Built for Impact-Driven Botanical Brands

Next Conference Coming March 2024

“I've been tending to my herb-based business for the past 5 years and The Emblossom conference has been the single most helpful thing I've ever done or encountered!”

Made for blossoming herbal businesses.

HERBAL SUPPLEMENTS

HERBAL COSMETICS

HERBAL FOODS

2-Day Conference

Plus the FREE Flourish Webinar Series to pre-game for the big event.

 

10+ Expert Sessions

Featuring industry experts, changemakers, and other herbal entrepreneurs.

 
 

Sliding Scale Pricing

We offer sliding scale pricing for newbie “Sprout” and seasoned “Blooming” brands. As well as low-income and BIPOC scholarships.

 
 
 

3 Months Access

Can’t make it in real time? No problem. You’ll get 3 months to sit with it.

Get ready to flourish!

This conference is made for brands rooted in herbalism who care about preserving plants, people, and ecosystems for future generations.

We also know that figuring out the complex regulations and the wild world of business is no small feat. Especially while staying true to your values.

This intensive event will bring together experts in sustainable and equitable sourcing, values-based business growth, good manufacturing practices (GMPs), claims and compliance, and holistic marketing.

Plus, we’re here for COMMUNITY! We welcome brands big and small that are eager to help build a network of planet-loving entrepreneurs who believe in equity, abundance, interdependence, and ecological stewardship.

Our 2024 Emblossom Herbal Conference will be happening early next year.

Confirmed Sessions

 

Understanding COGs and Margins for Profitability

Well-priced products are the basis of a profitable and sustainable business.  Cost of goods sold (COGs) and product margins are both critical to understand in order to get your products priced appropriately.  This class will teach you how to calculate COGs and margins to support a thriving business. 

With Sandra Velasquez

Lab Testing for Herbal Products

Lab testing can help ensure that your herbal products are safe and meet FDA expectations, but it can be hard to know what tests are right for your products. Let's talk about botanical identity, phytochemicals, contaminants like microbes, heavy metals, and pesticides as they apply to your herbal business. We'll discuss the types of tests available, their relative costs, what they tell you, and which are most important to your specific product types including herbal supplement products and cosmetics. Vendor qualification programs will also be discussed as a way for small businesses to make the most of their testing budget.

With Amanda Souther

Mission-Driven Marketing

Why does the world need your business? You probably know, but do your customers know? Weaving your values and mission into your marketing can help consumers connect with the magic your brand brings and can help you create a loyal customer base.  We’ll talk about how you can use the mission lens to craft an ownable marketing strategy, messaging, and communication hierarchy.

With Daniella Allam

Success Story Interview: Golde

Golde was born in Brooklyn in 2017 from a 1-bedroom apartment. Founder Trinity Mouzon Wofford teamed up with her partner, Issey, to launch Golde with a single product (the Original Turmeric Latte Blend!) Since then, they've grown to a small-but-mighty team and have shared their superfood essentials with thousands of supporters.

With Trinity Mouzon Wofford

Scaling Up Your Botanical Ingredient Purchasing

Many herbal businesses start small – buying a few pounds of herbs and other ingredients from suppliers that provide everything.   What do you do as your business grows and you need larger quantities? How do you find specialty suppliers? Is it possible to shorten your supply chain and work directly with growers and producers?  How do you develop good relationships with suppliers?  These questions and more will be covered to help you develop the supply chain that meets your business needs and ethics. 

With Ben LeVine

How to Get the Most from Branding & Packaging Design

In this workshop, we will explore how to effectively communicate your brand vision and goals to a designer, how to provide useful feedback and direction during the design process, and how to make the most of the designer's expertise to create impactful and effective branding and packaging.

With Kristine Arth

Plant Stewardship in Your Herbal Supply Chain

Good herbal product formulation and sourcing are critical for plant conservation.  We’ll talk about how to evaluate the botanicals going into your products and share some tools and resources to ensure that your supply is sustainable. 

