Meet Erica Holm | Erica’s Herbals – responsibly foraged plants made into herbal remedies

We had the good fortune of connecting with Erica Holm and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Erica, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I have held many jobs over the years, mostly in restaurants, but after I moved back home I started teaching. I taught through COVID and became so stressed and mentally distressed that I knew something major had to change. I had a friend ask me, “If you could do whatever you wanted, and money wasn’t a factor, what would you do instead?”

I honestly had not even thought about that. I just figured I’d be a worker bee my whole life.. but I told her, “I’d really love to be able to go into the woods and play with plants. I want to create remedies that help people and heal me while I’m at it.” I dove into herbalism and tried to learn as much as I could over the winter/spring of what would be my last year teaching. It was my savior that year. When the snow melted away, I spent days at my family’s property identifying many plants and began harvesting them to turn into my infused oils and tinctures. I started buying supplies for salve making and just jumped in!

I gave them away as gifts for two years as I developed my technique and played with different combinations. A friend suggested I try a farmer’s market last year (one that doesn’t require a booth rent/reservation), and it was successful! I went to a handful of them over the summer and learned what people were looking for and what sold well. I signed up for a Christmas Art Market and saw great success in December of 2024. Now those customers are returning and I am branching out. I have a website nearly ready to go live and am signing up for spring and summer craft fairs.
I’m still very new into this journey but so excited to see where it goes!

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.
I think I’m most proud that the majority of these plants are all foraged locally and responsibly. I’ve really enjoyed identifying local plants and learning how to harness their medicinal qualities.
Luckily, I have another (full time) job and am able to fund my herbal business with that. It’s been challenging to buy all the containers and other ingredients while not really making much back, yet.

The Christmas Craft show was really an experiment for my business.. I wanted to use up my infused oils (as they don’t last forever) and I thought this would be a good way to guage interest I had many visitors throughout the day and sold over half my inventory, making a decent profit. This was the spur I needed to keep going and begin another batch of oils for the new year. I was also able to get my items into a local home goods store so I’m feeling like it’s starting to launch!

One of the biggest lessons I learned is just get your hands dirty and try it. I have learned so much from the batches that didn’t quite turn out the way I wanted or having to redo a salve that didn’t set up right. Keep learning, keep putting yourself out there. I think a lot of people are going back to the old ways and away from western medicine so finding these holistic treatments are a way of connecting to our past with a more healthy future.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I am in SW Colorado, near the Four Corners.
I would first send people to Mesa Verde National Park. If you haven’t been there, get it on your list!
It’s amazing to see how the ancient people lived in these cliffs and used plants for everything – medicine, food, clothes, building materials, etc.
Next I’d send them to the Four Corners and out to Hovenweep and Canyon of the Ancients. Maybe they will understand why it was so detrimental to the Ancestral Puebloans to be moved to one of the driest places in the area. Having a better understanding of the plants and wildlife species that survive in the different climates, elevations, etc would be a benefit to understanding herbalism and the history of this area, and really just see how diverse this area is.

Places to eat, drink and hangout – Lounging Lizard or Thai Cortez in Cortez, Steamworks Brewery or Carver’s Brewery in Durango, the Fenceline Cidery in Mancos, Main Street Brewery & Kelly’s Kitchen in Dolores.

Otherwise, we like to just pack up the dogs and head to the mountains to refocus and relax. My family’s property is high in the aspen forest and my absolute favorite place to be in the world.

Other fun things to do around here: take the train from Durango to Silverton, ride the free gondola in Telluride (best in the fall!), great skiing and mountain biking, rafting the Animas River in Durango. Lots of river days and farmer’s markets. Paddleboarding at the local reservoirs and lakes.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
The Mancos Conservation District is my main job and the staff has been so supportive of my business venture. They came to the craft show in December to support, many of them buying my items. They have become repeat customers and give me the feedback I need to hear. A couple of them bought gifts for their parents they traveled to for Christmas and have been giving me awesome feedback and compliments on my inventory items. One of them wants to reorder so badly she is the one driving me to get the website going so I can figure out shipping amounts.. Thank you MCD!

I also have three former teacher buddies who have been my rocks and biggest supporters since day 1 – Martha, Kim and Michelle.

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