We recently connected with Jennifer Murcin and have shared our conversation below.

Jennifer , appreciate you joining us today. Was there a moment in your career that meaningfully altered your trajectory? If so, we’d love to hear the backstory.

Artisan Home Health was born out of the knowledge that both our environment and our genetics influence who we are and who we become. Since my teens I have been drawn to understand the human mind and the circumstantial fabric that influences our ability to thrive. My interest in the human experience drew me to a BA in Psychology and a Master of Social Work, and it was in this clinical role that portals opened into people’s lives and I could see the patterns that contributed to their circumstances.

In working with clients I began to see that the scales were not always tipped in our favor for having clean water, clean air, and a safe home. As a nontoxic living consultant in the making, I witnessed again and again that the options that my clients could choose from to raise their families were unsafe, under-regulated, and deceptive. The staple products filling our homes were made with toxins that could harm overall development, mental health, fertility, and long-term health outcomes, but no one was talking about this hard truth.

Who was protecting us as consumers and why weren’t they doing better? This was the light bulb moment when I knew that more had to be done. All that we do, consume, and buy can in fact have an impact on our well-being. The environmental toxins people are exposed to in their home are largely overlooked as a factor for overall health, and I knew that teaching this had to be part of the new healthcare solution. This was the defining moment that changed the trajectory of how I would practice Social Work and also influence how I lived my own life.

Integrative Nontoxic Living was born out of this seedling and the several decades of learning that toxins in our environment do impact health, including my own. I pursued the mastering of a nontoxic lifestyle based on what I witnessed, and this would ultimately become the passion project Artisan Home Health is today. Now I’m able to see how those early chapters carved out a space for me to do this work and guide others toward health. Small changes matter so it is my hope that with each client we forge a new standard for health, for how it’s valued, and in doing so become change makers for safer options to fill the marketplace.

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.

Artisan Home Health grew out of a rebellious hope that our health could be optimized by reworking an interconnected system and preserving our health in real time. Because our health is impressionable, ever-changing, and cumulative. Health is a product of our mother’s exposures, aspects in utero, and all that we come into contact throughout our life. It is like an infinite loom connecting years of past and present exposures, strung together, informing our DNA from beginning to end.

We can influence our health in real time by practicing a fourth pillar of health, the health of the home. In this practice we reduce exposures to chemicals (such as pesticides), heavy metals (such as lead), and EMFs (or radiation) at home and in our lifestyle. For each client, we prioritize certain toxins and certain areas of the home to create Blueprints for Nontoxic Living. In designing these Blueprints there are five home detox categories we cover: the kitchen, personal care products, nursery & children’s items, textiles and clothing, and the complete home interior.

Within this framework we touch on everything from water quality to cookware, furnishings to finishes, bassinets to baby bottles, and linens to laundry. I consider this approach to be preventative interior medicine because it gives clients an actionable plan that is tailored specifically to their home and lifestyle, and targets their biggest exposures first. Altogether, we want to look at the products we’re purchasing, our daily habits, and where our homes are located geographically to inform a nontoxic lifestyle. I design Blueprints for Nontoxic Living for clients who are health-conscious, expecting parents, and those living with chronic illness, and each roadmap is highly curated based on these traits.

In this work it is my hope that we promote transparency in products, advocate for better public health, and create a kindred community together. After all, we are trailblazing this new pillar of health as a foundation for us to thrive and garner the longevity we all deserve.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

If the last two decades of my resilience were on an artist’s canvas it might show a collection of apothecary jars, stacks of medical impressions, and waves of hope and bargaining. Lupus has not been an easy road but through it all, true north has always been to follow a clean lifestyle. The more nontoxic choices I made the healthier I became. Reducing my exposures to chemicals, heavy metals, and EMFs was the most fruitful prescription, and choosing this practice was a way for me to have agency over my own health.

As I healed, I began to see that my sensitivity to my environment was a superpower. I was the canary in the coal mine and able to shine a light on how toxins affect us in real time. In fact I knew that national increases in disease were in direct proportion to our toxic exposures in our food system, personal care products, building materials, and more- the science and environmental medicine is irrefutable that our home environment greatly impacts health. It was with this evidence that Artisan Home Health grew quietly in the background, waiting for the right moment to bolster the truth and become actualized as a practice.

As Artisan Home Health was in its infancy I continued to navigate the limitations of conventional medicine. It made me a resilient advocate for myself, priming me to turn hardship into gold. It was a warrior’s path that now connects me to clients who also face chronic illness and feel unseen or forgotten. Today I consider these clients to be my fellow canaries in the coal mine because not only is our health a result of our toxin exposures, but we make the invisible, visible. With the root of our health challenges being environmental it makes sense that what’s most curative is creating a nontoxic home.

Integrative Nontoxic Living itself is a story about resilience and meant to be shared. It is meant to be a spark of hope in an otherwise overwhelming learning curve. My hope is to empower clients to prioritize their health by small, practical, actionable steps each day. In choosing this approach to health we are participating in what’s working in the world. It is a bold path we are taking together and I’m both honored and humbled to lead it.

If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?

If I could go back in time to the Graduate School of Social Work (GSSW) at the University of Denver I would pursue an alternative focus than the Clinical-Families track I chose years ago. At the time of my academic career GSSW did not offer an Ecological Justice track. Today this would be my chosen specialty to compliment the nontoxic living consulting I do. Still, I created Artisan Home Health based on my own experience and designed Blueprints for Nontoxic Living with social and ecological intervention in mind. It was not the linear path that GSSW could have facilitated, but the wisdom gained in creating it from the ground up, with improvisation and heart, makes it unique.

I believe in what I teach and I’m inspired everyday by the investigative journalists, environmental medicine doctors, whistle blowers, and parents that advocate for reducing our toxic exposures. Whether nontoxic living is for your personal health or your loved ones it is a lifestyle that serves as a mirror for what you value- it’s a choice that prioritizes our quality of life, our planet, and what we leave for generations who come after us. Together we can clean up our living environment and have nontoxic living fit seamlessly into our lives. This is the ethos of Artisan Home Health-to create true nontoxic living spaces one Blueprint at a time.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://artisanhome.co
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artisanhomehealth/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artisanhomehealth
• Other: https://www.pinterest.com/jenniferslmurcin/

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