S4: E4 - Courage, Chaos & Calling Bullshit on Self-Doubt, with Hannah Strange & Jess Gelling

In this episode, I’m joined by Minister Hannah Strange and Fairy Godmother, Jess Gelling, founders of the 16(18)-times award-winning wellness brand, The Strange Apothecary, Ministry of Pharmakeia, for a conversation that's funny, raw, honest and unexpectedly emotional in all the best ways.

We dive into courage, confidence, self-doubt, intuition, visibility, building a business and the realities of creating something meaningful whilst simultaneously wondering whether you’ve completely lost the plot! Along the way, we explore the witch wound, the stories women are taught about playing small, and why so many of us spend years waiting for permission to become who we already are.

There's laughter, vulnerability, a few uncomfortable truths, and plenty of moments where you’ll probably find yourself thinking, “Oh God… that’s me.”

Because sometimes, courage is simply calling bullshit on the stories that tell you that you can’t... and then doing it anyway.xxx

Connect with Hannah HERE | Connect with Jess HERE

Visit Website - https://strangeapothecary.co.uk/

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello and welcome back to the Witchy Wee podcast. Today I am joined by two incredible humans. We have the beautiful minister Hannah Strange and the gorgeous fairy godmother Jess Gelling. And they are both joining me from The Strange Apothecary, and they're both bringing their magic into the world. So before we get started with today's episode, I would love to ask you ladies to just introduce yourselves.

SPEAKER_03 0:30

Hi, I'm Hannah Strange, Minister Hannah Strange, and I am the founder of The Strange Apothecary, the Ministry of Pharmacaea. We are a 16 times award-winning brand, and I work within that brand with my amazing friend Jess.

SPEAKER_02 0:50

Hello everyone, I'm Jess, and I am your business fairy godmother. I'm everyone's business fairy godmother. And I work my magic and I'm like the glue that holds things together. So it's wonderful to be here. Thank you, Kylie.

SPEAKER_00 1:04

Oh, thank you guys for joining me. I love that you are here because you're not that there are just guests, but you are also our wonderful headline sponsors for this season as well. So we are so grateful for your support, and I'm excited that the Witchy Woo family get to know you even better. Hear your energy. And so today we're going to be talking all about the Witch Wind, of course. And I had a brief conversation with Hannah and Jess before we pressed record. And we were speaking about how both of them have never really felt that they resonated with the Witch Wound, but we're both really interested in perhaps diving into it a little bit more and seeing where it does show up. And I often find with the witch wound, when we think about it, we think about the witch trials because we that's obviously where it has stemmed from. And if you don't know that you have a past life and you were accused of a witch, then naturally you're not really going to feel that you associate with that terminology at all. Because why would you? You know, you have no conscious memory of it. But we, you know, when there's so many people that added to that collective energy of the witch wing, so many people that were being persecuted, especially women, obviously there were men as well, but especially women, all of that energy gets added into the collective. And so anyone who incarnates after that will feel the effects of that, and not only through their soul, through the imprints that have been left within their Akashic records, within their soul history, but also ancestrally it's going to be passed down from mother to daughter. You're going to be taught to stay quiet, don't let yourself stand out. If you just be the good girl, then you're going to be able to get where you want to get in life, and no one's going to hurt you because you're doing exactly what they want. And I think it shows up so differently today that we don't often recognise it as the witch wound within ourselves. We just think it's, you know, how we are as a person. We just lack confidence, or you know, we don't like being visible, we don't like showing up. So I kind of want to reframe it a little bit and perhaps ask you if there was a time that you ever learned that it wasn't always safe to be you, a time where you felt that you had to hide the real version of you.

SPEAKER_03 3:35

I mean, growing up, when you go to a mainstream school, you know, it's it's drilled into you that you can't express yourself in the ways that you want to. You have to wear the uniform, the way that the rules are set out, and things like that. So back then in my teenage years was probably when I felt most suppressed. My mum was very like, be the good girl, be quiet, be what you need to be to get by in life. But I grew up with a father who would stick up for me, encourage me to dye my hair, encourage me to get the piercing, like, encourage me to dress how I wanted to dress. And he would fight for me in the school setting as well, you know, and be like, it doesn't affect her education. What's your problem? And he's a big man, so he's a scary man to have those kind of conversations with. And, you know, he's not scared to stand his ground. So I think, you know, from that aspect, I've been quite lucky because I've had that like drilled into me from a really young age to just be be me and like do what I want to do from one side of my parents, and then I've seen the complete opposite from the other side, and they're still very much like that today, you know, they're they're still kind of complete opposites of each other. My mum's still very much mainstream, follows societal norms and does everything that way, and my dad is really not, really not at all.

SPEAKER_00 5:13

What a fantastic influence to have that. Yeah, yeah, it was. I love that. And Jess, have you ever felt that?

