We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ashley Shafer a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Ashley , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.
DNA Hemp most definitely breaks the mold when it comes to industry standards. First and foremost, WE ARE THE FARMERS! Supporting our brand means that people are supporting our high vibrational healing, where we strive and thrive on cultivating a natural farmacy. We firmly believe offering a connection to the source of the medicine we offer induces its healing capacity. Being the face of the brand, telling our story, and sharing our gifts have contributed to our success. Supporting locals, knowing your farmer, and utilizing nature’s gifts have never been as vital as they are now. Sourcing our small-batch sun-grown, organic hemp cultivated with our hands gives us a sense of pride and perseverance that we attract and allow people ready to tap in, tune in, and turn on their healing powers by taking health into their own hands. On top of the source connection, we are female-owned and operated, which goes against all industry standards in the cannabis industry, which is super groovy because all of our flowering plants are female, even most of the honey bees in our hives are female- talk about girl power! The cherry on top is that we adhere to the highest environmental standards with biodynamic farming practices, and all products are third-party lab-tested.
Ashley , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I am passionate about plants, but my ultimate love is for the cannabis/hemp plant, which is often called the queen of herbs. My husband and I run a family farm in southeastern WI where we cultivate CBD sun-grown organic hemp and other herbs since 2019. We use the plant farmacy we grow to produce a variety of CBD products, such as oils, topicals, edibles, and smokeable offerings. These products have a wide range of therapeutic benefits because of the cannabinoids that are naturally present in the plant, which help to supplement our endocannabinoid system (ECS).
During our growing adventure, I developed an interest in herbalism, as our farm had many wild-crafted herbs. I believe that nature always provides, and I wanted to learn more about plant energetics and build a stronger relationship with the herbs on our farm. I decided to pursue a research-based education in herbal medicine and am pursuing a Master’s degree in this field at ACHS.
I genuinely believe that the synergy of cannabis and other botanicals can change lives for the better and is the future of healing through the connection with the earth’s gifts. However, like cannabis, herbal healing is often misunderstood. As someone with a Bachelor’s degree in communication, I want to use my education to help educate and connect with people in my community and beyond about the benefits of herbalism and plant medicine. I believe that anything is possible, even the impossible. Thanks be to God for putting my on this divine mission to offer high vibrational healing, allowing our community to elevate in consciousness and connection to nature’s gifts.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
In our first year growing hemp, we had no prior experience with how to farm. Being non-traditional farmers, we had to dive right in and get our hands dirty, expecting the unexpected. Boy, did we have our work cut out for us! My husband wanted to grow big or stay home, so we planted 10 acres of hemp seeds on hope and prayer. Turns out, our farmer friend had a direct seeder we borrowed to get the seeds in the ground which worked out pretty slick. After the seeds were tucked into the dirt, we did a rain dance, prayed, and gave it to GOD. Well, he answered with a good rain, and about a week later, we had baby seedlings sprouting up in the field- success! Well, with the seeds came lots and lots and lots of weeds- and they were choking out our hemp plants, so I got on the horn to my earth mama friends and asked for help. That summer, we had our small children running around with no running water or bathroom on the farm, basically getting dirty and using their imagination because there was no wifi on the farm, and they loved it. We spent countless hours and days doing what we could to weed around the hemp plants, finding and flagging them, and believe it or not, by the end of the summer, the hemp plants grew like weeds! It was one of our best harvests, with plants over six feet tall and four feet wide with no watering system, nutrients, or weed barrier. All the work was done by hand after planting the seeds, harvesting, shucking, bucking, curing everything down by hand, and lots of heart. I look back at that year and laugh at our naive experience, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. It seems like resilience, perseverance, and a high-vibe tribe to bring our dreams to fruition. We get by with a bit of help from our buds.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
Farming hemp can be a spiritual experience for some people, and they may see it as a way to connect with God or the natural world. For others, it may be a practical and sustainable crop. Regardless of one’s beliefs, hemp farming has many benefits, including its versatility in textiles, paper, food, and building materials. Additionally, hemp requires less water and pesticides than many other crops, making it an environmentally friendly choice. Growing up, we are taught that cannabis is the devil’s lettuce with little to no therapeutic benefit. This could not be any farther from the truth, as so many clinical trials, research, and reviews have been conducted to verify the efficiency of the plant and its interaction with our physiological systems. Science proves that cannabis has phytocannabinoids that supplement our endocannabinoid system, which in the future should be in every anatomy book printed. Now, I am given the unique opportunity to rewrite the script with my children and teach them that plants are medicine and that nature always provides. Instilling this knowledge in my children is the most significant difference I can make for future generations. Everything is going according to His plan, and one must be present to receive these downloads from the divine, guiding us on this fruitful journey. Catch a vibe, not a high, and don’t believe the lies told fueled by greed and bad intentions.
FOR COMPLETE INTERVIEW: https://canvasrebel.com/meet-ashley-shafer/
