Today we’d like to introduce you to Stacy Coplin.
Hi Stacy, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My husband (Eric Knight) and I have been wild-harvesting together for over a decade. We first met in 2012 as co-workers at the Austin Nature and Science Center in Austin, TX and started our business, Local Leaf, in 2016. Our business first started out making a bottled Yaupon Tea and we had two different flavors (toasted and green) and sold it at local shops and Farmer’s Markets in Austin. We then created our third product, Yaupon Matcha, and sold it around Austin as well as Whole Foods and online. We have also published two foraging books together through our publisher, Falcon Guides: Foraging Texas: Finding, Identifying, and Preparing Edible Wild Foods in Texas and Foraging New Mexico: Finding, Identifying, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants in New Mexico. And we have a third book in the works.
We also host edible plant walks throughout Texas and have provided wild-foraged foods for restaurants and events around Austin. We have recently stopped producing Yaupon products and have decided to focus our business on our books and foraging classes including a new service, where we offer private classes/surveys to identify what edible and medicinal plants you have on your property, identify rare or unique plants that call your property home, and to identify invasive plants that you may want to control on your property to facility a healthier ecosystem. Feel free to check out our website https://www.local-leaf.com/private-classsurvey for more info.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Running a small business has it’s ups and downs. It’s not easy or everyone would do it. I think it’s important to find something you enjoy doing, but also know that it’s still work. We have had struggles along the way as most small businesses do. I think It’s all about perspective and looking at challenges as opportunities to learn and grow from. I think overall we have been good at taking opportunities as they come and shifting gears when necessary.
We’ve been impressed with Local Leaf, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Local Leaf has had some recent changes. We started out as a CPG company that made Yaupon products. We have recently shifted to focussing on our foraging books, classes, and private surveys. I think what sets us apart for our edible plant walks is our focus on foraging ethics and correct identification. There are many YouTube videos and other sources that talk about foraging, but rarely do they focus on the ethics and how to forage sustainably. We think it is critical to show others how to forage without harming the environment and, preferably, how to do it in a way that actually helps (such as focusing harvesting efforts on edible invasive species). And correct identification and botanical knowledge is also key from a safety perspective and I think that is often less of a focus for some newbie foragers than it should be. We want to help people forage safely and ethically.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I have always considered myself a lucky person. Even when others might not see it that way. It’s all about perspective. We have been fortunate and had a lot of opportunities come our way. I do think you have to be able to see luck when it comes and take action on opportunities when they cross your path. You have to be paying attention when luck comes or you might miss it or never see it at all. I also think being in the right frame of mind to view situations from a positive perspective is vital. It’s what will keep the momentum going and opportunities coming.
Pricing:
- https://www.amazon.com/Foraging-Texas-Finding-Identifying-Preparing/dp/1493056093/
- Foraging Texas Book: $23.99
- https://www.amazon.com/Foraging-New-Mexico-Identifying-Preparing/dp/1493089390/
- Foraging New Mexico: $24.95
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.local-leaf.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/localleafatx
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/localleafatx/#
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=94pBO9OyE74
