Family time is Cassidy and Price’s favorite thing to do. Pictured with their sons, Jack and Declan, the Lavender family looks forward to the birth of Baby Lavender who is due this month. (Photo by Anita Peek Photography)

*Co-owners, sisters in Christ and the best of friends, Jordan and Cassidy celebrate their success after launching Lavender Thorne.*

Just as lavender is a fast-growing plant, new business Lavender Thorne has proliferated throughout Texarkana and beyond since its inception last July. Owned and operated by a pair of friends, the homegrown company, which sells herbal products for body and home, is nourished by the founders’ Christian culture.

Cassidy Lavender and Jordan Thornton met in 2019 at Vessel Church, where they both attended Bible study. They quickly became friends, bonding over their similar life stages (married with young children at home) and a primary shared interest—using essential oils and other non-synthetic ingredients to create “natural remedies” for a variety of ailments.

“Cassidy had turned to natural remedies and lifestyle changes after experiencing multiple miscarriages and hardships in her personal life,” Jordan said of her friend.

Cassidy’s mother, who died in 2012, had been health conscious and into alternative medicine; in today’s terms, she would likely be described as “crunchy” or “granola.” “She planted a seed in me,” Cassidy said. “When I met Jordan, she helped water the seeds that were planted years ago.”

Jordan turned to herbalism when, after giving birth to her eldest of five children, she discovered a lump in her breast. Though the lump was benign, she started replacing her hygiene products (deodorant, creams, lotions) with homemade alternatives. She also started making, taking, and distributing elderberry syrup, a substance believed to boost immunity.

In July 2019, the two women partnered to launch Lavender Thorne. Through the business, they sell haircare and skincare products, home cleaning products, “wellness rollers,” and dietary supplements. Their first customers were retailers buying wholesale. “To this day, we still have our first ‘wholesalers,’ Southern Lace and Grace Baby Boutique, MerchantHouse, and Luna Boutique,” Cassidy said.

“We both have very different personalities, so becoming partners hasn’t always been easy for us,” said Jordan. “During our first few months, having all the stress of a new business and facing all the attacks thrown at us took a lot of prayers and digging down deep for us to keep pushing on. Once we realized where both of our hearts were coming from and learned how to communicate with each other, things got much easier. We look back now and laugh at how we butted heads, but we can both agree we are more like sisters than friends.”

Cassidy and Jordan understand their business as a Christian ministry. “Our heart behind our business is to bring quality products to families that are clean, safe, and effective,” Cassidy said. “We also wanted, no matter where our business went, to somehow bring the word of God into homes, businesses, and families that may never see it or hear it, or just to give someone hope in a dark place. We always had confidence that God would use these products in whatever way he needed, and we would just be a vessel for him.”

*Jordan and Jeremy enjoy being outside together as a family with their kiddos, Noah, Sunny, Emmett, Maggie and Cylas. (Photo by Anita Peek Photography)*

Many of the Lavender Thorne products have names that invoke Christianity. Their hand sanitizer is called “Clean Hands, Pure Heart.” Their essential oil roller “Be Fruitful and Multiply” (a reference to Genesis) is touted as a “hormone balancer” that boasts “highest potency on the market” for women trying to conceive. The “Healed by the Blood” roller is said to boost immunity, while the “Be Still” (referencing Psalm 46: “Be still, and know that I am God”) roller is sold as nausea and motion sickness relief.

Other names, however, are nods not to the Bible but to youth culture: the “So Fresh, So Clean” bundle contains bath products, and the “Treat Yo’Self” bundle contains face products. The baby line, meanwhile, is branded for the “southern baby.”

The young, fun, southern, all-natural, Jesus-loving brand of Lavender Thorne draws in many customers—mostly women—throughout the Ark-La-Tex. But it’s not just the aesthetic that creates repeat customers; Lavender Thorne devotees are ardent believers in the efficacy of their products. Customer testimonies (referred to on the website as “praise stories” and “The Good News”) feature claims of disappearing skin conditions, quickened conception, cured head colds, and more.

Along with employees Brittin Patton and Amanda Huggins, as well as occasional workers and community partners, Cassidy and Jordan continue to pursue Lavender Thorne as “a ministry on top of a place to have all of your natural needs met.” Staying rooted in their faith, they intend to continue branching throughout the community as a leading purveyor of holy waters.

*Lavender Thorne products on display at wholesaler, MerchantHouse. (Photo by Kendal Thompson)*

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