After losing her mother to late stage 4B vaginal cancer, Tammy Marshall has dedicated her free time to holistically lessening the suffering of those who struggle with pain, illness, and anxiety. Referring to herself as an apothecary, Marshall has worked to perfect the art of alleviating the symptoms of her clients at the best quality for the best price at Herb and Hive.
What attracts customers to Marshall is the effectiveness of her products at a fraction of the price that pharmacies peddle expensive drugs that could have devastating side effects. She began educating herself on the possibilities of holistic medicine while taking care of her mother’s cancer. “I knew there had to be a way that I could replicate what we were buying over the counter and making it more affordable,” Marshall said. In Marshall’s products, the primary ingredients are microdoses of CBD and THC, the relieving chemicals found in cannabis and marijuana, and honey from her own bee farms to make holistic treatments from infused edibles, topicals, and more. “If there’s something I can add CBD to, if you can buy something medicated, I can make it for a fraction of the price.”
Marshall’s products help with anxiety, chronic pain, inflammation, and getting better sleep.
EDUCATING AGAINST THE STIGMA
The honey in Marshall’s products can help to treat allergies and be infused with medication to make it a sweet and enjoyable treat. It goes hand in hand with honeybee removal for her community, which not only gives the area peace of mind, but saves the bees so that they can continue pollinating and helping the earth. Through microdosing CBD and THC, patients can experience the symptom alleviation of these chemicals without experiencing a head high which leads to much of the negative association with them. “I’m able to make candy or baked goods that allows people to medicate themselves and they get the same relief that they get with a prescription,” she said. “I’m trying to break the stigma. Cannabis plants don’t have to be scary. There is a way to use it and that is what we’re seeing now.”
Marshall is not unused to doubts about her products. “Things are expensive and people think what I do is a bunch of malarkey. How can CBD help my pain and anxiety?” But when many people who previously doubted the validity of holistic medicine are now repeating customers thanks to education and sampling, it helps to further solidify Marshall’s faith in her industry.
THE HOLISTIC PROCESS
Marshall began to seriously dedicate her time to her creation of holistic treatments in 2017, but never planned for it to become a long term business until she realized the need for it as people began approaching her for help with their symptoms. “It started with sharing my journey with my friends and making medicine for them and it just evolved. My ‘business’ wasn’t a business for the first couple of years,” Marshall explained. “What I make is kind of magical and people know what I do and shared their experiences with other people and the group just kind of grew by itself because my products are phenomenal.”
Her treatments start with having a one on one consultation with her client to understand their symptoms and needs and sending them back with samples of different products. Marshall claims that chemotherapy patients form a large percentage of customers seeking relief from the stress of their disease and treatment.
After consulting and sending samples, Marshall will continue to discuss what is working and what needs more tailoring for her customer to find the perfect dose and product. “Everybody’s different,” she said. “My receptors are different than your receptors. You tell me what you need and I tell you how to get the effect that you need at the price available.”
THE STRUGGLE OF BALANCE
“Balance is really hard,” said Marshall, who works a day job as a penchant specialist for the state of New Jersey from the early morning to the afternoon and spends the rest of her day from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. running her passion project of Herb and Hive. “I have to be mindful that I’m only one person and I can only do so much. I wish there were more hours in a day.”
Despite the struggle, over the years Marshall has taught herself some tips on how to help balance the managing of her passion for Herb and Hive with her full time job.
• FILL YOUR OWN CUP
Self care and treating your own needs, physically and mentally, is important for managing a business in a healthy way. “If I don’t fill my own cup I can’t help other people,” Marshall said. “I have to practice what I preach.”
• HOLD YOUR BOUNDARIES
This is especially important with time management and establishing when you are available to your customers. For Marshall, this is especially important when her customers often contact her through her personal phone number to ask questions or get assistance. It’s important to establish when you are and aren’t available to speak to customers. “I have to talk to customers and see if that need is immediate, and if it’s not, I’ve to say, ‘hey, I’ll get back to you tomorrow or this evening.’”
Eventually, Marshall would like to see if Herb and Hive could become sustainable on its own and work on it full time. “We’re making everything here,” she said. “People love hand made products, made with love. I’m here to educate and that’s my passion.”
