Check Out Alexandra Toma’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexandra Toma.

Hi Alexandra, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started my first goods and services business when I was 32 years old, called Beauty Skool Dropout, on a busy corner, in Ukrainian Village of Chicago. I became instantly popular and even had a little shoutout in Time Out Chicago. My second business I started five years later because I lost my lease, called Head Bang, I salvaged 1920s tin ceilings and walls and fashioned my interior after Andy Warhols’s The Factory. But by 2008, the housing market crash happened, and my baby was born. One year later, it was too difficult to continue paying those bills on my own and be a single parent. I began to investigate an app at that time called Kitschnbeauticn to do house calls. Then in 2015, I moved to Los Angeles to start a CBD/herbal elixir and ointment business called Artem Herbis, in Latin meaning the Art of Herbs, but it did not go as planned. So I fell back on a cosmetology license so I could stay in Calabasas, raise my daughter and continue with my master’s in herbology with The School of Natural Healing.

During that time, I started an independent studio with a friend. Her and I were both ambitious and had a history running our own businesses in the past, so we felt comfortable sharing a studio. In 2019 I opened an office to do natural healing consulting and custom programs in Malibu on PCH, called Malibu Herbalist, but then the pandemic closed my industry. The building I had the office in went into chapter 11 and closed. In the meantime, I changed my major to a bachelor in Science, Environmental/Biology. Now two and a half years later, I am about finished with my degree. I will be closing the small studio so I can expand into a larger space. I will continue to expand by adding services and goods that are safe and effective, beautiful and musical for Mother Earth and all her inhabitants. To me, every living thing has a purpose and a song to sing, a journey to explore, and a way to balance and harmonize our lives.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Nothing risky is smooth. Business will fluctuate, given the market. During a bear market, the economy is shaky. Going into a bull market, the economy is strong. It is important to weigh your options and values. Stay true to yourself and your family. I have loved being an entrepreneur, a pioneer of sorts, it is in my DNA.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I have been a nature lover for my whole life. I am also a published writer, model, musician and artist. I speak many theoretical languages. At this moment, I am known as a master herbalist and a blossoming environmentalist/biologist whom makes money on the side doing a service job as a hairstylist and customizing nontoxic products. I am proud to have a skill I could fall back on to raise my daughter, and the educational part of becoming a healer of humans and wildlife has been long. But as a lifelong learner, I am excited to continue to reveal my purpose, a healer of human and nature body, mind, and spirit.

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I rescued injured animals and made friends with the kids that were teased. I was a leader, not a follower. I was very athletic and into health and wellness. I loved fashion and was a model. I was a classically trained vocalist, violinist, pianist, and taught myself guitar. I had a few art pieces in a university art show when I was 14 years old. I pursued everything I was interested in. I came from a large family and am the 2nd oldest of 6 sisters. I had a lot of responsibilities young. I was very focused on being successful. I also traveled a lot by myself. I was ambitious and a free spirit.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.malibuherbalist.com
• Instagram: malibuherbalist
• Facebook: malibu herbalist healers
• Twitter: malibu herbalist
• Youtube: malibu herbalist
• Yelp: malibu herbalist

Image Credits
Boulevard Portraits