994 Robin Swan:

Wings of Inspired Business Podcast EP994 – Host Melinda Wittstock Interviews Robin Swan

Melinda Wittstock:

Coming up on Wings of Inspired Business:

Robin Swan:

I try to get people to go back to tea, you know, because our bodies absorb liquids better than solids, and you can make a variety of different tea and tea is tasty and it’s not hard on your gut. So, make a tea out of the things that are in your environment that’s going to really help raise your vibrational pattern and that’s what’s going to really help your wellness. You grow roses in your yard because they’re beautiful and you like the smell of them, right? But the buds are, are wonderful to make tea out of. And the leaves are great when you’re having menstrual issues. Rose is a very wonderful tea to help kind of bring balance to your cycle, your blood flow, your heart.

Melinda Wittstock:

Our modern society has forgotten much of ancient wisdom, and with it the healing power of plants that might already be growing in your garden. So today with Robin Swan, the founder of Swan Apothecary, we go deep into the world of plant alchemy, natural healing and the power of feminine resilience. Not just the power of rose tea to help with menstrual cycles but a range of herbs and natural practices and how to personalize these healing modalities for the whole you.

Melinda Wittstock:

Hi, I’m Melinda Wittstock and welcome to Wings of Inspired Business, where we share the inspiring entrepreneurial journeys, epiphanies, and practical advice from successful female founders … so you have everything you need at your fingertips to build the business and life of your dreams. I’m all about paying it forward as a five-time serial entrepreneur, so I started this podcast to catalyze an ecosystem where women entrepreneurs mentor, promote, buy from, and invest in each other. Because together we’re stronger, and we all soar higher when we fly together and lift as we climb.

Melinda Wittstock:

Today we meet an inspiring entrepreneur with over three decades of experience in the

holistic health and cannabis industries. As a plant alchemist with roots deeply entwined in her Indigenous heritage, Robin Swan has honed her craft in the realm of cannabinoid medicine, making significant strides in the integration of traditional herbalism with modern healthcare practices.

Melinda Wittstock:

Robin is the founder of Swan Apothecary, a global venture that embodies her commitment to producing high-quality, small-batch cannabinoid products using ancient extraction techniques passed down through generations of her lineage. Her approach is holistic, focusing on the physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental facets of health, which she enhances through bespoke cannabinoid formulations. Robin’s guiding principle is “Love All ~ Serve All”, mirroring her dedication to social equity and community health, and advocating for patient-centric services and ethical business practices.

Melinda Wittstock:

Today we talk about the simplicity and effectiveness of natural remedies, the pitfalls of the supplement industry, including how to navigate all the misinformation out there, plus how women can embrace their strength and softness to thrive in entrepreneurial spaces. She shares practical tips on reconnecting with nature, choosing safe plant-based products, and tuning into your body’s intuition for personalized wellness. 

Melinda Wittstock:

Let’s put on our wings with the inspiring Robin Swan.

[INTERVIEW]

Melinda Wittstock:

Robin, welcome to Wings.

Robin Swan:

Thank you, Melinda.

Melinda Wittstock:

I am so intrigued by the idea of plant alchemy. Tell me, let’s start at the beginning. What made you interested in plants?

Robin Swan:

Well, you know, I didn’t get interested in them because they were always a part of my life. So, there wasn’t like a moment where I was like, like, oh, plants are cool, because plants were something that were. Was just an everyday piece of my existence from the time of my birth. So, I feel like I just kind of found my natural place within that progression. And like, even as a little girl, I was concocting crazy little recipes out of, you know, plants and flowers that I found in our local canyons and trying to, you know, like, offer them up to my little peer friends. So, they’ve always been a part of my existence, and they’ve been just something that I’m naturally drawn to working with because I basically think that human beings are plants, you know.

Melinda Wittstock:

Well, we’re all connected for sure.