SPEAKER_02 5:22

Um, well, mine stems back to childhood as well. And this initially it felt a bit like a loaded question, actually. Sorry, because I don't know. No, no, it's it's absolutely fine. I'd like to say I'm fully open to this. It's time to share some of my story, right? So my childhood was a little bit different from Hannah. My mum is the one that would have allowed me to express and be me. And I moved away from that, and I lived with my dad, and I was very, very, very much suppressed. You know, like Hannah was saying, you can't express yourself, you've got to conform, wear the uniform, follow the rules. I wasn't even allowed to wear makeup, like clear mascara was your maximum, you know, because my dad always used to be like, boys only want one thing, and it's like it's not even about that. It he completely lost the part of expressing yourself. When you have to wear a uniform, what kind of things can you do differently? Just to like stand out or be different from the crowd, right? Yeah, so yeah, it's a I feel like I didn't do myself any favours by not being with my mum during those that time because my mum, my mum was the one, the opposite to Hannah, really. So it wasn't my dad that was allowing me to like be free, it would have been my mum that would have done that. So so yeah, from from the teenage years, the early early teenage years, that would probably be where it started being suppressed more, I'd say.

SPEAKER_00 6:43

And you can totally understand it, can't you? And I think it's so sad you've touched upon something else as well. I think as women, and like obviously, I'm sure that it comes from a place of he loves you and he didn't want anything to happen to you, like that's where it comes from. But you know, the fact that as women we are told we shouldn't look a certain way, we can't look a certain way because just in case a boy thinks that he can do something inappropriate, like it's our fault. Like if a boy can't control it.

SPEAKER_02 7:11

But at 12 at 12 and 13, you shouldn't even really be aware of that. Yeah, like that wasn't what I was putting makeup on for. I wasn't wanting to wear makeup to but for boys to like me. I wanted to wear makeup because all my friends were wearing makeup, they were expressing themselves through that, and I couldn't do that. So, yeah, you know, it's it shows the time that he grew up in and what what he went through. And my dad's no longer with us. So it's it's a hard one to really. I don't know why he was like that. Won't get to know those questions just yet, know the answer to those questions just yet, but that's okay. Well, first of all I'm sorry to hear about your dad. That's okay. That's okay. He's been gone a very long time now. He he passed away actually when I was 16. So that could have, you know, contributed to everything that I've held to where I am now. So it's a it's a good it's a healing journey that I'm on, and I'm exploring, I'm open to it.

SPEAKER_00 8:04

Oh, I love that. I love that. And yeah, and I think the fact that, you know, just going back to the way that boys are, I think a lot of times we we put the blame, like talking about the witch wound, and if we don't resonate with the witch wound, I think a lot of us will resonate with the patriarchy. And to me, it's a very similar thing. The patriarchy was what allowed the witch wound to become a huge part in our society because it was always the women, because boys wouldn't have been told, oh no, don't don't style your hair like that, but just in case a girl likes the way you look. Do you know where it's like? And it's just that double standard, isn't it? With and that's not me criticizing your dad in any way. It's oh no, it's the thinking behind everything, isn't it?

SPEAKER_02 8:53

Absolutely, because you don't know what he was conditioned and how his parents was conditioned, and so on, so on, so on. It goes back. You know, like you say, it keeps going back, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_00 9:02

That's it, that's it. And he was keeping his little girl safe, so he was doing his job. Um and so the opposite kind of question. Now, looking back at your life, when do you feel the most powerful? Now I know, but did both of you say now at once?

SPEAKER_03 9:26

Yeah, yeah, now, honestly, now like I I first started on my like spiritual journey just before I had my daughter in 2017. Uh so I'd already had my son, so I'd like I was one child in, but I got pregnant with my second really quickly. He was only like three months old, and we found out, and then I had my daughter, and something within me like just woke up, and I remember when she was a baby, like she never slept on the full moon, and like I could tell like how like in tune with things that she was already, and it really opened up that path for me. But like as a child, I always loved witchy things and like watching all like the Halloween movies, and like I love fairies as well, you know. Like our all all our brandings like fairies now, and I loved everything like mythical, but like that kind of got suppressed over the years because of just the societal opinions around those things, too whimsical, yeah. Exactly. Need to be grown-ups. Now my life is just full whimsy. Like, if it's not whimsy, I don't want it. So after having my daughter, like I started to like wake up to that side more, and I'd like publicly share that like I was exploring that and stepping into that role. And like it, I was surprised at how greatly supported that was then. She's nine this year, so almost a decade ago. Like, I started on the journey officially as an adult, and I couldn't imagine my life without it now. You know, like it's so deeply ingrained into everything that I do, like just my daily life. I honestly couldn't imagine not having that part of me awake now.

SPEAKER_00 11:16

Yeah, yeah. Oh, I love it.

SPEAKER_02 11:18

It'd be sad, wouldn't it? It'd be sad that if you weren't awake to that, it really was. It'd mean you'd have to discover it later.

SPEAKER_00 11:25

Yeah, and not get along doing it and being fairy. I know exactly what to be a fairy. So basically, for Hannah, power is whimsical, which I love. I absolutely love, and I love as well that your daughter was the one that opened you up. I think our children teach us so much, don't they?

SPEAKER_03 11:46

Yeah, they really do, you know. Dexter is a very unique little soul himself. He's got a like genetic condition that only like 150 people in the world have, and like he's taught us a lot of lessons as he's growing up. He'll be 10 soon. So we we've learned so much from both of our children, and like Jess is their honorary auntie, and you know, she she's learnt so much from them as well from just being involved with the family in general, but the just the way that they view the world, you know, there's no there's there's not it's not like just like black and white to them, like it can be for adults, you know. There's lots of grey, there's lots of questions, there's lots of wonder, and to just look at the world from their perspective sometimes is such an eye-opening place to be. Yeah, refreshing as well, I think.

