The Nate’s Story
Welcome to our home.
If you drive past high-stalked cornfields through a quiet street canopied by lush green trees, you’ll make your way to a dirt road. Follow that dirt road all the way down. You’ll pass horses on your left and the neighbor’s speckled hound dog on your right. Once you reach the end of the road, a welcoming brown farmhouse will greet you.
Now you’re at our home in McKinney, Texas – a beautiful 12-acre property adorned with a bottling plant, a farmhouse, an apple tree, two donkeys, and the wide Texas sky. Welcome. Let us tell you a little bit about ourselves.
First, Meet Nate.
Nathan Sheets, the founder of Nate’s, received the nickname “Nature Nate” in college because he was a nature lover and outdoorsman.
After graduating from college and owning his own ad agency, Nate began serving in the ministry. He has journeyed on 100+ mission trips all over the world with the goal of helping others. He was also one of the driving forces behind the global “I Am Second” media campaign that highlights stories of hundreds of lives transformed through the grace of Jesus Christ.
Nate purchased his first beehive in 1996. He had just gotten back from his honeymoon with his wife Patty when he began making his own honey. A year later, Nate bought North Dallas Honey Company and began bottling honey from his garage.
In 2010, Nate committed to honey full-time. With just seven employees working out of his house, he developed Nate’s into more than he could have imagined. He started getting his honey out on his own, grassroots style going to Wal-Marts all over the area putting his honey on the shelves himself. He enlisted help from the soon-to-be CFO Brantley Walsh and eventually the head of sales, Mark McGuiness.
Growing to Give.
In the span of seven years, Nate’s has opened manufacturing facilities in Texas and Georgia and a retail store in Florida. It has grown from the original team of seven people to employ more than 100 team members and is quickly growing. Not only has Nate built a business from his garage up, but he has also given back to the community along the way.
At Nate’s, honey is our business but giving is our mission. We place a high priority on giving back to the community, taking care of families, and helping those in need. That is why at Nate’s we like to say that we grow to give and not the other way around.
Under the leadership of Nate, we have turned this mission into a corporate giving program: Honey Gives Hope. We’ve partnered with organizations like National Breast Cancer Foundation, Seed Effect, I Am Second and The Samaritan Inn to try to serve others. As Nathan says, “The Lord has blessed us so we can be a blessing to others.”
Beyond A Honey Company.
We’re not just any corporate business office. In fact, we work out of a farmhouse. Our office is like a home and our company is like family. We’re moms and dads, sons and daughters. And we’re innovators, thinkers, creators and dreamers. Most of all, we’re faith followers and we try to serve God by providing families with the best nourishment possible. We strive to be better people, create change, give back and lead by example. We’re forging a new path and doing it from a place of faith and family. And we’re happy that you’re along this journey with us. Welcome to Nate’s.