Ursula Gerhold studied Pharmacy at Karl-Franzens University in Graz, with a focus on botany, somatology, and pharmacology. From 1983 to 2019, with brief interruptions, she worked in public pharmacies, always part-time, to make time for other tasks. Initially, this was her own large family and, increasingly in parallel, the acquisition of more and more knowledge and experience in natural healing methods. In the pharmacy too, she increasingly became the „nature pharmacist.“. 

In 1990, the family moved to Stainz in South-West Styria, intending to stay there. In this pleasant, vibrant and innovative environment, more and more areas of activity subsequently unfolded. Lectures, seminars, health and garden consultations, regional development projects, the establishment of their own company („Centre for Holistic Body Care“) with the production of organic cosmetics and a health food shop. In 2008, all these developments led to the founding of the non-profit association „Lebenswerkstätten Stainz“, which has been continuously developing ever since as a vibrant regional centre for all ecological and biological issues.