Hidden Gems: Meet Lynn Park of Kanji Naturals

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lynn Park.

Hi Lynn, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My career started as a food scientist for large Fortune 500 companies. After 14 years, I “retired” and became a full-time mom of four children and homeschooled them for a 24-year period. During this time I did a lot of research, took courses on natural health and how to teach kids with neurological and learning disabilities. All four of my children had irritated nervous systems and some learning disabilities. As part of this learning process, I was led to a whole spectrum of natural health practices I had never heard of, from cranial sacral to healing touch, acupuncture, Naturopathy and herbal teas and tinctures to supplements to help the nervous system.

As I found success in helping my family with their health, I began learning how to grow and utilize herbs and plants myself. I shared some of these teas with my circle of friends and they convinced me I had to start selling these teas.

I was struggling at this point with who I am now that I wasn’t raising children, and this struck me as my path and how I could help people heal. I have a Master’s degree in Nutrition and attended a college studying to be a certified herbalist, and I was thrilled to find an outlet to share my love of health and healing.

So I met with the SBDA in Moorhead and began starting my company, Kanji Naturals. My company’s focus is on healing with nature. This includes nature photography, flower art, herbal teas, flower essences, incense, natural perfumes, healing balms (Balm of Gilead) for muscles, joints and a first aid balm. With the exception of incense resins, 90% of the flowers and herbs come from my own gardens. We heal best with plants that grow around us living through the same conditions we are. These herbs also taste better and have better medicinal value vs. herbs grown in other countries or states that are shipped to a warehouse and sit for long periods of time before consumption.

We all face challenges, but would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road to starting Kanji Naturals has been a lot smoother than I ever dreamed it would be. Thanks to the people I met with at SBDA and my experience in the food industry, I was prepared for a lot of the legal issues of starting up a tea business. There have been many friends who have started a small businesses in the Red River Valley that have been generous with their time, advice and recommendations that have been invaluable as well.

The biggest obstacles I have come across are lack of knowledge of customers of the benefits and uses of the products I sell and the need to spend time educating them about the power and limits of these natural remedies.

My struggle now is growing the quantity of herbs for the growing business. I have had several organic farmers in the region willing to help me and to use some of their lands. With the increasing cost of gas and lack of machinery needed for upscaled harvesting, it has been difficult to move forward. I am still figuring that out, and it’s a good problem to have.

I feel like right now, I am in a sweet spot, where I can sell all I can grow. If I upscale, it involves hiring employees and investing in equipment and I’m not ready for that yet.

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?
My business is focused on healing with products made from nature and my uniqueness is that I grow 90% of the flowers and plants I use in my business. It is fresh and grown using organic practices. What I can’t grow, I forage for on organic farms and woodlands or purchase from a trusted, organic supplier. The difference in taste is immediately noticeable with fresh herbs.

My tea blends are developed from experience successfully dealing with many health issues of my family and myself. From blends to help with stress or anxiety or grief to healing the digestive tract to helping with sleep. There are teas for relaxing, for energizing, for supporting the brain or supporting the liver and so on. I work to develop blends that not only heal, but taste good.

My products are available in a few stores, but mostly I sell at farmer’s markets and online.

Because so many people asked me questions at the markets and were surprised that these herbs could be grown up in zones 3/4, I decided to start a blog to teach how to grow and use herbs in zone 3/4. Most information available commercially does not apply to our growing zones. This quickly transitioned to starting a community medicinal garden in Dilworth that I invite anyone and everyone to participate in. Anyone that shows up to work in the garden gets to take home what they harvest and I teach a quick lesson on a specific herb. This garden runs weekly from May thru October. This has been a marvelous opportunity to teach people they can grow their own gardens and “medicine”. Courses on herbalism can be very expensive. I want to make it available to anyone who wants to learn for no cost. The city of Dilworth lets me use some of their land at no cost and I provide the seeds/plants. This is our second full year running the garden and I have found many people willing to donate plants to help us out.
As garden participants get comfortable growing, harvesting and using their herbs, I am seeing them making their own tinctures and teas and using them for their families. It is very satisfying to empower the people that live around me. So many plants that grow spontaneously in our yards and gardens have powerful medicinal qualities, let’s use them.

Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I get very anxious about taking risks, but I know sometimes we have to step out there to succeed. I usually do not risk more than I can compensate for in my savings. For me, my start-up and maintenance costs are minimal since I grow most of my ingredients. The biggest risks I have are the reaction of customers to new products. I start small scale and grow it as the demand increases. If the demand isn’t there, I have gifts to hand out to volunteers or neighbors, and friends.

Pricing:

• Teas start at $8.50
• Flower essences at $10
• Balms and salves at $12
• Incense $12

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.Kanjinaturals.com
• Instagram: @kanjinaturals
• Facebook: kanji naturals and hope | joy medicinal gardens

Image Credits
M. Schleif photography and my own photography