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

Hi Sarah, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
My initial thought process behind starting my own business was to use my creativity and passion synergistically and strategically. My mission is to carry on the legacy of my family roots while spreading more love, joy, and peace to my community. A little background behind my thought process is; I grew up in my grandma’s house and learned early on what good work ethic was and how to work hard. My parents and grandparents exemplified this.

Specifically, when my maternal grandmother passed away, I implemented the vision of my business to create a ‘butterfly effect’ in the Denver metro area through handmade greeting cards. To me, my grandmother was an example of a human butterfly creating a ‘butterfly effect’ to those around her and I decided to dedicate my life doing the same in my own way. The idea behind the ‘butterfly effect’ as a business project was to give out greeting cards at my pop up shop with any purchase of any product. The rule of the card was to write it to someone in your path that you don’t know very well, haven’t ever known or are disconnected from. The goal behind this was to spread more love, joy and peace to the people in your world.

My family history is important. My maternal and paternal grandmothers were raised on Midwest farms. They grew their own food and herbal medicine gardens. I have always loved helping my family in the yard and started creating handmade products from my own organic garden. My family values and history of using the ground to provide all you need was a huge part of me discovering the world of holistic health and wellness.

To build up knowledge and confidence in holistic health, I studied Integrative Therapies, BS at Metro State and received my holistic nutrition therapy certification. During my studies, I narrowed my focus on edible plants as medicine. I thought, being a mother of two young children, I had to find a creative way to be an entrepreneur.

I have narrowed down my business concept after many years of dreaming up a plethora of creative ideas. I own and operate Sarah Usinger Holistic Nutrition, LLC which umbrellas my traveling pop-up shop, Wolfe Joy: A Colorado Holistic Boutique. I handcraft organic & all-natural body scrubs, bath salt products, handmade greeting cards, jewelry, and more.
It has been neat to see my knowledge of food/plants/herbs and dreams of how to create more community togetherness, come to fruition. The concept of my business will always be to spread more hope to people and provide education about holistic health.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
My business is unique because of how it encompasses several concepts of holistic health and wellness. For the physical, I handcraft organic body products that nourish the skin and bring peace and love to the spirit. I also paint pieces of art to make into greeting cards which bring written word of love and joy to those they are gifted to. I am excited about the growth of my business. As my pop up shop transitions eventually into a store front I will be offering more hands on integrative therapies that focus on physical nutrition, disease prevention and therapies to facilitate holistic healing.
It has not been easy balancing being a mother of two young children and setting aside time to make products, market and engage. Having a pop up shop has been a great fit for this season in life so I can invest in the community for an entire day without distraction.
The biggest challenge, as an entrepreneur, is to set aside dedicated time to create products and time to socially engage. The only way I am able to overcome these challenges is to surround myself with people who encourage my vision, help me create time and invest in my products.
I have learned that the only person in your way, as many have said, is you. We all have the same amount of time in the day and in order to have a successful business, one must organize their days, weeks and months with dedicated times to invest in your business. Writing out your vision and reading it daily, writing out your dreams and desires then speaking them out, will start bring your vision to fruition.
What I hope people walk away with whenever they read about my story, visit my business or come to a workshop is this: the greatest of all things is love. If you love yourself you will invest in yourself. If you love those around you they should know it. My business supports these two things through products designed for self love and care and products that aid in the connection with others.

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.
Day 1: a.m. Wash Park to Devils Food for coffee & walk around the park p.m. lunch to-go from Uno Has
Drive up to Morrison, eat tacos at Red Rocks amphitheater (on the top step)
Drive to 5 points and get a beer with more friends at Our Mutual Friend (OMF)

Day 2: Denver Museum of Nature & Science, IMAX movie, picnic dinner at City Park, maybe rent a little boat or bike then head to the Green Russel for some cocktails

Day 3: Brunch at Watercourse in Capitol Hill & karaoke at Noraebang, Aurora

Day 4: Englewood, walk Broadway and do dinner at Cochino

Day 5: Art Museum and drinks at Perdida, Wash Park then bar Hazel

Day 6: OrderBeauJos Pizza for lunch and head to Dazzle for a show and drinks

Day 7: Cherry Creek State Park to jet ski with a picnic lunch from Bosphorus and Kung Fu Tea

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
The person I want to dedicate a shoutout to is the one reading this after I sent them this article, because if you are reading this, you are a huge support to me!

Website: www.wolfejoy.com

Instagram: Colorado_Holistic_Boutique

Linkedin: Sarah Usinger

Facebook: Wolfe Joy A Colorado Holistic Boutique

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutColorado is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.