Many festivals and faires have artisans who offer soaps, lotions, potions, oils, and other wonderful products to nourish our skins and our spirits. But we’ve never seen a handmade line specifically for infants! With this being a month when we’re celebrating those who mother (whatever that journey might be), we thought it a good time to feature this beautiful product line and its equally beautiful maker, Shannon Holliday of Father Thyme Herbals.

Who are you and what do you do? Let us know a little of your story!

I’m Shannon Holliday, the creator of Father Thyme Herbals and the herbalist, alchemist and heart- centered healer behind the curtain. I am a wife, mother, grandmother, entrepreneur, caregiver for my disabled veteran husband and a wise & wild woman walking my destined path. 

I began this journey as a hobby by taking my handmade products to the farmers markets in 2014 but it quickly grew into a real full time job when we were invited to have our first tent space at The Texas Renaissance Festival in 2015. It rained nearly every day of our first season but it was too late for me. I was already so in love with being a part of faire in this way. I poured my entire heart and soul and essence into building Father Thyme.

Three short years later I purchased my first real booth at the Texas Renaissance Festival across from The Royal Falconer’s Stage. I chose (manifested) this location because it was my grandmother who brought me to the faires and created the family tradition of going every year. The bird show was absolutely her favorite and I lovingly imagined her there with me cheering me (and the birds) on.

You recently became a grandmother. Does that have any impact on how you approach your product line?

Becoming a grandmother has impacted how I approach everything now. What an incredible honor to have reached this stage in my life and in my business. We have SO many babies at Father Thyme. We have watched them grow through their visits each year and many are grown or nearly so by now. I’m incredibly blessed to be a matriarch in my family and in my faire family. A lot of our employees have children as well and we accommodate them! It’s not unusual for us to help a customer with a baby on our hip. Our babies work with their mom, dad, aunt, or Grammy (that’s me!) They even come to work with us in the lab on easier days. They LOVE being a part of it! I was asked to make a custom teething blend for babies a couple of years ago so I set out to study ingredients and see if it was something I could safely make. Of course we made it! It’s been a HUGE success and so helpful to so many mothers and babies I can hardly keep it in stock. With so many babies in our orbit and my first grandchild arriving last December I felt inspired to create an entire line of baby products. We created  all natural Baby Soaps, Baby Lotion and Diaper Cream to our line of products to our already baby safe First Aid Salve, Buzz-Off Natural Insect Repellant and TLC Mentholated Chest Rub. 

I wanted it to feel like you were stepping into Mother Earth’s garden and like our products were growing right out of the earth (our shelves). As if  the fairies and the honeybees are our co-workers.

How do you work? What research do you do? In other words, just a little about your process. 

I work immersively and intuitively, crafting all of our products myself by hand and with love. I’m obsessive about ingredients and will only use the cleanest and highest quality available. I also check each ingredient on Skin Deep to ensure it’s safe and clean. So many companies hide toxins in their products and they don’t even know it! Most of my recipes are my very own while others were inspired through my studies while working as a lab technician at a natural compounding pharmacy as well as my studies through Heart of Herbs to obtain my certification in Herbalism. Everywhere I worked prior to this was preparing me for this before I even knew it was my destiny. 

 The work of the crafter/vendor is intense, definitely not for the faint of heart. So what motivates you to do what you do? What’s your why?

The love of faire and the passion behind it definitely fuels my inspiration to create more than just another booth but to also create a magically interactive experience for our patrons. The magic is what I fell in love with and what my grandmother showed me at faire, which I then shared with my children and what we will be sharing with my darling grandson now. What a surprise it was to learn that the magic didn’t just happen; instead it took intense dedication, hard work, passion, and a collective of magical people with the same vision, blood, sweat, tears, heart, and soul. 

The goal I’m most focused on right now is streamlining efforts for sustainability.

What is the most challenging aspect of your business? 

The most challenging aspect of my business is definitely all the hats I have to wear to keep it all going. The patrons only see the beautiful booth and the finished products. It takes endless hours to bring the booth to life and to create the products with love and my ridiculously high standards. I am the producer, label maker, quality control, marketing specialist, accountant, inventory control, purchasing agent, legal consultant,customer service department, interior designer, website designer, order filler, CEO and dishwasher! Being able to pivot through changes and the rising costs of goods while remaining sustainable and profitable has been another huge challenge. Father Thyme survived COVID years by obtaining our CBD license and adding CBD products to our line. Over the last 12 years I have been lucky enough to build an incredible team to help share the load of keeping everything flowing smoothly and allowing room for growth and inspiration through their support and dedication to the vision. You never know what’s coming up next for Father Thyme!

Has there been an encounter with a patron that inspired you?

One of the most inspiring interactions with patrons came from the School Days Program. School Days was an annual event Texas Renaissance Festival put on. It  was open during the week for school field trips. It takes a lot of work and sales are lower than a normal faire day but there’s a reason! School Days plants seeds in the hearts of the next patrons at our faires. In my very first year one of the students was tasked to write a report about someone that inspired them and they chose me. I was absolutely dumbfounded and nearly died of imposter syndrome but I did as she asked. There are STILL so many students that are now grown who come and visit me from their time at the festival during school days where we met. Some were even inspired to follow their dreams and explore alternative career paths. I am beyond tickled to know that we are a part of that inspiration. You just never know how living your dreams may inspire others to live theirs. 

Kim Bryant is a veteran performer, educator, and writer. With 25 years teaching experience, an adjunct professorship in Theatre, and twenty years in the festival world, she brings a wealth of experience to LadyFaire Magazine. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Education from Lubbock Christian University, a Master’s degree in Theatre from the University of Houston, and a Master’s degree in Communications from Southern New Hampshire University. Kim has studied at Actor’s Studio of Chicago, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, and at New York’s Lincoln Center, and currently works in leadership for Disney Live Entertainment.