Brad Swift ’06 does it all with Portland Bee Balm

After graduating from Wesleyan as a philosophy major, Brad Swift ’06 played professional poker and worked as a child and adolescent treatment specialist before his beekeeping hobby led him to lip balm.

“In the startup universe, doing-it-yourself is the rule.

“But Brad Swift, founder and one-man crew behind Portland Bee Balm, elevates DIY to another level for his popular lip balm.

“Swift maintains a beehive in his backyard from which he harvests most of the beeswax to handcraft the balm, following a recipe of his own creation. He mills his own lumber for the line's retail display cases, which he builds in his woodshop. Then there's packaging and distribution, not to mention billing clients.”

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Image: Michael Lloyd/The Oregonian.

Friendly URL: wesconnect.wesleyan.edu/news-20121112-brad-swift

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