I have often wondered why I was called to serve the wild weeds and their healing properties. As I cast back, I begin to see some threads. Early in life, there was a period when I lived out of a car with my mother. It didn’t bother me. I didn’t know anything else. My mother was strong and had a powerful sense that this condition would not be forever for us. She ended up winning a singing contest, which took us to America, and we would never be homeless again. In Botany of Desire, Michael Pollen makes a case that plants choose us. In that context, it’s not surprising that weeds chose me. In many ways, I came into this world under similar circumstances. Weeds grow in harsh conditions. They are considered pioneer plants. Their value is often over-looked, though they are the fierce competitors of the plant kingdom. I love dandelion for that reason. It’s a symbol to me. It pushes through concrete sidewalks and then blooms a sunny, yellow flower. Dandelion doesn’t come through hardship with an angry, resentful statement to the world. Its yellow sun eventually transforms into a dome of stardust before it casts its seed. 

I began my interest in plant medicines in high school, when I started working with an herbalist that helped me transform my health and change my life. Although my life took me to film school in college, and into advertising when my husband and I founded an advertising agency that had a successful 25-year run, my love of plants and their grip on me only intensified.

We bought a weekend home in Cambria California, which came with a beautiful herb garden. Through tending that magical garden, I discovered biodynamic gardening. I watched the seasons change, composted, made friends with the garden devas, and delighted in the garden singing after a good rain. I fell in love with plants.

But the biggest gift was when I by chance picked up a copy of a book by Susun Weed. I found my path. It was the beginning of my decades-long study and immersion into traditional folk medicine and herbalism. These simple, available, and time-tested plant medicines and recipes became my go-to. I have been making herbal remedies and brewing simples for my friends and family for years and have seen first hand the profound transformation that occurs with deep nourishment. 

It is on these studies, traditions, and plants that Simples is founded. It has been my dream to share these plants with a larger community and to make them available to anyone who is interested. They have been an immense gift in my life, and it is my privilege to make them available to you. My commitment is to create a business that honors tradition, which operates with kindness while generating a surplus that can then be used to elevate our collective condition. Pioneer plants pass on to us their ability to endure. They are the ultimate competitors and are a new breed of superfoods, and I am proud to play my role in offering them to you with love and excitement.

May you have a Dandelion Day - whatever comes up, know that you have what it takes to break through it with a sunny disposition.