Robin Swan:

Well, the way that our systems run are very much like plants. And you know, I work in the healing arts, and I like people to think of themselves as a house plant because, you know, a lot of times people will get just lost in the sauce when they’re trying to take care of some kind of situation with themselves. They’ll start taking a whole bunch of supplements, doing really crazy diets, and, you know, just really going all the way off the spectrum to sort it out. And if you look at a house plant, you know, there it’s pretty simple. Clean water, fresh air, good nutrients, but not a tremendous amount of nutrients. A reasonable amount.

Melinda Wittstock:

Right, right. And so, getting that balance right though.

Robin Swan:

Yeah. Finding that sweet spot for yourself. It’s pretty simple. I mean, we’re pretty simple and we do a lot of complications, you know, like, like I said, I work in the healing arts and sometimes I’ll end up in a conversation with somebody who’s taking, you know, 25 different supplements. That’s just really hard for your body to, you know, to really assimilate as well as what’s actually working, because everything doesn’t work together. That’s not how we work. We are synergistic with pathways.

Melinda Wittstock:

Right. The supplements industry is a multi-billion-dollar industry. And all these people start taking all these things. You don’t even know if they’re effective. And then you don’t know how they work with each other.

Robin Swan:

Yes. Which can be very dangerous. Yeah, Right.

Melinda Wittstock:

So, like, I imagine a lot of people are on that track. So, so if you’re there because everybody wants to live, you know, healthy, long lives or whatever, and if you’re in that morass and, like, confused by all the Instagram ads and all the things. Right. How do you help people figure out what is actually right for them?

Robin Swan:

You know, I try to get people to go back to tea, you know, because teas, like we’re talking about plants and stuff, are a wonderful, our bodies absorb liquids better than solids, you know, and, you know, teas can have a variety, you can make a variety of different tea and tea is tasty and it’s not hard on your gut. So that’s one of the first things I do is just trying to redirect them off of, you know, the soursop and the ashwagandha and all of that into, like, make a tea out of the things that are in your environment that’s going to really help raise your vibrational pattern and that’s what’s going to really help your wellness.

Melinda Wittstock:

So, what type of tea? You say things around you.

Robin Swan:

Let’s talk about women’s health because we’re both women, right? Let’s talk about roses, because roses are really amazing. You grow roses in your yard because you’re beautiful. They’re beautiful and you like the smell of them, right? But the, the buds are, are wonderful for, to make tea out of. And the leaves are great when you’re having menstrual or, you know, issues. Rose is a very wonderful tea to help kind of bring balance to your cycle, your blood flow, your heart.

Melinda Wittstock:

So, the bud of the rose and, and the flowers and the bud, right? So, you just boil that up and…

Robin Swan:

Yeah.

Melinda Wittstock:

Oh, wow, that’s so interesting. 

Robin Swan:

And so, they’re so simple and they’re right in your yard. They’re high in vitamin C, they’re high in vitamin A, they’re high in vitamin E and, and they’re just growing in your yard.

Melinda Wittstock:

There are so many things just around us in nature. We’ve lost with nature and we just don’t, we’ve lost this knowledge. I know that you’ve been inspired a lot by indigenous wisdom. And if you think back to how people used to live, being really connected to the land, knowing what all the different plants did. 

Melinda Wittstock:

We’ve so lost that as a society.

Robin Swan:

Yeah. Our Western culture has really stripped us away from our land in a lot of ways. And, you know, I was raised on and off reservations. I’m an enrolled member of the eastern band, Cherokee Nation. And my mom was born in Urma, Persia. And so, both of my grandmothers, my matriarchal and patriarchal grandmothers, were both herbalists. They were both very connected to the land.

Robin Swan:

They were both indigenous in their culture in their way, because my mom came from the hill people, and that was an indigenous, like, tribe of people in Persia. And her roots are really amazing. So, like I said in the beginning, like this, there was never a plain. Like, some people come to something. Like, you realize when you’re, you know, a teenager or you’re in college, oh, that’s my path. Like, this path was set for me before, like, in the insertion of my existence. So, there was never a point where I veered off of it because it was always so fascinating to me. And, you know, people can get so much healing, like you said, just from stepping outside and sitting on the.

