Behind the Brand: Balcony Botanicals

Meet Balcony Botanical's Founder, Kristi Stites

, Articles | December 2, 2025

1. What is the name of your company?

Balcony Botanicals

2. What is your title?

Founder

3. Where is your company located?

Hotchkiss, Colorado

4. Whats your current obsession?

Street tacos and learning Gen Alpha slang to drive my kids crazy. No cap.

5. How did you hear about Naturally Colorado? What made you become a member? Has Naturally Colorado helped you in any way?

A friend from the Front Range told me it would be a good fit and encouraged me to join. Running a business from a small Western Slope town can feel isolating, so Naturally Colorado looked like a great way to connect with people across the state. And it has been — I’ve met fantastic Colorado founders, gotten genuinely helpful advice, and made great connections at the Fall Fling.

6. What size is your company?

2 (plus seasonal help)

7. What inspired you to start your company?

Colorado’s climate sucked all the moisture out of my skin and nothing on the shelves worked, so I started making my own skincare. Controlling the ingredients and experimenting for my own dry skin led to products that helped a lot of other people too. It’s cliche, but my kids motivate me. They push me to keep things as healthy and natural as possible. They also inspire me to use practices in my company that don’t put more junk into the world that they will have to clean up. I’ve worked very hard for my products to be packaged plastic free, compostable, recycled and/or recyclable.

8. Why did you choose to focus on the natural and organic industry?

It wasn’t really a choice, natural just worked best. As I developed formulas, the most natural ingredients simply worked better. Oils and butters absorb beautifully, and avoiding artificial preservatives keeps everything as clean as possible. It makes logistics trickier and shelf life shorter, but performance wins every time.

9. Can you describe the biggest challenge you faced during the early stages of your company, and how you overcame it?

Packaging. Always packaging. I’m committed to using as little plastic as humanly possible, and finding packaging that can survive oil-based products without falling apart has been a saga. Five years ago, options were limited and expensive. Things are improving quickly — plant-based plastics, recycled plastics — but we’re not all the way there. Take lip balms: cardboard tubes cost me five times more than plastic to print my own and don’t love the washing machine. But they reduce plastic, so I’ve accepted the trade-offs… and I hope my customers will too. I haven’t fully overcome the challenge, but I’m making progress.

10. What keeps you up at night regarding your business?

Sales. I hate selling. I don’t like hearing no. I internalize it way too much. I like even less when I’m ghosted after someone tells me they’ll place an order.

11. What strategies can you share that have been effective?

Getting people to try my products. I’ve found if I can get someone to try it 9 out of 10 times they’ll buy it. I’ve learned that you truly get what you pay for. I’ve been through multiple raw material, packaging and labeling companies and several designers before I found the right ones for me that are not only brand advocates, but understand what I’m trying to do and help me keep my costs low. Most of them are small businesses too and right here in Colorado. They might have seemed more expensive at the start, but putting the relationship first has saved me money in the long run. Brand consistency has also been huge. I’m obsessive about colors, logos, and fonts. I want customers to recognize my brand quickly. The recent rebrand rollout looks a little chaotic right now (and it’s driving me nuts), but it’ll all settle soon.

12. How important is networking, and what strategies do you use to build and maintain professional relationships?

Relationships are everything. Suppliers, printers, wholesalers, other makers — the right people change your trajectory. I’m here because others believed in me. My approach is simple: promote the people who support you. If someone does great work for me, I tell everyone I know. If I love a shop or another maker’s products, I share it.

13. What is one piece of advice or knowledge that has changed your life and why?

My husband once said I was “killing my business with perfection,” and he wasn’t wrong. I wanted everything — packaging, photos, copy, emails, websites — to be flawless before releasing anything. I’ve learned what needs to be perfect and what is good enough to get out the door. Formulas need to be perfect. Everything else can be almost perfect (with a wink).

Connect with Kristi.

Learn more about Balcony Botanicals.

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