SPEAKER_02 12:42

Yeah, to see the world through the eyes of a child, it's very refreshing.

SPEAKER_00 12:46

Yeah. I couldn't agree more, and the beauty of it as well is now that you have done the work on yourself, you're now allowing them to be truly them. You're not on the side where you are suppressing anything within them.

SPEAKER_03 13:00

Yeah, exactly. Like, obviously, our work is like deeply rooted in health and wellness, you know, like deeply. And everyone on my mum's side of the family work in some form of health and wellness, but it's very mainstream, you know. They wouldn't go down the herbal or the holistic route like I have. And to now look at my daughter and know that she's gonna grow up in a household that fully believes in the power of plants that play with tarot cards just for the sake of playing with tarot cards, you know, and have crystals around the house because like they're powerful and pretty. Um, you know, I didn't I didn't get to grow up with that. So I'm really interested to see how she ends up being when she's my age and she's had that within her childhood. Like she's already got her own deck of tarot cards. She it's like a colour in your own deck thing, and like she's obsessed with colouring. So she's been making like physically making her own deck, and she stole my tarot card book, you know, like the generic book that's got like the minions and stuff in it. Like, I don't use it anymore. I did years ago when I first started playing with tarot, but I don't use it now. So she's like, Can I have this? And we're like, Yeah, take it. She's always just randomly appearing with it and being like, Did you know?

SPEAKER_00 14:19

Yeah, I think it sounds like we need to get her on the podcast as well.

SPEAKER_02 14:25

She'll be she'll be coming to the uh moon rituals in no time doing reading for us.

SPEAKER_00 14:30

Oh, I love that. And yes, you obviously answered now as well to when you feel most powerful. Is there anything in particular that kind of makes you feel that way?

SPEAKER_02 14:40

The oh, it's I started my healing journey. I've always been interested in like, you know, quote witchcraft things, and I've always deeply respected the work that Hannah does, but I was because of all the trauma that I went through, I was just so closed off to even you know, the the healing aspect of me was like, it's gonna be too hard. I don't want to do it. And then 20 was it 2020, was it last year? It was last year, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_03 15:11

Was it only last year? Was we had been to Peak Fest, we've been to the was it the first day of Peak Fest, and we were sat in the garden in the house, and we were all just like chatting, you know, we were all like on our own little like healing journey. We had like a few of our mates there as well, and Jess was just like, no, I'm not doing it, it's too hard. Fuck you all, basically. We like that the end of it, and we were like, okay, that's fine, you know.

SPEAKER_02 15:37

Yeah, I can't even remember what even triggered me to react like that, yeah. But that reaction said so much to me because oh, I got a bit of an echo then, because that was me going, hang on a minute, I'm with the safest group of people that I could be with. Why did I react like that? Yeah, why is healing such a hard no for me? So I sat with it a bit, we carried on with Peak Fest. It was a bit of an emotional time, but it was great because I was seeing, I was in a room with all these people. I'd always signed myself off. I'm too old to start something new, I've tried before, it's not successful, yada yada. And just to be in this room with so many people of all different ages, of all different races, of all, you know, all different genders, it was just to be like, why am I holding myself back and signing myself off?

unknown 16:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:27

Like I've got some work to do, you know. And then we came home, and two days later, I was like, Hannah, I'm ready. And it's honestly been the most powerful experience, and that's why I say I feel powerful now. Because it's understanding things, validating my experiences and feelings, and understanding, and it's just that's helped me have understanding for my mum, understanding for my dad, my brother, my sister. It's just it's so worth it to do that healing journey. Like, I wish I'd done it. I wish I'd started 10 years ago. Yeah. But we learn and we do it when when we think it's right, and and last year, of obviously, evidently, was the perfect time. But like I say, I've always been interested in in the witchy stuff, and I'm pretty sure like my side of the family, like my mum's side, has clairvoyance, you know, like my granddad and his mum. And then my mum kind of lost it over the years because her life changed, but she was always doing holistic treatments as a kid. Like, if I had earache, it'd be a holistic treatment or something like that, or colds and coughs, and it'd be balms on the chest and essential oils. It was my mum that got me onto essential oils. So I'm really sad that I left and went to live with my dad, but I can't change it, so no. It's just about like moving forward and having gratitude for everything that I've been through that's led me here. So that's that's where my that's why I feel powerful now.

SPEAKER_00 17:58

Oh, and that sounds so powerful as well. Like I got goosebumps as you were speaking then. That sounds repertoire, and I think it takes a lot for us to look at ourselves and be like, why the hell did I just do that? Like to actually see it as an us. Like, why was I triggered in that way rather than the easy option of kind of projecting it onto well, who has made me? They upset me.

SPEAKER_02 18:20

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Why did you upset me instead of being instead? I was like, why was I upset by that? Because it was a not it was a non-issue. And that's what that's what really made me go, oh, you overreacted a bit there, didn't you?

SPEAKER_00 18:36

It set me on the right path, so it needed to happen apparently. Absolutely, and I can just imagine what Hannah's reaction would have been like when you went to her and be like, I'm ready.

