Azuna Blog
Listening to your Family
What seems unique to one person can seem very normal to another. I had what some would consider a very unique experience growing up. My family was in the funeral business and for the first ten years my life my family and I lived above the funeral home. You heard that right; we lived above the funeral home. Here’s what that meant for my little brother and me growing up in that environment. It meant that right away you learn a lot about compassion and grief and the value of life because while other kids your age were watching cartoons and playing with their toys* we were exposed to families who had just lost something very precious. If that...
Read MoreThe Trip to Jersey
I’ve talked a lot about Buffalo, New York in these posts because it is where we manufacture Azuna and it is where I have lived for the past 20 years. But I’m not from Buffalo originally. Originally I am from northern New Jersey, or in the local parlance, North Jersey. A big part of the reason why I love Buffalo so much is that it reminds me of home. Lots of straight talk, and lots of support. I maintain a large group of friends in North Jersey and one of the first collaborators was my friend “Big Mike”, who I’ve known for the past 30 years. If you looked up “What does a guy from North Jersey look like” his...
Read MoreThe Whole Home Kit, Solving the Affordability Riddle
Let’s review. Incredible product that can eliminate even your toughest smells? Check. Manufactured in the USA? Check. Ethically sourced, manufactured, and shipped? Check. Affordable? Let’s do the math on that one. When we started this business, it was the affordability riddle that kept me up at night. Sure, I know firsthand the power of Azuna, but could we make it affordable for nearly every consumer? I mean, $15 for one puck? That’s expensive right? Or is it? And even if it’s not, can we do better? So I sharpened my pencil and evaluated the product, trying best as I could to put myself in a potential new customer’s position. First, I purchased every mega-brand chemical based air freshener on the...
Read MoreThe Day it became AZUNA
It solved the funk in my basement! It slayed the stench of my sons gym bag! I was convinced. Now, all of a sudden in the matter of a couple of months I went from a guy who thought the only essential oil was Olive, to beginning to develop an expertise in the properties of different essential oils and what they can do. So I called up Keith and I convinced him to let me market their new, yet to be named, product. Keith and his brother Ryan run a family business out of Buffalo, NY (Go Bills!) which is where we all live. It’s a contract packaging company with a state of the art 140,000 SF manufacturing facility. So...
Read MoreAzuna: The Very, Very Beginning
Let me paint the picture for you. Here I am a 43 year old, recently divorced, single father in a newly rented house and right after my kids and I moved in we noticed a mildew smell coming out of my basement that could choke a donkey. I was already feeling pretty low due to the divorce, and now I had an actual fog surrounding me. Then, destiny knocked. Literally! Most people probably discover their destiny by looking into the eyes of their soulmate, or staring at a beautiful sunset, or maybe even in a dream. But not me. For me it turns out, destiny was my friend Keith who was came over to see how I was doing. He...
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