Ainsley Melone, Founder of Curating Lucidity
Ainsley chose the name Curating Lucidity for her herbal brand because she believes that everyone has the power inside of them to bring lucidity to their own life.
The idea at the core of her mission is to create little tidbits of information that people can integrate into their own lives and empower them to use herbs and use nature rhythms and cycles to kind of awaken into their own life and dreams.
She makes herbal, beauty and wellness products and aims to wildcraft or harvest from her property the majority of the herbs that she uses in her products.
Ainsley has been working on her herbal recipes and product formulas for about three years, and is beginning to run community events to get together and meditate with others, in addition to doing an herbal plant walk too.
Top Tip From Ainsley:
“Let the spirit of the herbs guide you and let that integrate with your art and let those two things lead you through the process.
Make it a work of art and don't necessarily get too stuck on it needs to be this or that way...
Just follow your heart and really let your own uniqueness and your own individuality shine through what you're doing.”
5 Steps To Get Your Herbal Business Off The Ground
Ainsley has been on the field learning what works - and what doesn't - as she launched Curating Lucidity.
Here are the most important steps that she shared to help you get your herbal business started.
1. Figure Out The Legalities
First of all, it's incredibly important to know exactly what you're allowed to do within the confines of the FDA.
This includes the details like what you're allowed to say and what you need to put on your labels.
You need to start there because if you don't there will always be the possibility that it could all be kind of torn down in one day.
2. Organize Your Ideas
Next, get clear on what you want to do.
It's normal to have lots of ideas but they don't all have to be put into action. Just the best ones!
“I would create lists of random ideas or mind maps, and I'd have all these random ideas running around, and then eventually I go back and look at them and kind of try and weave them together.”
Ainsleys approach to create lists to record ideas in lists and then go back later to organize them and work out which ones to implement is very practical.
It allows you to brainstorm without judgment but also helps to prevent losing any good ideas that you might come across.
3. Experiment To Learn
The best way to learn is to get out there and try so that you can gain experience and learn from your mistakes.
This is especially true when it comes to herbalism and starting an herbal business so that you can get some practical skills -- without hurting anyone in the process!
“Experimenting with herbs for myself was big so that I could learn through practical knowledge. So whatever I was learning about business or herbs, I learn, and then I apply it immediately and put it into practice so that it would really I would really begin to understand it and integrate it.“
Learning by doing is something that helps to cement the knowledge and experience in our brains and you'll get so m
4. Balance Artistic And Business Mind
Being able to express my love of herbs, my love of working with herbs.
“I love bringing herbs to people and also balancing that with keeping track of numbers and keeping track of inventory and making sure that I'm on the right track business wise and keeping that balance with both so that one doesn't begin to override the other.”
5. Bounce Back From Failure
None of us get it all perfectly right straight away. Instead, the best way forward so that you actually make progress is to experiment and learn as you go.
Failure is huge, trying something and if it doesn't work, then trying something else and just continuing to go on and reworking things and seeing what works.”
time to really dig deep into my soul and figure out what I really wanted to do.
I was ready after big utter failure to use the lessons that I learned and what I did wrong previously or not wrong necessarily. But what I did that didn't work for me and then remake it and launch it.
Herbal Markets And Events
When you're first launching an herbal product business, one of the most effective ways to get your brand noticed by potential customers is at in-person markets an events.
“That face to face connection is so powerful, you know, being able to really talk to someone face to face about your product.”
It's a very effective strategy to get your first customers and raving reviews because the people are already there and you take your products directly to them.
In fact, Ainsley sold out of almost all of her products at the very first market that she went to!!
So how can you get started?
This first step is to research markets in your area.
Ainsley found a couple that she liked and made a list of which markets and events could be good for her.
Then she set about educating herself to learn more about what it takes to actually be successful at markets. d
YouTube is a great place to learn what works and what doesn’t at markets.
For example, Ainsley looked up different farmers market vendors and what they said they were doing to be successful. They gave really good tips for farmers markets that she ended up putting into action when she set up her first market.
