Check Out Liz Faermark’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Liz Faermark

Hi Liz , thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Rarely one to take conventional routes, my path to becoming an herbalist was a bit winding. I found that the art and practice of herbalism was at the crossroads of my life’s other callings: farming, cooking, writing and storytelling, foraging, making natural products, teaching about plants, and taking care of my community.

After finishing my undergrad degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2014, I stuck around town and worked farming cut flowers and medicinal herbs at Delight Flower Farm with a few of my dear friends. While farming, I really established a sweet relationship with plants. I was constantly growing something, harvesting something, processing plants and making little remedies with them, foraging for mushrooms and edible plants and cooking with them at home. I was fully immersed!

Eventually, I fell in love with herbalism, the practice of using plants to promote health and vitality. I’d been reading herb books, learning from my herbalist friends, and taking classes in person and online, but I wanted more! My mentor and friend, Faith Rodgers of Little Herbal Apothecary in Lafayette, CO encouraged me to enroll in an official herb school if I really wanted to learn more about herbalism. I didn’t even know such a school existed. In 2018, I moved to Colorado to begin my studies at the Colorado School of Clinical Herbalism (CSCH). This institution started in Boulder and has been run for many years by a number of incredible leaders in North America’s contemporary herbal world. It now operates in Lafayette, CO and offers online training, too.

While in school, I worked at the Little Herbal Apothecary making herbal body care and skincare products, making custom formulas for folks, and teaching a ton of classes on herbal topics. During my time there, I fell in love with teaching. As a former theatre kid, I really light up in front of an audience. Teaching has allowed me to fuse my love of herbs together with my penchant for entertaining!

I finished my studies at the Colorado School of Clinical Herbalism in 2020, and became a certified clinical herbalist and holistic nutritionist. My time there gave me a well rounded training in both the art of herbalism and the practice of providing clinical care. After graduation, I was honored to be invited to be a member of the faculty there. Now I teach budding herbalists how to hone their craft, and work with herbs safely and effectively.

In addition to teaching at CSCH, I run my own herbal business: Talk Wild Herbs. My business is multi-faceted. I still teach a lot of public and private classes at apothecaries, through organizations, to private companies, and in different community spaces along the Front Range. Talk Wild is also a private practice where I work as a clinical herbalist and holistic nutritionist coaching the herbal-curious in my community on ways to elevate their vitality and overcome health challenges. I am also so excited to offer my first six-month-long, in-person, outdoor, hands-on Community Herbal Mentorship Program this May through October! I’ll be leading a small group through a seasonal educational experience where students can get their hands dirty and deepen their relationship with plants.

Lately I am working on keeping my passion for herbalism alive. Any small business owner knows that when you make your passion your work, you can drift far away from the initial spark you once felt for your vocation. My latest herbalism date entailed hunting down some gorgeous cottonwood trees to harvest their resinous buds to infuse into oil!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Yes and no. Of course, running your own business is never easy. I constantly feel like I am trying to keep a balance between all the branches of my business: education, clinical work, making and selling products. Plus, all the while I need to keep a keen eye on the logistics of the operation. At any given moment, my to-do list feels 100 miles long.

But, the road always looks a little smoother in hindsight. So far, every step on my path has served me in such a beautiful way (even if it presented as a challenge or a headache at the time). From the farm, to the school, to all of the herbal jobs I’ve had the pleasure of working along the way, to running my own business. Each experience has flowed really seamlessly into the next. And each has prepared me for the challenges I’d come to face in the next phase of growth.

Ultimately, I feel so lucky to do this work. So the struggles feel like an integral facet of the privilege of being my own boss.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am an herbal educator and clinical herbalist. I love teaching, and being an herbal teacher is truly the foundation of my business. I love teaching to one person (working with clients is also a form of teaching), or 100 people. I have taught hundreds of students over the past eight years, and I still enjoy it.

My humor and playfulness set me apart from other folks in my industry. It’s not uncommon for students to approach me after a class and tell me that they couldn’t stop laughing. I always try to infuse comedy and play into my classes for a few reasons. First, when people have fun they’re more likely to enjoy their learning experience. And I think that jokes about a topic help us remember the information! Second, a playful energy in the classroom also helps students connect with each other more quickly. And since community is such a big part of herbalism, I want people to feel connected to each other when they take my classes. Also, I feel like wellness in general can feel like such a moralistic, serious, elitist and unnecessarily intense space. Humor can help us break down those barriers. Plus, I’m such a joker by nature, I mostly just can’t help myself.

Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
I teach through some organizations that I really care about! I am honored to return to teach an Urban Herbalism class series through Denver Urban Gardens this year. I also co-steward Denver Herb Club with a couple of my friends and colleagues. DHC offers free and low-cost opportunities to gather and learn about herbs with other Denver based folks!

My own life has been made so much richer through the use of safe, accessible medicinal herbs. I feel so blessed to carry this ancestral knowledge with me day to day. Herbs are like good friends – they’re so soothing and comforting, uplifting and fortifying. They can make you feel like yourself again. Herbalism is so empowering, too. It’s such a good feeling to know how to take care of yourself with gentle-yet-powerful remedies that are sitting in your pantry. I encourage anyone who is curious about herbs to reach out to me, or go visit your local apothecary and chat with one of the herbalists there. There is a beautiful herbal community in Denver that’s full of brilliant people!

Pricing:

• Clinical Sessions: $50-$150
• Public Classes: $25-$55
• Private Classes: $175-$400
• Mentorship Program: $279/month

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.talkwildherbs.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talkwildherbs/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lizfaermark/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@talkwildherbs