With Susan Leopold, Ph.D.

Success Story Interview: Meow Meow Tweet

Meow Meow Tweet’s mission is to create ethical and natural personal care products that are not stressful to the earth, do not harm animals, are manufactured and packaged in a positive work environment, and are presented to the consumer at an accessible price point. 

With Tara Pelletier and Jeff Kurosaki

The 411 on Operating a Successful, Compliant, & Ethical Herbal Business (BIPOC only) (live, not recorded)

Join community herbalists and educators Amanda David and Mandana Boushee as they share their personal and collective experiences navigating their herbal businesses and endeavors over the span of two decades. In this knowledge share, they will review the basics of standard operating procedures and structure and function language needed to run an FDA-compliant herbal apothecary and/or clinical practice. They aim to share this information in an accessible and approachable way, with everyone leaving with tangible and concrete tools to weave into their businesses. Finally, they'll spend time discussing how they've managed to build successful and sustainable careers as herbalists without making compromises around our ethics and values as anti-capitalists and earth stewards as they orient towards an ever-evolving herbal economic landscape. 

NOTE: This class will only be live at the conference and not recorded.

With Amanda David and Mandana Boushee

Building a Unique and Ownable Brand Voice

This session is for herbal product entrepreneurs who want to create a unique and ownable brand voice that resonates with the purpose and people. You'll learn how to communicate your brand's values and mission while developing a voice that resonates with your community. With real-world examples, you'll discover how to inject personality into your messaging and stand out from others. By the end of the workshop, you'll have the tools to build deeper connections with your customers and create a loyal following for your herbal product brand.

With Summer Singletary

Watch these and more Emblossom Conference recordings.

Purchase the recordings today!

We believe in changing the industry.

The conference will be allocating 5% of income towards a redistribution fund
which will be given to BIPOC organizations and individuals with an herbal focus.

 

Equity, Inclusivity, and Redistribution


Recognizing that the world of natural products and herbalism in the U.S. has been overwhelmingly capitalistic and white-centered, we're working toward creating an inclusive and welcoming environment for all attendees, and to begin to address historical inequities.

As some of the first steps to address the historic and current inequities, the Emblossom conference has committed to the following:

The conference will be allocating 5% of income towards a reparations fund which will be given to BIPOC organizations and individuals with an herbal focus. The recipients will be decided by BIPOC advisors. If you have feedback or ideas on this, please reach out.

Both BIPOC and low-income scholarships will also be available, in hopes of making this information more widely available for early-stage entrepreneurs. Please email us for more info at hello@emblossom.co.

We're excited to announce that In Living Color (ILC) will be present again through the event and providing a space during the conference for BIPOC attendees. This grassroots safe space is designed to center the needs & voices of Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) by creating a safe, meaningful space to find mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical support tailored to the unique needs of BIPOC conference-goers participating in spaces that have historically been exclusive of BIPOC.

We've also realized that all too often conferences do not pay their instructors fairly for their time and expertise. The Emblossom Conference pays ALL instructors and facilitators a fair wage to support them and all the magic they bring to this space.

As the conference grows we are committed to also growing in our work towards equity. After this second conference, we will be releasing a yearly report to give our community more transparency around how we want to grow, have grown, and our results!

 

In Living Color

We're excited to announce that In Living Color will be joining us again at this year’s conference. Centering the needs & voices of Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), this virtual space is designed by and for BIPOC participants, providing a refuge for people to gather, connect, rest, and share in the celebration of our lineages & lived experiences.

The In Living Color Virtual BIPOC space is also a place for BIPOC participants to access emotional and energetic support throughout the duration of the conference by way of Amanda David and Mandana Boushee, BIPOC Herbalists and facilitators of the In Living Color Space. BIPOC participants are invited to join the space anytime during the open hours, which will be sent to participants ahead of the conference.

The In Living Color facilitators will also be on-call and available 24/7 during the conference via email. To connect with the In Living Color BIPOC space facilitators, Amanda David and Mandana Boushee, please contact inlivingcolorspace@gmail.com.

