After A Horrific On-The-Job Accident, Ebb & Flow’s Community Steps Up To Help Founder Ty Bramwell

On Sept. 19, Ebb & Flow founder Ty Bramwell sent a vulnerable note to her brand’s email list. It shared the harrowing details of an on-the-job accident 50 days earlier that caused her to be airlifted from Reno to a burn unit ICU at a University of California, Davis hospital 45 minutes away, where she stayed for a month.

“I had just returned from doing a postal drop,” she wrote. “I noticed I had left wax heating in the shop, and after working for 7 hours already that day, I decided I would pour a few dozen more candles and call it a day. I went to grab the gallon of (over)heated wax and the handle of the pouring pitcher instantly snapped off; dripping nearly boiling oil onto my hands, thighs, calves, and feet.”

The note continued, “As I tried to back out of the pool of wax around me I slipped; falling backwards into the pool of hot wax; burning my arms, full back, and butt. The accident also started a fire in the shop; and my partner Adam tended to that, and me … It was then we realized it was time to go to the ER.”

Ultimately, Bramwell’s month-long hospital visit cost approximately $17,000 a day. The airlift alone was around $50,000. After 12 skin grafts and round-the-clock care, she considers herself lucky to have made it. Her business survived, too.

“I am finally feeling able to walk in short spurts and hope to be far enough in my recovery to return to work fully in late October,” wrote Bramwell in the Sept. 19 note. “That being said, we have some help to process our ebbandflow.co retail orders. I am inching back to creating again; if you need anything please order; but also keep in mind we need ample time to prepare orders for the time being.”

Speaking with Beauty Independent last week, Bramwell, who started Ebb & Flow, which sells lotion, body oil, body scrub, hair oil, hair powder, candles and more, in 2018, says, “I’ve been ordered to be on bedrest for six months, but that’s not going to happen.”

That doesn’t mean the accident wasn’t a huge wake-up call for her. “I was doing a lot of production myself when the accident happened, and it’s just not feasible for the next 20 years,” says Bramwell. “So, this really initiated in my soul that I need to get some new systems in place to make this viable.”

Alongside her husband Adam and a new employee, Bramwell is working to expedite orders as the beauty industry heads into the all-important holiday season. “I was literally just going to start planning these epic holiday treats and then this all happened,” she says. “We’re going to just do what we can this season and take care of our people.”

Ebb & Flow’s products were previously sold at Riley Rose. Although Bramwell calls the now-defunct Forever 21-owned retailer a “great contract to have,” she says, “They took a huge risk on all these natural beauty brands, but what they didn’t do is train their employees like they do at Whole Foods or all these other bigger companies to rotate the products and know what happens with natural products. They wanted us to add preservatives to the products, which is part of the reason we got dropped. I refused to do that.”

The refusal wasn’t without consequences, Bramwell acknowledges. She says, “That hurt us I’m sure six figures, but my focus with Ebb & Flow is to create a sustainable brand for my future family and for the seven generations behind me, and you have to make sacrifices for that.”

“I was doing a lot of production myself when the accident happened, and it’s just not feasible for the next 20 years.”

Ebb & Flow’s current stockists include Makers Market, a five-unit retail concept showcasing American craftsmanship. “They order regularly, big orders,” says Bramwell. “They have a very good chunk of our SKUs. It’s been a great company to work with and really establish us on the West Coast as a core independent beauty brand.”

Bramwell feels confident in Ebb & Flow’s role as a small-batch natural and organic products brand, not only in spite of, but because of what she’s been through. “I know I have my ideas and branding that I want to put forth that people will love,” she says. “I’m not as scared as I was because if, I can get through something like this—that easily could have been the end of the brand—[I can get through anything.]”

To fellow entrepreneurs facing a crisis, Bramwell advises them to ask for help from their community. Shortly after her accident, her friend Victoria Sterkin started a GoFundMe campaign that’s drawn roughly $26,900, thanks in part to Ebb & Flow’s customers. The owners of local Reno businesses Blush + Bone and The Waste Less Shop are hosting a silent auction on Oct. 21 to raise funds for Bramwell’s medical bills.

“That’s the beauty of having a lifestyle brand,” says Bramwell. “You give and you give. It’s like your insides are out there for the world to see, but then, when something happens and you need support, there are people that love you. I still can’t express the gratitude that I have deep, deep in my body for the Ebb & Flow community.”

Of course, plenty of challenges remain. Bramwell’s business insurance won’t cover any of her medical bills. She has renter’s insurance for her studio, but it doesn’t address a non-employee’s health crisis. As an owner, Bramwell isn’t considered an employee. In Nevada, she can qualify for state-related coverage, but she says, “There will still be insane deductibles, and they don’t want to pay for my care in California, which is where $1.5 million of the bills is from. So, that’s going to be the fight.”

In the meantime, Bramwell and her husband are tweaking Ebb & Flow’s business. They’re redoing the brand’s studio to make it more efficient and plan to hire another employee to assist with production along with retail and wholesale orders. And they’re moving forward with a rebrand.

 “We’re trying to get out of the brown paper bag aesthetic that wasn’t popular when we started, but has just taken over,” says Bramwell. “The new branding will include more color- and oil-proof labels and will cater to a millennial customer base. I’m not attempting to do the gen Z thing.”

New products are in the pipeline as well, including a makeup-removing, foamy cleanser that she’s been working on for five years. The bottles for it had recently arrived when the accident took place.

While her catastrophic accident obviously wasn’t the best way to inspire professional change, Bramwell says she’s “honestly grateful” for the chance to slow down, reassess and start building her business again. Personally, she adds, “I’m still dealing with my own issues, with looking different and feeling different and having a third of my skin be different.”