From growing up with herbs in the Czech Republic to bringing a family herbal tradition to the UK.
Brighter Living didn't begin with a business plan. It began many years earlier, without me even realising it.
I grew up in the Czech Republic as one of eight children, in a home where herbs were simply part of everyday life. My mum used them regularly and taught us from a young age to appreciate nature and the things it can offer us.
At the time, I never imagined those childhood experiences would one day become part of something I would build myself.
The products my family introduced me to
Years later, my sisters introduced me to Dr. Popov.
I started using the products myself, then recommending them to family and friends. What stayed with me wasn't only the products themselves, but the story behind them.
Dr. Popov wasn't a brand created simply to follow a wellness trend. Its roots lie in generations of Czech herbal knowledge - from Dr Mitrofan Popov, through his son Vladimír, to his grandson Pavel Popov.
That family connection meant something to me.
I had grown up with herbs because of my own family, and here was another family preserving knowledge that had been passed from one generation to the next.
Why bring Dr. Popov to the UK?
After living in the UK for many years, I began to wonder why products I knew so well from home were not easier to discover here.
That thought eventually became Brighter Living.
I wanted to create a place where people could discover carefully selected herbal products with a genuine story behind them — while making that Czech tradition understandable and accessible to customers in the UK.
I'm not trying to convince people that herbs are a miracle answer to everything. For me, Brighter Living is about something much simpler: respecting nature, learning from traditional knowledge and making thoughtful choices about our everyday wellbeing.
A little piece of home, shared with you
Brighter Living may be a new chapter for me, but the ideas behind it aren't new at all.
They come from my childhood, my mum, my family, my Czech roots and eventually the Popov family and their own herbal tradition.
And now I have the privilege of sharing a little of that tradition with you here in the UK.
I hope Brighter Living becomes somewhere you enjoy visiting - whether you're discovering herbs for the first time or they've been part of your life for years.
Monika x