FOUNDER'S STORY

Deanna Rose Ahigian is a licensed clinical herbalist and the founder & formulator of Indigo Elixirs. She has spent a decade and a half evolving & expanding the line while exploring the realm of herbalism & wellness.

Deanna grew up with her hands in the dirt, by the side of her second-generation Armenian parents as they turned grass into gardens at their Massachusetts home. She adopted a true love of the plants around her at an early age, even moonlighting as an herbalist for her eight grade Renaissance fair.

In a quest to find healthy products that actually worked for her thick Armenian hair and perpetually dry skin, she began experimenting with natural body care while in college and was quickly enamored by the vast palette of ingredients that the botanical world had to offer. By her senior year in 2009, she had developed a small line of natural skin care ~ the very first iteration of Indigo Elixirs. 

To more deeply understand the plants that she works with and their relationship to the body, Deanna has spent years immersed in the study of herbalism, holistic health, and modern biological science. She first learned the foundations of the craft through an herbal apprenticeship at the Misty Meadow Herbals Center in New Hampshire, and coordinated a wildcrafter certification with the Earth Medicine Institute on O‘ahu. She was also able to sit in on Keoki Baclayon's wonderful classes on traditional Hawaiian medicine at UH Mānoa. 

In 2017, Deanna completed a Master's program in Traditional Chinese Medicine at the World Medicine Institute of Honolulu. She is currently a registered Diplomate of Chinese Medicine and licensed herbalist & acupuncturist in the state of Hawai‘i. She is passionate about interweaving traditional medicine with modern botanical & health sciences, and is currently on a quest to illuminate the ancient healing practices of her Armenian ancestry. 

Through Indigo Elixirs apothecary offerings, wellness education and clinical work, Deanna aims to help strengthen our connection with the rhythms and resources of the natural world around us. By continuing the traditions of our ancestors and bringing the principles of herbalism into our daily lives, we can benefit from nature's ability to balance and heal the body, mind, and spirit. As she deepens her awareness of ancient medicines, she will continue to craft her own out of appreciation of the flora within her reach.