The T-Zone Chats with Joella Hogan from The Yukon Soaps Company
Ingrie and Emily from The T-Zone talk community, sustainability and living and working in the Yukon with the inspiring Joella Hogan of The Yukon Soaps Company.
Q&A Klondike Kettle Corn
Katie Young built her business, Klondike Kettle Corn, from the ground up, starting with small batches sold in community markets. Now, her popcorn comes in more than 50 flavours and is a favourite local snack, found in grocery stores and gift shops across the Yukon.
Q&A: Anto Yukon
Hand wrapped in brightly hued contemporary artworks and infused with vibrant scents, each bar of Anto Yukon soap intends to uplift and transport you. Hand poured and cured in Whitehorse, founder Kym Rempel has grown a home-based hobby into a thriving bath and body business complete with a studio and retail space.
Q&A: The Yukon Soaps Company
Knowing that a single seed can flourish into a magnificent garden, maker Joella Hogan creates soaps and wellness products using local plants from the boreal forest to support her Mayo community. As the brains behind The Yukon Soaps Company, Hogan draws on her professional background as a heritage worker while remaining dedicated to honouring the land, knowledge, and culture of her Northern Tetchone First Nation ancestors.
Q&A: Aurum Skincare
Inspired by the remarkable benefits of boreal birch, Aurum Skincare taps into a deep love of the Yukon and the traditional territory of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation. Co-founded by Elise McCormick and Joanna Sherrard in 2017, the award-winning skincare brand seeks to soothe and protect the most fragile inflammatory skin conditions using raw birch water and birch bio-ferment. Having worked in collaboration with a pharmaceutical biochemist to develop a clinically proven formula that reduces skin redness, the Dawson City-based pair sustainably harvest the key ingredient and locally manufacture their hero product called Calming Birch Serum. Here, we chat with McCormick, the company’s CEO, to learn more about how Aurum Skincare came to be, how the brand will be expanding, and her experience as a Yukon maker.
Q&A: Firebean Coffee Roasters
What started as a hobby paired with a creative mind for mechanical gadgets has grown into a successful business for Michael Russo, founder of Firebean Coffee Roasters in Whitehorse. This small-batch coffee company produces hand-roasted beans using a process powered by…bicycle.
Q&A: Vanessa Ægirsdóttir
Made with Indigenous-sourced wild fur, Vanessa Ægirsdóttir’s beautiful small batch jewellery will transform your outfit, but the textile and jewellery designer is focused on making a much larger positive impact.
Q&A: Coolican & Co.
We love the simple, exquisitely crafted, handmade wood furniture designed and built by Peter Coolican and Company and we aren't alone in that opinion! Peter tells us how joy shows up in his practice.
Q&A: Tasso Baking
Tasso Baking is a tiny bakeshop located in Cabbagetown, Toronto, specializing in handmade croissants using simple ingredients and a great deal of time. They are open three mornings a week and typically sell out in two hours. Mike and Olyana Tasso shared with us how they bring joy into their days working and being together.
Q&A: Spare Label
Sabine Spare incorporates the hand-marbled technique into each of her pieces: hand-marbled works on paper and textiles, each piece is a monotype so no two pieces ever look quite alike. Her patterns often resemble water and stone.
Q&A: F.Miller
F.Miller is a collection of botanical-based and nutrient-rich skincare essentials all made in Toronto from the highest quality organic ingredients. Fran tells us how joy arrives for her.
makejoy x OOAK: Matter Company
Toronto-based Denise Williams founded Matter Company, a luxe range of all-natural skincare products, in 1996.
After pursuing environmental studies, and inspired by a profound interest in the natural world, Williams turned her attention to the traditional practices of herbalism. She apprenticed with a renowned herbalist and learned firsthand about growing, harvesting and wild-crafting herbs and plants, earning a certification as a Therapeutic Herbalist.
makejoy x OOAK: Rekindle
Devin Schaffner, founder of Rekindle says home is where we enjoy the most cherished moments with the people we love. Rekindle supports these meaningful experiences through refined design.
makejoy x OOAK: ATTIC
Susan Shaw and Melissa Gobeil are the co-founders of ATTIC, a Toronto based fine jewellery company that believes in simple, timeless design. Their fine jewellery collections are created with great care, and are meant to be worn everyday for years.
makejoy x OOAK: Soul Chocolate
Kyle and Katie are chocolate-lovers, who also happen to be chocolate-makers. They source quality ingredients that make them happy and work with those who excite them and drive them to do better. They want to share more chocolate with you!
Q&A: Contrabotanic
Amanda Perumal was studying textiles at OCAD University when she came across needle-felting, a technique for wool manipulation. Her final project was a felted terrarium — an interesting idea that she expanded into a business.