OUR (short) STORY
Lichen Livin was founded in May of 2017 by me, Corrie Brown. I set out with the vague mission of helping people live healthier, happier lives. I ended up living on a hemp farm, started a CBD product line and then traveled the country in a van giving CBD educational presentations. I eventually made it back to Colorado and we are now in our 6th year manufacturing and selling organic, sustainable and hand-crafted CBD products. I am the only full-time employee operating with our network of wonderful volunteers, farmers and contractors. Many successes and failures keep us growing, evolving and narrowing in on our purpose. We absolutely LOVE what we do and could not be more grateful to be able to positively impact lives with our CBD and self-care products.
The Symbiotic Concept.
To live like lichen is to live symbiotically. You see, lichen only exists due to the cooperation of two unrelated organisms functioning as a single, stable unit. The vibrant lichen we admire on rocks and trees is comprised of a fungus living in a symbiotic relationship with an alga or cyanobacterium (or both in some instances). In short, the alga feeds the fungus and in return the fungus protects the alga. This mutual give and take mentality is at the root of Lichen Livin and how we choose to exist in this world. To live like lichen is to have a harmonious balance of give and take within your own being as well as with the environment and people you surround yourself with. Once you find yourself in this symbiotic universal flow, you recognize balance and suddenly life becomes effortless and fulfilling. Try living like lichen and let us know how it goes!
OUR (long) STORY
Lichen Livin was founded in May of 2017 by me, Corrie Brown. More and more I was noticing that a lot of the people around me; my family, my coworkers, friends, clients… So many of them were not genuinely happy. They don’t like their jobs, they don’t like their bodies, they don’t feel they have time to do the things they love and when they do have time, they are too exhausted or too broke. I started examining the strangers around me; their body language, the choices they put in their grocery carts, the way they treat fellow strangers with irritation and rush, the road rage, the pure anger and hate towards others with different views. It became very clear to me that there are a lot of unsatisfied and unhappy people in this world. The more I took note of this in my own immediate community and with every mass shootings and suicide announced across the country, the harder it became not to do anything about it.
So, in February of 2017 I took a step back from my then management position to start working on a plan that would allow me to best help my fellow humans live with love, patience and enthusiasm! By May of that year I set up a website, registered Lichen Livin LLC and took the leap of faith to full time self-employment. I have since been offering holistic lifestyle services as well as developed an enormous passion for the hemp crop that has intrinsically led me to creating my very own organic and sustainably produced and packaged CBD product line; Full Spectrum Products.
You’re probably wondering, “why Lichen Livin?”. Well, I wrote a blog post about it you can read here. But in short, because I think it’s fascinating and encouraging that lichen only exists due to two unrelated organisms working together in symbiotic association. To live like lichen is to have a harmonious balance of give and take within your own being as well as with the environment and people you surround yourself with. I call it “making life work FOR you”. Once you find yourself in a positive universal flow you will understand and start to connect how everything you do and think plays a part in the satisfaction of your reality.
Unenthusiastically going through the motions is not enough. We all owe it to ourselves, our families, community, the world, really… to be the best version of ourselves that we can be. That means respecting yet challenging our own boundaries and beliefs, preserving and protecting our health and well-being, that means holding ourselves accountable to eat the foods that energize and nourish us, it means taking the time to be mindful and present in our daily lives. Existing in modern society is hard, ask for help when you need it.
About the Founder
Meet Corrie Brown
, Owner and operator of Lichen Livin LLC, Full Spectrum Organic CBD and registered non-profit, LICHEN co.
Corrie grew up on an old farm in rural Michigan where she spent her childhood primarily outdoors. An early sign of her intuition and infatuation with natural wellness and the human body was mixing up “herbal remedies” with the grasses, soils and flowers she found in her yard to use in healing the scrapes and bruises she earned keeping up with her older siblings.
Excelling in sports and academics through high school, Corrie went on to play division II women’s basketball on a full scholarship for Northwood University.
Enduring a spinal fracture and annular spinal tears her freshman year at NU is what she calls, “the greatest blessing in disguise”. “It wasn’t fun at the time, but really set me on my path towards total body wellness and gave me my belief and passion for the mind-body connection, functional movements & the power of self-healing”. Corrie was in a back brace for nine months and took a medical red-shirt that year. After daily physical therapy, natural treatments, and an unfortunate series of cortisone injections she was able to finish out her basketball career as team captain and graduated with a triple major of advertising, marketing & management.
Upon graduation in 2011 she moved to Washington DC where she began her professional health & wellness career through her roles with both Girls on the Run and Sport & Health fitness clubs. Unsatisfied and longing to influence greater impact by educating and inspiring those around her to live well, she left her corporate job and enrolled in the Institute for Integrative Nutrition where she began her formal education in holistic healing. While enrolled in IIN Corrie sought out a flexible and relevant role in natural healing and accepted a position as a live-in nanny for a family with both a down syndrome, and nonverbal autism diagnosis.
Forever grateful for her time & experiences in the metro DC area, she packed her bags and headed west in 2013. Searching for a more health-centric environment to thrive in, she landed in Golden Colorado. Happily existing in Golden until uprooting in August of 2017 to accept a live-in internship opportunity with the Colorado Hemp Institute in Fort Collins, Colorado. This experience lit an undying fiery passion for the hemp plant that drove Corrie to set up CBD educational presentations throughout the country (read the blog – CBD Educational tour) as well as the creation of her clean and organic CBD product line. (shop products)
Corrie has since went on to complete her 200 hour yoga teacher training certification and registered a non-profit platform inspiring natural and preventative lifestyles, LICHEN co. Currently, Corrie resides in Arvada, CO where she operates her service and product based businesses.