Meet Shannon Mulligan-Mayernik | Herbalist + Plant Medicine Maker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Shannon Mulligan-Mayernik and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Shannon, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
Communication.

As a small business, communication is everything, both with our customers as well as our team.

When it comes to our customers, we are an open book. We don’t shy away from sharing anything. The transparency we have with our customers, both online and in-store, allows them to know, like, and trust us. They know we won’t beat around the bush when they have questions for us on our products, growing practices or anything business related. If we are unsure of an answer, we get back to them quickly with a answer.

My past career was in customer service and I have seen first hand how that can make or break a relationship with a client/customer.

Within out team, communication is so important because we are such a small group, we often have to wear a few hats at the same time to make sure everything is getting done properly and on time. We communicate on a daily basis and I think that helps keep everything flowing nicely.

Without communication, I can imagine a company can fail quickly, that is why it will always be a top priority for us and our brand.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Here at Mayernik Kitchen, we are a seed to product company. What does that mean you may ask.

Well, our season starts in February here in New Jersey. We start seeds the first weekend in February and are tending to those seeds until about mid-April when they can get out into our greenhouses. Once we get the established seedlings into the greenhouses, we start more seeds. Succession planting is important to us so we continually have plants growing. Once we hit our last frost date (mid-May), we get those plants into the ground. Once in the ground, we get to watch them thrive for the next few months until harvest. We harvest up until about mid-November (depending on the weather) so as you can see, it’s a good 10-months of working with these plants that we then turn into medicinal preparations.

This is one way we stand apart from others. We are not only making herbal products but we are growing our herbs from seed to make those products. We are not relying on bulk purchases of dry herbs to make a lot of our products. Yes, of course we do purchase some herbs that may not grow in our area but we try our hardest to grow what we can to use in our products.

Some challenges that come with growing a lot of our own plants is the weather. In 2022, we faced a terrible drought that really hindered our growing of some plants that love a wet environment. This year, we haven’t had to water more than 3 times due to the amount of rain we’ve gotten. Farming is not easy and it’s really out of our hands when it comes to the rain/heat/frost. Mother Nature takes the wheel on those decisions.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Well living in Northern NJ, we have the best of a lot of worlds here. We could head east and be in NYC within 30 min. or head north and be in the Hudson Valley of NY in 20 min. We could also head south and be at some of the nicest beaches in New Jersey. So we really live/farm in an area that gives us a lot of exposure to different areas.

What I think I would do is head north to the Hudson Valley. We’d stop at local breweries as we love to support other local, small businesses and I think each brewer has their own way of making beer, kind of like herbalists. We all have our own little spin on preparing different products. We’d enjoy the fresh bounty at farm to table restaurants and would find little towns along the way to stop and shop in.

When my husband and I explore a new area, there are a few things we always look for: herb shops, breweries, bookstores & pottery studios. I think you can tell a lot about a town if you find one (or all four) of these small business’s.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Absolutely!

I’d love so shout out my mentor and friend Robin Rose Bennett. It was about 15 years ago that I took a plant medicine class with her, and that is the night that changed my life forever. I feel in LOVE with herbalism and started to dive deep into the world of plants. I took many of Robin’s classes and was a part of her 3-year apprenticeship where I learned so much of what I am teaching now. I also took a year of clinical work with her in New York City where I learned how to work 1:1 with clients. To this day, I will forever be grateful for the knowledge Robin has shared with me, as it makes me a better herbalist day after day.

Robin has written two books that I recommend on a daily basis:
Healing Magic, 10th Anniversary Edition: A Green Witch Guidebook to Conscious Living
The Gift of Healing Herbs: Plant Medicines and Home Remedies for a Vibrantly Healthy Life

Website: https://www.mayernikkitchen.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mayernikkitchen

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mayernikkitchennj

Image Credits
Laura Lee Creative