Good Choice Initiative is thrilled to present Lashawna Phillips, owner of Nurture with Botanics as our special feature for businesses participating in our Holiday Gift Box. We loved learning more about the maker behind these beautifully and intentionally crafted personal care products. Find her chicory root & rhassoul clay face mask in our Holiday Gift Box! Her goal is to teach people how to nurture themselves more intentionally with botanics. We learned of the importance of slowing down and making conscious choices to bring joy in the hygge lifestyle, which we think complements our approach to sustainability perfectly. She also shared the importance of supporting our local communities. Read the full interview below to discover some of Lashawna’s wellness tips you can start implementing today.
- Tell us a bit about yourself (name, hometown, hobbies/interests, etc.)
My name is Lashawna! I grew up living all around the GTA, fun fact, I never lived in one place for longer than 4 years before I moved to Ottawa, so naturally I love change! I moved to Ottawa 7 years ago for university and graduated from Carleton with a B.A in Psychology. In my spare time, I love exploring my city, finding the cutest cafe or plant shops. I love, love, love the outdoors, gardening, and traveling. I’ve traveled to places like New Mexico, Nunavut and China (can’t wait to travel again!). My passion is creating, whether that’s recipe creation or creating products for my business. I started Nurture with Botanics in March 2020 with a goal to teach people how to nurture themselves more intentionally with botanics. I am working on my clinical herbalist certification, so I can use my passion of creating, helping people and working with plants to build a beautiful community!
- We love what Nurture with Botanics stands for in terms of simple and holistic living. In what way(s) do you believe the hygge lifestyle is compatible with living sustainably? What does sustainability mean to you?
To me, hygge means creating joy and coziness in life’s everyday moments. It really lies within being present and slowing down. Hygge lifestyle also emphasizes closeness to nature. When we are close to nature, we are not engulfed in the busyness of life. This is why botanics are such an important concept to my business. Living sustainably means to make those conscious choices to bring joy but also with our planet in mind. We’ve been taken away from how our planet can holistically support us but also the impact we have on nature. I love how those two concepts can go hand in hand.
- What are your social and environmental values and how are these reflected in your business?
One of my environmental values is to be able to repurpose or creatively use things to its completion. I think of it as cooking, instead of throwing out leftovers because you’re ‘bored’ of it, why not make it into something else! Throughout our products, you will see most packaged in glass containers so that these bottles can be cleaned out and reused. For our Nurture Boxes, we provide recipes and/or DIYs for your chosen botanic, but the idea is to get creative with the ‘leftovers’. I have had a customer use the rest of her roses in a cocktail, which is such a neat idea! I think with learning it is great to encourage people to try different things, see what works, what they like and what brings them joy!
One of my social values is to support your community. I’ve been taught this from a young age, watching my mom create a non-profit business to help our community, even when we were in a lot of similar situations as the people we were helping, that supporting each other in life is key. This is reflected in how we source ingredients and the partnerships we do! When possible, I love getting our herbs from local small farms. There is so much more attention to detail, intentionality and beauty in sourcing locally. Fun fact, the potency, taste, and smell of a plant differs based a geographical region, and sourcing locally ensures that they are specifically conditioned to our local weather and seasonal patterns! Also, by working with small businesses and creators, let’s say in creating a product in our seasonal nurture boxes, not only gives companies and creators the awareness they deserve, but we build each other up instead of look at each other as competition.
- What makes your products special and what do people love about them? We’re excited to try your chicory root + clay face mask soon – what can you tell us about its health benefits?
I think the detail and intention that goes into our products and packaging is what makes them special and what people love! We’ve heard great feedback on how our products make our customers feel. We purposely plan our Nurture Boxes with not only seasonal needs in mind but specific botanics to support. We are very particular about sourcing and in research on the benefits of each botanic used in a product. I think that shows in our products. 
I love chicory root because it’s a beautiful biter that is mainly known as a coffee substitute but it’s so much more! It is therapeutically good for supporting the action of the stomach and liver and cleansing the urinary tract. Chicory root is high in vitamins and minerals and great topically for soothing swollen and inflamed skin. Not to mention provides our skin with a boost of collagen! With the mixture of rhassoul clay, it provides a calming detoxifying mask. We hope you like it!
- Any tips for our readers that don’t know where to begin their wellness journey? What can someone do today to start focusing on self-care?
My tips for readers is to start small and start today. Going on your own wellness journey can be scary because maybe you can identify many areas you want to work on or change. I get it and I’ve been there! I would say, start by writing a list of things you would like to work on/ incorporate into your life and choose one to focus on for the month. If after a few weeks it’s going well, maybe add another goal. Start by setting time for yourself and start today. We always make excuses to start tomorrow or start later, but life does not wait for us. Some things you can do to start today is drinking more water, taking a bath or stretching for 15 minutes.
- What role do you believe our community plays in driving positive change?
I would say by supporting each other. What the recent events in the world have made clear to us is that kindness and relationship are at the forefront of a community. We thrive off of that. Supporting marginalized groups in our own communities allows us all to grow a little bit stronger and that’s a positive change I would love to see.
