About a decade after dipping her toes into the world of herbal teas and skincare, a Philadelphia entrepreneur has quadrupled her growing space and expanded her offerings to fresh cut flowers, a move that she expects to be a game changer for business. In many ways, it also brings Elise Hanks’ journey full circle.
Hanks started dabbling in herbalism in 2013 and officially formed her business Terra Luna Herbals in 2015. A graduate of Philadelphia University, Hanks had sensitive, acne-prone skin and an interest in making products so she decided to make her own skincare items.
Soon, others began asking about them and Terra Luna was born.
Today, Terra Luna offers skincare products as well as teas. Skincare offerings include the best-selling Skin Serene, a light oil made with a jojoba and grape seed base meant to help with irritation, redness and blemishes; lip balms; skin salves; a facial mist; and a clay mask. Prices range from $6 for a lip balm to upwards of $65 for a set.
Loose leaf tea blends are $16 and like the skincare are meant to address certain ailments. The Balance blend, for instance, is made with calendula flower, fennel seed, stinging nettle leaf, peppermint leaf and tulsi leaf and is intended to help with digestive support.
While skincare and tea are the root of her business, in October Hanks relocated her growing operations from Fishtown to a lot in West Kensington. The new spot quadrupled her growing space and meant she could expand offerings to include fresh cut flowers and bouquets.
“I think flowers are going to be a little bit of a game changer,” she said, noting the newest segment of business is poised to outstrip her other offerings. Hanks – who has self-funded the business – offers a community supported agriculture model, or CSA, for flowers, in addition to selling handmade floral bouquets to local spots like Riverwards Produce. She also sells bulk bundles of flowers to local flower shops and florists.
The addition of flowers brings Hanks’ growing journey full circle. A Colorado native, she came to Philadelphia to study design, expecting to go into the fashion industry. Wanting to pursue something more sustainable though, after college she and a friend volunteered through the World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, ending up on a vegetable farm out west.
Hanks described that first interaction with farming as a “light bulb” moment and when she returned to Philadelphia, she continued to pursue her work with crops, but instead of vegetables she turned to flowers. Flowers, she thought, were an ideal way to blend her passion for design with her newfound interest in growing.
“I've always had floral design in my background, I always knew I wanted to come back around to it. And now that I have a space to grow both the herbs that I love and the flowers that I love, it's kind of all coming together finally,” she said.
To learn more, she worked at a local flower farm and took up jobs in florist shops. As she grew her interest in flowers, Hanks also started dabbling in herbalism, a practice that uses plants as a form of healing. In addition to taking flower design classes, around that time Hanks also took an herbalism course “where the teacher talked about addressing issues on your body from the inside out,” she recalled.
The teacher pointed out the ways that skin can be impacted not only by what’s put on it, but other factors like a person’s gut health or mental health. “I’d never heard that before,” Hanks said.
That informed much of her approach with Terra Luna, including creating products that work in conjunction, like the Skin Serene oil, which has an accompanying tea of the same name.
“I really try to view things holistically,” she said. “Just because you're doing a skincare routine doesn't mean you can ignore your gut health.”
When she launched, events and pop ups were a big driver for business, but recognizing that wasn’t a sustainable way to scale, Hanks started growing wholesale and e-commerce. Today, wholesale and direct-to-consumer sales are roughly evenly split at 50% apiece.
Her products are stocked locally in spots like Ruby Mountain Goods, Vagabond and Moon + Arrow, all in Philadelphia, as well as some shops in the neighboring suburbs, as well as Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square.
She hand makes her blends at Globe Dye Works at 4500 Worth St. in the Frankford neighborhood, where she has had studio space for about a year.
At present, Hanks grows about 40% of the herbs she uses, sourcing the rest from distributors and local farmers. Her goal is to eventually grow all of her herbs and plants. Her new growing space in West Kensington – located near the intersection of North American Street and West Susquehanna Avenue – spans almost a full city block and is a step in that direction.
There, Hanks grows between five and 10 varieties of flowers each season, plus about half a dozen herbs like lemon balm, rosemary, chamomile and lavender.
She shares the space with another local small business. Melanie Hasan, the founder of natural dyed apparel brand Modest Transitions, grows her crops on half of the lot.
The core demographic for Terra Luna are women ages 25 to 55, Hanks said, but hopes to expand to include more men.
“My real goal is to get people to understand wellness is for everyone. Everyone deserves to take care of themselves. So I really want to change that narrative if I can,” she said.
