As the Northwest trades barbecues for umbrellas, Stephanie Jackson is gearing up for her busy season with local small business Hot Sacks.

The Federal Way stay-at-home mom produces therapeutic corn bags that can be heated up or cooled to provide comfort during the cold winter months or aid an injury.

“I sleep with it every night because I’m cold,” Jackson said. “I’m from California, I’m freezing. My husband’s from Minnesota so he’s like, it’s hot in here. It’s 63 degrees in the house, I’m freezing! So, he heats it up every night for me and puts it in my bed and my bed’s warm the entire night.”

But Jackson’s Hot Sacks are for more than preventing arguments about the thermostat.

After starting her business in 2009 with some coaxing from her Minnesotan mother-in-law, Jackson has received emails from people stating how much her product has helped them for pain.

“As corny as it does sound, I get a lot of joy out of it,” she said. “When I do the Hot Sacks shows, people come up and say, ‘Oh my god, you saved my life. I had back surgery and it’s the only thing that made me feel better.’”

Or the lady who was in a car accident and had chronic pain for years but found relief from the heat therapy.

“I feel like I make a product that is valuable to a lot of people,” she said. “It’s not junk, it’s usable. People gain something from it and I love that part.”

Before Jackson was a stay-at-home mom turned small business owner, she worked for eight years at a transportation company doing sales, a lucrative job, she says. But she knew she always wanted to be a stay-at-home mother to her two children and owning her own business afforded her the flexibility of picking up her kids from school in the middle of the day, among other motherly duties.

Since her own mom and mother-in-law pooled together their funds to buy her a sewing machine six years ago, Jackson has secured 15 locations where Hot Sacks are sold.

Federal Way locations include: Marlene’s Market and Deli, Three Trees Yoga, Life and Health Chiropractic, 8th Day Spa, Health Source of Federal Way, Take a Deep Breath Massage, Woo Shin Acupuncture and Natural Wellness Center.

And while her goal is to partner with more businesses such as those so that she can keep her product going throughout the year, she sees the most profit in the winter season during holiday craft shows and private events.

“In the next two-to-three months, I’ll be doing 500 a month but in the slower time, I’ll do 100 a month,” she said, adding that she has several craft shows and bazaars scheduled in the next few weeks.

Jackson’s also sold her product at Starbucks and REI private corporate events, which attract around 4,000 employees in a three-to-four hour time span.

Like many homemade products, making her corn pillows is a process. After she’s bought the cotton fabric, which comes in fun patterns and colors, she cuts and sews the bags. Sizes range from 21-inches by 7-inches (neck sack) and 10-inches by 14-inches (large sack), to 7-inches by 10-inches (small sack) and 9-inches by 3.5-inches (eye pack).

Her husband assists in cleaning the corn in a contraption Jackson calls the “Corn Tumbler 2000.” After he fills the bags with corn, Jackson sews them up and stores them in a room.

Hot Sacks are made with corn instead of rice for a number of reasons, Jackson said, but ultimately it’s because corn holds heat longer, it’s heavier, which allows the heat to penetrate muscles easier and it’s moist heat, which also assists in heat therapy.

Jackson experimented with different fillings but found that rice breaks down in the microwave, leaving a rancid smell and flax seed is too small for holding heat very long. Corn also provided a sweet popcorn smell, which Jackson said is subtle.

She recently bought her first order of aromatherapy sprays that will allow customers to relax by spraying the scent on their Hot Sacks. The sprays are all natural and are marketed for headaches, the immune system, a “sacred space” and lavender.

“I’m just starting my shows this month so I’m excited to see how [the sprays] do,” she said.

In addition to getting more clients in the massage, chiropractic, spa, yoga and rehabilitation industries, Jackson said her next business goal is to create a logo and revamp her website.

To purchase a Hot Sack or learn more about Jackson’s business, visit www.hotsacks.com.