Meet Laura Bukowski

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Laura Bukowski. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Laura below.

Laura, 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?

I don’t believe finding your purpose is a one-time thing. I believe in living WITH purpose and that takes practice. A few years ago, I was struggling with my health; in and out of urgent care, specialist visits, testing and still no answers. A long and expensive road eventually led me to a Lyme Disease diagnosis as well as mold toxicity. One of the most emotional and stressful parts was a rash that wrapped around my eyes and mouth. It was painful. Even rubbing the sleep out of my eye in the morning would hurt. I couldn’t go out without someone mentioning the rash; they knew someone, or maybe they themselves, had a rash like that at one point. Was it allergies? Was it eczema? I bought some silly glasses from the costume shop which helped to disguise the rash.

For as much as I hated having such a noticeable and painful face rash for so long, it made me realize how many people are struggling with skin issues. It’s uncomfortable, and often visible, when things aren’t right. Because of the rash, so many people shared a piece of their story with me. After just two months of working with the holistic practitioner, my rashes started to clear up. No antibiotics, no steroid creams. I couldn’t believe how good I was starting to feel. This was my introduction to healing herbs. My protocol was entirely diet and lifestyle changes as well as herbal supplements.

At that time, I remember saying “I have to do something good from this experience.” I didn’t care what but I didn’t want to walk away from the long and frustrating road through the healthcare system without something in hand. This health experience had become something purposeful. I found a Community Herbalism course in Boulder, Colorado that sparked my interested. I completed the 10 month course and found how helpful and accessible plants were to healing and wellness. I wondered why we weren’t relying on plants more, especially for skincare.

A few months ago, I launched The Understory, an herbal skincare project that grew out of my own need for something soothing to put on my irritated and sensitive skin. I make small-batch herbal infused oils and salves by hand with wildcrafted and organic ingredients.

I don’t believe that my only purpose is to make herbal skincare. I do believe my purpose is to live as authentically as possible; to make my own way, to follow my curiosities and to keep turning the pages of my own book. I feel fulfilled and purposeful when I’m moving, when I’m growing and I’m listening to the call of my own path.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I am both a Community Herbalist and a Graphic Designer. With design, I’ve spent the past ten years helping small businesses and entrepreneurs build thoughtful, lasting brand systems. (Think new brand, rebrand or brand audit with templates and all the things needed to keep the marketing wheels of your business turning). I love having my feet in these two different worlds. With herbalism, I’m foraging, making skincare, products and using my design skills to build the branding of The Understory. I used to work full-time in Graphic Designer and I felt my creativity was stagnant. Movement of energy is what keeps me feeling creative. Sometimes that looks like gardening, making infused oils and salves in the kitchen, running, horseback riding and sometimes it looks like sketching on an iPad and designing on the computer.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Curiosity – Staying curious and asking questions has opened so many doors for me. We often have much more in common with the person sitting next to us than we might think. People are really complex and multi-faceted and most of the time, are willing to share parts of their story. Get curious! About your own interests and ask other people questions.

Drive – I’m stubborn, which I think translates to a sense of drive in my career and projects that I pursue. A somewhat stubborn commitment to a goal has served me well. On that path of working towards a goal though, needs to be flexibility and curiosity – to know when to take feedback and advice from others and when to keep moving forward with your own idea.

Patience – It takes time to build something new. Sometimes it takes a long time for an idea to translate from my subconscious mind onto paper and into the physical world. Sometimes I can see the project or website I want to build before I’ve even opened Illustrator. This is a great nod to my creativity and in those moments, I need to have patience to let the idea really come to life when it’s ready.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

I would love to collaborate with practitioners in the holistic space whether that be sauna & cold plunge guides, spa owners, naturopaths and breath work practitioners. I would love to work with practitioners when a collaborative class feels appropriate and also to create specific blends of Body Oils or Salves for those practitioners. I believe we could also use a little more self-care geared towards our skin and all herbal skincare is a great way to do that. Not only are you offering your skin the healing properties of plants but you’re creating rituals around self-love and self-care.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.theunderstory.love/ https://www.laurabukowski.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lau.bukowski/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurabukowski/

Image Credits

Alyssa Lach – photography
Hannah Evans – model