Why I Started Roots and Rites

I started Roots and Rites because I believe women deserve better.

Throughout my career as an Environmental Scientist with a master’s degree focused on plant conservation, I’ve spent years studying the intelligence of living systems — how every plant, soil microbe, and drop of water works in balance to sustain life. Somewhere along the way, I realized that human health isn’t all that different. We, too, are ecosystems.

As women, we’re often taught to dismiss our discomfort — to accept fatigue, hormonal shifts, or changes in mood and energy as just “part of getting older.” When we do seek help, we often find that medical professionals simply don’t have the time or training to really listen. I don’t believe that’s because they don’t care. I believe it’s because the modern medical system is broken — it’s stretched so thin that even the most compassionate providers are burning out.

I believe in science. I believe in research, evidence, and peer review. But I also believe that the whole is sometimes more than the sum of its parts — especially when it comes to plant medicine. A single compound might be measurable in a lab, but an entire plant holds a complex chemistry that can work in harmony with the human body in ways we are only beginning to understand.

Roots and Rites was born from that belief — that there’s a middle path between science and tradition, logic and intuition. It’s a space where women can reconnect with their bodies, their cycles, and the natural world that sustains them.

Because healing isn’t about choosing between modern medicine and ancestral wisdom — it’s about remembering that both have something to offer.

— Alicia Anderson, M.Env. Sci Founder, Roots and Rites