I have been a massage therapist, gardener, wildcrafter and lover of herbs for over 20 years. I grew up in Florida and started my herbal journey in 1992, when I was 22, working part-time at an herbal apothecary and part-time for a master gardener doing landscape gardening. The combination of these two jobs helped me to see each plant not only as something beautiful, but also as powerful medicine. I started using local herbs that I could find in all the different landscapes I would eventually travel to and live in. In 1996, I became a Licensed Massage Therapist, and in the years to follow, I studied Ayurveda and began practicing Ayurvedic Bodywork and eventually added TCM gua sha and cupping to my practice.

In 2007, my path led to me to the South Dakota side of the Standing Rock Reservation, where I got married and had a son. Over the last 11 years here, I have had a massage office. In my office I began selling bulk herbs, mainly Western tonics, and herbal salves I made from wildcrafted herbs. Wanting to apply energetic principles to the Western herbs for more accurate recommendations, I felt I needed more education. I did lots of online research on herb schools and kept coming back to the East West course (which I already knew about because I had started it and never finished it back in the ‘90s!). In 2016, I decided to enroll in the East West Clinical Herbalist course so I could recommend herbs to my clients with confidence. I liked that it offered study in TCM, Ayurveda and Western herbs.

Other ways I spend my time: I make medicines, I co-founded and volunteer at the Medicine Wheel Living Park, I started an Herbalists Without Borders chapter in SD, and I have been fortunate and forever grateful to have learned a bit about native herbs, ceremony and tradition from Lakota elders.

This Spring I will be attending the Intermediate Track seminar and looking forward to it!