We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Maureen Anderson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Maureen below.

Alright, Maureen thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

I think success can be achieved through several different approaches but the most lasting, fulfilling and easiest way is when you do something that you love and are good at. And often you find these two things going hand in hand. For instance, if you love flower arranging and are good at it, the chances are that your wedding flower business will do well but if you try and start a cake business and hate to bake, well then the likelihood of success is slim. The other key element is persistence in the face of negativity or failure. I think it takes a lot of strength and work ethic to be successful at anything and if you have a weak spot, fix it before you venture out into a new business or endeavor.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I have always loved the idea of living close to the land. As a very small child I preferred playing outside, digging and planting and reading in a tree or on a bed of moss. If I played house, my pretend home was always made under a tree. I knew that when I had a family of my own and then a career, it would involve making the most of nature. I raised my family as close to this ideal as possible, working day and night to make living in a rural setting with a garden, bees, chickens, ponies, sheep and goats. My need for a steady and secure income led me to try one home business after another. I babysat, sewed and smocked children’s clothing and made more dried flower wreaths than I can count. I baked pies and made applesauce and breads for local fairs and stores. As a family we gathered and sold pecans and wild mushrooms to the local health food stores. Finally we found a need within our for a natural soap to ease our daughter’s skin issues and that turned into a very successful business. That business and the public’s interest in our lifestyle led to classes on herbal medicine and foraging and then we started our popular farm camps for children.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

When Covid shut down the farmers markets where we sold our products and the stores that’s sold them closed as well we found ourselves without a way to earn an income or pay our bills. As a single mother I had no savings at all and lived hand to mouth. The day the markets closed my daughter and son in law (who own a bakery) and I decided to sell our things in the front yard of our farm -yard sale style- and advertise on Facebook. That day I made about $100 but my daughter’s pastries and breads sold out. Our little weekly market grew and the word spread. We quickly realized that we were really meeting a need. People needed fresh and safe food sources AND they needed human interaction. We gave them both. Well into our fifth year of operation, we have grown into a weekly market March through Christmas and regularly host 25-40 food and farm vendors as well as a monthly artisan market with potters and basket weavers and other craftspeople.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I started making goat’s milk soap because I had a child with terrible skin allergies and issues. We had goats and a friend that made soap needed our milk. We traded it for soap. The soap cured my daughter’s eczema. Some time later the friend stopped making soap and we decided to try making it ourselves. At that time, in all of our state you could maybe find 10 people that made soap. Now it seems as if there are hundreds in every town. But they don’t all have a true story behind them. The story is of a knowledgeable, hard working mother who chose to build her life and care for her family with her own two hands. She milks her own goats, does all her own veterinary care, grows or gathers the herbs and botanicals herself, tends the bees the provide the honey for the soap, makes the soap, cuts it by hand and wraps it. And all of this is accomplished with my precious grandchildren at my feet! This hands on from start to finish aspect allows me to truly control the quality and also answer any question anyone ever has for me as to the properties of certain soaps. The story makes a difference!!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://tashasownherbarium.com
• Instagram: @tashasown
• Facebook: Tasha’s Own

Image Credits

Maureen Anderson