Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Audrey Gidman, Owner of Orchid & Crow, located in Stockton Springs, ME, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

I'm an herbalist focusing primarily on and leaning hard into concepts of plant poetics, slow medicine for the emotional and subtle body, alcohol-free herbals, ethical plant kinship, and queer craft. These all look myriad ways, but ultimately I am interested in being in a relationship with the natural world in ways that are as non-extractive as possible while making plant magic and medicine available in careful, ethical ways to people in addiction recovery, BIPOC, queer folk, and those of us in poverty who often can't access herbals. This is my primary customer base, but in no way represents the whole. I have so many beautiful followers and repeat customers of all lifeways who support my work and my vision. Currently, I have a small online shop and a monthly sliding-scale subscription program called Crow Club.

Tell us about yourself

Formally, what got me started was the beginning months of the pandemic. I'd been working with plants for a long time, selling smoke cleaning bundles in small shops and making things for people, but a few months into the early pandemic times, I really needed somewhere to put my hands. I'd been putting off turning my work into an actual "business" for years, and I thought, okay, maybe now. Maybe I'll do it now. And I spent a while on the name, and then I quietly made an Etsy, and quietly took some photos and slipped a few listings onto it, and then quietly made an Instagram... I was so tentative. But people responded really, really well, and I got super excited. And it's been going ever since!

One of my biggest motivating factors (honestly, there are really so many) is that I'm a person in recovery, and for the first three years I was sober, I couldn't use any alcohol-based herbal products. No tinctures, no elixirs, no bitters. So much of herbalism is constituent extraction-based, and alcohol is really such a phenomenal way to accomplish that; it's just not accessible to a lot of people. It's also very hard on the stomach for some folks. I work primarily with organic vegetable glycerin, making alcohol-free extractions called glycerites. They're sweet and warming and pair extraordinarily well with floral plants, making them really amazing for the emotional support medicines I make.

One of my favorite blends is licorice, tulsi and sea rose glycerite. It's so grounding and balancing. Your body just kind of roots down and lights up at the same time. I make glycerin-based bitters too, for folks who can't use alcohol but also can't use vinegar because of stomach sensitivity (a lot of alcohol-free herbals are made with vinegar, and they're so great, but also very acid-heavy). I just really want people to be able to easily access plant medicines in safe and possible ways. There are more access barriers than the cost of something.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Oh gosh, on some days, it's the fact that I even stuck with it at all. ADHD brain, baby! But really, I think it's the absolutely incredible following and customer base that has developed over time. My repeat customers are angels, and my support is beautiful. People come and go, sometimes things go awry, and people aren't super nice about it, but the people who stay really get it. They see what I'm doing, and they appreciate it, and they let me know they appreciate it. They cheer me on. I mean, truly, what could be better than that?

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

Honestly, for me, it's motivation to keep up with the grind. I like to move slowly, and I don't like deadlines. I'm not a good "boss" for myself. And while I appreciate in many ways my defiance and my resistance to hustle culture, I have yet to find the balance point between being in healthy resistance and still accepting my position as a small business owner and just making moves. Shop updates can happen a little slowly in my world.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Link up with other small biz owners as soon as you can. On Instagram, TikTok, on whatever social media is the thing at the time. Support each other, root for each other, and learn from each other. Truly, it makes all the difference in the world.
  2. I personally recommend starting with Etsy. Not everyone feels this way, and I get it. There are limitations, there are fees. They've become an empire unto themselves. That being said, Etsy is also a search engine unto itself, and that aspect can help you, good use of tags will help you. It's a really easy jumping off point while you figure out a website of your own and get some ground under you.
  3. If you're like me and you kind of drag your feet and hold off until you're "ready," just start. Do the thing. Dive in, babe. People love you, and they want to see your light.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/orchidandcrowstudio
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/orchidandcrowstudio
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/orchidandcrow/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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