- From living in Australia during the bush fires and helping customers with free masks during the coronavirus, this couple went on a world trip and built a holistic business, named Happyhaves, inspired by their craziest adventures.
Daan and Fay are a special kind of couple, childhood sweethearts. Now 28 and 25, the two of them met when Fay was just 12-years-old, both growing up in The Netherlands. Over a decade later, and their bond is now stronger than ever, connected by their holistic business. They looked to create something beautiful together for the planet, motivated by love and necessity rather than profit and novelty and thus, HappyHaves was born. You won’t believe what they experienced.
In late 2018, Daan and Fay decided to leave everything behind and take a trip around the world, visiting everywhere from Greece, Egypt, and Bali to China, Australia, and the USA. Both grew up with parents who preferred to source health solutions from nature, rather than man-made medication, forging a strong passion in holistic wellness.
Travelling the world opened their eyes to a wide variety of new cultures and teachings, meeting some incredible people along the way. Among these beautiful faces were some of the oldest aromatherapy experts on the planet, some of whom are now loyal and trusted business partners. Born from this trip around the globe, Daan and Fay felt the power of aromatherapy, as well as an inner need to spread holistic happiness and all the associated benefits. After soaking up this new-found knowledge, Daan and Fay decided to bring cultures together for the value of the holistic wellness market, teaming up with some of the leading minds within the sector
Daan and Fay said: ‘It was not easy for us to find raw materials that are made with such good quality at heart, while also being affordable for our customers. There is a lot of misinformation out there and we visited a lot of organic farms.’
However, in December 2019, something tragic happened. While the couple were staying in New South Wales, Australia, bushfires began to surround their house. Their parents urged them to return to the Netherlands immediately, but Daan and Fay were determined to stay and do their part. They refused to run away. Instead, they intended to stand up and take the blame on behalf of humanity.
Fay said: ‘We refused to run from it, as we saw it as our own fault. Humans are to blame for the raging fires on this Earth. We have to face reality, which is why we didn’t leave Australia. We decided to help and set up a crowdfunding scheme in order to donate to the local wildlife.’
Daniel added: ‘I think we, as humans, are 100% responsible for these natural disasters. It is time to act.’
Daan and Fay believe that the biggest difference between Europe and the US is that, ‘In America, most people live to work, while in Europe, most work to live.’ They claim that life within the European continent is more balanced, hence why they would love to give the people of America a chance to relax from their busy lives. Currently, over 80% of HappyHave’s customers come from the US, where they recently opened warehouses in California and Dallas. Daan and Fay’s mission is to allow these customers to take some time for themselves.
Update:
In 2020, the Coronavirus broke out in China and subsequently spread around the world, killing thousands and infecting countless more. The virus is still spreading, with a lot of countries such as Spain, Italy, and the UK in lockdown. Dan and Faye felt the need to do their part to fight the spread of COVID-19 and so invested in a shipment of N95 facemasks, handing them out for free with every online order until supply lasts.
They said: ‘We have to help people in these troubling times and, after hearing that not everyone has access to these masks, we looked to put a stop to that. Thanks to our connections, it was only a matter of time before we had 5000 masks in our US warehouse, ready to help as many people as we could. This is only the beginning.’
