Using Passion, Standards And Value To Create A Niche Product With Heart

Necessity is the mother of invention, and Shann Jones is a perfect example. She used goats’ milk and kefir to develop her healing probiotic drinks, soaps and lotions when her family suffered from medical problems – and has developed them into a successful small business, the aptly named Chuckling Goat, which achieved 383% growth in 2013. Jones moved to Wales from California, where she was a radio talkshow host with over a million listeners. “I was the city girl who couldn’t boil an egg,” she recalls with a laugh. “My husband Rich is a harp-maker; he brews his own beer, butchers his own lamb – think Crocodile Dundee with a Welsh accent. Our 25-acre farm looks out over the ocean and it’s very beautiful. It’s not quite the Laura Ashley fantasy with the floppy hat and the copper milk pail that I had when I started out: it was tough, I’d never worked so hard. But Wales entrances me.”