Robin Swan:

On the ground, you know, just by taking your shoes off and feeling a breeze. How do I deal with my stress? Well, exhale. Try that. Stop holding. Don’t hold your breath. Our Western culture has, because it’s all based in commerce, has given us all of these things that we have to purchase and do and be, like, even being spiritual.

Robin Swan:

Now, that’s all sold through plant medicine all of a sudden, you know, and the truth is that the higher the truth, the simpler the action. So, we don’t need to put all these things in front of us, because that’s all separation between us and the Source. And the Source is the ultimate source of our healing. And the more we’re connected to that and the more that we understand how divine we actually are and how interconnected to each other, and we’re existing we are, the more joy we get in their life, and the easier life becomes because there’s no resistance.

Melinda Wittstock:

Right. I think that’s just so profound because I think we, you know, you mentioned that we put all these things in front of ourselves. Our analytic minds make everything so kind of complex. And yet the truth is always elegantly simple. 

Robin Swan:

The higher the truth, the simpler the action. One of my mentors in my twenties was Louise Hay. I’m an ordained minister through the Church of Religious Science. And she was at that time my like, mentor and because she was also that. So, she was doing this is when she was working with a bunch of people who had aids. Like the whole AIDS epidemic was going on in west, in LA and in Hollywood and West Hollywood and she church there. And that was one of the things that she would always say was the higher the truth, the simpler the action. Like, bring it down to what is baseline and this is where we really heal.

Robin Swan:

And I’m sure everyone who listens to you is familiar with You Can Heal Your Life. And if you, you know, that book was published so long ago.

Melinda Wittstock:

I remember that was really one of the first books that I read. Sort of like at the beginning of sort of spiritual awakening. 

Robin Swan:

Yeah, yeah, for sure. And so like, it would be great if people could rediscover that, because that whole book is about being connected to self and source, and that’s really where the real healing comes. You know, when I work with people who are going through chemotherapy and they say to me, oh, I have to get that poison. That’s the first thing I tell them to stop doing is like, I remind them, like, you are not putting poison in your body. You are putting a chemical compound that is designed to alleviate an anomaly of cells. So, let’s, let’s call it what it is and not give it any weight.

Melinda Wittstock:

Right. So that’s interesting too, because it’s not just the substance, but the intention around it.

Robin Swan:

Yeah, because our intention is so strong. Like we’re so much more powerful than we think we are. You know, and the, the more we strip away the B.S. and we get to our authentic self, the more our power is revealed to us, don’t you think?

Melinda Wittstock:

I think that’s true. In fact, I know that to be true because if you look at your own life of where in those moments where, or periods where you really are in sync with that, the ease and flow and you’re just generally happy. Like, things don’t get to you, you don’t get triggered by it. I mean, you know, just to make it really simple, you don’t get triggered by things. You’re, you’re in the present moment and, and whatnot. It’s when you start over engineering or overthink.

Robin Swan:

Right, right. When you start, when you get into the anxiety, because that’s what anxiety is. It’s worrying about the future. So, when you start trying to, you know, Jack Canfield always says, we can only see 200ft in front of us. Okay? I think Joseph Campbell said it as well, you know, and. And that’s a really good thing to live by, is that you really can’t see past 200ft. And then I had a grandmother that used to always say, do what’s in front of you. You know, like, don’t worry about what you’re doing later today.

Robin Swan:

Do what’s in front of you, because you’re not going to get to what’s later if you don’t take care of the mess right in front of you.

Melinda Wittstock:

Right?

Robin Swan:

And she was like, speaking about, like, cleaning your room. All right? But, like, you can take that to a much more metaphysical place and be like, what is in front of me? Like, what do I really need in this moment? And in our Western culture, we’re taught to reach out, like, oh, I need a matcha. I need a yoga class. I need. You know, I need. I need. And what do you really need? You need to sit still. Still and shut up.

Melinda Wittstock:

Oh, my goodness, the world would be such a better place if a number of people just sat down.

Robin Swan:

We just took a beat. I mean, I could think of a few.

