Navy Heart Essential Oils – Start a Business with me
Navy Heart Essential Oils – This post is the beginning of something new. It’s me inviting you to start a business with me, to follow along as I build Navy Heart Essential Oils in Calgary, AB Canada – from the ground up. No filters. No fluff. No b*s. No overnight success stories. Just real life, a bit of passion, a bit of drive & ambition and readiness for any challenges that may come.
From South Africa to Canada
To start this story – I was born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa. I place known for its beautiful landscapes, incredible wildlife and nature reserves, mines rich in minerals, world-renowned wine farms, strong sports teams & even stronger sports enthusiasts, unique foods like – boerewors, biltong, potjie’s, bunny chows, melktert & malva puddings.
But there’s always two sides to a coin, it’s also full of crime and corruption, shielded from the rest of the world, coming to Canada and talking to people here, they have no idea what it’s like in other countries. They think their first world country is bad, ( with running water and constant electricity, leaving their doors unlocked and not having every window in their home covered in burglar bars and security gates, walking in the streets without being armed or constantly aware of potential robbers or hijackers, government departments that run efficiently, hospitals that get paid out of your taxes and not your own pocket, traffic lights that work, roadblocks with 0.8% DUI finds, School pass rates of 50% minimum – SA is 30% FYI ).
People have no idea how bad life could actually be. South Africa experiences the exact opposites of all of the above. Those are luxuries that we do not have.
Like many South Africans, I grew up learning how to adapt. You learn to be tough. You learn planning and preparation. You learn resilience.
Essential Oils in my household
Essential oils were always part of my life. Lavender & rosemary in the bath. Eucalyptus & peppermint in the shower. Lemon in homemade cleaners. Ylang ylang, Neroli or Sandalwood in my diffuser. Mixing essential oils into a spray and adding scent to my linens. Various Essential Oils packed into bathroom cupboard, used for scent, routine, and simple everyday living.
I’ve always loved DIY beauty products — body butters made with natural ingredients, sugar scrubs mixed with real fruit at the kitchen counter, bath salts and dried herbs ready for one of those ‘long days’ at the office. I love how essential oils can make a home feel brighter, fresher, calmer, without overpowering synthetic fragrances. I love how diffusers gently scent a space, creating a home that’s welcoming. I love how completely natural they are.
When we made the move to Canada and settled in Calgary, I knew change was coming, but how much change, was unknown.
Becoming a SAHM
Change number 1 – Motherhood changes you. Time goes quick and slow at the same time. I’ve seen my sisters raise children, I’m an aunt to 5 – but I never knew what they went through, I wasn’t there for the late nights or early mornings. And people don’t talk about it enough! It’s tough! I had my hubby with me every step of the way, for the first year. So I had help. Yet there still wasn’t enough time.
The first few months were insane, every 3 hours – it was feed, burp, change, sleep ( that’s about 1-1.5 hours gone ) then laundry, cleaning, sterilizing bottles, hopefully feeding myself, having a shower or sleep! Sleep! Then she was up again and it’s a repeat. I hardly slept. We hardly slept. We would take turns but we both had interrupted sleep.
I take my hat off to parents who do this alone. My hubby is such a hands-on dad – I am so lucky to have him. My baby is almost 2 years old, thankfully I haven’t had to go back to work. I loved being home with my baby — She is so funny and so happy, she’s brave and fearless, I could literally spend everyday with her for the rest of my life. Right now she’s probably cool with that haha.
But, I feel the need to be more productive.
In my past, I had spent years working as a Financial Manager in South Africa. Structure, deadlines, numbers, reports. It taught me discipline and problem-solving, but it also taught me that I didn’t want to be confined to a desk for 8–10 hours a day. I couldn’t imagine leaving my baby for that long. I don’t want that life anymore. I don’t want to go back to an office job.
So, I did what many modern moms do.
I started a blog.
Navy Heart became a place where I could write about the things I genuinely loved — clean living, simple healthy recipes, DIY beauty products, immune boosting tonics, nighttime routines. I was learning to be creative again, built a website all by myself, learnt how to use Canva and Pinterest. It wasn’t a business plan at first. It was a hobby. A creative space. Something that kept me busy.
And then… I ran out of essential oils.
The Essential Oil price shock
Change number 2 – I needed more essential oils, the ones I brought with me from the move were all running on low. So I went searching, first physical stores, then online.
And honestly — I almost had heart failure. Like many South Africans abroad, I still convert prices back to rands in my head. It’s automatic. I can’t help it.
Back home: – Lavender 100% Pure Essential Oil – 20ml bottle – R85.00 – Which equals CAD $7.20
Here in Canada: – The cheapest I could find is a well-known US brand sells a 15ml bottle for CAD $12.60 (about R150) – Bigger MLM companies sell 10–15ml bottles ranging from CAD $29.00 to CAD $52.00
That’s not a typing error. It’s honestly fall off your seat ridiculous! Let me break this down properly ( financial brain here )
In South Africa: – Cost per 1ml of lavender essential oil = $0.35 CAD cents
In Canada: – Cost per 1ml ranges from $1.36 to $3.47 CAD
That means per millilitre, essential oils in Canada cost 4 to 9 times more expensive than what I was used to. What? Why? How? Honestly! How is that justified?
Essential oils don’t magically become rarer once they cross the Atlantic. The plant is the same. The distillation process is the same. The samples I’ve gotten from all over are literally the same!
So where is the markup coming from?
Light bulb moment, creating Navy Heart Essential Oils
Change number 3 – I always root for the underdog! And here everyone seems to be underdogs. That moment changed something in me. It made me question so much.
