Who is the Herbalist Behind HBH? An Interview with AspiringCo.com
I was recently featured by AspiringCo.com! Sometimes I look at polished interview responses and wonder if that will ever be me? Polished though I may not be, this interview sounds just like me and that makes me happy. Community, tradition, and science until the end, baby!
Pronouns: she/her
Age: 39
Job Title/Company: Herbalist, owner at Health Bestowing Hands, Taiwan
Tell us a little about who you are.
I’m Vicky, Herbalist and owner of Health Bestowing Hand in Taiwan. I bring twenty years of experience in herbal medicine and nutrition to help people achieve goals that range from better sleep to handling autoimmune disorders.
What sparked your interest in starting your business(es)?
In my late teens, I was lucky to have fallen into a job where I discovered a passion for working in health. That job required an exhaustive knowledge of everything about supplements, herbs, and the body as well as the ethics and safety of using holistic therapies. I started studying then and never stopped. I left Canada in my early twenties and once my life started to settle a bit in my thirties, Health Bestowing Hands went from an ember I was carrying somewhere inside to a roaring fire in my belly. People had so many questions and I had answers. I was ready to step into service in my community as an herbalist.
Who are you most influenced by?
Today the herbal mentors, teachers, and practitioners I respect most are all grounded in science, tried-and-true traditional practices, and care deeply about intersectional social issues. They take my breath away with how eloquently they approach botanical medicine and community.
And yet?
It’s my country-ass parents. They are pragmatic in the extreme, committed community builders and tenders. Day to day they showed me that we are here on this earth for each other. I also watched my mom spend so many years advocating for herself and looking for health answers when doctors weren’t helping her. She taught me to really listen and believe people’s experiences of their lives and their bodies. I feel my work flows from that foundation.
What was your first job and how long did you hold that position?
In my family, we are big believers in work and the importance of purpose. So I was babysitting early on! Then summer nanny, working in convenient stores, and food takeaways before moving to the job at Foodsmiths that I started in my teens. I gave four (five?) years there and cried like a baby when I decided to leave.
Can you share one of your proudest achievements with us?
One of my biggest achievements is actually someone else’s! One of the first big cases I worked on as HBH. From the bottom up, that person’s health went from zero to hero. I won’t be giving away personal details, but what I can say is that it wasn’t because we filled that person up with expensive supplements or woo-woo treatments. It was the integration of personalized small and sustainable lifestyle and nourishment adjustments, herbs, and safe space that changed this person’s life enormously. But they did the hard part. I just provided the container and guidance.
What were your initial goals with your work? How have they evolved?
As someone who never planned more than a few weeks in the future, I DID actually have two goals in mind at the beginning of Health Bestowing Hands~ 1. I knew that plant medicine was potent and that I wanted to help it help more people. 2. I wanted people to see me as a trusted health resource.
Can you friggin’ believe it never occurred to me to make money? Ohmygawd, I’m not kidding. Like, it truly never occurred to me for years.
I’m going inward at the moment, reevaluating my goals for HBH as we speak. I can’t get these words out of my head: Community Living memory Sustainability Earth-centered
My business is tricky in Taiwan, so when my evolved goals fully reveal themselves, they will incorporate those feelings. And making money!
What do you think is the most important life skill you learned through your work?
All my life I thought I was missing a part of my brain or something. Others could just pick up big tasks and do them all the way through. I could only do that if I was deeply invested in or passionate about something. I was the odd person out because I couldn’t perform like others. Service to my community in the form of herbal medicine has been my way through. When I love something, I am IN IT, you know? All in and everything flows from me because it’s a force of nature. I learned to be more skillful in crafting a life that flows for me instead of tearing myself down for not meeting expectations.
Where do you hope to be in five years?
Can I just say again that this is not a skill I come by honestly? A coach started me on exercises like this. Actually a mentor tried, too. Let’s say what works for me: You’re in an empty room in your mind’s eye. Fill up the space around you with things you’d like to be in your life five years from now. Plants, sooooooo many plants Several months of easy to arrange time away from my business every year A full income from HBH Lots of light, and sun, and fresh air Safety for Taiwan! When people think of holistic health and buying herbal medicine in Taiwan, they go to me and Health Bestowing Hands instead a off-island big brands because what I make is FIRE.
