Today we’d like to introduce you to Casey-Jean Miller.
Hi Casey-Jean, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Jean’s Apothecare started from a single batch of body butter, made with the intention to bring myself personal relief, not start a business. I was 21 and freshly diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, looking for anything that might make me feel even one percent better. I didn’t know anything about holistic health at the time, but I got books, studied, ordered ingredients, and started playing in my kitchen.
That one batch brought me relief within the first few days — and something lit up in me in the process of making it. Down the rabbit hole I went, and I’ve been burrowing in it ever since.
That was 2016. It’s now 2026 — ten years later, and it’s grown into a full botanical apothecary, a place you can turn to for products that comfort and uplift, be it teas, body care, culinary goods, or home fragrance, sold direct to customers and through wholesale accounts across the country. In case you’re wondering, the body butter remains a best seller today.
In 2025 we started partnering with subscription box companies, which took us from wholesaling six to twelve units at a time to our first 1,500-unit order.
This August, we’re partnering with 107 independent bookstores across 40 states for Bookstore Romance Day, giving their customers a free sample of our One More Chapter French vanilla black tea.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Most recently, after a decade in business, we relocated to the New River Valley in Virginia. As an e-commerce business, in some ways relocating doesn’t change much — but in other ways, it changes everything. We went from being part of a community we’d spent ten years building in Charlotte to being the new kid in town.
My remedy was to dive right in: becoming a Virginia Master Gardener in the New River Valley, serving on the board of the Newport Agricultural Fair, starting yoga programs at local businesses, bringing high tea parties to Mountain Lake Lodge, and partnering with my neighbor at Dandelion Ridge Flowers for yoga and u-pick bouquets in the garden.
The ongoing challenge is holding both at once — growing a business that’s changing quickly while building the space and team to support that growth, all while planting real roots in a brand new community.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Jean’s Apothecare?
Jean’s Apothecare is a small-batch botanical brand built around one idea: that self-care should feel nurturing and approachable. We work with organic and fair trade botanicals to create teas, body care, culinary goods, and home fragrance meant to meet you wherever you are. A soothing cup of tea after a stressful day. A body butter for dry, itchy skin. A candle to set the mood. A natural perfume that smells delightful and lifts your mood right along with it.
Our product names are half the fun. Some read like a friend who’s got your back, like Trust Your Gut and Mint To Be. Others are just here to make you laugh, because we’re of the belief that laughter is some of the best medicine. See also: Calm Your Tits and Calm The F**k Down.
What sets us apart, more than any single product, is the personal touch. It’s something we hear from customers and wholesale partners alike, over and over. One longtime customer put it simply: she’d “never bought from someone more concerned about a buyer’s satisfaction.”
From the ingredients, to the packaging, to the shipping, every piece feels considered. Even as the business has scaled, every product is still handcrafted, and every relationship still feels personal.
Want proof? DM us. It’s our founder who’ll message you back. Try it and see for yourself — we dare you.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
That your heart has to be in it. Being a small business owner isn’t a quick success story, whatever it might look like from the outside; it takes digging deep, patience, perseverance, and real passion.
A key piece to the puzzle is staying true to why you started, and to yourself, while doing that. There are seasons where your work-life balance gets wobbly. There are the times the work will require more of you. I’ve learned to accept that and lean into it. But in the not-so-far future, I have to pour back into myself — for adventure, travel, rest, and restoration — or the rest won’t hold up.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Jeansapothecare.com
- Instagram: https://Instagram.com/jeansapothecare
- Facebook: https://Facebook.com/jeansapothecare