Melinda Wittstock:

This is really interesting. So, I’m fascinated by what you do. I had an extraordinary experience pretty much a decade ago. I went to the Amazon rainforest, and I met a tribe that had only met the outside world 10 years previous to that. And it was extraordinary walking through the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest. And I got this little bite, I don’t know what it was, on my hand. And I showed our guy who was with the machete and everything, walking us through, and I couldn’t speak his language, but he looked at my hand, and he said, you know, just sort of gestured.

Melinda Wittstock:

He walked over to a tree and with his machete, he just cut a little swath of the tree. And this blood, like, substance kind of oozed out of it. He rubbed it on where my hand had this little bite and had turned into a white. A white paste. And that the whole thing just disappeared. Within five minutes.

Melinda Wittstock:

It was just gone. It was like it never happened. And it blew my mind. I was like, wow, that’s amazing. And so, like, that’s the kind of knowledge that’s lost. And so, you think, okay, this is an exotic place, the Amazon rainforest. But presumably what you’re saying is that’s true in whatever environment you’re living In.

Robin Swan:

Well, if you understand your environment, I mean, you could think about all the Abuelita’s who are telling you to put, like, onions on the bottom of your feet with socks and going to bed, and it’s gonna cure your cold. I loved when I told that to a group of doctors. It was like they thought that was the most comedic thing that had ever come out of any human’s mouth, right? And they just could not believe that that actually worked. But it’s a cure that’s been going on for thousands and thousands of years. And again, it’s silly.

Melinda Wittstock:

You put onions…Sorry, say that again. 

Robin Swan:

You’re putting onions on the bottom of your feet when you have a cold, like slicing an onion and then putting it on the foot and then putting a sock on it, you know, and it works. Why does it work? But, you know, telling a bunch of allopathic doctors that they were just, like, they thought that was the funniest thing I’d ever said. Like, are you kidding me? Like, that’s hysterical. Because that’s not their scope of practice. That’s not their understanding. And when you’re raised away from that, you know, it. Like you in the brain force, right? Like, that guy’s just like, oh, you got bit. 

Robin Swan:

You know, let me put some of the sap on it. Boom, it’s gone. He didn’t have three thoughts about it. You didn’t even have a dialogue about it. And for you, it was an amazing experience because it showed you in real time how symbiotic nature actually is and how there’s always a contrasting point at every moment in our life. You know, you get bit, there’s the cure. They’re within 100ft of each other.

Melinda Wittstock:

It’s so interesting, like, when you actually realize that it’s very, very powerful.

Robin Swan:

Yeah, it’s very powerful, exactly. Because, like I said, in real time, you got to see how interconnected to the everything and symbiotic it all is. I’m sure that was a profound. That was probably the most profound moment of your trip.

Melinda Wittstock:

Oh, yeah. Well, there were many, but that was one of them. Yes. I mean, because it really emphasized how connected we are, right? To everything. I think it’s interesting that, like, so we know so far that every. Every woman should have a rose garden…

Robin Swan:

…and a hibiscus garden, because hibiscus is also amazing for women’s health.

Melinda Wittstock:

Okay.

Robin Swan:

But, like, I mean, and Jasmine, too. I mean, you start thinking about these florals, right? And you’re like, oh, okay, they’re so pretty. But, you know, flower essences are. They’re really amazing. They’re very powerful, and they’re very subtle. So that’s the deal with femininity and the feminine power is that, you know, I mean, it could look like a rainstorm or a thunderstorm or an earthquake, but it’s also the scent of a rose.

Robin Swan:

It’s also that bright, light scent when the sun hits the dew in the first moment of the morning. You know, that’s also the power of the feminine.

Melinda Wittstock:

Right. And so many women. And so many women who are pioneering in business and entrepreneurship or leadership of any way have to navigate through a very masculine system.

Robin Swan:

Let’s go back to the rose on that point, if we can. Okay. Because there’s so much to be taught in roses. That’s true. Because as entrepreneur, especially a woman in a patriarchally dominated universe, because there’s no way around that. There is no pathway in business that is not dominated by the patriarch. There just isn’t.

