This month we chat to Kelly Tarr, co-founder of The Herbalist, which provides affordable natural supplements through various shops in South Africa as well as online. The Herbalist products are scientifically backed and help to optimise brain function, fitness, sleep, mental health and overall wellness.

Describe yourself in 3 words.
Creative, Adventurous & Thoughtful

Tell us a bit about how your career as a digital marketer started?
The reason I started learning about digital marketing was mostly due to its automation and scalability potential, but I also liked the idea of working remotely as I could work from my laptop while at university.

How did you become interested in herbs and natural supplements?
After seeing close friends and family struggling with chronic diseases, cancer and even facing death, I have been very interested in finding a way to living a longer and healthier life and not having to depend on harmful pharmaceutical drugs.

My business partner Kyle, who is now a qualified herbalist, also grew up with severe health issues, he was then introduced to Moringa which changed his life. That was definitely a catalyst that sparked our mission to find out the truth about herbal medicine.

I believe that if you can get your health right it will feed into all other areas of your life and ultimately contribute to better relationships and overall contribution to society. I believe that there are four main areas in every person’s life that need to be practiced daily to become the best version of themselves:

1. Proper Nutrition
2. Quality Sleep
3. Proper Stress Management
4. Exercise

Most people struggle to have all four in balance but with a bit of help from natural supplements, these four categories can be accomplished a lot more easily.

Are South Africans becoming more interested in natural remedies as opposed to pharmaceutical meds?
South Africans are definitely becoming more open to natural alternatives, unfortunately herbal remedies have had negative connotations and are seen as ineffective compared to pharmaceuticals. However we aim to destroy these beliefs by offering unique herbal remedies in which show instant effects within half an hour of consuming them.

We aim to empower South Africans through education so that they feel as though they are not slaves to their chronic ailments which could be holding them back from reaching their full potential.

How do you see the Holistic Health industry evolving in South Africa over the next few years?
We follow an integrative medicine approach which is the combination of conventional medicine with natural therapies and emphasis on prevention and general health promotion. It is the use of all therapies that show reasonable evidence of efficacy and aren’t going to cause harm.

This approach to wellness is becoming more common and with information on the internet accessible to almost everyone.

We like to focus on healthy lifestyle habits that are free and accessible to everyone as well as good nutrition however we are most definitely not against all conventional medicine.

What marketing channels do you mainly rely on to find new users?
Facebook, Instagram, Google & TikTok

What were/are the biggest challenges in starting an online business?
I think gaining trust is a big deal when starting an online business, as many South Africans are sceptical of buying online. Keeping a good return on your advertising budget is also very important to get right but this is easier if your product is desirable.

The thing I love most about what I do is…
Waking up every day to emails from customers telling us how our products have improved their lives.

When I’m not working, I’m…
Surfing or kayaking.

CONNECT ONLINE
Website: www.therherbalistshop.co.za
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theherbalist_sa?lang=en
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theherbalist_sa/
Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/herbalistsouthafrica/