Exhilarating by Nature: Elka and the Conscious Craft Behind 34.4º

Finding Purpose in the Unexpected

When Elka first took up beekeeping, she had no plans to start a skincare brand. A lifelong creative and self-employed entrepreneur, she had already built a successful handmade greetings card company, supplying major names like Liberty and Harrods. But volunteering at an apiary in London revealed something that changed her direction completely.

Watching piles of beeswax and old frames discarded each year, she felt a quiet outrage that soon turned into inspiration. She began experimenting, learning to clean and reuse the wax, and blending it into balms at home to soothe her own lifelong skin issues.

What started as a simple act of curiosity evolved into 34.4º: a skincare brand born from sustainability and a deep respect for the natural world.

“It wasn’t intentional,” Elka says. “34.4º started as an organic evolution.”

Today, the company is known for its circular approach and purpose-driven model, where every ingredient, jar, and decision serves both people and the planet.

Rooted in Nature, Inspired by Legacy

Elka’s connection to nature began long before her first beehive. As a child, her grandmother nurtured that bond, teaching her to walk barefoot in the grass and feel the dew on her feet. That early exposure shaped her view of business and creativity as an act of stewardship, rather than consumption.

Her life’s work has always been guided by that philosophy. From her early craft ventures to her current company, Elka’s mission has remained constant: make things that feel good, do good, and last.

“My grandmother was a very nature-connected person,” she says. “If you connect children to nature, they’ll never forget it.”

That ethos became the soul of 34.4º, a brand where simplicity, sustainability, and sincerity intersect.

The Weight of Purpose

Running a purpose-led business can be both grounding and gruelling. For Elka, leading 34.4º as a Community Interest Company (CIC) means constantly balancing heart with hard reality. The business exists to do good, but that mission also shapes every challenge she faces.

Behind the brand’s clean jars and calm messaging is a small team of volunteers who keep the operation alive. Around a dozen people contribute their time and skills, yet much of the daily responsibility still sits squarely with Elka. She describes the experience as both empowering and exhausting, a constant reminder that passion alone can’t pay for growth.

“The hardest part,” she says quietly, “is that the main person is me.”

That honesty captures the double edge of purpose. Being a CIC attracts goodwill and generosity, people who share the mission and want to help, but it also limits access to traditional funding. Investors tend to look elsewhere, uninterested in models that reinvest half their profits into environmental and community causes. For Elka, that trade-off is worth it. Her business may not have deep pockets, but it has deep conviction.

What keeps 34.4º going isn’t capital, it’s commitment. Every volunteer, every customer, every small act of faith adds up to something much larger: proof that business can be built on values as much as numbers.

People at the Heart

34.4º is sustained by its people. After years of running on determination and shared belief, Elka has come to see human connection as the true engine of her business. 

Around her is a close-knit community of volunteers, supporters, and customers who believe in what 34.4º stands for. Some give their time, others their loyalty, but all share in the mission to make conscious consumerism tangible. Elka often describes the experience as deeply reciprocal, a circle of giving, learning, and growth that keeps the business alive even when resources are scarce.

“It’s people all the way,” she says simply.

Beyond her own circle, Elka ensures the brand uplifts others globally. 34.4º sources natural oils from small suppliers in developing regions, supporting local economies while championing ethical production. The brand also donates 3.44% of every sale to the Natural Beekeeping Trust, which advocates for bee conservation and ecological restoration, not honey production.

To Elka, that partnership is symbolic: true sustainability means giving back, not taking more.

Building a Circular Future

Few companies embody circularity as completely as 34.4º. Every glass jar that returns to the workshop is inspected, cleaned, relabelled, and reused. It’s time-consuming, but it’s a deliberate choice to minimise waste.

Over time, Elka and her team have re-educated customers to clean and return their jars responsibly, creating a loyal community of environmentally conscious consumers.

“We genuinely reuse every bit of perfect glassware that’s sent back to us,” she says proudly.

The brand also avoids plastic packaging, uses biodegradable tape, and even repurposes discarded cardboard from local recycling bins. In its entire trading history, 34.4º has never bought new packaging. In an industry built on mass production and disposability, 34.4º’s circular model is a quiet act of defiance, and one that proves sustainability is possible with persistence.

Carving Her Own Path

Running a small, values-led brand in the beauty industry means doing things differently, and often, doing them alone. For Elka, the path hasn’t always been easy, but it’s one she’s shaped entirely on her own terms.

