3 of Your Questions Answered

February 24, 2022

3 of Your Questions Answered

Click here for the video response on IG!

What do you wish you had focused on more in the beginning of your journey?
Healing is ultimately about the relationship we have with ourselves. I focused on myself in the beginning of my journey, not on an outcome to be an herbalist, business owner or healer. The desire to work professionally in this work came later after I had worked on myself, improved my own health, changed my lifestyle, defined my spirituality, made herbs a part of my daily life and figured how to be more centered, strong, and grounded. Then I realized how much I really loved this work, the transformation people can have with plant medicine and I felt the pull to create, offer it and have this medicine come through me to other people who need it.

What would you have done differently when starting your brand? I think that’s a tough question because life is the best teacher. If I change anything from the beginning, I wouldn’t be here today. People offered so much advice to us when we started out, some of it we took, some of it we didn’t, some of it was planted like seeds that germinated at the right time. We can only follow someone’s guidance to a point because the decisions you make need to feel right to you in the moment and where you are on your journey. People offer their advice from their point of understanding, integration, and embodiment of their lessons. While we don’t need to go through every single hurdle, we definitely need to have teachers, there are just some things that we only learn and come to know through experience. Trust and have faith that even though it’s not a straight path, you’ll land exactly where you need and at your perfect time.

What preparations from your past do you feel set you apart today?
I love this question. I think everyone’s educational path sets them up for success and prepares them for the journey ahead. You can’t take a wrong turn. I studied music and arts administration of all things and then worked in marketing and communications. It took me a while to understand the value of my background, to appreciate it, and not feel like I had wasted time or money. Music instilled in me a love for discipline and the importance of understanding the basics.

For example, jazz musicians that are great at improvisation are so because they know and practice scales, the foundations. Without the foundation, you can’t innovate because you don’t know what you’re building upon or where you’re going, which is essential in music, in healing, and in life. And my marketing background, which I apply differently now than then, but it prepared me for the writing, research, and iteration that’s involved in marketing, which a lot of people don’t think of when they are starting their business or trying to gain traction. Your medicine isn’t done until it’s reached the folks who need it, so a skillset you have to learn - like it’s non-negotiable, is marketing.

And of course, your life experience sets you apart. Bring to your business your story. Healing childhood sexual trauma was what brought me into this space. And what I learned in my process is that plants do a lot, of course for us therapeutically, but in feeling that physical relief what they offer us the most is an invitation to go deeper, deeper into our internal spaces to address the mental and emotional patterns that are manifesting as physical pains. You can’t just drink tea and expect all of your problems to go away and how to do that inner work, because I’ve done it and do it everyday is what I offer to the herbal space that sets me apart.

Click here for the video response on IG!

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