Meet Tania Byrne | Herbalist & Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tania Byrne and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tania, what are you inspired by?
Green spaces, rivers, meadows, forest paths, vines, old gnarled trees and carpets of moss. Growing up in the Pacific NW, a temperate rainforest, I was lucky enough to be surrounded by a lush and natural landscape. The pull of this mysterious green forest has yet to fade for me.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Over the years I’ve done many different jobs, from “wellness” person in a health food store to making pizzas, doing seasonal work in a remote Buddhist retreat center and in the last decade I’ve mostly been in a Portland Apothecary, getting real world experience with Herbalism and slowly but surely building my business Mossy Tonic. In Mossy Tonic, I’m a one-woman show, I create the formulas, blend and bottle them, and I even do my own brand art and graphic design. Before getting interested in Herbalism in my early 20’s, I was really into photography, both film and digital. My first logo, the green fox of Mossy Tonic, was create my a local artist in 2017, and since then 100% of my photos, labels, designs, promos, courses, book covers, photos and websites have been created my me! It’s fun for me, though I will say when I expand my brand, I think I will collab with more local professionals since I’m learning maybe doing it all isn’t the goal. I’m excited to explore new artistic possibilities in 2025!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
You can’t visit Portland without walking around Washington Park. This lush forest sits on the hills to the West of Portland and can be accessed via our MAX (lightrail) train. In the day there’s trails, an arboretum and sections featuring different local plants and trees – as well as being close to the lovely Rose Gardens. You get a great view of the city and some nights people even do a “Zoo bomb” bike ride (since the Zoo is up there too) where they generally ride tiny or tall bikes (also normal bikes) down the windy roads into downtown…..fun and scary.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Creative and kind, my friend Andrea Keller of Space Face Media has been both emotionally supportive as well as professionally. She edited my first book Gather | Wild Recipes for Health & Home, and has been a reliable source to brainstorm all of my many ideas with. I’m grateful to call this creative woman my friend!

Website: https://epicherbalism.com/

Instagram: @mossytonic

Other: www.mossytonic.com
@epicherbalism