SPEAKER_03 18:45

Honestly, when when she was like, No, I'm not doing it, I was actually a little bit concerned because I know like I was on this journey and I move I move fast when I'm on doing things, you know. Like just this past week I said to Jess, I was like, I've quantum leaped this week. Like it's been insane. Like that's true. But when yeah, when I'm moving through things, I go really fast, and that's just the way my life is, you know, it's really fast-paced all of the time. And when she was like, No, I'm not doing it, I was actually really scared that I was gonna lose her because I was gonna be like on this up trajectory, and she was gonna be on this flat line, you know, not keeping up with it. And they say that people come into your lives for different stages, don't they? And I'm like, I don't want Jess to be in my life for a stage, you know, I want her to be in my life, in my life, you know, like that's it. So when she then two days later was like, I'm ready now, and I was like, Oh my fucking god, thank you. Like literally, hallelujah! I was like, Oh my god, and I actually messaged our friend because Jess had gone home with them. Um, because obviously we live in different directions. So Jess had got a lift back of them, and I messaged her and I was like, Did you say something? Like, did you did you have a conversation like in the in the car on the way back or something? She was like, No, not really, you know, like I didn't really say anything because I just thought that that was more gotta be what's happened for her to suddenly be like, I'm ready now, you know, I'm I'm ready to go on this journey properly now. But yeah, ton of self-reflection, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:26

I also had a QHEH session, like a little freebie taster for somebody that was in from in from somebody that was in our group, and that was wild. And I was just like, oh, okay. And that was kind of that was kind of it. That just set me off and I was away, and it's been wild ever since. Fast paced, up sounds, emotions, like what not even two weeks ago. My nan passed away. I've not even really talked about it properly, and it's just one of those things. I didn't even mean to bring it up, but yeah, life just it just goes, man, and you just gotta keep going with it, right?

SPEAKER_00 21:04

Absolutely. I'm sorry about your nan.

SPEAKER_02 21:07

It's okay, thank you.

SPEAKER_00 21:08

That's wrong.

SPEAKER_03 21:09

She she did make it to her 90th birthday.

SPEAKER_02 21:12

I was gonna say it wasn't it wasn't like heartbreakingly tragic. Obviously, it's very, very sad. But on the 8th of May, we got to celebrate 90 years, and she was there for that. She was fully with us. She was spoiled rotten, even though she protested not to be. Don't make a fuss, don't make a fuss, is what she was saying. Oh, you can guarantee we made a fuss. But yeah, she was poly. She was poly for a long time, and if anything, we were we were having healing circles and things, and gratitude, acceptance, something else came through, and I was just like, it's just it's just time, and it was as it for me, I was surprised at how I'd handled it because obviously the last major grief I had was my dad passing away. Yeah, whereas this time. I was very calm, very level-headed. You know, I was there for my mum and my sister, and it was just it's is it weird to say that it's been a nice experience?

SPEAKER_00 22:10

No, I don't know. I don't know if that sounds strange.

SPEAKER_02 22:14

Yeah, that's what I'm yeah. Obviously, it's not nice that she's not here, but it wasn't all hectic.

SPEAKER_03 22:23

No, it was very peaceful. She was ready, you know, like that's what she wanted. She was yeah, no, so she really did to watch her hold on.

SPEAKER_02 22:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:33

And it sounds like she was surrounded by loads of people that loved her as well. I mean, what better way to every day?

SPEAKER_02 22:39

Every day she had visitors, and me and my sister and my mum were literally there with her at the time. So it's honestly, if she could have written it down on a piece of paper what she wanted, that's what that's what she would have wanted. So we're just we're just glad that we could be there for her.

SPEAKER_00 22:55

Very glad. Oh, that's beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing that. Thank you for letting me share it. It's totally not on topic of what we're talking about, but thank you.

SPEAKER_01 23:24

We could go there. There could be some things we may not quite want to go there, but I mean, you know how my brain works, kind of open that door.

SPEAKER_00 23:36

Anna's brain suddenly thinking of all the most inappropriate things that she was.

SPEAKER_04 23:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:45

Oh, I love it. So we kind of covered a little bit with the business because obviously you were at Peak Fest with your business, and that was the thing that made you just obviously have that trigger and then have this huge realization which helped you on your path. But for me, the the people that I work with, the which one shows up the most in business because of the whole being visible, uh putting yourself out there in business without that fear of being judged, you know, like the putting a post out and then taking it down five minutes later because actually you don't know if it's the right thing to say, or you know, overthinking responses and all that sort of thing, it comes up and it's all through this fear of standing out or standing in your power. You know, like I don't know if you ever find it where if you're on if you're in a circle, whether it's in person or is on Zoom, and there are some people who sit there and they are really scared to share, even though they've got something that's really valuable, or that you know, it's just a beautiful time for them to share, they don't want to take up that space. Yeah, because I have that they're less important.