Why are essential oils so expensive here? Why is affordability tied to MLM structures? Why are small businesses forced to spend so much money on these Essential Oil brands? Why is clean, plant-based living treated like a luxury instead of something accessible?
Soap makers. Candle makers. Natural beauty brands. Homesteaders. SAHMs. Families. How are they supposed to afford these prices for a teeny tiny bottle of essential oil?
That didn’t sit right with me. So, I did what South Africans do best – I made a plan.
Sourcing Essential Oils for my Navy Heart brand
That day I started researching suppliers. Not brands — suppliers. I wanted: – Premium-grade essential oils – Transparent sourcing – Clean distillation processes – Consistent quality – Prices that are affordable for everyone.
Then, I ordered samples. A lot of them. I compared aroma, clarity, consistency. I tested them in DIY products. I diffused them. I smelled them side by side. I verified botanical and species profiles, extraction methods, batch testing and consistency between samples.
When I finally found a supplier that ticked all the boxes, I requested ALL of their conformity documents. Scrutinized their quality control, questioned their knowledge of storage, shelf-life, cautions and warnings. A great supplier, will have no issues with sharing and transparency. The information and assistance from my chosen supplier has been nothing but supportive and patient.
This part wasn’t glamorous. It took time and energy. Emails. WhatsApp messages going back and forth across time zones. Late nights and early mornings trying to catch my sources when they were awake.
Will this plan work?
Spreadsheets, spreadsheets for days. The kind where you start from scratch and end with columns and columns, and rows and rows, then sheet 1, sheet 2, sheet 15, its changing the calculations, changing the order, changing the shipping costs, working out packaging and labels.
This part was important. I had to work out landed costs properly. Not just the cost of the oil itself, but everything that comes with getting it into Canada. Shipping. Duties. Exchange rates. Packaging. Labels. Bottles. Customs clearance. The little fees that add up very quickly.
Every calculation came back to the same question:
Can this still be sold at a price that makes sense for real people?
I compared my numbers against what’s already on the market. Against the big brands. If it didn’t come out cheaper, meaningfully cheaper — it wasn’t worth doing. It was slow, tedious work. I needed to know, before committing, that the numbers work out. That the margins were realistic. That I wasn’t cutting corners just to hit a price point. And that I wasn’t asking people to overpay for something that should be accessible.
That process, more than anything else — shaped how Navy Heart Essential Oils would move forward. Once I narrowed it down, I placed my first real order. It was intentionally small.
Five different essential oils. One hundred bottles of each.
I wanted to see: – Bottle & Seal quality – Label quality – Packaging – Shipping timelines – Customs handling – How everything would work, start to finish. I need to understand the whole process before going any further.
Business Decisions (When you’re new to the country)
Change number 4 – A New Country. New Business legislations ( business structures, licenses, permits, taxation, cosmetic regulations, regulated health products, import regulations, specific rules about product labels, prohibited or restricted ingredients, etc. ) These are again, exact opposite of what you can do in South Africa.
In South Africa, I knew the systems. I knew the rules. Here, I am starting from zero. And I’m not going to sugarcoat it. I’ve been genuinely frustrated by how many regulations and barriers there are for small business owners in Canada. The amount of red tape is overwhelming and at times it feels like starting a business is made unnecessarily difficult.
I come from a place where small businesses are the backbone of everyday life, so navigating a system that feels more discouraging than supportive has been a shock. It’s been exhausting, confusing and at times incredibly discouraging — but it hasn’t stopped me.
The Reality of Regulations in Canada
Selling essential oils in Canada isn’t simple.
Any product marketed with therapeutic or healing claims requires a Natural Health Product (NHP) license. That process involves extensive documentation, product licensing, site licensing, compliance testing and significant upfront costs.
For a small, self-funded startup, this creates a very real barrier to entry. After researching the regulations carefully, then consulted with an expert in the field, I made a strategic and compliant decision to begin under the cosmetic framework.
This means:
– No therapeutic or healing claims
– Clear, accurate labeling
– Responsible, non-medical education
This approach allows me to build the business sustainably, learn and understand the market and establish proper systems before pursuing NHP licensing in the future when cashflow allows.
It’s about building a business responsibly, within the regulations and setting a foundation that can grow.
Who Navy Heart Essential Oils is really for?
Navy Heart Essential Oils isn’t built to make me rich.
It was created to source and supply premium-grade 100% Pure Essential oils, making it more accessible and affordable to the everyday person.
We focus on essential oils for DIY beauty, soap and candle making, and home scenting. Built with transparency and simplicity at its core, Navy Heart supports natural living without inflated prices, making it affordable for everyday households and small businesses.
Why I’m sharing my Navy Heart journey publicly?
Because I could build this quietly. But I don’t want to, I want the world to see true grit and determination. I want to show you every step. The wins, big or small. The mistakes and challenges. The learning curves.
Because starting a business in Canada is not easy. Because motherhood and entrepreneurship don’t come with manuals. Because too many people think they can’t do this!
If I can figure it out — new country, new baby, new system — so can you.
This is just the beginning with Navy Heart Essential Oils
Navy Heart was born from love and passion. For my family, my home and the simple things that make life feel grounded.
This business isn’t about hustle culture. It’s about building something meaningful, slowly, intentionally and most important, honestly.
So if you’re curious… If you’re bored… Or if you’re just tired of high prices…
Follow along.
I’ll show you exactly how I start a business in Canada — one step at a time.
Bonita 🖤
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As I am just starting this blog, I would be very appreciative if you look through my other recipes and share any ideas of what else you would like to see. My Focus is on Healthy Recipes, DIY Essential Oil Infused Self-Care and Natural Based Cleaning Products.