and Fossils, Moss & Timber, Scout + Cloth, The Smooth Shop, Awakened Soul, Medusas Aesthetics, Nancy Davis Med Spa, Red Canyon Company in Hurricane and Siren Suits in Cedar City.

To order directly, message @Wildebotanicalco on Instagram. Customers can choose from items that are already made or have custom pieces created.

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