Who is behind Haven Herbs? What's its history?
Haven Herbs was founded in 2018, after the closure of Boline Apothecary, a brick and mortar shop in Columbus, Ohio in 2017. Both businesses have Lily Kunning in common, as she has been the founder of both, the formulator for both, and the educator behind all the content that both entities has created.
Some Past:
We started with a logo designed by friend and activist Nomy Lamm It still hangs in Lily's home today and is the shop's mascot- a plant spirit, surrounded by medicinal plants.
We were a worker owned company from 2018-2024. We have had many worker owners in the past: Iderah, Alissa, Michelle, Larissa, Bethany, and Tyler. We have also employed others (who never quite finished their worker owner training) and they have helped the company, too. We thank them all for their service to running this business and getting it where it is today.
We have also existed in two states: Ohio and West Virginia. We started in Ohio in Columbus, moved to a farm in London, then relocated to WV when Lily moved to a farm there. When she left WV to return to Ohio (personal reasons), Haven Herbs came with her- because she has always been the heart and soul of this company.
In 2019, we had a professional brand refresh and the existing worker owners all voted on our current logo and branding kit:
It reflects the color and beauty of the natural world and pays homage to herbalism's history. A mortar and pestle is a hand tool, and it gives a nod to how we craft our products: a we are folk apothecary with small batch, hand-crafted products for the highest of quality control.
Currently, Haven Herbs is a family-owned business and continues to expand its offerings and educational efforts. Lily is teaching her son herbalism and entrepreneurship and he has expressed interest in running the business with her. He is learning quickly!
Lily started teaching free classes at Cancer Support Community in 2019 and these monthly classes continue to this day!
Looking forward:
Lily has always had a dedication to mutual aid and education. Her feeling is that these lift us up and empower us to make informed decisions that promote true wellness. She wants to make them available to as many as possible, so that means affordability. To that end, she is bringing her classes to an online format, one at a time- to reach as many as possible. She is keeping costs low. More long-term, involved, expensive classes all have affordable payment plans to make affordability possible.
She has also decided that many product groupings ("kits") will now have an educational component. In addition to themed product bundles, each Kit will have an class, video, e-book, and/or handouts. She is making them available in 2025, starting with the Seasonal Herbalism Kit and the Explore Herbalism Kit. Several existing products will also become Kits: The Stress Case and the Natural Medicine Cabinet product are becoming Kits- complete with education!
She also has started a subreddit and a podcast called Ask the Herbalist in 2025. The episodes are archived here on the Haven Herbs blog- so you never have to miss any!
What's the next step of Haven's evolution? Who knows? But we are enjoying the ride!