Nicole Yohnson and Kara Prevost originally began Southern Scents and Specialties eight months ago to fundraise for the K9 unit their dogs are a part of. The two have since split, but the business is still going strong and currently run by Yohnson.
“She left the team because of personal reasons. She’s doing her own thing.” Yohnson said. “ She was on the K-9 team with me when her business took off in her own way and mine kind of took off in another.”
Yohnson made the business an LLC and continues to use a dollar from each sale of her homemade products to help fund the K-9 unit.
“We’re not county funded,” she said. “People absolutely donate, we do it on my website or the team website. We’re always looking for donations.”
The training and care for the dogs on the squad is a family project.
“My husband Tom and I actually cofounded the team three years ago, and we didn’t want county funding. We wanted to do it on our own. All the team members help out as much as possible,” Yohnson said.
“The funding goes toward education, supplies and equipment for the dogs, all personal pets of the team members,” said Yohnson. “It’s amazing all the support we get from other team members.”
The team’s headquarters is located in the Yohnson’s home and the team is willing to take in dogs of people who are looking to ‘get rid’ of their pets, or puppies looking to be trained. Granted, the dog must qualify with the type of breed capable of maintaining the energy of a K9 member. The team doesn’t allow pit bulls or any type of aggressive breed.
They got their dog Patton, 2 years old, a little over a year ago. They adopted him from Prevost. Patton and and Diesel, 8 years old, are both the faces of the K-9 unit.
“The dogs on the team are like a pack and Diesel looks over them, it’s great to see” Yohnson said.
The K-9 unit is active in missing person cases, most recently assisting in finding a missing boy in Clayton.
“The most rewarding part of all this is finding someone on a search, and seeing them on the news,” Yohnson gushed.
At the shop, the candles are all hand-poured, 100 percent soy candles, and burn cleanly. They’re “green” and available online for purchase.
“With soy you can reuse the jars,” Yohnson said. “All the jars I have [for the candles] you can reuse, the soy is so nice to use.”
Yohnson can produce similar scents to those of mainstream candles, in addition to creating candle scents by request. Her most unique request: vomit for a 21st birthday party.
She creates different scents for the dogs as well, each with a unique scent for the dog containing a biography of the dog and are sold for $10 each. The money from those candles goes directly to the team.
Recently, Yohnson added Hillbilly Stemware, red cups and mason jars wine glass-like stems, to her product line.
“We’re very country and southern like, and I saw [similar stemware] online and thought ‘I can totally do that’ and I started marketing them and they’ve been selling like hotcakes,” she said.
Both products are reusable and the proceeds support the K-9 squad.
“It’s great for parties and gifts, people get them for backyard barbeques,” she said.
Southern Scents and Specialties’ products can be purchased at local businesses including the Shamong Diner, Buzby’s in Chatsworth, Qwik Ship and Pack in Medford and the Grooming Spot in Southampton Township.
For more information or to order products, visit SouthernScentsSpecialties-com.webs.com or the Burlington County K-9 Search and Rescue page at burlcok9sar.org.