If you have questions about the inclusion of this space in the conference, please see the FAQs below.

Emblossom Founders

Jacqueline Smith

Director of Community

 

Zoe Gardner

Director of Education

 

Summer Singletary

Director of Marketing

FAQs

  • If you made it all the way here, probably so! This conference is made for emerging herbal brands, both small and mid-scale. Larger companies may also wish to attend to encourage further employee training and networking.

    This conference is not built for absolute beginners who don’t have a business just yet. If you’re in the daydreaming stage it might be good to hold off until next year. However, if you’re open to knowing some of the challenges ahead, please join us! It just might not all apply just yet.

    It’s also important to note that this is a conference made for herbal product brands and founders. It’s ideal for businesses that are already making herbal foods, cosmetics, and supplements.

    We will not be going over the basics of herbalism and product making. There are a ton of awesome programs and conferences out there for budding herbalists.

    We welcome you to the conference at any stage in your journey! These underlined points above are to help you make the best decision before purchasing your ticket.

  • You can see it through this link. Sessions will generally run from 11am to 7pm eastern / 8am to 4 pm pacific, both days of the conference.

  • We trust you to use your best judgment :)

    We consider Sprout brands to be a team size of 1-4 full-time people, in business for 0-4 years and making under $1 million in revenue.

    We consider Blooming brands to be a team size of 5-30+ full-time people, in business for 5+ years and making over $1 million in revenue.

    Our two options are meant to recognize the different financial abilities of emerging and seasoned brands.

  • Yes! If you join us live for the conference, there are multiple networking sessions and chances to meet other plant people. We love building community.

  • Yes, pets are encouraged. We believe information is more fun when accompanied by a furry companion. Please introduce them in the chat!

  • We plan to offer BIPOC and low income scholarships for the 2023 conference. Applications will open in early January 2023.

    Feel free to email us at hello@emblossom.co with any additional questions.

    ***Please note that scholarships this year will have the price of $50 for admission to cover operational costs.

  • Please take some time to read, watch, and sit with the resources below.

    Why People of Color Need Spaces Without White People, by Kelsey Blackwell, on the importance of these spaces when we gather.

    Racial Microaggressions Are Real. Here’s How to Navigate Them, by Ruth Terry, on microaggression culture.

    Woke Without The Work, an online workshop for Non-BIPOC Herbalists, who are seeking to move beyond optical support of our communities, towards active, tangible, and embodied practices of equity.

  • The conference is scheduled for Thursday February 2nd and FRiday Februaruy 3rd 2023. It will be hosted virtually 11AM - 7PM eastern and 8AM - 4PM pacific.

    Morning and evening hang-out, movement, and restoration times will be scheduled before and after these times each day.

    Additionally, we’ll have some FREE pre-conference sessions that we’ll post as they are confirmed.

  • The recordings will be available for 3 months to enjoy after the conference. These are NOT downloadable. However, there will be downloadable worksheets from some sessions. This includes the FREE sessions from the webinar series recorded prior to the event.

    If you’re buying recordings post-conference, please see the terms of your purchase.

  • At this time we will not be offering refunds. Unlike many conferences, we will be paying all our teachers and facilitators. Our financial commitments also include online platform subscription fees and scholarships.

    Your ticket is truly an investment into our bigger vision. We appreciate you trusting in us, and we don't take that lightly. We hope that you LOVE the conference, and we will do everything in our power to make it an incredible experience.

  • One ticket is priced for one person. Each ticket helps to support our 5% redistribution fund and scholarship program. By supporting us you’re supporting our greater herbal business community, tiered pricing, our vision, and growing business.

    If you would like a group company rate for 5 or more, please email us at hello@emblossom.co.

  • We are accepting sponsors for the 2023 conference.

    If you have an awesome service or product you want to share with our herbal business community please reach out to us at hello@emblossom.co.