Q & A with Peigin Crowley, Founder of GROUND Wellbeing

What do you love most about the brand you’ve created?

With GROUND Wellbeing, I have the opportunity to do wholehearted wellness in my own may, in a way that’s inclusive and solution driven rather than pampering and indulgent. I feel as though I was gifted a beautiful freedom to develop products and design packaging to the beat of my own drum.

I get to build a sustainable offering that serves and includes children, those with compromised health (cancer) and address female wellbeing with a focus on menopause.

Have you always wanted to work in this industry?

In a word; yes! When I finished school over 20 years ago I really wanted to get into the beauty business. Though my father, a university professor, was totally against it. In fairness to him, he came up with a compromise: we agreed that if I did an Arts degree, and graduated, he would pay for my beauty course and that’s exactly what happened.

My role within the industry has changed over the years from spa therapist to spa manager to spa consultant but I have always been an aromatherapist at heart, deeply immersed in a love of holistics and the ways in which we can bring our mind, body and soul back into balance and alignment.

What are you most proud of?

My beloved family

What advice would you give to someone keen to start a business but unsure where to begin?

Make sure you have a solid network around you for support

What’s the hardest thing about your job?

Some of the greatest challenges in this job have been in working with the ingredients. We found this amazing ingredient Astaxanthin which is 500 times more powerful than Vitamin C, however trying to source this in an oil form proved incredibly challenging.

This is a hero ingredient in our Barróg range of products. After sourcing it we then faced the trouble with managing the aroma from it while restricted with the oils we could use. Finding ways to balance it with essential oils that were gentle and contained no phytoestrogens making them safe for use for cancer patients while needing to minimise the overpowering scent was difficult to say the least.

Also challenging was learning about CBD and how to make it most effective. Understanding how to blend it and balance it with herbs like ashwagandha and St John’s wort as well as phytoestrogens that in this case were needed in the body.

Which part of your job do you most enjoy?

The meditative and creative state that I’m in when blending essential oils and designing treatments and the brilliant bunch of women that make up team GROUND.

Do you find it easy to balance work and play?

I’d be lying if I said it came easy. It requires conscious effort and time but I’m learning to understand the difference between sleep and rest, which is so important.

I need sensory rest away from my phone as well as things like a hot bath, slow movement and breathwork. I’m learning to lean into the things that suit me. I also believe in the importance of surrounding yourself with the right type of people. It’s crucial for emotional wellbeing. Surround yourself with friends who want to listen and support you as much as you do for them.

Rather than trying to do everything, I have learned to just do what serves me and that’s how I get my balance.

 Why were you drawn to Lime Wood as the place to launch in England?

A stunning 5 star property nestled in the New Forest National Park, Limewood is a destination that embraces and celebrates the beauty of nature and its picturesque surroundings. It was an obvious choice to launch GROUND Wellbeing for this reason.

Upon meeting the team at Limewood and the spa team at Herb House Spa, we realised just how truly special this place and the people who run it really are. Lime Wood could not be a more beautiful launch partner for GROUND Wellbeing. We are beyond proud of our collaboration and the opportunity to share our holistic treatmentswith the guests at Limewood

What can guests expect to gain from a treatment at Limewood’s Herb House?

Time at Herb House Spa is the perfect way to delve into natural wellbeing; from the healthy, nutritious food served up in ‘Raw & Cured’ to the serenity offered by the surrounding woodlands to the team of accomplished therapists who are warm and intuitive and who have a genuine and heartfelt passion for the work that they do. This is a team that is the epitome of what GROUND is all about; sincere wellness.