I was born and raised in Los Angeles CA, moved to San Francisco for eight years, then moved to the woods of Western Massachusetts in 2010. Shortly after I arrived, I became extremely ill. For months, I was bedridden being tossed around from specialist to specialist with no answers. Because my cortisol levels were backwards, I was awake all night and sleepwalking through my day. I became so sleep deprived that I began losing basic vocabulary skills.
I turned to a naturopathic doctor who gave me very strong herbs and I began to feel well enough to go back to work. I volunteered with a couple of farms and decided to become certified as a community herbalist through Thyme Herbal, to learn more about how the plant-based medicines worked. While attending herb school, I started a community-supported medicine program, similar to a community-supported agriculture program, but specifically for medicinal herbs. I fell in love with the plants through growing them, and I as I continued to learn more and treat myself, I fully recovered!
During this time I also interned at the local apothecary and realized what an important space this business held in the community. And of course I was already committed to being a steward of the plants! I decided to return home to the Bay area and bring the magic of medicinal herbs to Oakland.