She learned about lots of different aspects, including how to:
- Keep things stacked nicely
- Make products pop out at people
- Vary height of displays
- Draw people into your table
- Stop your tent from flying away...
- And lots of other things like that!
Based on her research, she created a list of things she needed and then gathered them over a couple of months.
She also practiced setting up her tent, table and products displays, which was helpful to make sure she was comfortable setting up a tent by herself before market day came.
For her first market, she chose one from her list of markets in her local area and applied for it. It was a simple online form with a fee, and then an email to confirm acceptance.
When she did the market, it was really successful.
However, she realized it wasn’t the perfect fit for her because she needed to find childcare on weekdays, so she reorganized her list to focus on weekend markets.
As you get better and more well known, it gets even easier to find place to become a vendor. People start asking YOU because they want your products at their market!
“Now I'm not even applying. I'm getting invited, and it's working with my schedule because they're on weekends.”
The key is to start your research early so that you can get prepared be ready for market day when the time comes.
Become a Successful Herbal Entrepreneur as an Introvert!
You know what's hard?
Putting yourself and what you do as an herbalist out there... especially if you are a bit introverted or find it difficult to talk to a lot of new people.
This was definitely the case for Ainsley.
She was terrified of the idea that she would have to try and sell her products to people she'd never met in her life.
Making connections and meeting market like owners, even posting on social media... it was all way out of her comfort zone.
- What if someone hates it?
- What if they think it's weird?
- What it they think it’s terrible?
It’s so easy to let thoughts like this hold you back!
But the key is in taking little steps, one after the other.
If you can connect with just one person in your community who has some herbal knowledge and similar personality traits or values, then you can start to build a relationship there.
Then, little by little, you start to build your own confidence and network.
“A lot of what I've learned through doing that and just these little steps at a time is that it's a lot easier than I thought it would be.”
Even simple things like posting on your business social media accounts can make a difference.
For example, you could share behind-the-scenes shots of what you are working on and letting it flow. Just by doing and trying, you start to gain confidence.
(Even if no one likes or comments on it -- it’s the act of doing that counts!)
“It's not as scary as my mind was trying to tell me it was going to be. Just building that trust with myself and with others little pieces at a time makes it less daunting than just throwing myself into everything at once and expecting it to be comfortable all the time.”
It’s certainly a process and something that you will get better at with time if you put consistent effort in.
As a business owner, it's important to appreciate your effort, pat your self on the back and be grateful for what you're doing.
“Even if something is really uncomfortable and I do it and I'm uncomfortable afterwards, I'm like, "Wow, I did that! Good job!"”
A lot of people hold themselves back and don't do it.
So, just do it!
Future For Curating Lucidity
Ainsley’s long-term plan for Curating Lucidity is to have a farm in the Colorado Rockies. It's tricky to grow things in the Rockies, and there's not a lot of herbal farms out there.
Her dream is to have a big herbal garden in a greenhouse, and to bring in people and help them learn about herbs, host herbal walks and discussions, and sell herbal products that she formulates. Ideally, she’d also like to have a different section of the farm with goats and chickens and produce, so that it is a community effort where people can come and contribute to the farm in exchange for goods.
For now, she’s starting to focus on doing a brick and mortar store until one day she can find the perfect place to really make that farm dream come into fruition.
“So there's a lot of little steps that I know that I need to take before we get there, but that dream definitely keeps me with my momentum.”
Having that long term motivation is really helpful to move through the valleys of when you're working on it, because sometimes it's tough.
And you won't get anywhere unless you take that first step!
Join us in the Herbal Circle!
The Herbal Circle is a small group of herbalists who help each other to create a world we are proud of.
We meet twice a month in "The Tea Room" to talk face-to-face (virtually) with other herbalists on LIVE video chats to work through any roadblocks and brainstorm creative solutions together on the call.
Each week, everyone in the group is prompted to share their wins and what they need help with so that we can help each other.