What started as a way to make sure that her daughter was healthy turned into a business and a passion for Jayme Danner, one of the owners of 2 Gals and a Goat.

“We started this business because my daughter has an autoimmune disease,” Danner said. “She was seven years old when she got diagnosed with ulcerative colitis and celiac disease. We went to UAB and she stayed in the hospital for months. The doctor told us that her intestines were probably going to have to be taken out by the age of 16 or 17, and the best thing that we could do for her was to make her eat as clean as possible.”

When the doctor mentioned goat milk, Danner’s world was changed completely.

“He said that the goat milk would heal the ulcers,” Danner said. “Needless to say, we started buying goat milk, but it is very expensive, so my husband finally asked why I didn’t just buy a goat, because we were drinking a lot of milk in our household. So, we bought one old goat and a couple of babies.”

One year later, Danner’s daughter no longer needed medication.

“She is 17 years old and to this day she has never had a surgery, no intestines removed and she hardly has any flare ups,” Danner said. “She has not taken medication since she was eight years old.” 

Four years ago, Danner decided to move to Florala and start selling her goats’ products at different markets in the Destin and Niceville area.

“People were very interested in the goats’ products,” Danner said. “Obviously, we had a lot of goat milk and we needed to utilize it in different areas besides drinking. My son has eczema like other people and goat milk is great for people with eczema, celiac patients, lupus patients and kids with Down syndrome. We just have a lot of medical people coming to us for products.”

One day, Danner decided to take one of her baby goats to the elementary school in Paxton. That’s where she met her partner, Dakota Cassady.

“I really started to pray and ask God for somebody to come and help,” Danner said. “One day I brought a goat to the school, because I have to tote everything around, and I met Dakota’s husband, and he said that her daughter actually wanted a goat. So, we swapped numbers and she came over to the house and I just felt the Holy Spirit tell me to ask her to be a partner. It really was a God thing, because he brought me a woman, who is just like me and has just as much, if not more passion for this. Needless to say, she started getting into the goat thing and started working with their milk and all of a sudden it turned into something.”

Cassady said that the business started small, but over the span two years it grew into a store.

“It was really a small business,” Cassady said. “But it has just bloomed and blossomed. We were in our homes, but now we had to open a store because our homes could no longer contain what we grew into.”

She said that people are using the products and it is helping and healing them.

“It is amazing to say that something from goats has turned into people coming up to us and wanting us to help them heal their bodies,” Cassady said. “I mean, just for people to come up and say, ‘I have gone to the dermatologist for years and I’m spending an obscene amount of money on something that is not even working and then I come to y’all and within two weeks I am seeing such a big remarkable difference,’ it makes it worth it.”

The 2 Gals said that they start working before even coming in the store.

“We have 14 milkers right now,” Danner said. “So we have to milk 14 goats before we even get started in the store. We also have 19 goats that we have to bottle feed daily. We both have our own farms, so on top of the goat thing we have chickens, ducks, quail, pigs and produce as well. We have 20 blueberry bushes and Muscadines. So, this is our passion.”

Everything in the store is completely homemade by the 2 Gals, and they said that they have YouTube to thank for the lessons.

“Everything that we make is homemade,” Cassady said. “Absolutely everything is from the farm to the store. This isn’t stuff that we bought and we just come in and package it and that is what sets us apart. We just watched YouTube videos on how to make all of the bars, soaps and lotions, but we don’t just make something without trying it out. Our husbands and kids are the guinea pigs and we can’t thank them enough. I mean with kids who have eczema and an autoimmune disease, if it will work on them, it probably will work on you.”

They both said that the City of Florala has been overwhelmingly supportive of their opening.

“The City of Florala has been so welcoming, so encouraging and supportive,” Danner said. “What we made in Destin on a Saturday, doesn’t even compare to what we made on our opening day in Florala. They blew us out of the water. This is a community that does more than just shop from us. They have had to take our kids home, or say, ‘I know that you’re running late for Sunday school, but your kids are here and I will watch them.’ I mean the community has gone above and beyond for us and always has.”

When it comes to shopping locally, both of the ladies agreed that it is so important, because the customers are their foundation.

“Local people are the people like at Cancer Freeze,” Danner said. “I had a mother come up to me in full fledged tears because she and her nine-year-old daughter have been going to a dermatologist her whole entire life because she was covered head to toe in bumps and she has so many scars because of biopsies. Within two weeks of using our soap and our lotion bar, she is able to wear a swimsuit for the first time in her life this summer. It is our locals that we get to see these success stories and it makes it all worth it.”

Not only is 2 Gals and a Goat a business for these women, but it is a ministry. 

“One thing that we always tell people is that we are very blessed,” Danner said. “This is our ministry and we are able to make money in our ministry. For us, it is another way that we can talk about the Lord.”

2 Gals and a Goat is located at 1112 5th Street in Florala and is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m., until 5 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m., until 5 p.m.

They offer several different products including soaps, lotions, facials, scrubs, body butter and gift baskets.

For price ranges and products availability, visit 2galsandagoat.com.

They also offer soap classes for anyone who is looking to start making their own soap.

For more information, call 850-305-4313.