Today we’d like to introduce you to Chase Fincher.
Hi Chase, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
As a young person, I was always curious about nature, and drawn to the natural world around me. As I grew up, I learned more about the hidden world of plants, and all of what they can do for us. This sent me down a rabbit hole of knowledge, learning and garnering as much as I could about this new realm.
I really started my journey in Asheville, where I went to school for herbalism, permaculture design, and business. Just being in a place where the art of herbalism is cultivated so heavily made a world of difference for my work, I really felt like I got the ‘book smart’ and ‘street smart’ experience all in one. I got to learn about the technical world of botany and plant medicine, while exploring some of the most beautiful and inspiring gardens that were cultivated to teach and heal. These spaces laid the foundation for what my future garden and practice would look like. Seeing the many different avenues open to me in this field, I knew I wanted to try a bit of everything.
For a time I made herbal remedies to sell at the local farmers market, and really focused on wholesale production, providing remedies to dozens of stores around the country. From there I decided to try out my own retail location in Hendersonville, NC. This labor of love showed me a different side of herbalism, and let me get to know the folks who used my remedies on a more personal level. Being located directly across the street from the hospital, many times a new customer would enter my store with a fresh diagnosis from the doctor, looking for alternatives to pharmaceutical treatment. And I’ll be honest, this created a great dichotomy within me, and helped me to really get clear about what work I wanted to present to the world, I think there’s a time and place for modern medicine, and am by no means what many would call “crunchy”, so I felt the need to refine myself and my work, in a way that wasn’t just enabling those who came to see me in their anti medicine approach. As my lease came to an end, Covid lockdowns began. I decided to see this great tragedy, as my opportunity for refinement, and closed the store.
For a year I sold my makings exclusively online, and took the time in lockdown to get clear about my practice. I ultimately found myself reflecting on the desires I had when I first started on this path. I wanted my own herb garden. A place where from seed to finished remedy, my hands had done it all. I found the perfect place in my hometown of Spartanburg, and came back to the great state. For the first few years I gardened away, and made every plant based remedy that I could think to make. I did farmers markets, artisan pop ups, taught classes, and continued to sell online. But Spartanburg is a different place than everywhere else I’ve had my business, and I had to make some changes to better serve the people that live here. We have a diverse culture of natural wellness here, however, it is greatly removed from the source that it came, and many don’t know why their ancestors did what they did for their healing. In the practice of herbalism we use a great variety of plants, and many here aren’t well known, so I had to really focus on education and making this art more accessible. I sat and thought for a long time in the garden, not wanting my work to have been for not, and I had an idea.
There’s this old time herbal remedy called an Oxymel, it’s an infusion of herbs in apple cider vinegar and honey, and for years I’d be making them so accessible without realizing it. I had been making drinks, “mocktails” if you will, using my oxymels. I would take them to parties, holiday gatherings, etc. and everyone loved them. This idea made me realize that we can want good for ourselves, we can want natural wellness in our lives, we can desire to be inspired by plants, and not have to understand everything about the art of herbalism to have this access. We can just benefit from what’s around us. So my work now focuses on something very simple, that I think everyone can understand, how plants make us feel. How they calm our nerves, inspire our next venture, and help us make connections with each other. That revelation has led us to today, where I make my own herbal infused mocktail mixers, using herbs that benefit and have an effect on the nervous system, for folks to make their own drinks at home with. This has allowed hundreds of locals to take their herbal remedies in a way that is memorable, feels good, benefits the body, and creates a relationship with the plants that they can further expound upon if they wish, or they can just revel in feeling good.
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?
My path has been a lot like the changing of the seasons. I’ve had wonderful Summers where the abundance is more than I know what to do with, and long Winters where I wasn’t sure I would have a business that lived to see the fresh sprouts of Spring. Having a more niche business, and one that involves a lot of my personal time as well, there have been struggles to balance. In trying the many avenues that I have, I’ve learned the lessons of preservation, and persistence. When a large part of your income comes from farmers markets and artisan pop ups, you live a very seasonal life. There’s a great flow of cash during peak seasons of summer and during the holidays, that crawl to almost a halt during other times of the year. Because of this, I’ve had to learn how to make the earnings of a few months, last much longer. This also led to a lot of the other things I’ve done within my business, like teaching classes, and wholesale opportunities that I may not have sought out should things been more consistent. And of course in moving back to Spartanburg, I had to reintroduce myself to the community. So much had changed in the town, and so much within myself had changed from when I left at 18. Reacquainting myself with old friends and meeting new people has been a great highlight, but it hasn’t all been easy and I’m sure in 10 years when things inevitably shift again, I’ll be just as grateful for the friends I’ve made and the lessons I’ve learned.
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?
I like to say that The At Home Apothecary is a reflection of myself, my garden, my form of herbalism, and all that I wish to share with the world, and Flame & Moonlight Tonics is her more popular sister. While the goals are very much the same, The At Home Apothecary is much more encompassing of my skills and talents, while Flame & Moonlight Tonics focuses very directly on my current mission to make herbalism more accessible. The well known herbalist Rosemary Gladstar gave a short talk a few years back where she said something along the lines of “it’s the job of young and modern herbalist to bring herbalism into the modern world in a way that makes people want to use it.” This idea that we need to make more than just the recipes that have been handed down through time, really birthed the most successful part of the business to date.
My herbal infused Mocktail Mixers aren’t much different than a tincture or supplement when it comes to what herbs we put into the infusions, but the way it’s made is unlike anything else. The oxymel, the apple cider vinegar and honey infusion that inspired my mocktail mixers, is versatile but seen as something that is primarily used like a tincture. It’s a supplement taken orally, and not much more. My mocktail mixers took the flavor profile of the oxymel, and made it into something that is intentionally added to a beverage. You’re not meant to “take a shot” or a dropper-full directly into your mouth the way you would an oxymel, but instead mix up something you want to sit, sip, and enjoy. My hope is that this new avenue inspires you to take the herbs that benefit your body and nervous system daily.
Apparently a spoon full of sugar really does help the medicine go down!
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
I like to think that I’m a calculated risk taker, and my business has allowed a lot of wiggle room for me. Of course I want a successful business, but at the end of the day the most important things are my health, my friends, my family, and whether or not there’s food on the table for everyone. Some things just aren’t worth risking for financial gain, so my risks have always had a “backup” plan that was just as important as the goals with taking the risk. Many would say that choosing herbalism as a career path is risky, there’s not much to do within the field unless you’re self employed. But the things I have gained from it really mitigated the risks. I may not be in a field where everyday people become millionaires, but I do now have a knowledge that leaves me rarely needing a doctor, I have a place to grow my own food and medicine, and skills that have proven useful in ways I didn’t expect. So in every risk I’ve taken, I’ve also found a comfort that made it feel much less risky, and actually more supportive and safe than other options I could have pursued.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.theathomeapothecary.com
- Instagram: @theathomeapothecary
- Facebook: @theathomeapothecarysc
