About us
Four doctors and a mother. A wrestler, two doctors, a bamboo eradication specialist and a housewife. We could be a bad joke, or we could be Co-Op One-Oh-Eight. Educators. Healers. Mindfulness practitioners. And very, very cooperative.
We are mostly a bunch of over-educated people, some of us with “real” jobs, who felt like we needed something else to do (although we probably really didn’t).
Stephen gave up what might have been a lucrative career as a luchador to make bath oils and body products full time but somehow wound up a professor of geography instead. He is not entirely sure how that happened or what he will do or say next. Most likely it will involve TAKING YOU DOWN. (Or taking notes, because he is the Co-op One-Oh-Eight’s dutiful secretary and recorder of minutes.) In addition to wrestling, coffee, fish, his native Cape Cod, and making compost, he especially loves his three year-old daughter. Stephen has an amazing vocabulary and an abiding interest in environmental issues and cooperative approaches to economic and social development.
Mira is a renowned explorer and connoisseur of cheese, olives, and olive oil. She splits her time between the east coast and the west coast as a peace broker in several ongoing disputes. She’s gorgeous, intelligent, and honestly, there is so much that Mira does that’s amazing (pie crusts, dancing, hair, body-hugging apparel) that the only way in which she hasn’t surpassed her contemporaries is in progeny. Oh, and she’s also a doula, a practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism and medicine, and a massage therapist. She uses her thorough understanding of the cosmetic and medical use of botanicals and oils in both western and eastern traditions to whip up nearly all of our fine products.
Erica has four kids and many, many chickens. She has pretty much outbred everyone else in the co-op. Her laissez faire parenting style enables her to do more work than the rest of us combined. When not busy cooperating (or chasing children or chickens) she indulges her passions for lip gloss and heels.
Ken has an irrepressible wry sense of humor that only fails him when thinking about taxes. He is occasionally confused with a certain documentary filmmaker with the same name, but generally not for long because dude, that Civil War guy is NOT funny like our Ken. You would never know it from his straight face and aura of circumspection (which he puts to good use as a humanities professor at graduate school of landscape design), but his jokes are dry like a good martini and could be improved upon only by delivery in the thick brogue of Ireland (from which he hails) and which he has, alas, lost. His abiding interest in cooperative development and deep appreciation for the vital and diverse landscapes of the Pioneer Valley are surpassed only by his love of Andouille sausages.
Anasuya. Doctor of Tibetan medicine. Anasuya is a seasoned traveler who knows how to go with the flow and enjoy the moment. She loves plants and growing them, and her best friends are her husband, three children, and four grandchildren. She can whip up a mean lemon drop. Her home is warm and welcoming, and home to many of her friends as well. A lifelong devotee to meditation practice, Anasuya has extensive knowledge of natural cosmetics and aromatherapy and has been a driving force behind Co-Op One Oh eight.
Angie has extensive experience in the market for natural health and beauty aid products. She enjoys sewing, gardening, creating, cooking, dancing, and laughing. As an excited expectant mama, she is our in-house tester of belly oil (it passes, she LOVES it). She is committed to eating well, living well, and supports her community with her choices and her happiness.
All of us are committed to a democratic workplace where the people who actually do the work get an equal vote in what happens to the profits, as well as being equal partners in creating the business and work environment. Unlike other so-called “natural” product companies we promise not to sell out to a large corporation.