SPEAKER_03 25:03

I have it happen all the time with my clients. So I host a lot of circles myself online. I don't do in-person ones, but I go I go to one in person, but I don't host in person, I only do online, and I get a lot of people being like, I just didn't want to say anything because you know I don't want to put that on everyone else, and I don't want to, you know, make everyone else feel like shit. I don't want to, you know, have them like they've got their own stuff to deal with, but I'm not as important, and you know, it's just it's heartbreaking for me to see that. But I, you know, I try and support them through it, and I try and you know make them feel as valued as every other person within that space because they are, you know, they are just as valuable as anyone else, and I hope that I do that justice, you know, and I hope that they really do feel that way when it when it does happen for me personally. Like, visibility is not a problem. I have always said what I wanted to say when I wanted to say it, and given no fucks. That's just how unapologetic, that is that is just me, and how how like I said about my dad earlier, you know, that's that's what he's ingrained into me over the years, and I lived with my dad rather than my mum through my teenage years as well after they split. So, you know, like he's been my main influence through my life, and just to give you context, like he's a heavy metal biker, so yeah, that's the the environment that I grew up in. But Jess, on the other hand, Jess has been that person herself is being like, I don't want to put it on everyone else. And I'm like, what do you mean you don't want to put it on everyone else? Like, this is your space as much as it is everyone else's. Like, get your butt in there right now and like let the community hold you because there's such power in community and circle and holding each other. I mean, the circle that I go to in person, it's just hosted by one of your resident authors, Kate Krabbs. She always mentions every time that we're there how like there's tribes across the country across the world now that still operate in the way of like gathering together before they go to bed at night and just talking about their day, you know, talking things through and getting everything out in the open. And there's zero depression, there's no anxiety, there's no major mental health problems, you know, and everyone just lives in peace and harmony. Whereas we don't have that here, like in in this Western society, that's not something that we do. So having those communities and those safe spaces where we can go and lean on those people is so incredibly important. But the battle is, like you say, getting people to come into those spaces when they need it, you know, and not highly.

SPEAKER_02 28:08

Feel worthy, yeah, feel worthy of a space there, because that's also another thing. Like I was part of the community as part of the ones leading it. So I was like, I can't go in there and be like, I've got problems. Because they've all got their problems and they don't want to listen to my problems. Whereas that's the exact opposite of what is what you're actually meant to do. We're not meant to be like solo creatures, we're meant to be part of like a community hub, we're meant to be surrounded by love and other human beings. So, and it was only, it was only not it wasn't long ago, was it that I was like, No, I can't use the space, can't go in there. And I'd just go to Hannah and like say my things to her, and she's like, get in the community, I'm like, nah, I can't go in there. And she was like, Absolutely, you can. And then everyone, I was just I was just so shocked by how receptive everyone was of it and being like, Whoa, just go through this too. It's like I became human being to them, yeah. And they probably now feel like they can relate so much better to you. Yeah, something that I've been missing doing, and yeah, because I've always just held back. I've all I have always just held back, and I'm like, oh god, I've got to stop holding back.

SPEAKER_03 29:16

I actually dropped her in it a little bit because she was like, No, I'm not gonna do it, I'm not gonna do it. So I did it for her, and I popped a message in the chat, and I was like, Hey guys, Jess is having a hard time, but she's being a knob, so can you help me?

SPEAKER_02 29:32

I love that. And then that but the thing is, like, and I know that that's not Hannah being like, Go on, go on, tell everyone. It's like, come on, Jess. It's just Hannah giving that gentle nudge, being like, because whereas if Hannah hadn't done that, I probably still wouldn't have said anything. Yeah, whereas then that opened the floodgates for so much more. So it's it's like it wasn't done in a negative way from Hannah, it was done as like a boot up the ass.

SPEAKER_03 29:54

No, and like I wouldn't do that to just anyone, even. Yeah, no, but I can do it to Jess with love special.

SPEAKER_00 30:03

And you could see what was needed, because I'm sure Jess, you probably came away feeling so much better. Absolutely speaking in there, so much better, so so much better. And I think as well, it kind of crosses over with that like toxic side of empathy when you are an empathic person and you do take on a lot from other people and you know just how precious energy is because you feel so affected by other people, it makes you think about what you're willing to share because you don't want to put your shit onto someone else. So I do think it kind of when we are opening up and when we do realise how much we take on from other people, sometimes it can have that negative effect when we open up spiritually because we do start noticing how much energy affects us, and we do start thinking like being more mindful about where we place our energy. But it's so needed, isn't it? And also, like obviously, we're speaking about the witch wound, but the sister wound ties in so closely with the witch wound, and obviously coming together as women is so important. Like in days gone by, like you kind of touched on it, Hannah, with different tribes around the world, but often like often it's the women that would be at home and they would be raising the children, they'd all gather together within the village and they'd share their stories and they'd make each other feel better, you know.

SPEAKER_03 31:26

And that's where the saying it takes the village to raise the children comes from, right? And like you don't get that anymore either, you know, like because grandparents are working or they're like busy doing things that they want to do because they've had their kids and they've grown up and they're living their life now, you know. Um or like if you need a babysitter, you've got to book like eight weeks in advance.

SPEAKER_02 31:50

Do you know what else? Do you know what else you don't have anymore? And I remember when when my sister had her first house, it was like the row terraces, and everyone's back garden wall was really low, yeah. Like shoulder height, you know, or just up to like your chest, so you could look at the other person over your garden wall. Whereas now you want six, seven, eight-foot fences, you don't want to speak to your neighbour. Whereas, like back in the day, that's how that's how women thrived and survived was speaking to all the other women who were having babies, looking after the home. And yeah, it's like, how did we lose that? How did we lose that?

