As Seen on the Blox, Season 13!
Our founder, lead formulator, and fearless leader spent the week of her birthday in Tulsa, Oklahoma filming on season 13 of the Blox reality TV. Over 120 entrepreneurs from every...
Impact Botanicals crafts organic, herb-based body care products, designed to take beauty beyond skin deep.
Integrity and sustainability are at the core of every decision we make. When we say 'from soil to skin, only goodness goes in' - we mean it.
Scroll on to learn more about our company, our impact and mission.
A STORY OF ACTIVISM...
I’ve been writing letters to my elected officials since I was 10. My early attempts at circulating petitions were confiscated by my teachers for “disrupting the learning environment.”
The older I got the more I realized that I couldn’t just write and fight for causes; I wasn’t getting to the root of the issue. The more I understood about the biggest problems facing our society, the more I realized how interconnected everything was. You couldn’t have social justice without climate justice, racial justice, economic justice – the list goes on. Our problems were systemic, and we needed systemic solutions.
After the landmark Citizens United Supreme Court Case I realized that I, as an individual, could only do so much by “being the change I wanted to see in the world.” And it wasn’t enough for me. In the months after that court case, I decided that I would go beyond “being” and instead work to actively create the change I wanted to see in the world.
I would do that through entrepreneurship; I was going to create systemic solutions.
Okay… but how exactly?
OKAY, BUT HOW EXACTLY?
My master’s degree is in Ayurvedic herbal medicine. I graduated top of my class in patient care, and I went onto start my own private practice. In addition to my practice I was a consultant at one of Milwaukee’s top hospitals and I was a top-ranked teacher in the continuing education department at UW-Waukesha, where I taught about traditional medical paradigms and how agriculture policy impacted public health.
I began to develop products for my clients and realized I had a real talent for formulation. This is where I discovered the “how” of my vision. Retail products would allow me to grow and scale my vision. I could produce everything with renewable energy. I could have sustainable packaging. And I could hire those that needed a little extra help in life; those that struggled to find employment elsewhere. If I used my talent for formulation, I could start to build solutions into the better world I wanted. Three years later Impact Botanicals was born.
When you make a purchase from Impact Botanicals, you’re not just purchasing an organic and effective body care product. You are supporting a movement.
With All Humility and Sincerity,
Rachel
Impact Botanicals | Lead Herbalist | Founder & CEO
Vegan & Cruelty Free Products
We believe in compassion and sustainability, so vegan and cruelty-free was a logical choice! The Impact Botanicals’ founder is vegan, and many of our staff are vegan or plant-based. Our vegan products are often made by vegan humans!
Organic Ingredients
Our ingredients are USDA certified organic because – let’s be honest – there’s nothing eco-friendly, sustainable, or healthy about poisoning the soil with pesticides.
Occasionally, an ingredient that is difficult to certify is included in a product. These are almost always made from a tree or resin, and thus tricky for the USDA to certify as organic. But this is noted in the description and on the labels, and we are still quite selective in choosing a high grade from a trusted company.
Stakeholders Not Shareholders
Part of the Impact Botanicals business philosophy is to invest in the community. This means that we have stakeholders instead of shareholders. Whereas a shareholder’s first priority is economic gain, stakeholders have a vested interest in community betterment and growth.
Stakeholders are employees, neighbors, teachers, customers, city councilors, and so on. As much as we function as a retail store and a provider of herbal body care products, we strive to be a resource for our stakeholders. Whether a person buys our products, works for us, has a family member employed by us, or just engages in conversation for education’s sake, as a community, we have a vested interest in our mutual success.
People Over Profits
Falling in line with the communal philosophy, Impact Botanicals puts people over profits. This means that we, as a business, don’t believe in paying someone minimum wage. We find that the concept of “minimum” wage to be inherently devaluing. so we pay living wages. If profits go up, everyone, top to bottom, shares in the bonus. The tide raises all boats!
Land & Cultural Acknowledgments
Land Acknowledgement
Impact Botanicals operates on land that belongs to the Wampanoag nation, commonly known as the Greater Boston area. Our founder grew up and began her Ayurvedic practice on land taken by the Treaty of St. Louis (1804) from the Chippewa, Ottawa, Potawatomi and the Ho-Chunk nation, still known by its indigenous name: Milwaukee. These nations not only had their land stolen, but also their medicines, traditions, and cultures. It is a privilege to live on this land; to practice medicine traditions when so many others could not historically, and are still denied access to their traditional medicines today.
We recognize that like many in our contemporary context, Impact Botanicals continues to benefit from the use and occupation of the land known as Turtle Island, colonially known at North America. Most of the herbs used in our products are grown in North America. Impact Botanicals is located near the North Atlantic ocean, an area rich in commerce and trade, with some of the best educational institutions in the United States. We directly benefit from the privilege of living in an area with ample social services, natural resources, economic opportunity, and great natural beauty; access to which native peoples are denied through intentional, multi-faceted, systemic obstacles.
Cultural Acknowledgement
This company is founded on principals and knowledge from Vedic culture. Under British colonial rule Ayurveda, yoga, and other Vedic teachings were formally and purposefully suppressed. Our ability to learn and practice Ayurveda is made possible by those who kept the traditions alive, saving texts from book burnings and practicing in secret, under the threat of punishment from the British Raj. We'd like to express our deep gratitude and appreciation for all the teachers who kept the traditions alive and for those who brought the medicine to the United States, enabling and empowering others with through the medicine, providing access to knowledge that was kept from so many others. Our founder is one of many who have benefited from the fortitude, perseverance, and generosity of these teachers. Her understanding of the medicine is through the lens of a North American white woman and does not equate to the wisdom or traditions practiced in their original South Asian, or diasporic, cultural context.
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