[PROMO CREDIT]

Wings of Inspired Business is brought to you by the podcast, Zero Limits Business Growth Secrets where Steve Little – serial entrepreneur, investor and mergers & acquisitions maestro – shares the little-known 24 value drivers that spell the difference between a $5m business, and a $50mm even $500 mm business. It always pays to understand what’s driving the underlying enterprise value of your business. So, check out Zero Limits Business Growth Secrets at zerolimitsradio.com – that’s zerolimitsradio.com and available wherever you get your podcasts. More information about valuation growth at Zero Limits Ventures.com

Melinda Wittstock:

And we’re back with Robin Swan, a plant alchemist and the founder of Swan Apothecary, with over 30 years of experience in holistic health and cannabinoid medicine.

[INTERVIEW CONTINUES]

Robin Swan:

And as a woman, you know, we feel like, oh, we can’t come in all soft and gentle and pretty because they’re going to eat us alive. Because that’s been historically proven to us. Right. Well, why do you think roses have thorns?

Melinda Wittstock:

Right?

Robin Swan:

You know, so our thorns have to be strategically placed. As an entrepreneur, because roses are incredibly strong. They live for a very long time. You basically can’t kill one. Once it’s actually found in its root system, you can chop it down to the core, and it will come all the way back up with a vengeance. And that is kind of how we are as women. We are really beautiful.

Robin Swan:

We provide such healing dimensionally to the space, and yet we have to be armored up at the same time. Like, we have a product called Fire Kitty, and she is the matriarch of our business, and she’s based in a recipe that comes from Iran, from Persia, from Iran. It’s a blend of frankincense, myrrh, calendula, cinnamon, rosemary, and cannabinoids. And that’s been its recipe. It’s called the holy anointing oil. It’s actually in the Old Testament, and it’s the oil that they wash Jesus’s. That Jesus washed people’s feet with.

Robin Swan:

Okay. So, we chose to name it Fire Kitty because of what women provide which is safe passage to so many through so many treacherous situations, including giving birth. Right. Because if you haven’t had a child, then you don’t really understand what a violent process. Oh, my goodness.

Melinda Wittstock:

It is rather violent. I think that’s why your mind forgets it. So, you have another.

Robin Swan:

So, you’ll do it again.

Melinda Wittstock:

Exactly. That was no problem. Wait, what?

Robin Swan:

Yeah, exactly. But in that as an entrepreneur, let’s bring it back to where we’re at. We cannot lose our intrinsic femininity, which is our softness and nurturing. So, we don’t need to lead with our thorns. We just need to be ever present with them and know where our weapons are.

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah.

Robin Swan:

And how to pull them. You know, one of the greatest books for every woman that’s in business to read is The Art of War for Women. It’s written by a Chinese. By a Chinese woman. She really, like, she went through Sun Tell Sun’s the Art of War and wrote it, like, rewrote it for women, basically.

Melinda Wittstock:

Oh, what a great idea. I love that.

Robin Swan:

It’s a brilliant, brilliant book. Because as women, we have to. We have to work within the patriarchy. We will not move forward with, like, you know, bad boys. We hate the men. Men suck. I mean, like, all of that can be true because like they say, it’s not always men, it’s just always a man.

Robin Swan:

Right. And how many of us would choose a bear over a man? Most of us, because they have shown us through time immemorial that we are not safe with them. That doesn’t mean that we have to give up the core of our strength, which is our femininity and our life giving. 

Melinda Wittstock:

A hundred percent. So, you also work a lot with cannabis.

Robin Swan:

Yes, that’s the primary herb that I’m working with right now.

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah. So, tell me about that. Because you have this industry that’s… Oh, gosh, like when you think of all the regulations and the rules and all that, just it’s so complicated. And then there are also a lot of kind of fly by night. Like, it’s hard to know what’s real.

Robin Swan:

Just tell the truth. It’s just a cesspool on every single level. Right. It’s just a shame. And it’s a heavily patriarchally dominated field as well. So, I’m really grateful that I had a lot of business experience. Before I came to the cannabis industry as my main source of what I was making first of all, I was in practice as a structural integration neuromuscular therapist for 28 years.