SPEAKER_00 32:24

Yeah, so we went from most women kind of being at home, and I'm not saying just looking after children because it's like the thing in the world to do, but now we've gone from that and doing it with a community to having to do everything on your own and work and look after the children and have to hold it all together and not have a space where you can offload. Crazy.

SPEAKER_03 32:50

Yes, crazy is crazy how the times have changed, you know, just in the last 70 years of how the family dynamics are completely different now. You can't do just one parent leave the house for work anymore. Like, you you can't you can't do that. Like, jobs don't pay enough to pay the bills, so like mums have been forced out of the family home and to go to work, and that's why I love what we do because obviously me and Dean work in the business together, so we get to spend all of our time together, and then we actually home educate with our daughter, and then our son goes to a special needs school, so we've got a completely different like family dynamic to most other households, and it just fills my heart with so much joy that like we don't have to be separated from each other for most of the day, like other families do. Like, we get to choose what we do when we do it, and we get to do it with each other all the time. Obviously, my son goes out of the house, but like if I said to him, You're not going to school anymore because I want you at home, he would be so mad. Like, he'd think he was being punished. Yeah, he really went. He loves school.

SPEAKER_00 34:09

Oh, bless him. And that, but that's another beautiful way that you're showing because you know, the whole like in the past, in days gone by, children should be seen and not heard, but you're listening to what your children want and need, and that's being honoured. Like your daughter obviously being better with homeschooled, and your son loving school.

SPEAKER_03 34:29

Yeah, and I mean we tried school with her, she did a year and a half a term, and no, like she was she was a little ball of anxiety, she wouldn't speak to anyone, and she was just a mess, like just a mess constantly while she was at school. And they did say, like, oh, we think she's neurodivergent. I was like, probably, both her parents are, you know, it is genetic, so like and yeah, then we pulled her out, and now she doesn't shut up, like she will talk to anyone and everyone, and sometimes I'm like, just go back to school, please.

SPEAKER_00 35:06

It is that environment as well, though, sometimes, isn't it? Like, my daughter was exactly the same, and we homeschooled practically the whole of her secondary school because again, anxiety, she just couldn't really cope well with being at school. Now she's at college, she's absolutely thriving. So I think it is how adaptive those environments are as well.

SPEAKER_02 35:28

Yeah, I mean, we always are not school environments, they're very unadaptive, I feel like. And I I I don't even have any children, and I just see what goes on through like other people who have got children, it's just crazy out there. Yeah, the school system needs a revamp.

SPEAKER_03 35:42

That's all I mean give her the choice, you know. We always say, like, do you want to go back to school? Do you want to stay at home? Like the offer's always there for her. She knows that she's fully in control of that decision and what she wants to do. And it's the same with our son, too. You know, he knows that we could homeschool him if that's what he wanted, but that's not what he wants. And he wants to go to school, and he wants to eat all the jam on toast that they give him in the mornings, and you know, like he has the best time, you know, the best time. So, yeah, it's just providing them with their different needs and what like you say, like that they're heard, they're listened to with what they what they want, not rather than just they're just kids, they can get on with it, you know. Like, yeah, they might be kids, but they're still humans, you know, they're just little versions of us.

SPEAKER_00 36:34

Yeah, who, as we said at the start, can teach us so much. Really can, yeah. Yeah, with their little beautiful, fresh perspectives. So we have come to the point in the podcast, I think we should do the which witch are you quick quiz. So uh they're quite simple questions, don't worry. They're not they're not the really deep ones like I started off throwing at you. And let's see what type of witch you are for the listeners. So, question one is you're given a day completely to yourself. Do you a read 10 books and research random things? B wander in nature, c journal and pull cards, or D burn everything down and start over. I would wonder in nature. Love it.

SPEAKER_02 37:24

I would want to wander in nature, but I know I'd go for the books and the research. I don't know what I would perfect.

SPEAKER_00 37:31

So, next question: your biggest superpower is wisdom, healing, intuition, or courage. Oh, that's such a hard one. It is, isn't it? Because you ladies have all of them, obviously.

SPEAKER_03 37:45

But I'm really torn between wisdom and courage. Okay. Before this conversation, I probably would have said wisdom, but after having this conversation, I think it's possibly courage because I forget how open and willing I am compared to other people, because it's just my norm, right? Like, I forget other people aren't like that. So I think it is probably courage.

SPEAKER_00 38:09

Yeah, that is definitely a superpower that you can be. I think being yourself is the biggest superpower you can be, and I would say you embody that beautifully. Thanks. Yes, what do you reckon, my love?

SPEAKER_03 38:24

I'd say wisdom for me, I think. I would say wisdom for you as well.

SPEAKER_00 38:28

Yeah, perfect. So people come to you for advice, comfort, insight, or motivation. Oh, could it be a mix?

SPEAKER_02 38:40

Go on, can we do more choice? Um, I'd say comfort and motivation. Comfort and motion, perfect.

SPEAKER_03 38:48

Yeah, I think insight and advice for me, because like I find them quite similar things, you know, in general, the insight and advice. Because yeah, a lot of time people are like, I just want your opinion on this, and like that's the insight side, and it and then they'll always follow up. We're like, Well, what would you do then?

