Meet Michael & Kristin Horton | Owners of OCN+ECO & ManaKayu

We had the good fortune of connecting with Michael & Kristin Horton and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Michael & Kristin, what matters most to you?
Our business is built on honesty and transparency. Having pride in our products, and staying true to our story and our customers are important to us. We value building relationships, not only with our customers, but also with the communities and small businesses we work with and support.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Before OCN ECO, I (Kristin) was a teacher. I am a lover of languages, culture, and history so I travelled for both work and pleasure. I am proud of having established ties with the places I’ve been where I made efforts in immersing myself in their culture and learning as much of it as I could.

I (Mike) am a San Diego native who relocated to the Central Coast after high school to study winemaking. I spent many years traveling and working throughout California, New Zealand, and Australia before landing in Bali full-time where I helped establish an apple cider factory.

We have both always been practical people and respectful of the environment. In our own little ways, we try to help not propagate the abuse — from having a simple lifestyle to the products we choose to how we reuse or recycle things. Living in Indonesia definitely encouraged us to continue living simply and practically. Witnessing how the rural communities gradually moved from a lifestyle of disregard to having more care for the environment through their waste disposal to recycling programs greatly inspired us to produce eco-friendly and sustainable products that we believe people should know about while showcasing the craftsmanship and talent of the people.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We chose to move to Oceanside in part because we love its authenticity. It has that classic California beach community feel. We’d definitely be spending plenty of time in and around the water: surfing, riding bikes down the Strand, fishing or whale-watching, and drinks at the Harbor. Morning beach time would be followed by brunch at the historic diner 101 Cafe on Coast Highway and maybe some beer tasting at Belching Beaver, Kilowatt, or Stone. Thursday is market day here, which means visiting the morning Farmer’s Market for fresh produce and eats, then shopping for unique items at the Sunset Market, both offering great food and crafts from the local community.

Another reason we love Oceanside is its proximity to other great places. For our friends with kids, Legoland is only 15 minutes from our house! Our family also loves train rides so we’d probably hop on the Coaster and follow the coast south to visit downtown San Diego. Then, a day would be dedicated to wine tasting since there are several nice wineries a stone’s throw away in Fallbrook, and Temecula Wine Region is a short 40-minute drive away.

There are really too many things to do that it would really depend on what the person wants to accomplish.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
We first met each other while living and working in Indonesia over a decade ago. Watching the local communities’ transformation from not being ecologically conscious to making concerted efforts towards sustainable-living and with more care for the environment was a driving factor behind our business.

Website: https://ocneco.co

Instagram: @ocneco.co

Facebook: @ocneco.co

Other: website: https://manakayu.com Ig: @manakayu.interiors fb: Manakayu

Image Credits
All photos are ours.