Robin Swan:

I opened restaurants, I brought five products to market. So, I came to the end, and I’ve been working with cannabis and around cannabis my entire life. I came to the industry packing all of that and still was like, wow, what a cesspool. There were a few things in it that have kept me sane and kept me on purpose. And that again, that is just bringing it down to the plant because the plant is a feminine plant and she will regulate herself. And she has been with us for always and since always. And she provides everything for us.

Robin Swan:

Oil, paper, clothing, food, medicine. That’s why she’s called the five-finger healer. So, she will go beyond our regulations and our whatevers. She just will. So, I decided as a business to not put my attention in that and work within the structure of the law. That worked for me. Like, I didn’t push past, I didn’t, I didn’t want to be in dispensaries because I didn’t want to regulate my product to fit the model that was required of me in the state of California. So, I blazed a whole other pathway through medical cannabis.

Robin Swan:

And I made allegiances with labs, chemists, doctors and practitioners and started working with those groups of people and serving their clients while still following the production, regulate, regulatory mass. Right. So that’s kind of how I, that’s how I navigated that business.

Melinda Wittstock:

Right. So, tell me a little bit about how your business actually and like how you work with clients. Is this very bespoke, kind of personalized or like how, how…

Robin Swan:

Well, it’s kind of. For a long time, I was a practitioner I knew and, and my business was called Firebird Touch Therapy. And then we rebranded in 22 to Swan Apothecary because I stopped working with people one on one. And our product, our products are worldwide. You can get our products all over the United States, the UK and Canada. They’re, they’re, the base of them are in the CBD family and they’re very different than what you’re going to go and get at like the, the liquor store CBD. These are whole plant extractions that are, you know, formulated to be healing. So, they’re much higher dose, first of all.

Robin Swan:

So now people can book consultations with me and work one on one with me if they want, but they can access our website and purchase what they need for themselves if they know what they’re looking for. And then, you know, but, and then we have a whole part of our business that works with people who are living with life threatening illness like cancer and that is behind a firewall. So, they go through swan apothecary, they let us know what they need and then we, you know, reach out to them and like let them know where those products are at. Because that’s the best way to work within the reality of the structure of the law that we live with.

Melinda Wittstock:

It seems to me that because there’s so much confusion about which products work, if I was going to get really into, you know, plant medicine and healing and whatnot, I would want to be working with somebody because.

Robin Swan:

Yeah, so let’s just talk about the cannabis industry as a whole. And you’re just somebody who’s like, I’m really curious about cannabis, what do I do? So, for sure, here’s what you don’t do. Don’t get on the Internet, especially Instagram and Facebook and get into these groups and start. And, and, and when people reach out to you from the cannabis industry, like I’ve got the cure for you, I can cure your cancer, I make RSO. Do not respond to those people because real businesspeople don’t seek you out, period. Like McDonald’s has never called you and asked you to come buy a hamburger. You know, so, so that’s one thing for sure. And then let’s say that you get directed to one of those businesses somehow, you know, buyer beware and ask where who’s making this product? Like are you making it? Is it white labeled? Do you have third party labs that I can see? You know, if I have a question, is there a person I can talk to, like just again basic with that stuff.

Robin Swan:

And then if you’re going to go into your dispensaries, you know, most dispensaries are in states are pretty well regulated and the fact that they have to be tested so you know what you’re buying. And the reason why testing is important is not so much to know what milligrams per gram of THC you’re getting. But is that product clean? Are there heavy metals in it? Is it filled with pesticides? These are the questions that are really important in why labs are so important. And then a lot of edibles. I would stay away from in dispensaries, because a lot of that stuff is just sprayed with a cannabis oil. Like they’re just getting candy from the candy factory and then they spray it with an oil. So, there’s no real consistency. So, look for things that are infused.

Robin Swan:

And infused means that the product was made from start to finish and at wherever it came from. Not sprayed. Right.

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah. Because you don’t even know. Even with our food supply.

Robin Swan:

Yeah.

Melinda Wittstock:

You. You don’t really know what you’re eating. I may say organic, but. But do you really know it is. I don’t know.