SPEAKER_00 39:10

I love that. So, do you want your results? Yes, you want to know them. So, both of you are actually the same. You've both come out at wise sage. I was expecting to have two different results there, but yes, both of you have got mostly A's. So there you go. So would you resonate with the wise sage? Can you feel that wise sage energy?

SPEAKER_01 39:38

Yeah, eventually when you get to a crone phase.

SPEAKER_02 39:44

Yeah, yeah, I think that's when it I think that's when it come out more.

SPEAKER_03 39:48

I I think I definitely resonate with it. I think I'm already in my crone era, to be honest.

SPEAKER_00 39:54

Just early. Well, the crone is all about not giving a fuck about what anyone else thinks. So I love it.

SPEAKER_02 40:03

And can you see why me and Hannah are such a great team?

SPEAKER_04 40:06

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 40:06

Because of how it's yeah, it's just so good. I I just could never have asked for a person like Hannah. If I'd have if I had asked in my wildest dreams, it yeah, I I couldn't have nailed it better. I've got the best business partner I could have asked for because it's not just business, it's life. And you need that, you need that in in something. So I'm very lucky. I'm very, very lucky. I know I am.

SPEAKER_03 40:30

Me too. I'm lucky.

SPEAKER_00 40:32

Oh ladies, this is so beautiful. You're making me really jealous that I don't have a business bestie.

SPEAKER_01 40:40

You're our business. You're our business bestie. We are the mother, the maiden, the crone. We'll just fight it out for which one. I'm a maiden since I've got no kids. Hannah can be the crone, and you can be the mother. That seems all right, on it. I love it. All aspects of self.

SPEAKER_00 41:02

But no, I completely agree. I love the dynamic between you two. It's just so beautiful and perfect. And it's like I always think of it like you know the the moon phases, and obviously, like how they I'm probably not going to make any sense here, but how obviously, if you were to put all the moon phases together, they would slot in to make a moon, a full moon, if you don't want I kind of think of you two like that, like the two halves of the moon, where you can slot together kind of perfectly, and you both bring out the best bits in each other. And what's really beautiful as well, going along the lines of the witch wound, is often we can, you know, I will blame the patriarchy for kind of pitting women against each other a lot of the time. Whereas you two, you can feel that real genuine bond and want for love and healing and success. You genuinely want that for each other, and it's gorgeous.

SPEAKER_03 42:04

Honestly, we want it also. Yeah, we want it for each other, we want it for everyone that we cross paths with, you know, like ever we want it for every woman in the world, you know, it's not something that we restrict to ourselves. We believe that there's room for everyone to have space, and you know, if we can give you a leg up somewhere, then we absolutely will, if we can, you know. Absolutely. We've got a few contacts floating around.

SPEAKER_01 42:33

Oh, I love few contacts, few opportunities. All you gotta do is reach out.

SPEAKER_00 42:38

So let's end with tell us a little bit more about the strange ap apothecary. I just knew I would be able to say that properly.

SPEAKER_03 42:46

No one ever can, right? No one ever can. Um, but like we called it the strange apothecary because obviously I'm Hannah Strange, and that's my last name. I did steal it from my partner, bless him. But he was born with that name, like it was his given name. It's not everyone always thinks it's a stage name that we've just like adopted because of the business.

SPEAKER_00 43:05

It's like it, doesn't it? It's so perfect.

SPEAKER_03 43:08

It does, it does, but no, my children's like birth certificates say strange on, you know, and then I was just like, I want to be a strange. Everyone else in my house is a strange, I want to be a strange. So I did change it by depot because we're not married, but that's a whole different story. But like even if something spent the 500 pounds or spent the 20 instead, but yeah, the strange apothecary is apothecary because obviously the old word for medicine is apothecary, and that's when it would have all been herbal-based medicine, the holistic approach before it became pharmaceuticals as we know it today. Um, so that's why it was the strange apothecary. And recently it's had a little bit of an upgrade as well, and I was actually reading a book called Entering Hecate's Garden, which I'm sure many people listening to this podcast will appreciate. With her being the goddess of witches. Um, and I've always felt a really strong pull to Hecate throughout my whole life. Like, I had a dog called Apollo, and like she shows up through dogs, and Apollo is her son, and you know, it's all it's when I look back at my life, it's all so interconnected. And I was reading this book and I saw this word, pharmacaea, and I was like, I've never seen this word before. Like, what does it mean? And it is the ancient and sacred art of plant medicine rituals magic, and I'm like, that's literally what we do, like at the Strange Apothecary, and for many, many years, I've really struggled to put everything we do into context. You know, it's always been like a big long list of all the different modalities that are included, and you can see people's eyes just glaze over, like when you're trying to have that conversation with them, because they're like, Yeah, she's just listed seven different things to me. Like, I don't understand any of them. Whereas Pharmacaea is just like, oh, what's that? Like it like peaks peaks your ear. So, and I'm also an ordained minister as well. So the strange apothecary has become the ministry of pharmacaea, and that has literally been within the last few days that we've kind of made that little bit of a pivot, that little bit of a refinement in what it is that we do. But we actually started as a CBD business and then expanded from there. So we actually started as Hannibus because it was Hannah, CBD, cannabis, like to play on words. And then as we started to expand out of the CBD industry into other things, we're like, we need another name because Hannibus is great. Hannibal's brand is still very much alive, it's just now like the CBD side of the Strange Apothecary as a sub-brand. And we launched mushrooms under the Strange Apothecary, but still under Hannibus. And then I decided to make the switch of making The Strange Apothecary the main umbrella of everything and making Hannibal the sub-thing. But we're a seven-year-old company this month. Our anniversary is on the 14th of June, and it's your birthday, yeah, and and it will be my birthday as well. Yeah, because I I I like to do things on my birthday for some reason, and I always end up working on my birthday too, because of it. So, yeah, it'll be our seventh anniversary this year, which is wild, you know. Like we're a seven-year-old business now. Right now, we are a 16 times award-winning business too. By the end of the month, we will be an 18 times award-winning business because that's incredible!

