Our Speakers

Brigitte Mars

Brigitte Mars is an herbalist and nutritional consultant of Natural Health with almost fifty years of experience. She teaches Herbal Medicine at Naropa University, and The School of Health Mastery in Iceland. She has taught at Omega Institute, Esalen, Kripalu, Sivananda Yoga Ashram, Arise, Envision and Unify Festivals, and The Mayo Clinic. She blogs for the Huffington Post and Care2. She is a professional member of the American Herbalist Guild.  Brigitte is the author of many books and DVDs, including The Home Reference to Holistic Health and Healing, The Country Almanac of Home Remedies, The Desktop Guide to Herbal Medicine, Beauty by Nature, Addiction Free Naturally, The Sexual Herbal, Healing Herbal Teas, Rawsome! and co-author of The HempNut Cookbook. DVDs include Sacred Psychoactive, Herbal Wizardry for Kids of all Ages, Natural Remedies for Childhood Ailments, Overcoming Addictions, and Natural Remedies for Emotional Health. Her latest project is a phone app called iPlant. Brigitte and her daughter, Sunflower Sparkle Mars run Herb Camp for Kids in Boulder, Colorado. Brigitte’s other daughter is world famous activist/yogini-actress/ international model, Rainbeau Mars. Please check out www.brigittemars.com.

Julia Lyons

Julia Lyons is a certified Reiki Master/Teacher, Earth-centered Shamanic Healer, Yoga Teacher, Spiritual Hygiene Mentor, and voice for Sacred Tobacco. Julia has spent the past 3 years studying Herbalism, Wild Foods, Shamanic Healing, Traditional Maya Healing and Womb Massage (from the lineage of Miss Beatrice Torres Waight) through her primary teacher, Ann Drucker.
Julia is co-owner of Kundali Kombucha, a company committed to creating the most crisp, nutritious, reliably delicious kombucha tea possible using high quality, all organic ingredients and an unwavering, intentional awareness

Laura Clemmons

Laura is a functional clinical herbalist who has been a long-time student of integrative therapies, herbal medicine, and earth centered shamanistic healing arts. For 23 years Laura has been practicing the art of earth centered herbalism. She comes from a strong lineage of Italian healers, known as the Strega. She has held a professional herbal practice since 2003. . Her work attends to physical, emotional, and spiritual issues, recognizing that these systems are intertwined and inseparable.Laura teaches herbal classes throughout the Pacific Northwest, Colorado, and is a presenter at the Spokane Herbal Guild.
Founder and owner of Tendril Herbal Apothecary and Healing Center in Sandpoint, ID, an integrative health care clinic, Laura is blending the best of ancient wisdom and modern technology along with creating a culture for practitioners of support and community. Laura is also active within her local and broader communities. She runs the Sandpoint Women’s Red Tent and acts as a mentor for both mothers and menarche girls in coming-of-age ceremony.

Melissa Beckwith

Melissa Beckwith is a graphic designer and artist living in Louisville, Colorado. With over 20 years of experience working with clay, she combines an elegant blend of form, function, and detail in both hand-built and wheel-thrown pottery. Her ceramic work is both artistic and functional, with a focus on surface texture and unique glaze combinations. Inspired by the shapes and textures found in nature, she holds a deep appreciation for the history of pottery as one of the oldest forms of self-expression.

Melissa is the lead ceramics instructor at Three Leaf Farm, where she shares her passion for clay through year-round workshops for students of all levels. Whether guiding beginners through their first hand-built project or helping experienced potters refine their technique, Melissa creates a welcoming, creative environment that encourages exploration, skill-building, and artistic growth.

Faith Rodgers

Faith is a Certified Clinical Herbalist and owner of the Little Herbal Apothecary in Lafayette, CO. Faith has a Bachelor of Science from the University of Illinois. She received certifications in Herbalism and Nutrition at the North American Institute of Medical Herbalism and completed a Botany certification through the Colorado School of Clinical Herbalism. Faith founded the Little Herbal Apothecary in 2015, a community herb shop offering a wide range of herbs, oils, teas and handcrafted skincare products.

As an herbalist, Faith’s biggest passion is botanical skincare. She has spent years formulating and developing her own techniques to create clean, botanically-infused skincare products. She works as a consultant helping companies with product development and formulation. Faith has been teaching medicine making workshops in the boulder area for the past 15 years and loves empowering people to create their own herbal products at home. You can browse the apothecary, find great recipes, or check out Faith’s upcoming workshop schedule at thelittleherbal.com.

Sara Stewart Martinelli

Sara Martinelli is an herbalist, ethnobotanist, green witch, and the CEO of The Boulder Tea Company, as well as the owner of Three Leaf Farm, a small urban organic farm, botanical sanctuary, and education center. She holds a degree in Anthropology from the University of Colorado, with an emphasis on nutrition and culture, where she developed a deep interest in how food, herbs, and plants shape society, religion, and tradition. Her passion for ethnobotany led her to explore the historic and folkloric uses of herbs, eventually earning her certification from the Rocky Mountain Center for Botanical Studies in Boulder, Colorado.

Together with her husband, Sara owns several beloved Boulder-area restaurants, including the iconic Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse, Leaf Vegetarian Restaurant, The Chautauqua Dining Hall, The Huckleberry, and Zucca. She is also the creator of the Botanica Festival, a celebration of plants and herbal wisdom, and teaches numerous workshops throughout the year on the medicinal, spiritual, and folkloric uses of herbs. A prolific writer and educator, Sara has published extensively on herbal health, wellness, and plant magic, sharing her knowledge and passion with the community.

Rebecca Lefebvre

After two decades working as a social worker, registered nurse, and graphic designer, Rebecca founded Avec La Vie to create tools for conscious, purposeful living. Since then she has created a collection of nature-inspired oracle decks (Fauna Inspiration, Flora Healing, and Fantastic Being), adult and children's books (Journey of One, Baby Bean, and Morning, Noon, and Night), and a series of intuitive-wisdom journals. In 2020, she launched Collective Wisdom, a mini-magazine exploring wellness for the mind, body, and soul–which includes activities for crafting a more joy-filled, balanced life. Rebecca lives with her husband, three children, two dogs, one cat, and five chickens in Colorado. Learn more at aveclavie.com.

Liz Faermark

Liz Faermark is a certified clinical herbalist and clinical nutritionist. Liz's passion for herbalism is deeply rooted in art. Rarely one to take conventional routes, her path to this work was a bit winding. She found that the practice of herbalism was at the crossroads of her life's other callings: years of farming, cooking, making music, wildcrafting, making and sharing plant medicine, teaching classes, and taking care of her community. Liz currently works as an herbalist and educator at the Little Herbal Apothecary in Lafayette, CO. Accessibility is central to her personal herbal philosophy. She's a big fan of doing what you can and using what you have. She deeply values thrift, ingenuity, and creativity in the practice of herbalism (and in life). The world is rich with accessible medicine — we just need to seek the right knowledge and skills to benefit from that abundance in a sustainable way.

Lauren Nichols-Sheffler

Lauren Ann Nichols strives to educate on the importance of bioregional herbalism and plant sustainability. She attended The Colorado School of Clinical Herbalism and received her certificate in medical herbalism. She is the owner of Herbal Vice aka Blue Yarrow Herbs, a small-batch skincare company cultivating herbs for skincare remedies. She is currently the sourcing & purchasing manager for Wish Garden Herbs.