Harshman recalled an unconventional childhood shaped by her mother’s work as an midwife and herbalist, from road trips in the family “VW hippie van” to harvesting plants and attending natural product expos. “I thought all parents grew plants and made concoctions and sold them for a living,” she said, noting it wasn’t until Kindergarten that she realized her upbringing was unconventional.
Despite this early herbal immersion, Harshman initially pursued her own path, traveling internationally before she returned to Colorado to join the family business. She eventually found her niche in storytelling and growth, where she said she really flourished in marketing and sales. “It was really exciting to get the word out about WishGarden and tell our story in a way that hadn’t been done before,” she said.
Over time, her cross-functional experience, which included everything from fulfillment to customer service, helped shape her leadership style. Harshman highlighted the importance of culture, describing her role as connecting internal processes with external communication while “keeping the culture exciting and collaborative as we grow.”
A major milestone for Harshman was helping guide the company through B Corp certification, which formalized long-held values around sustainability and community. She noted three core pillars: “The planet, the plants and people,” pointing to initiatives like carbon offsetting, biodiversity efforts and partnerships with midwives that support underserved communities.
Looking ahead, Harshman said she sees growing consumer interest in natural remedies driving renewed relevance for herbal tinctures. Once considered niche, natural products are now reaching a wider audience.
“It’s very much mainstream, all sorts of different people from different parts of life,” she said. “There’s a whole group of young people that are influencers, but doing homesteading, which is wonderful and they want products. Or there’s a large group of Amish folks that use our products. So it’s super exciting to reach them all and get to know them through our social media and the marketing that I’ve been doing.”
For Harshman, continuing her family’s legacy remains a point of pride: “We just get to keep on trucking along… doing it the right way and the way my mom intended”—a philosophy that’s she’s been riding with since the days in her mother’s VW hippie van.
