We were lucky to catch up with Joanna Steblay recently and have shared our conversation below.
Joanna, 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 love this topic, because it is one that I struggled with quite intimately during college and in my early 20s. At the time, defining one’s purpose seemed like the million-dollar question. It felt like childhood abruptly ended upon college graduation and we were immediately asked to have it all figured out, to make a split-second decision on where we saw our life going and then to never look back— accepting this career path as identity, putting away money to buy a house, planning for retirement, and upholding societal norms. Now, almost a decade later, I can say without question that this isn’t the only way… it certainly wasn’t my way. I know that a younger version of me would feel so seen and relieved to know this. It was a winding journey that brought me to where I am, and instead of a straight and narrow path it looked a lot more like a meandering hike… with different trails intersecting and leading to new summits, deep valleys, daunting inclines, and unexpected expanses of beauty. One of these trails led me to California for law school. At 23, it felt like the safe decision and what I “should” do, as research and writing came relatively naturally to me and my peers and mentors spoke positively about my work. However, even in law school I struggled with this idea of “purpose”. I was so grateful for the education and the opportunity to learn the language of law, but inside, I was lost. After years of rigorous studies and then studying for the bar exam in 2020, my physical and emotional health were at a complete breaking point. I gained a law license, but I had lost my vitality along the way. I was in a state of depression, suffering from complete adrenal burn out, and my body had seemingly given up after so many years of me ignoring its truths. Feeling compelled to dive deeper into understanding my body and how I had ended up in this low point in my health, I was led to a naturopathic doctor who would later hold my hand holistically as I found my way to the other side. I would go on to reach the other side… but along the way, I would find the life-changing support of herbs. This is where my new trail began.
As I started to feel better from a holistic prescription of herbs, diet, key nutrients, and rest, I found myself eager to devour any herb book I could get my hands on. After my workday as a lawyer, I would concoct herbal remedies for friends and family to test. I slowly traded my medicine cabinet for a pantry full of tinctures, teas, and salves. All of my free time, thoughts, and conversation, became about herbs, and after taking many a la carte and extended courses, I decided to dive even deeper and become a clinical herbalist through my current three-year apprenticeship program. Last fall, many of my dear friends began expanding their families and welcoming babies to the world. It felt so natural to bring anti-inflammatory stews and breastmilk-enriching infusions to their doorsteps, to tend to the mental and physical health of these new mothers holistically – just as I had been tended to in my own season of need. Providing this nourishment and herbal support was both deeply fulfilling to me and greatly needed by families. The seed was planted, and from these experiences, Mammal was born. Through Mammal, I now work as an herbalist and postpartum doula. My younger self would have never imagined this path as a possibility, but I think she’d be smiling from ear to ear.
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?
Earlier this year, I launched my herb business and postpartum doula practice, Mammal. The name felt like a kismet fit for the business as it invokes the primal nature found in each of us, and our rightful place connected to the natural world around us… stronger when living in touch with nature, its medicine, and cycles, rather than apart. On the herb side, I offer herbal education through my Instagram, @mammalherbs, and I am in the development phase of what will hopefully become my first herbal product. I am excited to share more on this soon. I also hope to grow my workshop offerings later this year, but in the meantime, I am available for events, workshops, and retreats. Herbalism is often fondly referred to as “the people’s medicine” due to its extensive history as a common household practice in cultures all around the world. My dream is to help people reconnect to this rich lineage, and to make herbalism approachable to those with little to no experience working with herbs. My postpartum practice is also built around utilizing herbs and holistic nutrition to help restore the vitality of new parents as they tenderly bloom into the next chapter. This is another area where we have sadly lost touch with the wisdom of our roots and tradition. Instead of villages coming together to tend to the new parents, to promote rest and to take turns cooking nutrient dense meals and holding the baby, we now live in silos where we are expected to figure it out on our own, accept take-out as nourishment, and return to work promptly at the end of our parental leave. My role as a postpartum doula is to close this gap and to nurture the physical and emotional needs of the new parents so that they can in turn, wholeheartedly nurture their new little one. My postpartum modalities include custom herbal remedies, holistic cooking, belly binding, herbal bathing, lactation support, and family integration. My goal is to foster connection to the parental intuition present in all of us while supplying evidence-based research and referrals when needed. I have a unique one-time offering called a threshold ceremony where mothers and birthing people are invited to mark the crossing of a threshold, whether that be from birth to postpartum, maternity leave to the office, or any other resonant threshold. This session utilizes the ancient practices of belly binding, herbal foot bath, tea ceremony, and other unique experiences to help bring realignment, security to the womb, and a return to self. All of my offerings are available at mammalherbs.com.
