Wedding plan leads Ogle to launch Rhodes-Tec
Coming up with the idea for his business last October, when he started making hand sanitizers for his wedding, Dylan Ogle of Hardin Valley launched Rhodes-Tec, LLC., in December 2020.
Creating a new hand sanitizer that moisturizes and adds essential oils, “I thought of (the hand sanitizers) during the wedding for our wedding guests, but we had so few people that I didn’t get a chance to actually give it to them,” Ogle, 28, recalled about certain details of his marriage to Tiffany Hopkins. “I thought I would continue (to make the hand sanitizers) and sell them … stores need it, hospitals need it. I thought I could help the community.”
After conducting a lot of research and using CDC’s COVID requirements as a starting point, he put his own spin on the product.
“I really wanted the best for it,” Ogle said. “I wanted to make sure it’s natural, and I wanted to be sure it was locally sourced.
“I’m all about local, helping the local people,” he added, noting the alcohol comes from a local chemical company and the oils come from a local essential oil maker.
“People like it,” Ogle said.
As he made more product, he improved upon it.
Ogle said Rhodes-Tec’s hand sanitizers are quick -drying and, while it includes 91 percent isopropyl alcohol, he uses moisturizers.
“It doesn’t dry your hands out,” he added.
Ogle also uses essential oils, so “you don’t get that bad alcohol smell,” he said. “I smell (the product) myself when I make it to make sure (the oils) overcome the smell of the alcohol. I want to make sure the customers happy.”
In coming up with a name for the business, Ogle laughed and said Rhodes-Tech “just popped into my head.”
To purchase the sanitizers, visit Rhodes-Tec LLC Facebook page, which provides quotes, sizes and choices of essential oils. Customers can post on the page.
“They can get multitudes (of essential oils),” he said. Among those are lemongrass, peppermint for winter months, eucalyptus, tea tree, lavender and sweet orange. “Lavender is a popular scent,” he said. “People love lavender.” The bottles range from 32 (1.082 ounces) to 38 milliliters (1.284 ounces).
Meanwhile Ogle, who grew up in Hardin Valley and is a Class of 2012 Hardin Valley Academy graduate, also works for his dad, Mark Ogle, at Hardin Valley Body Shop.
While starting his business has been both stressful and fun, he said, “I just thought I would try to help because of COVID.”
