Andrea Lawse

Andrea Lawse is the founder of Artemis Tea and Botanical and is a Clinical Herbalist. She is a Ph.D Candidate working on a dissertation in Critical Plant Studies, specifically focused on relationships between humans and the vegetal. Her studies of the interconnection between the nonhuman and human worlds—all have culminated in building Artemis. Andrea says, however, it is without a doubt the garden she plants and tends, year after year, that offers her the greatest insight and wisdom. In this show, we talk among other topics about:

• The centuries of wisdom and folk knowledge around plants and how modern science and business has minimized that 
• How herbalism is a practice for Andrea, not just intellectual pursuit
• The alchemy behind Andrea’s creation of her tea blends, such as Einstein and Oracle
• The excruciating leap from academia to entrepreneur, including mentoring and modeling from other female entrepreneurs and lessons learned
• Tea sourcing and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on plants, such as echinacea and elderberry