Robin Swan:

Right. And what makes it organic? You know, like, I’m from rural Montana and there’s not a farmer alive that will tell you that organic farming is real. Because if the wind is blowing and you’re somebody. Yeah. Those chemicals are moving in the wind, and unless that soil has been, you know, set for at least seven to 10 years and nothing grown on it, whatever was growing there before. There’s so many variables in life. So just ask the questions that you need.

Robin Swan:

Align with the people that bring you the most peace when you’re talking to them. Make sure that you’re just not being hunted. There is so much scamming in the cannabis industry and. And there’s so much misinformation.

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah. I mean, that’s increasingly true of almost anything. Like, one of the things that I’m curious about, I remember I stopped drinking California wines not so long ago because I found whenever I did, I just felt really awful the next day. But if I had an Italian wine or a French wine, I was fine. And I read that a lot of it is, you know, glycosphate, like from Roundup blowing into vineyards.

Robin Swan:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. For real. America is just a mess, you know? So, like, I always tell people when they’re like, well, somebody made this for me. I know it’s not as good as your product. I’m always like, hey, slow down. First of all, because the intention and love are huge components.

Robin Swan:

And if somebody can grow their own flower, make their own medicine, it’s going to be better than anything that they could buy at their local dispensary. But not everyone can do that. So don’t buy CBD products from gas stations. Okay. And, you know, don’t. Don’t buy them online from, you know, things that are. Yeah. Just being like, oh, God, okay, I’m sorry, I’m just lost in the sauce of what you asked me because I just like down the rabbit hole of like, what can I say that can really get through to people? Because there is just so much bad stuff.

Robin Swan:

So. And the way that things are constructed matter. So, there’s no way that I could say all of that in here. So, what I would really just like people to do is just buy or beware. And if you’re buying stuff on the Internet, don’t buy from people who are reaching out to you. Make sure that you know where that, where that’s getting sourced. Is it third party lab tested? Is there a live human that you can ask, ask for help if you need it from? So that’s a very simple three step criteria.

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah. So, so, so true. So, Robin, you mentioned that you, you sell some of your products online, I assume? Yes.

Robin Swan:

Yeah, it’s swannapothecary.com where my name is Robin Swan. You can Google me; you can Google Swan Apothecary. We have a really lively Facebook group where a lot of people that are using our products, products are because we’re 30 years old. I’ve been making products since I was a little girl and this product line has had a lifespan of the last 30 years. So, you know, we have a huge amount of people that have, you know, improved their life by using our products.

Melinda Wittstock:

And so, when it comes down to personalization, like right now there’s a real trend towards personalized medicine because we’re all a little bit different, like different circumstance or maybe it’s, you know, blood type or we have different issues or things like that. And, and so how do you know, like beyond cannabis, how do you know what things you need? I mean we talked about what’s good for women, you know, you know, roses and such. But how do you know, like should you, if you should be having turmeric and if you should be doing this or that or all these different things?

Robin Swan:

Well, that’s a very like big question. You know, how do you know? Let’s just throw something out there that people can do. Practical. Let’s teach people how to muscle test. Because this is one of the easiest ways to know if something’s for you. And it’s very simple. So first of all, you’re just going to stand still and you’re going to ask your, your body what is a yes for me? And you’re either going to go forward or backward. Okay, this, this will happen.

Robin Swan:

This is physics. It doesn’t matter. You can suspend your disbelief or disbelieve me and still do it. It will work. And then you’re going to ask what a no is, is for you. And then you’re going to get an opposition like whatever, like if you lean forward for yes no, we’ll of course be back. Right? And then take the product or you know, write the name of the product down on a piece of paper and hold it right below your belly button. That’s called your three will just hold it right to your, to your, to your basically your marriage basket, your womb space and ask is this product good for me or not? And you will get an answer.

Robin Swan:

Physically in your body, you will either lean forward into yes or sway back into no. So that is, that’s a very woo woo juju answer. Because there’s no way to answer your question directly with like medical science because everybody is so different and blood tests are awesome to show you where what you, you know, work with and what doesn’t work for you. It’s also very, very expensive. You know, another thing is don’t follow the trend. The, the supplement industry is a $14 billion a year industry. The pharmaceutical industry is $10 billion. That means there’s $4 billion that are getting sucked up, that aren’t getting picked up by the pharmaceutical company, which means that they don’t work.

