We were lucky to catch up with Lauren Patrick recently and have shared our conversation below.
Lauren, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
Homosapien Organics is more than just an apothecary; it’s a personal journey that originated from the founder’s own needs and has evolved to meet the collective needs. Our journey began 25 years ago when the founder experienced an allergic reaction to a commercial cleaning product, this lead to the creation of Homosapiens first cleaning product: our beloved Surface Spray. This experience also sparked a lifelong exploration of herbalism. Homosapien combined an extensive background as a military medic & trauma nurse with the study of herbalism to create well researched evidence based products., These products, crafted with love and a lifetime of knowledge, Homosapien invites everyone to a safe space, built on trust break that we pour countless hours into research of each and every product we offer.
Lauren, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I began making my own cleaning products at 19 (in 1996) after a very scary allergic reaction to a widely available cleaning product. From that experience, I only made my own products to clean my home and work environments. I am a natural researcher so this experience sent me on a deep dive into to the mostly unregulated chemical industry in this country. What I found out scared me to my core. Today we are beginning to see the results of these policies in our health outcomes. Our governments allows the sale and marketing of products that were and still are widely acknowledged by the scientific community to be hazardous to our health. The new trend of “greenwashing” is an overt attempt to cover up this fact that is coming to light. My recipes were my own until 2016, when a fellow volunteer on a farm I was helping out by cleaning the barn ( with my products of course) suggested that I turn my spray into a business. I did just that and it took off like a racehorse. The customers and clients I deal with are so fed up with the false narrative and products that claim to be healthy but really aren’t. I started Homosapien with the single thought to offer something honest and good for you & your family. I’ve spent my whole life helping others to make good choices and to educate my patients on how to improve their health for the long term. I feel firmly that Homosapien is just an extension of this work. I am most proud that we have such committed customers and retailers. It warms my heart to be so understood by my customers.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
Homosapien is my 3rd of 4 total businesses. Each business was “bootstrapped” I worked long hours and loads of overtime and on occasion second and even third jobs to raise the capital to start each business. We started Homospaien and it boomed immedietly and 2 years later we started building a bar/arcade, most of the profits of Homosapien was poured into the bar project as seed capital. I don’t like Business or personal debt so I always try hard, usually at great cost to my personal time to hustle and pay off everything as soon as possible. I have survived 2 major economic downturns that consummed 2 very profitable businesses literally overnight so I learned the hard way that if everything is owned out right with zero leverage you can wether even the worst storm and come out just fine.
How’d you meet your business partner?
My husband is my business partner. We have worked together on 2 projects now. It has been at times extremely challenging, but after so many business and financial ups and downs, including owning a bar during COVID, our relationship is incredibly strong because of all the challenges. Historically, I have had very bad experiences with partners, including embezzling, so understandably I was very Leary to work cooperatively with anyone else going forward. However, Mike has really been so great at helping to bear the start up entrepreneurial burden, that I feel open to working with a partner in the future as a result of this “shared responsibility”. It can be very powerful if you have someone who is as honest and as committed as you are to your project.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.homospaienorganics.com
- Instagram: @homosapienorganics