We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Danielle Galvin a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Danielle, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

I have been a herbalist for years. I started using teas for meditation and yoga, setting intentions before certain activities. I quickly fell in love and started experimenting and studying, making things for my friends and family, and developing my own herbal regimen. I wanted to build a business out of it and share my knowledge, but I didn’t have the extra income at the time. Years later, my husband and I were discussing our future and how I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom when we had kids (I was working retail at the time). He was the one to say “well why don’t you start your own herbal business?”. From that one conversation, everything changed.
The next day I started planning. I already had recipes from my own products that I had been creating and using for years. I knew I was comfortable with the herbal side but business-wise, I knew little. I had another business years back that did not turn out well but I remembered a bit from that. I started looking up classes. I found a Herbal Entrepreneur class through The Herbal Academy and signed up. I flew through the class. It was so deep and interesting and I learned a lot. At the same time, I was working on a business name, looking into insurance and licenses, and researching web hosting. Once I settled on a business name, which at the time was Herbaceous Love, I decided to start my social media pages and document the process of starting a business. I would share bits from my class, what it was like creating business cards and labels, herbal education, and behind the scenes of making my products.
I really did everything all at the same time, instead of going one by one down my list, which I regret. It was a very stressful and chaotic time.
I finished the class in a few months and immediately started to work on setting up a website and finalizing my products. I reached out to other herbalists that I loved and trusted to ask about their supply sources, as well as advice on creating labels and what to say on the website. My products started with The Matron, Flow, and Eir’s Balm. Those were products I had already been using for a while myself. I sat down and thought about what else people would want, and proceeded to create Ground Herbal Body Oil, Stop It, and Quiet. Six products in all, I started small batches of 5-15 per product. A lot of herbal products take 4-6 weeks to make so I had to plan ahead. During that waiting period, I continued on with the website and actually ended up changing my business name and logo to Herbaceous Goods. It felt more inclusive and I could picture it on a building one day.
I decided on a spring launch, a little under a year from that initial conversation with my husband, and began building anticipation through social media and word of mouth. I did experience a delay and had to push my launch back a month due to a technical issue with my domain name. I was very upset but you quickly learn as a business owner, you have to roll with the punches.
Launch day felt so good. I celebrated with my friends and relished finally getting my site up and running, ready to share everything with the world. That year of setup really flew by fast. Many things could have been done more efficiently or more organized but I think just getting your idea out there is a huge first step.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Danielle and I am a folk herbalist, meaning a herbalist of the people. I believe everyone should have access to herbalism and it is an inherent right of all mankind. Herbalism is a unifying act across all cultures throughout time. To know the plants around you and to live in a reciprocal relationship with the earth is a very healing act of its own and returns us back to our true selves. Through my business, Herbaceous Goods, I handcraft herbal products to enhance your own wellness and deepen your connection to the earth. I offer all sorts of internal and external preparations spanning topics such as stress, hormone imbalance, and digestive issues, as well as calming bug bites, promoting self-love, and embracing the seasons. I also offer custom products to provide deep, individualized nourishment to your body and spirit.
One of the main passions in my business is teaching herbalism. Herbal education is so important for our own self-sufficiency as well as getting back to nature. I have taught many classes covering topics such as Wildcrafting 101, First Aid Herbalism, Intro to Herbal Preparations, and more spiritual-based classes like Herbs for Shadow Work and Herbs for Self Love. Through a private lesson or group class, we can discuss any topic you would like and yous hould leave feeling a bit more confident to experiment on your own. This is also a great option for kids, homeschool groups, families, or groups of friends.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

The lesson or mindset I had to unlearn is the “grind” mindset/ culture. I have always been a very giving person. That can be a positive or a negative depending on the situation and how you balance it. I have a tendency to overgive until I get sick or injured. In running a business, this only got worse.

I wanted my business to grow fast, share all of the knowledge and new products with everyone all the time, and any extra time I had was spent on my business or business-related activities. The toxic grind culture teaches just this, that there is no way to be successful without constantly grinding and using all of your free time to push further and further, the “no sick days and no days off ” mentality.
Over the years, I would push and push until I would break. I would break down, physically sick or so exhausted that I couldn’t even cook, and have to take a week off to recover, which would only fuel the grind drive even harder the next week to catch up.
It eventually got to a point where my husband had to step in and have a hard conversation with me. I could not keep going. I had to also care for myself, find times to do things I love, and recharge. It didn’t happen overnight but I am constantly getting better at putting myself first and taking time to rest. I cannot run my business effectively or authentically if I am constantly pouring from an empty cup.

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

Manufacturing herbal products is a tricky business. There are a lot of laws around the processes and how you can speak/write about your products. I had already been making my own products for years but selling them is a whole different monster. I had to learn about the Goods Manufacturing Process. This requires a lot of documentation detailing the manufacturing process. Some of the things this covers are precise recipes, how you disinfect equipment, exactly what tools you use each and every time, the source and batch number of all of your ingredients, and more. This was one of the few things that almost halted my drive to build my business. It is very tedious and honestly annoying. Most herbalists are more creative minded and I myself have a hard time with the more technical side of running a business. But it is an important part of herbal businesses for multiple reasons. It keeps each batch consistent so if you have a returning customer, it is as close to the first product they purchased as possible (with a degree of variation from using a new batch of plant material). It also keeps your products/workstation sanitary and safe for consumption. The last thing you want is to inadvertently harm someone. Having a streamlined, written-out process is also helpful if you have employees or someone assisting you.

Sourcing materials is the other hard part. I strive to only use natural and organic materials. I do grow and wildcraft some plant material as well. For purchasing, I contacted other herbalists that I trusted to see who they used and then tried them out. I purchase herbs from a farm, and honey from a local beekeeper, and for anything else, I look for reputable organic sources. I experimented for a while to test the quality and decided who I wanted to be the primary suppliers. It took a bit of trial and error but luckily it wasn’t too long of a process and I love the results.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.herbaceousgoods.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/herbaceous.goods
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/herbaceousgoods

Image Credits
Certain photos are attributed to Love Atlas Photography.