Expand in
all directions.
I'm Naomi
I wasn't always a cowgirl.
​
I grew up in small-town Ontario, where dirt roads, long rides and wide-open afternoons taught me to be curious, adventurous and a little bit mischevious.
​
I went to the University of Guelph and studied International Development. It opened my eyes to this big ol' world—to different ways of living, the realities of developing countries and the complicated relationship between how we live and the impact we have on people and the planet.
​
Afterwards, I moved to Toronto - built a career, started a digital media company, worked hard, played hard—and kept moving.
​
Along the way, I discovered yoga. Once I started I was hooked and it became an important part of my life.
But eventually, even yoga couldn't keep me from running on empty. Burnout has a funny way of making you stop and pay attention.
​
For me, it was a turning point. I travelled to India and across North America, studying with teachers who changed the way I thought about wellness, movement and taking care of myself.
Alas, I wasn't finished wandering.
Trading city for the wild
I followed my love of adventure to Northern British Columbia but my life here didn't start on horseback.
​
I worked in tourism, getting to know the communities, the people and the landscape I was now calling home. From there, I moved into communications consulting, eventually taking on a contract with the regional government to help build its Emergency Support Services program.
​
It was meaningful work—but I was still looking for something that felt a little more like me. I discovered a 30 day wilderness guiding and wrangling course which landed me a few seasons as a wrangler in remote guiding territories. With very little backcountry experience but plenty of determination, I went for it.
I learned to pack horses, live in spike camps, navigate wild country and weather the kind of days that leave you tired right down to your bones. And I loved it.
​
More than that, being outside, working with my hands and learning to trust myself in the wilderness became a kind of reprieve—a reset when life felt so busy.
Eventually, I met my cowboy—the outfitter.
Together, we've built our life on 35 acres near Smithers, BC - the Black Horse Ranch, where we continue to develop from the ground up, one fence post at a time.
How a girl from small-town Ontario found her way north—and eventually into a bottle of skincare.
It wasn't exactly a straight line. But then, the best stories rarely are.
Then came the lavender
And the lambs.
For six years, I learned the ropes of raising sheep and lambs—and let's just say, it wasn't always the idyllic farm life I imagined. There were long nights, hard lessons and plenty of worry.
But there were also those ridiculously sweet, heartwarming moments that made it all worthwhile. A newborn lamb finding its feet. A bottle baby following you around. The simple magic of watching a fragile life grow and thrive.
Farming taught me a few things. Good things take time. Nature can be ruthless. Some seasons are harder than others. And it's OK to let go.
I started growing lavender from some seeds that my husband gifted me. With that first crop, I started infusing oils and water and making small-batch products under the name "Little Lamb Lavender".
It was a beginning. But I knew there was more to the story.
From farm to formula
I decided to take an online certificate program and earned an Advanced Diploma in Organic Cosmetic Science from Formula Botanica because I wanted to understand the skin, function of ingredients and formulation from the inside out.
​
Around the same time, "Little Lamb Lavender" became "Cowgirl's Friend"—a name and identity that felt much more like me and where I was headed. I’ve always admired the cowgirl spirit: courage, resilience, independence and the willingness to keep riding when the trail gets rough. It felt like the right fit for both the woman I was becoming and the women I wanted to create for.
​
That became the foundation for Cowgirl's Friend: smart formulas that pair modern actives with nourishing botanicals, with every ingredient chosen for a reason. For women who weather life with grit, find beauty in the dust, and know the trail will keep changing—and so will we.
