Carrie Langevin’s knowledge and understanding of traditional plants and their medicinal qualities started at a young age. Her Cree mother and grandmother both used all natural remedies and teas to help soothe aches, pains and other ailments. Carrie decided to open Mother Earth Essentials in 2006, to show off those traditional aboriginal plants by creating teas, soaps, lotions and other skin care products in a way that everyone could enjoy. “I saw it as a modern way to engage the aboriginal population in learning more and help people reconnect with their culture,” says Carrie. “The flip side of that is to help raise awareness [about] the wonderful contributions aboriginal people have made to healing and to medicines and to help non-aboriginals get a better appreciation for the culture.”
Carrie was a teacher by trade but also had worked in cosmetics. Still, opening up Mother Earth Essentials was definitely challenging. “There wasn’t always a plan. I was a teacher, not a business person,” says Carrie. However, in retrospect, she says she isn't sure there is such a thing as a "business person," per se. “There are people with business degrees, for sure, but an entrepreneur is a different thing,” she says. “I believe it’s someone who has a passion for something and if they follow through on their passion and do what they love and believe in it, it happens pretty naturally. I wake up feeling very fortunate to do the work what I’m doing.”
