Meet April Hart

We recently connected with April Hart and have shared our conversation below.

April, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

In 2010, after the tragic and sudden passing of my beloved mother, I was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 33.
I was scared and felt alone without having my mom and best friend by my side during the fight of my life.
I decided that I wanted to take a completely holistic approach to my dis-ease and my husband and I got to work on a plan. I made the decision to forgo conventional treatment and use nutrition and a mind, body, spirit, approach.
This lead us to alternative healing modalities and we learned transcendental meditation, Reiki, Cell Level Healing, and eventually became certified herbalists. We have a permaculture farm and apiary and produce much of the ingredients that we use in our many products.
And 14 years later we have made not only a career but a lifestyle out of a painful and difficult situation. Helping our community and beyond with our knowledge and over 200 individual plant based herbal goods, shipping all over the US.
We feel more fulfilled than we could have ever dreamed, making devastating loss into beautiful purpose.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

Bespoke Apothecary (meaning custom made, herbal medicine) is a mountain-top permaculture farm, apiary, NYS certified food production facility, and herbal apothecary in Elmira, NY, that was established in 2016 out of necessity.
April choosing to take a natural and holistic approach to breast cancer and finding that skincare products, in particular, that claimed to be natural and organic still had imbalancing and toxic ingredients and were housed in toxic plastic much of the time, was the original reason behind our business.

And since then we have used our knowledge and extensive herbal training to grow and create over 200 mindful & plant based products, all in glass!
Everything from a full skincare line, tooth, hair + body care products, various herbal tonics, tinctures, teas, and beverages!
Something for absolutely everyone!

And we ship all over the US, are sold in 25+ retail locations, offer herbal consultation, and vend at farmers markets and events weekly.

We are always adding new products based on the needs of our community and have many rave reviews and outcomes on our many herbal goods.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

One of the first ‘rules’ I set after being diagnosed with breast cancer was: ‘make a plan and stick to it’. It seems simple but it was vital to my success. Having a set plan and goals related were paramount in my health and recovery. It gave me the focus and drive that I needed to heal.

‘Just do it’ is another rule to our business success. If we come up with an idea, we leap into it without hesitation, and embrace whatever comes our way as part of the process. Not to say there isn’t planning involved, but the doing is a huge part of the battle, the hard part, for a lot of businesses, and we have no fear when it comes to that.

‘Do the work’, is #3 — I have always been a hard worker. In college I had 19 credits, was a swimmer, and at one point also had 3 jobs. And managed to juggle all of them, successfully. So I have always thrived with a full plate. Or, when we were looking for a house with land, we kept missing out on properties because we couldn’t find a real estate agent who would really do the work for us. So, being the person I am, I got my real estate license and found our property now. And now we live on 85 acres in the middle of the woods, on top of a mountain.
Hard work, simply put, has been such a key to our success. We have built a business from the ground, entirely, with our blood sweat and tears.

Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?

We have built our business, my husband Bill and I, not relying on anyone else for help. We have very little family, and non nearby. Together we have conquered so much and built so much. And we make an amazing team.
Without him, I would have never made it to where we are today.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Sam Moon Photography
STH Photo

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