Meet the Creators of Sage & Oak.

Hey there! First of all, we’re going to start off by saying thank you for reading our blog! This is our very first blog ever so it’s kind of a big deal that you’re here. It only makes sense that we tell you more about ourselves before we got into the good stuff...

If you don’t know who we are yet, allow us to introduce ourselves! We are Sage & Oak., which you probably knew that already since you’re here... We are (currently) an online handmade goods shop in Springfield, Ohio. Our dream is to open up a coffee shop that sells plants and our handmade goods, but for now, we’re focusing on getting our products into physical locations. 

Since you’re on our website, you can see what we sell, but we’ll tell ya anyway in case you haven’t looked yet. We currently make clay products like trinket dishes and earrings, home decor, jewelry, keychains, magnets, planter accessories, stickers, and other cool new products to come! We’re incredibly busy as all the products we make, we make by hand and that can take a long time. A lot of hard work and time gets put into our small business to deliver so many different types of products but it’s what makes us happy, so what can we do?

Now that you know about our small business and what we do, you should probably learn about the actual humans behind it. Sage & Oak. is solely ran by Taylor Huggins and Joshua Freshour. Below you can find little bios written by us. 

About Taylor

This is Taylor.

Hi, I’m Taylor and I am the mother of an (almost) seven-year-old, Landon. I’ve been a freelance graphic designer for Taylor Huggins Media for many years now where I mostly create logos for small businesses, musicians, and other people in need. Designing is my favorite thing to do, but it hasn’t always been. I actually wanted to be a photographer for most of my life. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy it, I just moved on to design mostly after being forced to take product shots for Sage & Oak. I went to school for IT (computers and stuff; mainly design and photography) and right after graduating high school, I went to college and obtained my photography certification.

Before the pandemic started, I was a preschool teacher for three and four-year-olds, but then the world began to shut down and I lost my job. Thankfully, we had already begun to start planning our small business because it could have been much worse for us. Now I’m basically Landon’s teacher since we’re homeschooling this year. (We’re not discrediting his teacher at all - she’s great. We love her). This means that my time is limited because Landon could use all the help he can get during the day. It sure made things hard, but I enjoy spending the extra time with him.

This is Jolyne.

Now for the more fun stuff... I absolutely love plants. I don’t know how many I have, but our house is literally a jungle. Anywhere you walk, you have to be careful not to walk into one of our “green children” as grandma says. When I’m not teaching or doing business “stuff,” I enjoy drawing on my iPad, organizing the house, dancing to Paramore/Hayley Williams, and drinking chai lattes. Oh, and I can’t forget to add that you can probably find me snuggling my cats in bed if I’m not doing business work. My cats are my best friends; One more so than the other as Jolyne doesn’t eat my plants.

This is Lydia.

Before the pandemic started, Josh and I started working on making handmade products, and fast forward to now, we didn’t expect to be where we are today. We’ve had a lot of time to sit back and focus on making new products and learning about what it takes to run a small business. We’re so thankful for all the support we’ve gotten since we started Sage & Oak. Thank you. 

About Josh

Hello, my name is Josh. Technically Joshua but that doesn’t really matter. I have two daughters, Swayzie who is (currently) 6, and Taylen who is (currently) 4. I run Sage & Oak. with my sweetheart, Taylor.

By trade, I have been a barista for many years. (Currently at Winans here in Springfield, formerly at The Coffee Pot in my hometown of Greenville, OH.) After high school and before having kids, I spent most of my free time playing various instruments in various bands. (What do they say about starving artists? They’re starving because their art sucks.) There is a lot more that goes into being in a band than just making music, and while I took it very seriously, I knew someday I would have children and have to give it up.

This is Josh.

You’d think I would have learned my lesson trying to make a living off of playing music for so many years, but after having kids and being given the opportunity to do so, I began doing stand up comedy. Making people laugh has always been one of my favorite things to do. I remember in elementary school, I would be so nervous and self-conscious to do any type of class presentation. I don’t remember if someone taught me this or if I saw it on TV, but the concept of “If they’re laughing with you, they won’t be laughing at you” has been something that’s always stuck with me. I’m still nervous anytime I have to talk to anyone ever, but I’ve come to truly enjoy seeing people smile and laugh, and that makes the awkwardness of having conversations worth it. I love writing, and while I’ll probably never have a career as a stand-up comedian, it gives me an excuse to write.

Running Sage & Oak. with Taylor has been an amazing experience. I am so thankful for everyone who has bought something from us and I am excited to see what the future holds for us!

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In our free time together (haha, free-time?!), we really like to take hikes with our children. Thankfully, they’re always up for the adventure. It also gets us out of the house so we don’t have to hear them running around and stomping downstairs. Parents, we’re sure you understand. We also really like to play board and card games like Phase Ten and Trash Panda. (You should check our Trash Panda. It’s pretty fun. No, this is not a sponsored ad.) At night, we love to snack on things in bed and watch something on tv. We’re currently finishing up Shameless if you were wondering. Also if you have any recommendations for small vacuums to clean up the bed crumbs, we may know someone who is in the market for one of those currently... 

Both of us are very kind and caring people who love being creative and using our talents to make unique products together. We work well together as a team because one of us is more creative while the other is handier. Put us together and we’re basically unstoppable. 

Thanks for taking the time to learn about creators at Sage & Oak. Feel free to stop by one of our social media accounts to say hello and introduce yourself! We’re always looking for new friends.

Also as a special thank you for reading this blog, take 10% off your next order with promo code: “BLOG10”!

Happy shopping!