The Story Behind Trinity Herbal Apothecary

One of the questions I'm asked more than any other at craft shows is, "How did you get started doing this?"

The short answer is that I wanted skincare that actually worked for my family.

The longer answer starts many years before Trinity Herbal Apothecary ever existed.

I was raised as an only child in the old part of Powell, Ohio. Our property backed up to cornfields, with railroad tracks running along one side. While other kids were riding bikes through the neighborhood, I was happiest wandering the woods and fields, usually with some animal following me—or more accurately, with me trying to convince my parents that whatever critter I'd found "needed me."

My dad deserves a lot of the credit for encouraging my curiosity. He took me fishing, mushroom hunting, and anywhere else he thought I'd enjoy being outdoors. I was the kid who never stopped asking questions. Ever. About everything.

Sometimes I'd get a real answer. Sometimes I'd get a completely ridiculous one because, looking back now after raising four kids myself—and having one who still asks all the questions—he was probably tired of answering them. But he always made sure I knew what plants were safe, what wasn't, and what absolutely shouldn't be touched or eaten.

He also had a saying (one of many!) that I've since passed on to my own kids:

"You can eat anything... once."

It still makes me laugh.

My dad also nicknamed me Elly May because I was constantly surrounded by animals or dragging one home convinced it needed rescuing. Looking back, not much has changed.

As I grew older, life took me in different directions. I worked in management, owned businesses, became a real estate agent, remodeled homes, and learned a little about a lot of different industries. I enjoyed parts of every job, but I never felt quite like I fit. I often describe it as feeling like an oval peg trying to fit into a round hole. I could do the work, but it wasn't where my passion lived.

That passion was always waiting for me outside.

Alongside my love of nature came another constant in my life: sensitive skin.

I've dealt with acne, razor burn, reactions to commercial skincare products, and even a move to a house with well water that my skin absolutely hated. The most frustrating part wasn't even finding products that worked—it was finding one my skin loved, only to have the company change the formula a year later.

It happened over and over again.

Eventually I thought, "What if I just made my own?"

I already had a growing collection of herbs that I used for teas, tinctures, and other projects, so making skincare seemed like a natural next step.

What I didn't realize was just how deep that rabbit hole went.

I wasn't satisfied knowing that an ingredient was "good." I wanted to know why it was good.

Why choose shea butter instead of mango butter?

Why jojoba oil instead of sweet almond oil?

Where does each ingredient come from?

How is it processed?

Can I source it ethically?

Is there a better option?

Those questions sent me down years of reading, testing, experimenting, failing, trying again, and slowly building what has become a rather large library of books and resources.

Along the way I made some pretty terrible products.

There was a lip balm that wasn't bad. I still haven't perfected lip gloss...

A hand cream that was... incredibly greasy.

Some bath salts that were okay.

Every batch taught me something.

I started giving products to family and friends, asking for honest feedback. If you've ever tested products for me, you know I wasn't looking for compliments—I was looking for criticism. Please don't tell me it's wonderful while quietly throwing it away later. Tell me it stinks. Tell me it's too greasy. Tell me it absorbed too slowly. Tell me you hate the scent. I can't fix a problem if nobody tells me it's there.

Eventually, all that reading and all those failed batches turned into something that finally felt right.

The first time I made a lotion that looked and felt like an actual lotion, I remember thinking, "Wait... I actually did it."

The first successful batch of soap gave me the same feeling. I'd tackled the intimidating world of sodium hydroxide and somehow ended up with real soap.

That was the moment I realized I might actually be able to do this.

Around the same time, my husband Lewis casually mentioned that goat's milk made excellent soap and lotion.

I agreed.

That sounded like something worth researching.

Apparently, he interpreted that as, "We should buy goats."

Before I knew it, he came home from an auction with dairy goats that were already in milk.

Now, I should probably mention that I didn't even like goats.

It's the rectangular pupils for me. I know cats have weird pupils too, and no, that doesn't make my logic any more consistent.

So my daughter and I watched a couple of YouTube videos and figured out how to milk goats.

Turns out... goat's milk really does make wonderful skincare.

Who knew?

As my products improved, friends, family, and customers kept encouraging me to start selling them.

So I signed up for my first craft show.

Looking back, it was a disaster.

I'd only been to a handful of craft shows in my life, so I showed up without a tent because I didn't know I needed one. My husband came to the rescue once again. I wasn't really nervous—I was too busy hoping I hadn't forgotten something important and trying not to look like I had absolutely no idea what I was doing.

To my surprise, people stopped.

They asked questions.

They picked up the products.

And they bought them.

What struck me wasn't just the sales. It was realizing that there were so many other people looking for the same kinds of products I'd wanted for myself.

A couple of weeks later, I reached out to a local store after misunderstanding a Facebook post about one of their events. The event wasn't what I thought it was, but the owners invited me to set up anyway because they had been looking for a local skincare maker.

Not long after that, they asked if they could carry my products in their store.

I don't know that I'll ever forget that feeling.

Someone who didn't know me wanted my products sitting on their shelves.

That was the moment Trinity Herbal Apothecary stopped feeling like a hobby.

Eventually I had to make a difficult decision.

Stay in real estate or give this business the attention it deserved.

After many conversations with my husband—and knowing that if everything completely fell apart I could always go back to another job—I decided to bet on myself.

It was one of the best decisions I've ever made.

Today, I still research constantly.

I still read.

I still test.

I still ask questions.

I don't chase trends simply because they're popular. If an ingredient goes into one of my products, it has a job to do. Every butter, every oil, every herb, every infusion is there because I believe it contributes something worthwhile.

That philosophy hasn't changed since the day I made my first greasy hand cream.

Neither has my curiosity.

At the end of the day, Trinity Herbal Apothecary exists for the same reason it started.

My family has sensitive skin. We've all dealt with products that didn't work the way they promised or came with side effects we didn't want. I wanted something better for us.

Now I get to make those same products for other families.

I still don't know everything, and I don't think I ever will—and I wouldn't want to. The world is full of ingredients to discover.

There's always another herb to study, another formulation to improve, another question to ask.

Honestly, I hope that never changes.

And if you ever see me at a festival looking like I'm concentrating a little too hard, feel free to tell me to fix my face.

I'll probably laugh.

Then I'll happily spend the next twenty minutes explaining exactly why I chose one ingredient over another.