Laughing Lichen Spruce Tips

SEED 75 Profile: Laughing Lichen

News Type: 
Blog Entries

October 19, 2018

SEED 75 is a web story series about NWT businesses and entrepreneurs who have experienced growth and success with help from SEED’s new Strategic Investments Stream

(Photos via Laughing Lichen)

Amy Maund is used to having the sun on her face, dirt beneath her nails and rough terrain under foot. With her one-year-old daughter Wren slung over her back and her dogs Kenai and Gotsa by her side, she’ll harvest all the NWT wilderness has to offer: spruce tips, morel mushrooms, fireweed, Labrador tea, sweet gale, juniper berries and high bush cranberries to name a few.

Spruce tips

It all began in 2011 when Amy started her business Laughing Lichen Wildcrafted Herb &Tea, as a way to generate income turning profit from passion while attending university in British Columbia.

“I love being outdoors, love spending time in nature and love the environment. It’s been an integral part of my life growing up in the NWT. My focus has always been to make products that are natural and can make a difference for the people who use them. I started very small scale and would sell my products in local crafts stores and farmers markets,” Amy explains.

Arctic Rosehips

Since then, business exploded for the entrepreneur. She moved back to Yellowknife and picked up the business full time in 2013.

Today, her products are available in more than 50 retail stores across Canada, including stores in Yellowknife, Behchokǫ̀, Hay River, Inuvik and Norman Wells, as well as on her website.

Laughing Lichen has also created jobs – Amy typically has a staff of four to five people and hires additional harvesters each year during peak seasons.

Wild crowberries

“Last summer I trained 17 people as harvesters across the NWT. Anyone who is interested can participate and I’ll train them. They can harvest on their own schedules and Laughing Lichen will buy the foliage from them by the gram every two weeks.

“For the first 5 years it was just myself, my spouse Ian and a few dedicated family members and friends. As the demand for products has increased, I have had to train new harvesters. That’s how we’ve been able to keep up with growing demand.”

Laughing Lichen currently offers 50 different products including herbal teas, dried mushrooms, culinary spices and an extensive line of bath and body products — all handcrafted with the wild ingredients that they harvest.

Wild Rose and Cranberry Soap hardening in molds. They will sit in these trays for 6-8 weeks, before Amy and her team cut them into soap bars.

Laughing Lichen’s Midnight Sun Wildflower tea – one of the 50 products the company currents sells.

Amy also spends time teaching workshops on sustainable harvesting. Participants can learn how to make products on their own and take those skills home with them.

As her business thrived, Amy was looking for support for some big new plans.  She planned to develop a new off-grid facility along the Ingraham Trail to offer more training, increase production levels and possibly develop a commercial kitchen.

She reached out to the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment. That’s where she learned about the Support for Entrepreneurs and Economic Development’s (SEED) new Strategic Investment Stream.

The pilot project allows for a one-time contribution of up-to $75,000 for initiatives which directly increase the business and economic activities of a community.  Amy’s project was a perfect fit. Her plans were approved and work on the new location began.  

“Up until now, I have only been able to lease different spaces near Yellowknife and that creates some challenges when you’re trying to expand as a small business. I have a unique business that requires lots of space – outdoors and in the wilderness.

"With the help of SEED’s Strategic Investments program, we’re now on track to open Laughing Lichens new facility in the spring of 2019. We have already set up solar power to run the operations and hope to incorporate wind power in the future. With the new and improved space we’ll be able to hire more locals to meet the growing demand for our products,” Amy says.  

“Owning and operating a business comes with its challenges and a learning curve but it’s also been a lot of fun and I’ve received a ton of support from other business-owners, family, and friends. The local support is one of the best parts of running a business in the North.”