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?
- A relationship to self – Amidst the many extraordinary challenges of COVID, one unexpected gift that I found was a new relationship to self. I often took walks alone for hours during lock-down, observing the unusual quietness of the world around me and spending time with the deepest parts of myself, my fears, my dreams. The whole world was seemingly put on pause and the white noise of our everyday lives was stripped away, leaving nothing but raw honesty and a curiosity to check in on how I had really been all these years, on how I felt about who I was becoming. Through this season on pause, I learned to hear my inner voice… and after overcoming much resistance, I later learned to listen. Now, I am learning to trust. My advice to other budding entrepreneurs, herbalism clients, postpartum families, and anyone in between is this: trust yourself, trust your inner voice, trust when things feel wrong and things feel right. You don’t need to explain it to anyone external… It really is a sacred inner dialogue, a muscle that just continues to get stronger over time. Over and over again I have been rewarded when I slow down and get in touch with myself and my intuition. It is the same voice that guided me to leave my legal job and finally jump off the cliff with Mammal. So far, it hasn’t let me fall.
- Calling – My clinical herbalism school puts great focus on the role that our “calling” plays in the physical manifestations of our health. Feeling a sense of purpose each day not only brings emotional fulfillment to our human experience here on earth, it plays a foundational role in our vitality. I think there is a misconception that a “calling” must be your job… when really, a calling could be anything from recipe testing in your kitchen on the weekends to working in the garden with your hands in the dirt. A calling could be providing a listening ear for the people in your life or saying hello to those you pass on the street. None of these callings are bigger or smaller than the other, some of us may have more than one. Whatever shape it make take… recognize it, honor it, find joy in it. Notice its role in your life and how it makes you feel. Take pleasure in its medicine, and let it flow like honey to those around you. If it lights you up, it will be contagious to all of those who cross your path. Share its gifts.
- People Who Inspire You – It has been invaluable in my life to find people who are farther down the path, whether that be in business, in aging, or in self development, and to learn their stories and what has shaped their experience. Though there are both dark and light sides to social media, one beautiful component is its ability to connect us with those who may have at one time felt out of grasp—successful founders we admire, inspirational speakers, spirituality teachers, world travelers, you name it. When I am in a rut in my business, I come back to the role models who inspire me to keep going – I spend time on their social media, I listen to their podcast interviews, I read their books – and I remember that they were once standing in a place not that different from me, creating from a kitchen table, and wondering if it would all work out. I’ve even sent messages to these people I’ve admired, only for them to later become friends and mentors over tea in real life. No matter where you live or how you were raised, seek out people who inspire you in whatever form you can. I would not be where I am without great mentors and role models. When we “see to believe” that anything is possible, magic opens up in a whole new way. And when you can, pay it forward by responding to that message in your inbox.
What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
Go for a walk, look at the sky, pause for a flower in the neighborhood and revel in its beauty. Take in the smell of the grass after the rain, hear the sound of children playing in the distance, of birdsong filling the trees. Feel the support of mother earth beneath your feet, of the ancestors that have gone before you, of the universe working for your highest good. Remember that just “being”, in this moment, is enough. After all, the totality of life really is just a collection of these simple moments… May we be present in them.
Contact Info:
- Website: mammalherbs.com
- Instagram: @mammalherbs
- Other: email: [email protected]
Image Credits
Summer Staeb
