Laura Ash is a clinical herbalist, mother of two, a queer woman, dancer, storyteller, and social entrepreneur. In 2006, Laura graduated from The California School of Herbal Studies in Clinical Herbal Medicine while running a chai tea company, and in 2008, Laura co-founded Avra Organic Spa in San Francisco.
Laura has studied in clinic and privately with many teachers; David Hoffmann, Matthew Wood, Dr. Vasant Lad, to name a few. She has also been a guest lecturer teaching western herbalism at UW Madison. After living overseas in the UK and East Africa, Laura has felt a sacred obligation to support Indigenous People in their health sovereignty, and in 2011 she started a nonprofit called Herbal Anthropology Project which has protected Maasai Traditional Medicine in Tanzania through the framework of the Traditional Knowledge Division of the World Intellectual Property Organization.
Laura currently lives in San Francisco, California with her two children and her partner, and is the owner of The Scarlet Sage Herb Co.
Kelsey Barrett:
Kelsey initiated her herbal studies on a pilgrimage to France, gathering wisdom from traditional European medicine masters.
She expanded her engagement with the plant world through an apprenticeship in organic farming at Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, followed by three years of study in Western Herbalism at the Ohlone Herbal Center in Berkeley, California. She then sharpened her herbal application skills in a three-year mentorship with Dr. William Morris in Ding lineage pulse diagnosis.
Kelsey brought her Clinical and Wellness Advocacy work to her community as the creator and lead coordinator of Spirit Weavers Gathering Wellness Den, for five years. Served as a Director at Ohlone Herbal Center for three years, while on core faculty teaching European and clinical herbalism, diagnostics, and supervising students in the Community Clinic. She now works as the Co-Director and core faculty member of the Scarlet Sage School of Traditional Healing Arts.
Kelsey's herbal and environmental insights have been published in Vogue, Edible East Bay and GOOD Magazine.
She is now based in San Diego and have a private practice across California, counseling students and clients on creating life-changing strategies for wellness.
Prior to her work with plants, Kelsey worked as a technical designer and designer in the fashion industry for eight years in New York and LA, for Marc byMarc Jacobs and Everlane. Her natural love of and skill in product design informs how she approaches healing work and medicine making, as an act of creating and manifesting beauty.
