Our story
It started with a father looking for a way to help his daughter.
Thirty years of research, years of lab testing, and a formula we’ve shared with anyone who needed it. This is how Botanical Wellness came to be.
How it started
My late husband, J.P. Lastella, was a research scientist and engineer. He started an environmental technology company and spent his career championing technology that didn’t harm the environment.
When his daughter became ill, someone told him about a plant that might help. He tried it, and what he saw changed the course of his life. He spent the next 30 years researching that plant, and another he later learned about, working with them as a side project and sharing what he made with the people in his life.
Taking it to the lab
In 2009, he began testing the formula in a research lab run by a fellow researcher and friend. The results were so promising that the lab reached out to its federal government contacts and suggested they back the research. The answer was that they would never back a natural product.
So we kept going on our own. We kept testing the formula in the lab, and we listened closely to the people who used it and what they experienced.
Sharing it with our community
In late 2019, we used our own money to produce a large batch, shared it with people in our community who needed it, and offered it to first responders. We started a nonprofit to raise funds to send it to people in need, including remote villages in Brazil, Peru, and Colombia without access to medical care.
We were then given the opportunity to do safety testing through a federally contracted lab, and the formula passed.
Why I made it available to everyone
I believe in this formula, especially for people who can’t afford the medical care they need, so I made it available to the public. We’ve grown by word of mouth alone. We’ve never had an advertising budget, because we’ve given so much of it away.
Over the years, I’ve heard from so many people who tell me our formula has become part of how they take care of themselves, and that it gave them back their confidence.
Where we’re going
I’m devoted to getting our formula into the hands of people who need it, and who want a plant-based way to care for themselves, without man-made chemicals or a huge expense.
My mission is to grow this business so that one day it can employ women who need accommodations because of a disability or their life circumstances, and pay them a decent living wage.
I want to build a brand that is honest, and that supports people’s health in a holistic way.
— Kristy Hunt, owner
Our commitment
Good for people, and for the planet
We believe natural support should be made responsibly and shared with those who need it most.
Sustainable ingredients
Our plants are sustainably and ethically sourced, with respect for the land they grow on.
Thoughtful packaging
Our capsules come in compostable packaging and our tinctures in glass. Compostable mailers are next, once we’ve used up the mailers we already have.
We give back
We hand out free packages to people experiencing homelessness in our community, and we’re setting up a way to donate a share of our products to women’s and homeless shelters.
During the pandemic, we shipped our products to remote villages in Brazil, Peru, and Colombia that lacked access to medical care, and, through a nonprofit we founded, offered them free to hospitals, police departments, and first responders here in Montana.
Partner program
Grow with us
We’re looking for influencers, referral partners, shops and practitioners who share our values. Earn commissions with your own referral code, or carry our formula at wholesale pricing.