“I completely carved my own path,” she says. “I feel utterly alone apart from the people around me.”

While women’s business networks exist, Elka has found they often don’t suit her niche. Networking events, she admits, tend to encourage comparison rather than creativity, so she’s learned to trust her instincts rather than follow the crowd.

Instead, she focuses on authenticity. When people truly understand what 34.4º stands for, they champion it, recommending it to friends, sharing its story, and making the switch themselves.

That trust also underpins one of Elka’s biggest priorities: education. She’s passionate about teaching people to read skincare labels, understand ingredients, and question what they buy. In her words, conscious consumerism starts with awareness.

Simplicity as a Revolution

In an industry obsessed with trends and excess, 34.4º’s philosophy is deliberately pared back. 

She believes that good skincare shouldn’t be complicated or crowded with products people don’t need. Instead, it should support the skin’s natural balance with minimal, purposeful ingredients. 

“You don’t need a 12-step skincare routine,” she says. “Cleanse, moisturise, and moisturise with oils. That’s it.”

To Elka, this minimalism is as much practical as it is moral. It resists the culture of excess, and reminds customers that small, mindful choices add up to meaningful change. Her next step is launching a podcast to share that message further, blending education with empowerment to help people reconnect with what truly matters.

What Needs to Change

When it comes to barriers facing women entrepreneurs, Elka’s answer is immediate: funding. 

Too often, support for founders comes in short bursts: small grants, competitions, or short-term mentoring programmes that expire before a business has time to grow. For purpose-led companies like 34.4º, that model simply doesn’t work. Building something sustainable takes time, not quick wins.

“We need proper money and proper mentoring long term,” she says.

Elka also calls on larger corporations to play a more active role in mentoring social enterprises like hers, not through token programmes, but through consistent, skilled support that offers practical expertise. Her vision of progress is one of shared responsibility and genuine investment in the next generation of founders.

Lessons in Adaptation

Adaptability has been central to Elka’s journey. When she first launched 34.4º in 2016, she imagined running a fully online business. Within weeks, she realised she needed to get out from behind the screen; connecting face-to-face with customers was the only way to grow awareness and trust.

That early lesson shaped her entire approach to business. Plans, she’s learned, are only as strong as your willingness to change them.

“If it doesn’t work, adapt and change,” she says. “Adaptation is key to everything, don’t get stuck.”

Her advice for new founders is simple: be patient, stay flexible, and don’t assume success will happen overnight. She’s open about the practical side too, encouraging entrepreneurs not to give up their day jobs too soon. Building something meaningful takes time, and financial stability allows for better decisions along the way.

A New Kind of Economy

For Elka, 34.4º is part of a movement towards a more conscious way of doing business. As a Community Interest Company, 34.4º reinvests half its future profits into social and environmental causes, proving that enterprise and ethics can thrive side by side.

She often describes this model as a new kind of economy, one that values impact over scale, people over profit. It’s an approach built on fairness, transparency, and the belief that giving back should be the rule, not the exception.

“We are the Robin Hoods of business,” she says. “Give your money to us, we’ll use 50% to run it, and 50% of it will be given away.”

Elka believes this kind of responsible entrepreneurship is the future. Around the world, small, purpose-led businesses are reimagining what success looks like, building models based on sustainability and shared value. But for this shift to last, she argues, consumers have to play their part.

“Think about where your money is going,” she says.

For her, every purchase is an act of influence, a vote for the kind of world we want to build.

Defining the Journey

After eight years, countless challenges, and unwavering belief, Elka describes her journey as exhilarating, a word that captures the constant motion and discovery of entrepreneurship.

“Every day is new, every day is different, every person you meet brings something to you,” she reflects. “Every experience is exceptional.”

It’s a sentiment that perfectly encapsulates her work: a blend of craft, care, and courage, where progress is measured not in profit margins but in purpose fulfilled.

The Takeaway

Elka’s story is a reminder that meaningful business isn’t built overnight. It grows through persistence, purpose, and an unwavering belief in doing things differently.
In a world that often rewards speed, 34.4º stands for something slower, smaller, and infinitely more sustainable.

As Elka puts it best:

“34.4º, it just makes sense.”

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Explore 34.4º’s organic product line here!

Explore another company run by Elka, ZEPHYR, which is devoted to essential oils and nebulisers.

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