My Path

I hold two Bachelor of Arts degrees from James Madison University Honors College: one in Studio Art, with a concentration in Photography, and one in Art History, with a concentration in Museum Studies. Art and writing have been woven throughout my life and remain a grounding point for the work I do today. My personal artwork explores the meeting place between my inner world and the natural world, often incorporating paints and dyes I make from plants, earth, and stone. That creative foundation has also grown into my professional work as a freelance writer, editor, designer, and creative, primarily supporting individuals and brands within the mental health and holistic wellness realms.

My path into holistic wellness was deeply shaped by my own experience of healing. In 2015, I became severely ill following a convergence of emotional trauma and physical imbalance. With the support of natural medicine practitioners, I began finding my way back to health through medicinal herbs, mindfulness, spiritual study, self-compassion, and a more intentional relationship with my body and the world around me. That experience fundamentally changed the direction of my life.

After traveling to Nepal in 2019, my curiosity led me to the California College of Ayurveda and eventually to Nevada City, California, where I deepened my studies in Ayurvedic theory and Clinical Ayurvedic Herbalism. I am a lover of learning, and my studies eventually brought me to Lake Atitlán, Guatemala, where I completed certifications in Permaculture Design and Regenerative Western Herbalism.

During my years in Northern California and Colorado, I taught classes and worked professionally as a certified herbalist in established apothecaries, supporting individuals with a wide range of needs through plant medicine. In Boulder, I also spent several years working with a women-owned permaculture design company, where I tended edible and medicinal gardens, worked closely with seasonal rhythms, wildcrafted, and made medicine from the plants growing around me.

Since returning to Asheville and the mountains of Southern Appalachia, I have opened my online apothecary, Devotion Herbals, begun hosting women’s writing circles, continued growing my freelance creative practice, and embarked on my graduate studies in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.

Although these paths may seem different, they have never felt entirely separate to me. Plants, art, writing, land, the psyche, and our relationships with one another and the natural world continually weave together in my life and work. I will always consider myself a student, both of the teachers who have guided me and of the living world around me. I am excited to continue interweaving these paths and supporting others in finding their own ways home to themselves.