73: Forging relationships with plants, evolving as an herbalist, and building an herbal apothecary brand with Lauren Haynes of Wooden Spoon Herbs

I am elated to chat with my friend Lauren Haynes on today's episode. Lauren is an herbalist and the founder of Wooden Spoon Herbs, an herbal line she started over five years ago. We chat about a bunch of things related to herbalism, her background, how she formulates (for insane efficacy!), and more, as well as her journey with entrepreneurship and building Wooden Spoon Herbs to be the much-loved and trusted brand it is now, including her recent rebrand and new tea line launching this week!

In this episode, we discuss:

• How Lauren found herbalism and how Wooden Spoon Herbs came to be

• How herbalism shapes Lauren's lens and world view

• Plants Lauren has deep relationships with

• How she's balancing her political views and her response to civil unrest with showing up as a business owner

• Wooden Spoon Herb's brand relaunch and how it came to be

• What the new brand means to Lauren

• How Lauren artfully balances selling products with avoiding over commercialization

• How Lauren built her community and have such deep brand loyalty, including marketing tips and how to approach collaboration

• Lauren's approaches formulation

• The importance of having fun

• What continues to keep Lauren motivated

• What Lauren's finding nourishing lately

• The new products in her line including herbal coffee and the herbal tea line that launches this week!

• Lauren's process for evaluating products and supplements

• The challenges with safety of herbs as they become more and more trendy

• What's inspiring Lauren lately and what she hopes we carry forward from this time

• Lauren's quick and passionate thoughts on essential oils

Mentioned in this episode:

• Sarah Chappel's podcast, So you want to be a witch

• Erin Lovell Verinder (she's been on Medium Well twice, listed below!)

• Alexis Smart Flower Remedies

• American Herbal Products Association newsletter

• PubMed for research studies

• Rosemary Gladstar— Sage Mountain + The Science and Art of Herbalism school, plus her books

• The Kosmic Kitchen Cookbook

• Chestnut School of herbal medicine

• Woke without the work by Rootwork Herbals

• Dive In Well's Pivot into Equity course

All the deets:

• Learn more about Wooden Spoon Herbs and shop her herbal line at woodenspoonherbs.com, use code MEDIUMWELL15 for a discount (not an affiliate code!)

• Follow Lauren and Wooden Spoon Herbs on Instagram at @woodenspoonherbs and check out her gorgeous guides, tips, and more.

• Tag me (@saraweinreb) and Lauren on Instagram with your favorite takeaways from the episode and what type you are— we'd love to hear!

Related episodes:

• Episode 43: Connecting with the energies of plants, nature, and our bodies through herbalism with Erin Lovell Verinder

• Episode 61: Balancing wellness with real life, relationship building, and evaluating trends with Rachelle Robinett

• Episode 70: Plants for the people, celebrating local plants, and nourishing yourself with Erin Lovell Verinder