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September 21, 2026
LITTLE CHUTE – What started as a side hustle, Marie Schmid – a registered nurse, certified herbalist and nutritional practitioner – said, has evolved into the Fox Cities’ newest natural goods store, Tallow & Tea.
“I truly thought it would just be a little side income – and then it took off,” she said.
Located at 114 E. Main St., Schmid said the origins of her business were rooted almost 10 years ago, long before she dreamed of starting Tallow & Tea.
“When I was pregnant with my daughter, who will be 10 this December, I started making what is still one of our most-loved products today: our magnesium butter,” she said. “I originally made it for myself for the muscle cramps I was experiencing during pregnancy.”
Schmid said the product has remained tried-and-true to its original recipe, and has also served as a starting point for other products as she continued to explore natural goods.
“I started paying much more attention to what we were using in our home and putting on our skin,” she said. “As an ER nurse and a mom of four very curious kids, I witnessed firsthand how easily children can get into everyday household products. I wanted to begin by making our household safer.”
At first, Schmid said she fell “down the rabbit hole” – thinking she needed to “change everything at once.”
“It was completely overwhelming,” she said. “Eventually, I learned to slow down and take it one product at a time – use what we already had, learn about the ingredients and make a better choice the next time. That philosophy is still a huge part of Tallow & Tea today.”
Though she continued to make and share safe household products for her family and friends, Schmid said the real inspiration to launch her business came from the loss of the family dog and the adoption of a rescue.
“We lost our beloved dog, Copper, in the spring of 2024,” she said. “Shortly afterward, we adopted Gramps, a senior rescue with medical needs. It truly felt like he came into my life when I needed him, and I came into his when he needed me. I wanted to find a way to financially give back to the rescues doing this incredible work without taking additional money away from our household.”
At the same time, Schmid said her friends and family continued to ask her for refills of their favorite products.
“So, right before Christmas in 2024, I thought, ‘Why don’t I just make a little extra, put some labels on it and see what happens?’” she said.
What happened, Schmid said, was the slow growth of her product line and customer base until Tallow & Tea simply came to life.
“Tallow & Tea wasn’t an idea I sat down one day and created on paper,” she said. “It evolved over almost a decade of motherhood, nursing, owning another small business, my own health journey, losing and loving some very special dogs and slowly making changes within our own family. What started at my kitchen counter has turned into something I now get to share with other people.”
Turning point
No stranger to entrepreneurship, Schmid said she previously founded an IV-infusion business, Live Wellness IV.
“I was also running Live Wellness IV while continuing to work as a registered nurse,” she said. “So, I already had that entrepreneurial drive and knew I loved building something of my own. But over time, the IV business became increasingly difficult to sustain, and I could feel myself pulling away from it. It just didn’t feel like where I was supposed to keep putting my energy.”
Schmid said she kept coming back to her own health and wellness journey while blending traditional, preventive and functional approaches to health.
“I will always say there is absolutely a place for modern medicine,” she said. “I’m a nurse; I believe in modern medicine. What excites me is seeing those two worlds beginning to come together instead of feeling like we have to choose one or the other. Meanwhile, this little side business felt completely different.”
The process of making her products, learning from mishaps and creating and sharing new things with people, Schmid said, is what she enjoys the most.
Upon that realization, she said she “decided to step away from the IV business” and pursue Tallow & Tea – opening her storefront Sept. 8.
“Earlier this year, I finally looked at my husband and said, ‘You know what, if I’m going to do this, I’m going to do it [and] I’m going to open a store,’” she said. “So, that’s what we did. We intentionally gave ourselves the summer to slowly remodel, build inventory and create the space while raising four kids and juggling all of their schedules. And now we’re here.”
Schmid said her interest in naturally made products “really started” after becoming a mom.
“Before having kids, I honestly didn’t think that deeply about the ingredients in the products we used every day,” she said. “My nursing career played a role in that, too. Working in the ER, I treated kids who would come in after getting into household cleaners or other products, and before I had children of my own, I’d sometimes wonder, ‘How does that even happen?’”
After having her own children, Schmid said she very quickly understood how, and began looking at products before bringing them into their home.
“Then, I started making some of these simpler products myself and realized they worked,” she said. “Sometimes I could make a product with just a handful of ingredients that worked better for our family than something I was spending $50-80 on. It was simpler, often less expensive, created less waste and I knew exactly what I was using.”
Though at one point she considered pursuing an advanced degree, Schmid said it never seemed like the right path – giving way to her curiosity in functional health.
“I had tried going back to school to become a nurse practitioner a couple of times, but something about that path never completely clicked for me,” she said. “A few years ago, I started learning much more about preventive and functional approaches to health and looking at root causes. Seeing how much some of those changes helped me personally made me want to keep learning, and that’s really when this became a passion rather than just an interest.”
Schmid said there are top-selling skin products in the store she expects to be ongoing personal and customer favorites, like magnesium butter, whipped tallow and her Glow & Nourish serum.
However, she said her product line is ever expanding, most recently to include teas – including her favorite blend, Calm & Restore, and a highly requested seasonal allergy blend.
Learn, experience, connect
Schmid said having four children – three daughters and one son – has not only had a great personal impact on her, but a professional one on her business, too.
“I know how hard it can be growing up as a girl and constantly feeling like there’s something about yourself that needs to be changed or fixed,” she said. “I want my girls to grow up genuinely loving who they are and feeling confident in the way they were made. And I’ve realized that if I want that for them, I have to model it.”
Her rejection of perfectionist culture, Schmid said, is evident throughout her life and her operation of Tallow & Tea.
“I just want my girls to understand that those things can be something you choose because you enjoy them, not something you need to be enough,” she said. “I haven’t always lived this way, [though], and I’m still learning and making changes myself.”
Because she still currently works in urgent care, Schmid said her eventual goal “is for Tallow & Tea to become [her] primary focus, while still keeping a foot in nursing.”
“I love being a nurse, and I don’t see myself completely walking away from that part of who I am,” she said. “I’ve also continued my education outside of traditional nursing. I have additional training in perimenopause and menopause wellness, family herbalism and I’m a nutritional therapy practitioner. I consider myself a lifelong learner.”
Though she’s “technically the sole owner of Tallow & Tea,” Schmid said she considers her business to be a space for other passionate entrepreneurs and local creators.
“Tallow & Tea has been built with a whole lot of helping hands and people cheering me on behind the scenes,” she said. “I never wanted Tallow & Tea to be all about me or only about the things I make. There are incredibly talented people right here in our community with whom I want to share this space.”
Because her “nursing side” will most likely “never go away,” Schmid said she’s looking forward to serving as an educational resource for healthy, natural living.
“I love educating people, and I want education to be a huge part of what we do here,” she said. “Of course, I’m not here to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease. What I can do is help people learn about traditional uses of herbs, simpler ingredients, lower-waste options and different ways we can support our bodies and homes in a way that is not overwhelming.”
Her excitement for the launch of Tallow & Tea and its future, Schmid said, is palpable among her and her community – with plans already in the works for product refill service and events.
“I have so many ideas for the future of Tallow & Tea, but ultimately, I don’t ever want this to be just a store where I put products on a shelf and send people on their way,” she said. “I want it to be a place to shop, but also a place to learn, experience new things, connect with people and feel part of the community.”
Visit tallowandtea.org for more.
