As a kid, I remember watching alligator gar swim below as my family and I would canoe down the Illinois river. I remember biting into a bison burger on a summer evening with my dad as we'd make our routine stop at the Cherokee Trading Post off I-40.

I have a lot of amazing memories growing up in Oklahoma. And as I traveled throughout my twenties, I realized more and more how special this place, and places like it, truly are.

When you're clambering to get the same photo of a scenic vista or historical building, you realize how insignificant your experience is as you are one-in-a-thousand that day alone taking in the same thing.

That realization and those memories are the gasoline in Tallgrass's tank. Leading up to 2020, I knew I wanted to build a brand to represent those memories. Candles became a unique spin playing off of one of the senses we most often tie in with nostalgia: smell.

As I began pouring my first batch, my hopes were to maybe sell at a few local markets and in a few Oklahoma shops. But what I quickly found was the idea behind it, that Flyover Country deserves a spotlight, resonated with people around the globe.

Thanks to songs about red dirt roads and muddy creek water, Tallgrass is able to add another layer of senses to those stories that so many have already heard.

My hope is as the platform grows, more of a spotlight can be shared on the incredible people and places around my neck of the woods. And maybe, just maybe, a few more people will opt to not just pass on through. Maybe they'll take a minute to stop and see what we've grown to love about places like this.