About Us
Our Story
My story: Why I do what I do.
My husband and I started this business with just 40 lavender plants and a whim. But allow me to begin my story from the beginning.
The truth was, I wasn’t looking to start a new business, and it was the last thing that was on my mind while being a co-partner at a marketing agency.
I was born in Cambridge, Ontario (one of the first Cambridge babies). And my dream was to be a vet (no, seriously), but that dream changed. I had no idea. I was creative, and I had big ideas. I loved fashion, clothes and organizing events.
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I didn’t know what to do with my life.
So I flipped through the Humber College catalogue and picked a Fashion + Cosmetology + Marketing course. I knew I didn’t want to be a makeup artist or work in retail. I loved the fashion shows I put on, the marketing side of things, and the concocting of products on a student budget. Then life changed: My mom got sick (and I had lost my father four years earlier), and school was no longer my priority. I got kicked out. I never graduated. My resume states that I “completed”…well, I did—my stint at school.
Skipping a lot here. But I didn’t waste time
I worked for large companies and small companies and I just never ever fit in. But when I started my amateur photography business in 2007 on the side, I was hooked. I had control. The power was in my hands. But I was exhausted with two kids and two full-time gigs pretty much.
But I wouldn’t make the bounce to entrepreneurship for another 10 years! 10 years!!!!!!
I quit my job…oh wait, no I went to quit and got let go. It was my defining moment. I started up Thurgood Marketing and then in 2018, I found the best business partner in the world and created Green Monkey Creative. I then with my husband started another business: Angry Dad Motors.
And then on a whim
In 2019, I thought during lockdown because I was bored and my vegetable gardens were finally surviving because of all the attention they were getting, ‘What if we grew lavender here?’. Wait. What? Who is this person??? WHAT IS SHE THINKING?
I knew nothing about lavender. I knew nothing about farming. Sure I lived with my husband on the family land that was passed down from generation to generation (since 1860), but I did not farm. I didn’t get my hands dirty in this soil. So I planted 40 plants in a little spot of land in our backyard. Then I made some products. Then we sold out. A new company was born.
Hello Hereward Farms
In the Spring of 2020, I, along with my husband Stephen (the most supportive, fantastic guy there is), planted our first crop on approximately 2 acres of our 100-acre farm. The first year was a modest crop as we wanted to see how this new crop would work at the farm.
We harvested the fresh lavender, and with sweet scents, we began the drying and infusion process and created some fabulous one-of-a-kind products. News of the new crop and the excitement of the naturally infused lavender oils spread like wildfire through the countryside.
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In the fall of 2020, the decision was made that year one was a success and plans were made for the lavender farm expansion. While the 2020 products were being shipped out to customers, approximately 3,000 new plants with three different lavender varieties were ordered for the 2021 planting season. In 2022, we will welcome 2,300 more plants and bring us to nearly 5,000 plants in our fields.
Truly Farm-to-Skin
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​The basis of our products is the healing benefits of lavender, and our processes have captured that formulation to bring you a line of luxurious skincare that is genuinely farm-to-skin.
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The benefits of our products are such that we are using the purest ingredients found in farm-to-skin products, and you are saving your skin from harmful, unnecessary chemicals. You are also helping to decrease these chemicals' impact on our environment.
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We are committed to providing the most beautiful, thoughtfully curated products using nature's purest ingredients to balance, treat, and restore your skin. Our farm gives us the unique opportunity to curate at every stage of creation. We see first-hand nature's beautiful simplicity and complex variations from propagation to distillation. Our blends are precisely formulated and advanced without cutting any corners.
We choose all-natural oils, never water, aloe or fillers, to maximize effectiveness. We keep our unique blends protected in amber glass and package them with minimal plastic. We strive to be 100% Canadian with all our ingredients. And never, ever, ever will you find parabens, synthetic fragrance, petroleum, sulphates, phenoxyethanol, animal by-products, or harsh chemicals. We love our surroundings too much to curate anything less.
Our products contain no parabens, sodium lauryl sulphates, phthalates, artificial fragrances/colours or silicon/petroleum bases and are never tested on animals. Our oils are pure and natural, and no chemicals have been used on our lavender crops.
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