We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ashton Blaha a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Ashton , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea
The idea of starting my own apothecary came to me after learning that my classmates had really cool herbalist jobs and some even owned their own herbal farms. They gave me inspiration and I have never looked back since. I had a mission of bringing people back to their roots, products that I already loved making for people, now to put it all in motion was the next step. Little did I know how much I’d have to learn about sourcing ingredients, testing, and packaging. I am sort of a perfectionist, so I spent many hours of researching regulations, where to source ingredients that are wholesome, local and sustainable, envisioning how my labels should look, then creating them, how to build an e-commerce website, marketing, all well before I could even get a product out there. I learned so much through this process and I’m very grateful to all the help along the way.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
I obtained my Certificate of Professional Herbology from the East-West School of Planetary Herbology. I was lucky enough to study under Michael and Lesley Tierra, two of the most influential herbalists in the West.
In 2016, I officially founded my company MoonFarma Herbal Apothecary. My mission is to educate and empower individuals, communities and organizations about overall well-being through herbal remedies. Connecting people to their natural roots all with an eye towards sustainability.
At MoonFarma Herbal Apothecary, I strive to create herbal goods that help people take care of themselves in a preventative way. I make anything from balms, salves, teas, tinctures to health and wellness self-care items. I am a teacher at heart and enjoy bringing others back to their roots.
Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?
I first started off selling all my apothecary products on Etsy, before I even had a website. Etsy seemed to be a very relevant e-commerce platform for folks that are crafting their own products where you might not be able to get anywhere else and I think that still holds true. I wanted to be part of that community of crafters and business owners. Today, I still sell products on Etsy in addition to my own e-commerce website. I get a lot of organic traffic on my own website, so I decided to sell certain products that you might not be able to get anywhere else there.
How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?
When I create products, I really try to think about my own experience as a customer and what I would want. I also believe that customers want ease. Ease of use, ease of ordering, ease of everything! Because of that, I’ve really tried to create a lifestyle brand that takes into consideration sustainability. I create products that are natural, organic, sustainable and healthy for one to use. I really think this has allowed me to have customers that want to come back, time and time again.
I also created an ambassador program where clients and customers can sign up to advertise my products in return for a discount and access to newly released products. This has been a really fun way for me to interact with my customers and I think it’s kind of fun for them too.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://moonfarmaherbalapothecary.com/
- Instagram: @moonfarma
- Facebook: @MoonFarmaApothecary
Image Credits
Headshot by Christopher at Insight Media Productions