By Ingrid Nelson.
Hello! I’m Amber, calmly but intensely feeling up this incense cedar in one of my favorite vintage dresses.
I’ve been studying and practicing herbalism since 2005, became a mother in 2006, lost my own mother in 2015, had a full-on metabolic collapse in 2023, and have been slowly recovering my vitality (while learning everything I can about women’s health) since then.
I’ve walked with thousands of people on this path via interviews and talks on the Medicine Stories podcast and by offering hand-crafted, mythically-minded herbal medicine.
I love swimming in the Yuba River (where I live now) or in Lake Tahoe (where I was born and raised) or just melting in the bath with an informative, inspiring book (I’m a voracious reader and dream of having a full-on home library someday).
But let’s be real- I spend most of my time mothering my daughters, born ten years apart. I always wanted two girls (like my mom had), but never anticipated the years of single motherhood between them or that a decade would separate their births. I love how it’s worked out though.
You can learn more about my work by listening to the Medicine Stories podcast, reading the Nourishing Motherlines Substack, or perusing our herbal line Mythic Medicinals.
I became interested in herbalism in 2005, after feeling the pull to apply for a job in the Wellness Department at the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op. Talk about a crash course in herbalism and natural healing! Everyone and their mother came in with their rando health problems that we were expected to fix.
In 2007, new babe in arms, I undertook two simultaneous herbal apprenticeships, one with Kami McBride and one with Kathi Keville. In between and since I’ve taken countless herb classes at various gatherings, listened to a million podcasts and read a jillion books, and have continued to spend time deepening my relationships with the plants and in my kitchen experimenting with remedies.
My husband Owen and I got together in 2013, having no idea at first that the other was also a plant person. The deal was sealed for me when he showed up with a basket full of homegrown garden goods and made me dinner on our second date. Within a few weeks he said to me, “I can see myself growing herbs for your business for the rest of my life.”
I called my mom, and she told me to keep him. I told her I was planning on it.
We bought a small home on an acre of land together in 2016, the same year we had a baby and got married- all in that order. His master gardening skills combined with my herbal knowledge have allowed the business to blossom, and we absolutely love doing it together (95.4% of the time). The majority of the herbs in our medicines are grown organically by us at home.
My beautiful mom, who was my best friend and biggest supporter, died in a car accident a few weeks before I got pregnant with my little one. Everything I do with Mythic Medicine is in the spirit of the immense love and boundless kindness that she radiated every single day.
It’s all for you Momma.
My favorite picture of my sister, my mom, and me. San Francisco, 2001.
Thank you for being here. Sorry I’m incapable of brevity.
We love you!