SPEAKER_00 46:50

Absolutely incredible.

SPEAKER_03 46:52

I just had an email today, actually. I've not told anyone this publicly yet, but I just had an email today inviting me to the local business awards, and they only invite you if you've won. And I know that we've won green business of the year and customer service excellence of the year as well. Oh, some great categories.

SPEAKER_00 47:15

That is amazing.

SPEAKER_03 47:17

Yes, it's so good, isn't it? It's so good. Obviously, I launched the business, I founded it, and we've got an affiliate system as well within the business, which is a beautiful, beautiful system. Um, there are amazing people that are in it, and it's a real nice community to be a part of. But I need how I came along. It is because I needed some help with it. I needed some help. I needed someone to come in and like help me run that side of it and like keep the affiliates like on track and support them where they needed to be supported, because I'm one person and I can't make the product, sell the product, run all the admin side of the business, host the product side, and also you know, do the affiliates as well. So I was like, right, I can outsource the affiliates, like I can do that, but I was like, it's still something that's really special to me and like sacred to me. Like that's like because we've had affiliates from the beginning, so it wasn't something I just wanted to hand over to anyone. And so I just was an affiliate and I put out the position and she wasn't gonna apply for it, and I made her apply for it because I was like, Jess, I need you, I need you to apply for this position because I think you're gonna be it, and like if you don't apply for it, we'll never know. Right? I couldn't just give it to her because then that would have been deemed as like favoritism, and you know, I had to go and like she made me earn it. I had to I had to make lots of people try and earn it, and she she flew through it, absolutely flew through it, and we whittled it down to two people, and Jess Jess came out on top, and like that the this decision wasn't just made by me either, there was other people involved in the decision making, and it was a unanimous decision that Jess was the person for the role, and that was six years ago, six and a half, yeah, six yeah, six just over six years ago, yeah, almost six and a half years ago.

SPEAKER_02 49:15

So I've been there almost from the beginning.

SPEAKER_03 49:18

Almost very, very long time.

SPEAKER_02 49:21

I've been stalking Hannah online since before she'd launched Hannabis. So I was like, I just I need to know this girl. Uh she was, you know, what she was posting about was piquing my interest. I was also in the C B D industry, and I was just like, who is she? I like her, but at the same time, I was also like, Oh, she's a bit intimidating. But that's because of not and not in a scary way, but because she was so good at what she was doing, yeah, and instead of being like, Oh, I'm gonna copy this girl, I'm just gonna make her be my friend. I'm gonna make her notice me, and that's pretty much it's all history from there, right? Yeah, and I did notice you.

unknown 50:02

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 50:07

Oh, I love that. And it sounds as though like you've already heard two stories. It's almost like Hannah is like your you're the fairy god, you're the fairy godmother, but it's like Hannah is your fairy godmother. It's like, come on, absolutely, absolutely. Oh, I love it. And before we go quickly, imagine we are sat round in a circle together. We have a beautiful fire roaring in the middle. What are we leaving in the fire tonight? And what are we taking with us? What are we ready to leave behind? What a potent one. I love that. It's beautiful.

SPEAKER_03 50:59

Ancestral ties that aren't like worthy for me, you know, because you get some ancestral stuff that like you want to keep, and like that's part of you, but then there's some really like rubbish bits of it, isn't there, that like you don't want to be able to do it. Baggage. Yeah, like leave your baggage at the door.

SPEAKER_02 51:22

Ancestral baggage be gone.

unknown 51:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 51:26

And motivat be. I love it. I would say as well, from everything that you've said, any karma, any ancestral energy that has built up, you have well and truly cut ties with because the way that you are raising your children, the way that you were raised, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. And what energy are we taking forward? What power energy are we taking forward into our week?

SPEAKER_03 51:53

Iconicness. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 51:57

I love that. I love that. She's an icon baby. Anyway, I when Hannah said courage before, I'm gonna take I'm gonna take just just if I could have just a tiny bit of Hannah's courage, that'd be amazing. So I'm gonna walk away with courage tonight. I reckon Hannah's gonna give you a big load of courage.

SPEAKER_03 52:15

You can have a whole suitcase or you can take care of the baggage that we want, right?

SPEAKER_00 52:27

Oh, I have so love chatting with you ladies. Thank you so much for joining me. Thank you for having us. Oh, and please, please, please make sure to go and connect with both Hannah and Jess. You've heard today how truly amazing they both are and the beauty that they're bringing to the world as well. I know you're gonna love them if you haven't connected with them already. And you can reach out to them. All their links and everything will be down below. And I cannot wait to see you next time. Bye.