How Buying Half a Cow Shifted My Entire Marketing Strategy

(And Why Supporting Small, Soulful Businesses Matters More Than Ever)*

There are moments in life that arrive quietly but end up shifting everything. Mine came in the form of a pulled back, a fever, the luteal void, and — strangely enough — half a cow.

But this story isn’t really about meat.

It’s about humanness, connection, and why supporting small, soulful businesses is not only powerful… but necessary.

It’s also about remembering who I am — and why I started Holistic Honey in the first place.

The Death Portal That Knocked Me Flat

A few weeks ago, right after launching Holistic Honey Botanicals, I entered what I lovingly (and dramatically) call a “death portal.”

I pulled my back.

Got the flu.

Got my period.

All within days.

My momentum vanished.

My hope vanished.

My will to keep going… also vanished a little.

Whenever my body crashes, my mind spirals. I question everything — my branding, my formulas, my path, my purpose, my timing. And as I lay there feeling defeated, I watched giant skincare brands pump out perfect Black Friday graphics and polished marketing campaigns with their teams of 10, 20, 50 people.

And there I was — a one-woman show — feeling like I could never keep up.

Until something unexpected clicked.

The Farmer Who Changed the Way I See Marketing

While recovering, I found myself catching up on emails — deleting 95% of them, because let’s be real — most emails feel like noise these days.

But there’s one sender I never delete:

Josh from Greener Grazing.

A farmer in Northern Ontario.
A one-man show.
No fancy branding.
No marketing “funnel.”
Just simple updates from his farm, shared through warm, human emails about cows, weather, soil, and his daily life.

In a world drowning in overly polished marketing, his emails felt like a breath of fresh air. They were real. They were human. They felt like a friend writing to me.

So when it was time for me to buy local, grass-fed meat for the year — half a cow — guess who came to mind?

Josh.

Not because he had the most beautiful website.
Not because he had coupons or promos.
Not because he “optimized his customer journey.”

But because he was memorable.
Because he was human.
Because connection made him top of mind.

And that’s when something inside me softened.

What a Farmer Taught Me About My Own Business

As I hit “purchase” on half a cow, something clicked:

This is what I want Holistic Honey to be.
Human. Real. Soulful. Connected.

I don’t need a marketing team.

I don’t need flashier graphics.

I don’t need to compete with Sephora or Amazon or brands with million-dollar budgets.

What makes Holistic Honey different is exactly what makes Josh’s farm different:

There’s a real person behind the work.

A real pair of hands.
A real heartbeat.
A real mission.
A real soul.

I source, formulate, create, package, and ship everything myself.
I blend botanicals with intention.
I choose suppliers consciously.
I craft in small batches, with care — never rushing, never mass-producing.

And in a world that’s so disconnected, I believe people are craving the very thing that corporations can’t manufacture:

Human energy.
Soul.
Story.
Intention.
Connection.

Why Supporting Small, Soulful Businesses Matters

We don’t always think about the ripple effect when we choose where to spend our money — but it matters.

When you support a small business:

• You support a real person’s dream.

• You directly impact someone’s livelihood.

• You keep craftsmanship and care alive.

• You help break cycles of mass consumerism.

• You invest in products made with intention rather than profit margins.

You help people like me — and people like Josh — continue doing work that brings more integrity and soul into the world.

It’s how we gently, quietly dismantle the “bigness” of big pharma, big skincare, big food, and big corporations — not through resistance, but through redirection.

We choose differently.
We source differently.
We support differently.

Even one small shift creates impact.

The Epiphany: Humanness Always Wins

Buying that half cow reminded me of something essential:

People don’t want perfection — they want connection.

They want to know who made their skincare.
They want to feel the story behind their products.
They want to trust the hands and heart that crafted them.
They want soul.

And that’s what I’m returning to.

Not polished marketing funnels.
Not heavy promotional cycles.
Not trying to compete with brands that were never meant to be my competition.

Just simple, honest, human stories.
Letters from my heart.
Products made with intention.
And a business model rooted in slow, seasonal, soulful living.

A Soft Invitation

If you’re here reading this, thank you.
Thank you for supporting Holistic Honey.
Thank you for being part of this movement toward small-batch, human-made beauty.

Every purchase matters.
Every share matters.
Every kind word matters.

It all ripples.

And if you feel called to support this season, the Honey Bundle has been a community favourite — with just a small amount left in stock.

But more than anything, I hope this story inspires you to support more small businesses, more makers, more farmers, more artisans, more humans bringing soul back into the world.

Because humanness — real, imperfect, heartfelt humanness — is what will shift the future.