When Wellness Silences Us — And Why I Chose a Different Path

May 23rd, 2025

I didn’t start this apothecary because I had it all figured out.
I started it because I was tired of pretending that wellness is only for the perfectly balanced, the always-soft, the well-lit.

I’ve been sick. I’ve been overwhelmed. I’ve done sex work. I’ve worked in politics, in education, in healing. I’ve survived things I rarely speak about — and I’ve also sat in the in-between, where nothing feels quite survivable or dramatic enough to name.

And over and over again, I’ve watched the wellness world say:

"We welcome everyone.”

Except… when they don’t.

🤍 Who Gets Left Out

We talk about rest, but shame people who aren’t productive.
We talk about healing, but only if it’s tidy and trauma-free.
We talk about inclusivity, but erase disabled voices, sex workers, and survivors.
We preach “love yourself” while selling shame in prettier packaging.

I’ve watched big creators build brands on “feminism” — then dismiss sex work as invalid, tone-police survivors, or block criticism instead of sitting with it.

I’ve seen it. I’ve been in those comment sections.
And I’ve also been silenced — for being too loud, too angry, too honest.

This apothecary isn’t here to fix you.
It’s here to remind you that you don’t need to be fixed in the first place.

We believe in:

• Body liberation over body positivity
• Science and herbal medicine
• Rest as resistance
• Rituals that don’t require perfection
• Listening when we’re called in — even if it’s uncomfortable

I want to be clear: I’m a white woman. I carry privilege. I’m still learning.
But I’m committed to learning, because I believe that if you’re not listening, you’re not growing.

Wellness — and herbalism in particular — has deep roots across cultures, continents, and lineages.

Many of us in modern herbal spaces have learned from traditions like Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, African diasporic healing, and Indigenous medicine — even if we weren’t always told where those practices came from.

But somewhere along the way, the wellness industry became whitewashed and commodified — repackaged by wealthy influencers and wellness brands that profit from ancient practices while refusing to name their origins or honor their keepers.

We cannot pretend we’re the first ones to discover the power of nettle, or chamomile, or turmeric. If we do, we are once again silencing the voices that were silenced before us.

This apothecary exists to do things differently.
To honor the lineages we’ve learned from.
To unlearn what we need to.
To name what we use.
And to never claim credit for medicine that was never ours alone.

This is for the ones who’ve been called too much.
The ones who’ve done what they had to do to survive.
The ones whose healing doesn’t fit into a caption.

If you’re messy, magical, complex, and still finding your way —
You’re already welcome here.

Thanks you for being here

Let’s build something that doesn’t just look good — but feels right.

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