I grew up in Humboldt COWnty, truly Northern California amidst the Redwoods and Tidepools.  As a child I was always intrigued by the plants and animals about.  My favorite past-time was to ride my bicycle into the woods along the ocean bluffs and find small samples of the natural world to take home and observe in my microscope.  As the years passed, I continued to keep an eye on all things natural and beautiful, but it wasn’t until after high school that I moved to Arizona and truly felt how in touch I was with Nature.  The desert land of Arizona was serenely alive and I craved to get out of the city at any chance.  After two years, I missed home and moved back to Humboldt with a new view of the world and greater appreciation for the area – the forests, the ocean, the great food, the temperate weather and the community itself. 

Happily back home, I continued college courses in anything that could get me a better understanding of the human condition.  Finally deciding to get a degree in what I like, rather than what I hoped to be, I choose Anthropology – the study of humans!  Good thing too, because I could have never imagined my life would have taken the herbal path.  It was through Anthropology that the world of herbs opened itself to me.  Studying in-depth historical accounts of who we are, what we are truly made of, and natural or “primitive” behaviors, it made sense to me to do as people have been doing for thousands of years – support our bodies and souls with what we are made of – nature!  Thus, “closest to nature” is the foundation for my herbal practice. 

It was during my Junior year at HSU that I became burdened with an ailment that traditional western medicine was not proving to be helpful.  After much agony, various treatments, and too many doctors appointments a 'renegade' nurse suggested I get a book on herbal medicines.  This was the beginning of my faith in herbs as medicine.  Since this time, I have continued relentlessly on my herbal journey. 

On this blessed journey I have had the fortunate opportunity to learn from amazing mentors!  Post graduation I managed the holistic Osteopathic medical practice of Dr. Kate McCaffrey.  Dr. McCaffrey deepened my understanding of the true meaning of holistic medicine, comprising traditional western medicine, nutrition, herbs, and the vast relationship between the physical body, our spirits and emotional being.   “Structure and Function are inter-related”.  Dr. McCaffrey continually educated me in traditional medical practices as well as structurally in Osteopathic Manual Medicine, for which she is a master.  She encouraged me to provide herbal and nutritional information to clients and to continue my herbal education. 

Jane Bothwell of the Dandelion Herbal Center has been my guiding light.  Having taken every herbal class she offers (sometimes more than once), volunteering time in the garden and making medicines, I am now her assistant and continue to immerse myself in herbs and learn daily.  Rosemary Gladstar, fully deserving of the title: “Mother of Western Herbalism” has also been of utmost importance to me.  Her vast and practical knowledge made her correspondence course a delight to study front to back and back to front.  Being in the presence of these talented women is gift enough, but the gifts of trust and inspiration they have bestowed upon me to guide and educate those in the way of herbal health is more than I could ever imagined. 

Other renowned herbalists I have had the opportunity to study from and whose teachings I am thankful are: Cascade Anderson Geller, Matthew Wood, Karyn Sanders, David Hoffmann, Kathi Keville, Susun Weed and Candace Cantin Packard.