Motherlove is Motherlode for Rochester Native

Kathryn Higgins is a rising star among personal care product manufacturers with a commitment to the environment. And she’s homegrown.

The Rochester native’s Motherlove Herbal Co. is the result of a lifelong fascination with plants and herbs. Based in Laporte, Colo., the business specializes in body care and herbal supplements for pregnant and nursing women, and projects $2 million in revenue this year.

“We’ve been ahead of the curve,” says Higgins, who started her venture in 1990. “Herbs have a place in helping women with breastfeeding and diaper rash. Herbs are a better choice for many things.”

Higgins’ late father, a Mayo gastroenterologist and former chairman of Charter House; late grandfather, a Mayo researcher; and brother, a Mayo Medical School graduate, have influenced her work in alternative natural treatments. “I look at my path as combining both worlds — alternative and mainstream medicine.”

Higgins’ products include Sitz Bath, Pregnant Belly Salve, More Milk Plus capsules and a Green Salve, which is used on irritated skin and eczema.

In addition to sales across the United States — “We’re in all the Whole Foods Markets,” she says — her line is distributed in 10 countries, although, Higgins points out, no stores carry her products in Rochester.

But business wasn’t always like this. “We were for five years at the kitchen table,” she says. “For the last three years we’ve grown at (a rate of) 42 to 45 percent a year.”

“People are making better choices and getting more of a world view,” Higgins says.

Buzz list

What: Motherlove Herbal Co. products for pregnant and nursing women and their babies

Where: Whole Foods Market (Minneapolis and St. Paul), Fairview Ridgeview Pharmacy, Burnsville

Why: More Milk Plus product has been rated the best-selling breastfeeding supplement in the United States. Owner Kathryn Higgins donates 10 percent of Motherlove’s after-tax profits to Nurturing Life Foundation, an organization she started to promote breastfeeding, help mothers-in-need, and create opportunities for disadvantaged children.

Printed in Post-Bulletin, Rochester, MN.