I was introduced to my very first plant ally while I was a student studying art at a liberal arts college in Washington state.  I was suffering from debilitating menstrual cramps and a friend of a friend who was staying with me at the time handed me a tincture bottle with a piece of tape on it that read yarrow and told me to take a dropperful.  I had never consumed medicine in the form of a tincture before, nor did I know what yarrow was but I was desperate for some relief and squeezed a dose of the remedy under my tongue as directed.  Within twenty to thirty minutes the cramping was gone.  Not diminished, but gone!  I was astonished at how quickly and effectively the remedy worked.  So began my journey into learning about the healing powers of plants and over the next two plus decades, I consumed herbal literature and learned plant identification through various workshops and applications and began making my own tinctures and salves. 

After going through a divorce in 2012, I took a job as a seasonal farm worker on a biodynamic farm to support myself as a newly single mom.  While working as a crew hand at Winter Green Farm in the coast range of Oregon, I apprenticed under Wali Via to learn the holistic approach to farming that biodynamics offer to support the farm as a self-sustaining living organism.  I saw first hand the magic of herbal remedies that were prepared with intention and in alignment with cosmic frequencies to transform the health and productivity of a farm.  My passion for plant infusions was further reinforced.

During the pandemic, I met a beautiful older woman who had spent years making her own soaps to sell to the public but had reached a point in her life when she was ready to retire from soap making as a business and was looking for someone to pass her supplies along to.  It was the perfect opportunity to try my hand at learning a new skill.  I bought all of her supplies and soap making books and transformed my garage into a studio space to begin experimenting.  Not long after, I was selling my soaps at the Saturday Market in Eugene, OR alongside my salves, deodorant, lip balm and other body care products under the name Heart Compass Botanicals.  The line of products I sell continues to grow and expand and as of 2026 Heart Compass Botanicals will operate from a five acre rural property in the coast range of Oregon where I can grow many of the plant allies that are used in my various infusions.