Robin Swan:

Because we all know that big pharm wants all the money. So, if anything over here in the supplement category was really working and really making like movement, they would suck it up in pharmaceuticals, right?

Melinda Wittstock:

Yes, that’s, that’s true. I mean one of the things that I did, because I have sort of like a concierge type functional medicine, integrative sort of doctor, I mean, she’ll do really deep blood work on me, right? Where you can, like, like, like going really deep into that. So, you can see where there are things whether it’s like hormonal balance or…

Robin Swan:

Yeah, I love that.

Melinda Wittstock:

This or this or that. Right? And so, so that’s really good. But where it gets into what is then the solution? Because that solution might be prescribed to you. Like okay, take, take this. This manufacturer is good at vitamin, you know, you need some more vitamin D. You know, you need some more of this or you gotta, you know, and so with the, with the solutions with doctors, it’s always hard to know whether they even know what they’re prescribing.

Robin Swan:

Right? Yeah. I mean we cannot, none of us know everything, right? So that’s awesome that you have a great doctor. And I wish that everybody had an integrative doctor like that. And if our medicine system was a more integrated system, we’d all be a lot healthier.

Melinda Wittstock:

You know, everybody, everybody really should have that. I mean it, that, that approach that looks at the whole person.

Robin Swan:

Yeah. You got to see yourself as the whole person. And just, just because like 20 people tell you something’s going to work doesn’t mean like, you know, people, our products are not inexpensive. So, people are making investments of thousands of dollars to buy our protocols, especially if they’re living with cancer. And I’m always, when I’m visiting with them, you know, start small, do not invest in nine months’ worth of treatment if you’ve never used the product because everybody is different. And like I’ll tell somebody, like there’s a, you know, a thing that 90 grams in 60 days that is not true.

Robin Swan:

That was like a big misnomer. And like what a lot of people still think is true as far as cannabis and cancer goes, that you need to eat a whole gram of oil, which is literally just a weight of measure and doesn’t talk about any of the construction of that gram for 90 days and then all of a sudden you’re going to be magically cured. Well, that’s not necessarily, necessarily true. So, what I’ve seen as a practitioner with cannabis is that it is a commitment. If you’re going to use it as a combative force against life threatening illness, then it, you have to use it. You have to use a lot of it. Cannabis wants a lot on the front. Like the more you use it, the less you need it.

Robin Swan:

And you need to do that consistently for six to nine months. Use a lot like 1500 milligrams of THC and the whole cannabinoid profile every single day for up to nine, like nine months. And then you can start tapering back. It’s like a bell curve, right?

Melinda Wittstock:

Oh my goodness, so many things. So, so Robin, what’s the best way for people to find you and work with you? Like if, if they, they really want to dial in like not only their own kind of personal health or learn about what you do or purchase your products or they have a relative or perhaps they have like an immune situation or cancer, what’s the best way for them to, to get in touch with you, follow you, work with you, buy your products?

Robin Swan:

Well, we are all over the world wide web so they can find us@swanapothecary.com or my name Robin Swan and Google will bring you anywhere. We’re on Facebook, Swan Apothecary, Instagram, Swan Apothecary and also myself Robin Swan. So, either one of those, and then once you get to there, you can navigate to a personal session with me if you want.

Robin Swan:

You can purchase what you like.

Melinda Wittstock:

Wonderful. Well, I really want to thank you for doing what you’re doing and putting on your wings and flying with us. I’m fascinated by what you’re doing.

Robin Swan:

Yeah. Thank you, Melinda. I appreciate the time that you gave me today.

[INTERVIEW ENDS]

Melinda Wittstock:

Robin Swan is a plant alchemist and the founder of Swan Apothecary, with over 30 years of experience in holistic health and cannabinoid medicine.

Melinda Wittstock:

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Melinda Wittstock:

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