Meet Sarah Josey | Clinical Herbalist & Nutritionist, Founder & Owner of Golden Poppy Herbal Apothecary

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

Hi Sarah, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I knew early on in my herbal training that I wanted to open a store. I wanted to offer the community a place where they could come learn about and have access to herbs and other natural health options, and at the time it wasn’t something that was very common.

I was also passionate about starting my own business because I knew that later in life I wanted to start a family and I wanted to be able to have a business where I could bring my baby (and later children) to work. This has been a huge foundational aspect of my business from the beginning, that it was going to support working parents by allowing them to bring their kids to work when they needed to, no questions asked.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Starting an herbal apothecary was certainly a challenge in the beginning. I wanted to open the business at a time when herbalism wasn’t as mainstream as it is today so it wasn’t possible to get any kind of small business funding to get it going, which meant that I had to self-fund everything.

I remember going into the small business development center for a meeting to talk about how to write a business plan, and the person I met with didn’t have any comprehension of what it was I was trying to create.

Since I didn’t know how to write a business plan, and he didn’t know what the business I wanted to create was even about, we didn’t get very far.

I knew in my head exactly what I wanted to do so I just went ahead and did it, without a business plan.

To this day I don’t actually have a formal business plan written down anywhere, it’s been 10 years since that meeting.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Whenever I have frineds in town to visit my store is usually one of the first places they want to see, so it’s fun to always be a personal part of our town tours.

I also love taking people on walks around Old Town Fort Collins in general, all of the independently-run unique stores make it such a fun place to go. It’s also where my favorite restaurants are: places like Jax Fish House, Social, and Nuance Chocolate.

Brewery tours are always a big hit as well, with Odell being my personal favorite with the addition of their Wine Side.

I also love taking my friends up into the Poudre Canyon, Horsetooth Reservoir, and Lory State park for outside adventures. Being in nature is one of my favorite things to do and I love how close to it we are.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would not be where I am today if it wasn’t for the love and support of my spouse and my amazing staff.

My spouse helped get the store off the ground in so many ways, from helping me label products early on, painting walls, installing furniture, and always encouraging me to reach for my dreams.

As the business grew I was lucky enough to find some of the most wonderful, intelligent, dedicated, and kindhearted people who wanted to work with me. The store truly would not be here today if it wasn’t for the people who have been by my side since almost the beginning.

Website: https://goldenpoppyherbs.com/

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

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