Meet Katie Bywater of Cactus Moon Apothecary

Today we’d like to introduce you to Katie Bywater.

Katie, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I always say my work began the moment I finally slowed down enough to hear myself again. For more than a decade, I worked as a People and Talent leader in the technology and renewable energy space. I loved supporting mission driven teams, but over time I realized I was tending to everyone else’s growth while abandoning my own. My body was exhausted, my spirit felt far from home, and something inside me kept whispering that there was another way I was meant to serve.

Once I had this realization, I stepped away from my career and gave myself what I now call my Summer of Surrender. I spent that season listening, healing, walking in nature, and reconnecting with the parts of myself I had pushed aside. Herbs became a steady companion in that process. What started as blending teas for my own nervous system slowly unfolded into Cactus Moon Apothecary, a chakra inspired herbal wellness brand now carried in over 50+ spas, yoga studios, and shops across the country. But Cactus Moon was never just about tea. It was about offering people simple rituals that help them come home to their bodies and reconnect to the earth.

As my healing deepened, something else became clear. Personal healing is not separate from collective change. When a woman feels safe in her body, when she remembers her power, when she reconnects to nature and community, she naturally begins to ripple that healing outward. That truth is at the heart of everything I do.

This is what led me to create The School of Conscious Change. It is a space for women who feel called to lead but want to do it in a way that is grounded, embodied, and aligned with the earth. Through seasonal programs, retreats, and The Conscious Changemaker Mystery School, I guide women to root into themselves so they can rise as conscious changemakers.

Today my work sits at the intersection of personal healing and regenerative leadership. I create products and rituals that soothe and support the nervous system, and I build community spaces where women remember that their inner work is world work. None of this was planned, but all of it feels like a homecoming to my purpose.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Definitely not a smooth road. Beautiful, yes. Honest and humbling, yes. Smooth, no.

One of the biggest struggles was leaving a career and identity I had spent a decade building. I worked incredibly hard to become Head of People at two different renewable energy companies before I turned 30, and for a long time, my career gave me a clear sense of purpose and validation. Walking away from that was not just a practical decision. It was a grieving process. I had to let go of the version of myself who was always “on,” always responsible for everyone else, fueled by achievement, and learn how to belong to myself again without the title and the steady paycheck.

Another challenge has been choosing to build my business from a completely different value system than the one I came from. We live in a culture that glorifies hustle, burnout, and constant output. I made a clear decision that I do not want to build my life or my work that way. I want joy. I want spaciousness. I want my business to feel like an expression of my values, not a recreation of the patterns that once drained me. So I have had to unlearn urgency, move at a pace that feels more aligned with nature, and trust that sustainability comes from alignment, not overwork. That has required a lot of self-trust.

I also stepped into a completely new industry. I went from HR and Talent Acquisition into product development, retail, and leadership coaching. I had to learn everything from sourcing herbs, pricing and margins, and packaging to how to pitch to retailers and navigate wholesale deals. Learning sales has been its own initiation. I am a deeply relational person, but selling my own work brought up all my stuff around visibility, worth, and fear of rejection. It has taken practice to find a way of selling that feels authentic and grounded.

There have been plenty of bumps and bruises as a solo entrepreneur. I have made mistakes with packaging, timelines, and inventory. I have had launches that felt quiet. I have had days where I questioned everything and wondered if I should just go back to the familiar path. It can be lonely to hold the full vision, the finances, the operations, and the creative direction by yourself.

But underneath all of that, there has also been a deep sense of rightness. Every challenge has asked me to become more rooted in the truth that guides my work. I am not trying to build another business that extracts from my life. I am creating something that nourishes me so that I can nourish others. Because personal healing fuels collective change, and the way we build our businesses is part of that healing.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
At its core, my work is about helping people reconnect to themselves and to the earth so they can live and lead in a more conscious way. I do that through two branches: Cactus Moon Apothecary and The School of Conscious Change. They are separate offerings, but they come from the same root system. Both are built on the belief that personal healing fuels collective change.

