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Becky Andrews

The Adventure Continues

Yep, Hi.  I'm Becky Andrews. Here's the bio in brief:

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  • Grew up in Lexington, KY. 

    • I had this amazing aunt who had been in San Fran during the flower child movement.  She moved back to KY onto a family property and started one of the first permaculture farms in the US.  I got to spend a lot of time there as a little kid, and it ​​laid the foundation for a lot of the holistic mindset I grew into as an adult.

    • At 16 was one of the lead dancers in the local ballet company

      • ballet took me to summer studies at the Atlanta Ballet, Boston Ballet and Joffery Ballet in NYC​

    • I was also super active in my church youth group 

    • My first car was a 1969 super beetle that I had painted dusty rose. Named her Gretta - had many epic road trip adventures in that car.

    • Hung out with the "alternative" crowd (punks and hippies)

    • All this made for a very, um, textured adolescence. 

  • Left home my senior year of high school to attend the School for Creative and Performing arts in Cincinnati (dance, art and drama).

  • Did a mini-tour of northwestern Europe with my mother and grandmother for "cultural enrichment" 

    • how did they not know that my friends were backpacking around on thier own?  I was on a tour bus with a bunch of retired folks... ​

  • College

    • Went to University of Cincinnati and

    • graduated Summa Cum Laude from University of Kentucky (BA Psychology)

    • Learned to play guitar (it's easy if you don't need to play well)

    • Played guitar as the musician for my college church

    • Was a kick ass camp counselor and song leader

    • Thought about being an Episcopal priest - abandoned idea when they explained that seminary taught dogma, not truth... lame.

  • Gap year

    • Worked in one of the last scratch bakeries in Kentucky slinging doughnuts and making espresso

    • Was the worst waitress you have ever had at a pizza joint

  • Moved to Boulder, CO 

    • Studied massage at the Boulder School of Massage Therapy - completely transformative experience... gods I miss Colorado

    • learned to cycle, ski, kayak, rock climb​

    • explored every kind of esoteric, new age thing imaginable

    • bought my first house and learned how to be a landlord

    • opened a private practice and learned how to run a business

    • Apprenticed with master herbalist Brigitte Mars who introduced me to naturopathic medicine and encouraged me to go to Bastyr University

    • did pre-med courses and applied to Bastyr

    • Went to Alaska for spring break 

      • saw the northern lights sitting on a snowmobile in the middle of a frozen river, many, many miles from civilization

      • slept in a tent (on a frozen river) at the base of the Ruth glacier

      • slept in a 10x10 log cabin with no running water or electricity, and peed in a coffee can in a snowdrift

      • failed to see a moose

    • Went on a bike tour with my stepdad Dave

      • 1000 miles from Coer d'Alene, ID to Salt Lake City​

      • I rode about 500 of that, and also served as team massage therapist

  • Moved to Seattle

    • Bought another house with a ginormous garden that needed LOTS of work

      • after 12 years claimed "master gardener" status​

      • remodeled that house and garden

    • 5 years at Bastyr University = Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine + Masters in Acupuncture

    • Awarded post grad teaching fellowship

    • Became faculty at Bastyr, and started private practice as an ND and acupuncturist (I was kick ass)

    • Learned to salsa, swing, bellydance and tango

    • fell in love with circus - and started lessons in static trapeze, rope and silks (I sucked at rope and silks, but stuck with trapeze)

  • Peru

    • between my basic science years and clinical years in med school, I took a break and went to Peru with a classmate​

      • lived in a bamboo hut in the middle of the Amazon rainforest​​​

      • was eaten alive by mosquitos, piranha, and gods know what else

      • did some medical relief work

      • ate piranha (serves them right)

      • jumped off a moving train

      • hiked the Inca Trail to Machu Pichu

  • Vietnam

    • Bikram adventure with my dear friend Natalie​

    • Got to spend a few days with the H'mong people in the southern Himalaya

  • Kenya

    • led student medical volunteer group to Kenya​

    • lived in mud & dung hut

    • hung out with the Massai

    • got paid with a chicken for offering health advice

  • End of Seattle

    • got caught in the 2008-2011 financial collapse - lost everything​

    • closed my practice

  • Permaculture Designer Course

    • got to do my foundation training in Permaculture at Commonwheal in Bolinas, CA with Penny Livingston, Brock Dolman, Toby Hemenway and Starhawk (wow)​

  • Moved to Austin

    • Education coordinator at American Botanical Council​

    • Taught at AOMA while finishing my Chinese herbal medicine certificate so I could get an acupuncture license in Tx - which for various reasons, took for frigging ever. 

    • I now live in Austin, work at Peoples Rx as a health consultant, have a small private practice.  I haven't had any grand adventures in almost 10 years but

      • I still do trapeze

      • During the pandemic I started a teeny product company (Synthesis Naturals) - making herbal topicals for various conditions

    • Stay tuned!

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