Society & Culture
Not everyone dreams of being a farmer when they grow up but Sarah Bellos has combined her knowledge of farming with entrepreneurship to found the company Stony Creek Colors, based in Nashville, TN—a company that produces US grown natural colorants that are a cleaner and safer replacement for synthetic dyes used in the textile and fashion industry.Using knowledge, skills and connections from 9 years’ experience in the textile and dye industry, Sarah developed Stony Creek Colors to help lead the sustainable transformation of the textile dye industry. Drawing from her background as a farmer and sustainable agriculture advocate, Sarah and her team have created an innovative, small farmer-based supply chain for natural dyes that meeting the technical and volume requirements of major fashion brands. Prior to launching Stony Creek Colors, Sarah operated Artisan Natural Dyeworks, a textile dye house focused on garment and piece dyeing for independent fashion designers seeking plant-based dyes at a commercial scale. She has been a leader in research efforts to bring bio-based colorant production to farmers in the Southeastern U.S., including through a Value-Added Producers Grant (VAPG) and a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant. Sarah is a participant in Tennessee's NextFarm Ag Accelerator and she is a Senior Fellow in the Environmental Leadership Program, Wild Gift, and the PERC Enviropreneur Institute. Sarah lives on a small farm in Whites Creek, Tennessee and graduated cum laude from the College of Agriculture at Cornell University.Tune in to all SRO Conversations at www.summerrayne.net/podcast. Follow @sroakes and Stony Creek Colors @southerhues.