Cactus Moon Apothecary is my herbal wellness brand based here in Colorado. We offer chakra balancing teas, aromatherapy products, and rituals designed to support the nervous system, deepen intuition, and bring people back to their bodies. What we are most known for right now is The Chakra Box Ritual Series. It is a seven month journey from Root to Crown, and each month subscribers receive a curated box focused on balancing one of the seven chakras. Every box includes an herbal tea, aromatherapy products, a guided meditation, and a full month’s worth of teachings and practices developed to balance each energy center in daily life. It is truly a healing experience in a box. People tell me it feels like someone is walking with them through a season of transformation, month by month.

Alongside the product side of the business lives The School of Conscious Change. This is where I support women who feel called into deeper leadership, but want to do it in a way that is embodied, ethical, and aligned with the earth. The signature offering of the School is the Conscious Changemaker Mystery School. It is a long form immersive journey with four phases: body, intuition, earth connection, and conscious leadership. It is designed to guide women from inner healing into grounded action, so they can lead change in their communities without abandoning themselves. I truly believe this is the work our world needs right now.

What sets my brand apart is the way everything is rooted in intention and the wisdom of nature. These are not just products. They are tools for healing. They are rituals. They are invitations to slow down, to listen, to remember your own wisdom. And the educational side of the business is not about high level leadership theory. It is about learning to lead from a place that is resourced, intuitive, connected, and deeply aligned.

Brand wise, I am most proud that everything feels like a living embodiment of my mission. The chakra teas, the subscription boxes, the classes, the writing, the retreats, the mystery school. They all tell the same story. Healing yourself is not selfish. It is a key part of how we heal the world and solve the problems our society is facing today.

If your readers remember one thing, I hope it is this. Whether they come to Cactus Moon for herbal support or join The School of Conscious Change for deeper transformation, my work is here to remind them that their inner work matters and that the way they show up in the world is incredibly powerful.

Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
My relationship to risk has completely changed over the years. I used to think of risk as something loud and dramatic, like leaping without looking or pushing yourself past your edges just to prove you can. Now I see risk as something quieter and much more intimate. It is the willingness to step toward the life that feels true, even when there is no guarantee it will work out. It is choosing alignment over certainty.

Leaving my corporate career was one of the biggest risks I have ever taken. I had spent more than a decade building that identity, that income, that sense of stability. Walking away meant letting go of a version of myself that was very successful on paper but disconnected from her own joy. It was both a risk and a return. I did not know who I would be without that structure, but I trusted that staying would cost me more than leaving.

Another huge risk has been building a business from values the world does not always reward. Choosing spaciousness over hustle, choosing joy over constant productivity, choosing healing as the foundation of my work. Those choices feel risky in a culture that teaches us to measure our worth by how much we produce and how many hours we grind. But I would rather risk moving at the pace of my own truth than succeed at something that empties me.

Stepping into a new industry was also a risk. I went from being an expert in my field to being a beginner. I had to learn products, retail, herbalism, sales, design, packaging, all while trusting my intuition to guide the way. Being a solo founder is its own daily risk because everything rests on your shoulders. You have to believe in something before anyone else sees it.

My philosophy around risk is this: leap and the net will appear. Not because the universe rewards recklessness, but because when you leap from alignment, you meet parts of yourself that would have never awakened if you had stayed on the ledge. The net is who you become in the process.

So I don’t see myself as fearless. I see myself as willing. And I think that is what risk asks of us. Not perfection. Not certainty. Just willingness to trust ourselves enough to take the next honest step.

Pricing:

• Chakra Box Ritual Series Pre-Orders are open through the end of January for 15% off the 7 month subscription (shipping February 1st) – subscribe here: https://cactusmoonapothecary.com/pages/chakra-box-subscription
• The Conscious Changemaker Mystery School Waitlist is open; join the waitlist here: https://cactusmoonapothecary.com/pages/the-conscious-changemaker-mystery-school

Contact Info:

• Website: https://cactusmoonapothecary.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cactusmoonapothecary/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiebywater/