We were lucky to catch up with Lorna Schlegel recently and have shared our conversation below.

Lorna, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of the most important things we can do as business owners is ensure that our customers feel appreciated. What’s something you’ve done or seen a business owner do to help a customer feel valued?

I love being able to talk with people during local market events it gives me the opportunity for open discussion with a customer or customers to share my knowledge as an herbalist and being a tea specialist. All my blends are crafted for a specific health need in mind to help heal you naturally, but you don’t need to drink it for that purpose you could be that person that just loves the flavor combination.

This past summer I had an somewhat older couple come up to my booth because they loved how I set up my table but I also provide samples. The samples get people every time. Naturally we got to talking and they really weren’t tea drinkers themselves but we got to talking about the husbands health and some of the issues he is dealing with. I recommended a few blends that could help but they weren’t willing to spend $15 on a bag of tea. I couldn’t take no for an answer because I knew that if they just gave it a chance they would be surprised. I handed them a bag of one of my top selling blends, Wanderlust and said, don’t worry about it please take this as a gift because I only wanted to help his health needs. They were so kind and very appreciative of the tea that actually came back later, bought two tea ball infusers, a linen spray and four different bags of tea for themselves and their family members as gifts. That was an up sale to say the least! I always make it apparent to say hello to vendor goers as they walk by my booth as long as I’m talking with someone already. Many vendors don’t engage the way I do and this miss out on a potential sale or spark interest in their craft. I have learned people will more likely come and check out a booth if you just acknowledge them.

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

Naked Herbs Co is a small locally owned herbal tea company that was first established in a small apartment in Denver, Colorado of 2020. This Company is fueled by the healing benefits and powers of herbs and flowers. All blends have been handcrafted small batches for specific healing needs. With a strong commitment to health, Naked Herbs Co uses only the highest quality organic herbs. There are no artificial dyes, flavors or sugars added to any of our products, all natural just the way Mother Nature intended. That also means no drying sulfates, harsh parabens, or harmful fragrances in our small body wellness line. I believe that products should be both mindful and safe without compromise. Naked Herbs Co goal is to provide our customers with the safest alternatives from harmful medications that are in the market.

I’m a firm believer that we’re only here for a short while, and we may as well make the very most of it while we still can. I really fully immerse myself in anything and everything that suits my fancy. Needless to say, I wanted to create a business that the sole purpose and goal was to help heal the body to its natural state through herbs. I truly believe that herbal medicine helps the body return to its natural balance. Born with a natural artistic talent, herbal creativity comes seamless, like I was meant to do this work. I’ve been in health care for many years now, by breaking away from prescription medications and harmful chemicals we can bring our mind and body back to a healthier balance of living better and longer lives.

“Nature is everything, we learn everyday day what herbal medicine can do for a person’s health, so why not continue on with that path of life.”

I want to touch back about being a natural and how proud I am of me because it takes a lot to risk a once hobby or personal craft and turn it into a successful growing business. I never had many people believe I was smart or capable of succeeding which always bothered me because I’ve always been the type to hustle by working many jobs at once and going to school to better my future. Creativity has always been with from when I was a little girl and it probably helps that I have other creative individuals in my family whether it’s through food, music or art, I was born into it and around it all the time. I hope that business continues to grow, I can see bottling a few of my tea blends and even making them sparkling tea’s. I want to continue to push the mold when crafting tea blends, People have really taken to some of my tea blends that are different and not like any other tea on the market.

The herbal tea blends are packaged in reusable, eco-friendly kraft bags. Our other packaging is in jar or tins that can be reused for somethings else or trade empties in with me at a local market for a thank you discount. I will always to be mindful of the environment by continually researching and adding to our ingredient list in making sure I’m using the best and latest green alternative products available.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.

I have both a working website called www.Nakedherbstea.com where you are able to find all the products I make. I also use Etsy as a way to sell some of my products, the top seller is my Naked Tea Sample Box. When I first started my business back in 2020 I thought it would be a good idea to put my products on Etsy and it seemed to pan out very well for me. Simply because I started it at the right time. I will continue to use this platform as another way to generate revenue especially during those holiday months. The downside to using an outside platform other than my own website is that Etsy does take a percentage but it does go towards advertisements to help generate traffic to my store.

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

Yes, I manufacture all the products and I’m able to do so in my own home. I had many of the recipes written down in a notebook waiting to really come alive and share with people other than family and friends. I had been experimenting a lot for years before I got to even building Naked Herbs Co. I get this question from time to time, “What does naked herbs mean?” Well naked means being natural and true to form. This company is based on being organic and using natural remedies and herbal rituals to help heal the body naturally.

I’m able work from home when it comes to running my business. I have an entire room in my house as my work space. I hope one day I have a location to not only do my work but also be a place where people can come relax and enjoy a good cup of tea that’s hot or cold.
Deciding how I wanted to package the tea blends was pretty simple but it took some time to get the look or style I have now. I might change it again when I feel the time is right and would like a logo that represents Naked Herbs Co.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.nakedherbstea.com
• Instagram: Nakedherbsco
• Facebook: Naked Herbs Co.