What is a typical day like for you?
I go for a run, drink matcha, bang a gong…
In my dreams! Fffft, I don’t even run in my dreams.
The second half of my day is for teaching and the first half is me wearing the many, many hats of my one-woman-business. What I guard carefully is alone time at the beginning of each day. As someone who would ideally be alone 93% of the day, I read, write, scroll, stretch, work with my plants, whatever. But the time is MINE.
What was the biggest obstacle you’ve faced so far in the process of pursuing your goals?
There is no legitimate track for my type of work in Taiwan’s system. There are obstacles to promoting my business and working outside my native language. So I try to maximize my presence in the English speaking community. Taiwan is worth it though.
What is the best piece of advice you have received?
I have two I pass along to people all the time.
From my dad during an especially gut wrenching decision early on- If you take all the best information you have at the time and make a decision based on that, it can never be a bad decision because you did the absolute best you could have at the time. No regret.
The other is when people ask about starting a business in Taiwan. I ask them how many shit sandwiches they think they are prepared to eat (it’s from an old Marc Maron podcast episode). Because there will absolutely be some. After the initial energy and fire of beginning a business wears off and things are hard, are you prepared to eat those shit sandwiches? A bunch of them? Because if not, if you don’t love it that much, maybe wait for something you do love that much.
When do you get your best ideas?
In nature. Without a doubt. Especially the area around my village in Canada. Since I was a kid, I’ve known every plant by how it feels on my hand and smells on my skin. I live that land. Everything grows wild in me there.
Can you share with us one time that you failed and what you learned from that failure?
Never happens. *cough* Or maybe always. Is the lesson keep on keepin’ on? I’ve made so many mistakes. I don’t really think of them as failures though. I consider ethical stuff like when my behaviour doesn’t align with my values a failure.
But a mistake? Not understanding that money is energy and energy has value. ~When I overworked and felt burned out? I wasn’t balancing what everything was worth to me with a healthy perspective. ~When I gave things away for free thinking it would bring me business. People often don’t respect/appreciate what they don’t pay for. Their payment is a transfer of perceived value. ~I no longer ask to ‘pick your brain’ or ask for an exchange in products. Money changes hands or I offer it as a show that I respect your time and/or expertise.
How do you unwind?
Does anyone give the trash answer along with their aspirational one? I work in my plants, try to get out of the house and do something different, jump on my bicycle because it clears my head and feels amazing. My trash answer is that I scroll social media and watch tv shows more than I’d like, too. Give me something post apocalyptic with zombies or old episodes of Grey’s Anatomy and I’ll unplug for hours.
What did you want to be as a kid?
Couldn’t plan ahead so I hardly thought about it. I pretended to be a scientist in a lab. I pretended to be the last person alive in the world in the forest. I got to know every plant I came across. How it felt, and smelled, and sounded. Some things come up through us whether we realize it or not and herbal medicine was like that for me.
Can you share a sacrifice you have made to pursue your dream?
I think friends would presume that I’d say I sacrificed time with them over the years for HBH. But it’s not true. There is a season for everything. And work, when I was really elbow deep in it, was a season and that was right where I should have been. But HOW I worked, that’s another thing. I saw work-till-you-crash modeled for me as a kid. Working with razor thin margins of energy and self-nourishment, I sacrificed my needs in favor of the needs of HBH in previous years. It turns out I didn’t have to though! Work smarter not harder, you know? I work with much greater ease now.
What would you tell someone else who is interested in entering your field? Herbal medicine is a big field! Is turning this passion or interest into paid work the right move and if yes, which area is for you?
I’ve often heard the advice to get a job in a health food store’s supplement department or similar if you can. It worked for me! You can feel out if working with people and solutions is your jam or isn’t. Perhaps the research side lights you up and you can work for a big company like Herb Pharm or in research and development. Maybe you discover that the necessary meticulous info tracking for business like accounting, sourcing, production, and batch recording leaves you uninspired and you just want to make herb-based balms and teas for you and your family. That’s valid, too!
What do you hope people take away from your story?
This answer is taking me the longest. I suppose what I always hoped and what turned out to be true~ That there are so many fulfilling ways to live a life, not just the few we’re sold early on.
