Meet Sarah Russo | Plant medicine specialist, writer, editor, researcher

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sarah Russo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sarah, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
I simply followed my deepest interests and that is what opened doors for me. If you have an idea that is unconventional and “risky” to the standard parameters of the space you work in, still find ways to bring it into being. You don’t need to distill it down or conform it to a given marketplace or sector. My skill set is eclectic. Some may look at what I do and think it lacks a distinct drive or ability to plan for the future. But all my seemingly random experiences have brought me to where I am today. Getting well-rounded experience and interest in multiple aspects of your field is the way to go. Think about what you do as a living ecosystem. What comprises your world? Who is in your community? What innovative ways can you connect the dots?

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am the writer and creator of Herbs for the Apocalypse, a women-crafted, botanically-infused indie graphic novel. It is a story of resilience and resistance in trying times where plants and punk rock collide in a tale of apocalyptic reckoning. The protagonist Sofia Spinoza, a misanthropic luddite with a love for punk rock, grapples with her frustration at the human race for destroying the planet.

I have gravitated towards plant medicine for most of my life. Botanicals are my biggest inspiration. Being an environmental studies major in college, I was at the time incredibly bogged down by the state of the world. I didn’t understand (and still don’t) how humans can ruin our planet. But plants and connecting to aspects greater than myself have helped me find solace. So part of the writing of Herbs for the Apocalypse is giving that frustrated part of me a little microphone.

I worked as an herbal educator at different apothecaries some years ago. The people who came in and the questions that they asked were so wild. I always thought setting a story in an herb shop would be interesting and something that hadn’t been done before. And that’s precisely where Herbs for the Apocalypse takes place.

Herbs for the Apocalypse is a passion project that started out as a novel. I had been a writer and researcher for over a decade. But I had never written anything as long as a novel before, and never written fiction. The novel went through three drafts. After getting a professional edit and it leaving me with zero inspiration, I decided to shelve the idea. But the concept kept nagging me. One night I was soaking in hot springs in Colorado and it dawned on me “Why not make it into a graphic novel?” Well, I had never done a graphic novel before. So I started from ground zero and began looking for an illustrator. I found Rokaya online. I saw her portfolio, and it was love at first sight. We work really well together. I feel like she “knows” the characters as I do. She depicts them like they are in my head.

So I didn’t come into this idea with the intention of it being a graphic novel. But that’s what the project morphed into. The story is driving me at this point, not the other way around. But in retrospect, it was meant to be a comic the whole time. I could have given up numerous times. But something told me to keep going. And that is one of the best decisions I have made in my whole life.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I appreciate places that are authentic and very uniquely their own things. Places that have soul. I appreciate the dichotomy of grit and beauty dancing as one.

Any dream place of mine would be to spend it snorkeling to see the creatures of the deep, going on a hike in nature surrounded by local plants, seeing live music, and eating food special to the location.

I have been fortunate to explore Asia, Latin America, Europe, and Tanzania in Africa. I plan to do a whole lot more traveling. It offers a great deal of perspective.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Fred Gardner, a hard-working journalist with work spanning decades, is who encouraged me to write back when Project CBD was founded in 2010. I didn’t think I had much interesting to say, nor could I write in any sort of engaging manner. He basically encouraged me to write stories since we had to have news updates on an ongoing basis. It was through his mentorship that I recognized how much I like to research and find interesting ways to spin a tale.

I also must give a shoutout to Mother Nature and all her plant allies for inspiring me and my work. I wrap my love for plant medicine into everything I do. Gaia has blessed us all with a vast array of medicine, food, and tickets to explore new paradigms. All I have created was a result of Her.

ersonalSarahRusso

Website: https://herbsfortheapocalypse.com/

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Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkgsr4LhE522rezty6PcVOA

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Image Credits
Alissa Russo, Rokaya Taqi, Katy Able