Can You Make A Career Out Of Herbalism?

In our last post, we talked about what a Family Herbalist is and what that could look like in one’s life as an introduction to our Herbalist Profile Series.

A Family Herbalist will often stick close to home, applying their herbal knowledge and resourcefulness to good use in order to support their family’s overall wellness. Next up in our Herbalist Profile Series is the Entrepreneur Herbalist! Unlike a Family Herbalist, Entrepreneur Herbalists desire to take their education, passion, and talents outside the home and apply them to a career.

An Entrepreneur Herbalist is one who has an entrepreneurial spirit and deep desire to bring their passion for herbs into their daily work, and they find purpose in providing people with natural products or services. Not only are Entrepreneur Herbalists passionate, determined, industrious, and like to get their hands dirty, but they are able to see the big picture of their dream while also focusing on the details of what needs to get done to achieve it.

The field of herbalism is unique and sometimes challenging, and investing in obtaining knowledge of the intricacies of working in the natural products industry is key.

If you’re curious as to whether the Entrepreneur Herbalist pathway is right for you, let’s look at some various ways one can work as an Entrepreneur Herbalist.

The Entrepreneur Herbalist

The Entrepreneur Herbalist thrives in working for themselves and mapping their own future, and they can often be found running one form of herbal product-based business or another.

Some Entrepreneur Herbalists may aspire to be plant growers, with a focus on owning or working for small- or large-scale herb farms. This work will likely appeal to individuals who like to work outside and with their bodies and who crave direct relationships with the plants themselves. Many vegetable farmers manage to incorporate a variety of herbs into crop rotation and bed planning, while permaculturists and landscapers may create food forests with herbs as part of a sustainable and holistic design. Still others are interested in creating plant sanctuaries as a part of land stewardship and ecological education, focusing on integrating and protecting native plants in wild settings.

Other Entrepreneur Herbalists may choose to be herbal product makers who are self-employed or work for a company that produces a variety of products, including teas, tinctures and other extracts, syrups, salves, oils, liniments, body-care products, supplements, flower essences, and many other plant-based product offerings. Many small business product makers diversify their work with herb cultivation in gardens or on farms, tending wild stands of herbs, writing, and teaching in schools, at events, or in workshops.

One can also choose to teach in some capacity. The Entrepreneur Herbalist may establish or teach at small independent herbal schools that offer multi-year, in-depth programs, while others offer education through short courses, online-learning, or workshops. Still other herbal educators may teach through institutions of learning that are accredited by larger educational bodies, such as in the ethnobotany department of a college or university or at a school of nursing or nutrition.

Many Entrepreneur Herbalists function at the intersection of several skill sets, so it is perhaps now apparent that an herbal education can lead in a number of previously unimagined directions, such as an herbal researcher or botanical illustrator. It may be helpful to seek out a mentor or instructor versed in pedagogical practices that include not only the studies pertaining to plants, but also helping each student see how their particular gifts, experiences, skill sets, and interests can best manifest work and engagement with the world of herbs.

Resources for the Entrepreneur Herbalist

If you find yourself drawn to the Entrepreneur Herbalist path, and you’re looking for some inspiration and further learning, the Herbal Academy blog has just what you need! We offer tons of free content for herbalists of all skill and experience levels.

When it comes to the Entrepreneur Herbalist, you might be inspired by some of the following articles.

• Herbal Academy: The Journey
• Opportunities for the Herbal Entrepreneur
• 5 Things To Consider Before Starting Your Herbal Business
• Best Places To Sell Herbal Products
• The Highs and Lows of Opening a Brick and Mortar Herb Store
• 6 Herbal Vision Boards To Inspire Your Herbal Journey
• Strengthening The Roots of Our Herbal Practice
• What You Should Know About Herbal Preparation Shelf-life
• Demystifying Weight-To-Volume Tinctures
• How To Make DIY Culinary Salts
• Student Share: Shalil Sutaria & Island Kiss
• Herbal Academy Student  Features

Next Steps

We know you desire an education that can help you on your herbal journey–getting you from point A to point B and so on. We here at the Herbal Academy have felt the exact same way, and we understand the many steps that can help direct you on your individual quest.

If you feel called to become an Entrepreneur Herbalist, we hope you’ll join us here at the Herbal Academy and allow us to assist you on your way.

Entrepreneur Herbalist Pathway

Our Entrepreneur Herbalist Pathway is the perfect package to take you from learning herbal basics all the way to learning how to create, run, and manage your own herbal product based business. This package combines our Introductory, Intermediate, and Business Herbal Courses. Not only will it help you build and mature a necessary foundational herbal knowledge base before jumping into the business side of herbs, but it will help you understand the laws and regulations governing the handling, labeling, and selling of herbal products.

By the end of this pathway you will have learned about the holistic approach, herbal actions and energetics, anatomy and physiology, herbs to both support wellness and to balance common conditions, how to source and wildcraft herbs, herbal preparation making, formulation, branding your business, using social media for marketing, legal issues from labeling guidelines to making health claims to good manufacturing practices, and so much more!

Learn more about our Entrepreneur Herbalist Pathway here.

Here’s what students are saying about our Entrepreneur Herbalist Pathway.

“I’m taking it right now and enjoying it tremendously!!! Love it!!” – Wendy

“I began this course last year with the Introductory portion and now I am hooked. My husband and daughter tease me because I have “mad hatter kitchen days” where the smells of herbs fill the air as I busy myself making herbal tea blends and decoctions. Stuff brewing and the laptop surfing articles and recipes. I am very excited about this journey and it’s nice to know there are others out there who “get this herbal stuff”.” – Sunny

Business Herbal Course

If you already have a solid herbal foundational and are simply interested in starting an herbal product-based business (or taking your current one to the next level), that’s great too. Our Business Herbal Course can help you get your business off the ground, in shape, and ready to present to the world.

Our Business Herbal Course will get you inspired by many herbal entrepreneurs who have ventured down this path and guide you in visioning your business and creating a business plan. It will help you to understand herbal history and various global healing traditions. It covers foundational topics like botany, phytochemistry, sourcing raw materials, and wildcrafting. You’ll delve into formulation and product development with topics like tea blending and shelf life considerations. Along the way, you’ll learn to define your specific business path and brand a business unique to you. And last, but certainly not least, you’ll dive into the business side of running an herbal business.

By the end of this course, you’ll be making a business plan, crafting a logo, developing a marketing strategy, filling out your business paperwork, and ordering your supplies!

Learn more about our Business Herbal Course here.

“I had been really interested in taking some courses through the Herbal Academy for several years and in August I finally signed up!! I’m really excited to be part of this online experience and find the coursework challenging and really, really awesome!!! I am excited to be moving forward with the Entrepreneur Herbal Course and want to thank you for such an amazing resource. I am loving this program and finding so many new inspirations in the learning. Thanks!” – Gabi

“I finished it last year and loved it!!” – Kimberly