Meet Your Formulator

Hi, I’m Bethany Hartley.

Before founding Persephone Apothecary, I worked in hospital nursing and later as a clinical advocate for women navigating chronic UTIs and recurring infections. Again and again, I heard a similar story: painful symptoms, a diagnosis, a prescription, temporary relief, and then the symptoms returned.

It was a cycle I knew personally. At the time, I was living with chronic facial hives, digestive issues, and painful hormonal cycles. I understood how consuming it could become to search for relief while still feeling disconnected from why the body was reacting in the first place.

So I began asking different questions. Not only, How do I make this symptom stop? but What is my body responding to? What patterns are repeating? What kind of support does it need?

Those questions led me to the study of medicinal plants. I completed Cornell University’s Medicinal Plants Course through the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and continued my herbal education at Native Roots School, learning from teachers across folk, traditional, and clinical herbal practices.

Plants changed the way I related to my body. They taught me to pay attention gently and consistently, without treating every symptom as something to fight. That relationship became the foundation of Persephone Apothecary.

Today, I formulate whole-plant skin care and herbal blends for sensitive bodies. Each offering is shaped by clinical understanding, herbal tradition, and close attention to how plants are grown, prepared, and experienced by the body.

Persephone is rooted in a simple belief: your body is not something to silence. Its signals deserve to be heard, and care can begin by listening.

You can read more about the plants, patterns, and practices behind this work in The Reading Room.