Meet Denise of Los Angeles / OC

Today we’d like to introduce you to Denise.

Hi Denise, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My journey with herbalism began, in many ways, when I moved to the United States ten years ago. I arrived without speaking English and found myself navigating a completely new culture, landscape, and sense of belonging.
What began as curiosity gradually became a deeper study of herbalism, traditional plant knowledge, and folklore. From that was born Sekhmet Botanicals, which grew from a personal practice into a way of sharing this philosophy through small-batch botanical body care, teas, and herbal preparations.
As my relationship with herbalism deepened, I realized I wanted to share more than finished products. I wanted to explore the stories, traditions, and knowledge behind the plants themselves. This led me to create Hortus Sanitatis, my Patreon, where I offer classes, plant monographs, folklore, and explorations of traditional herbal knowledge.
The newest chapter of my journey is clinical herbalism. I am currently pursuing a formal education that is deepening my understanding of materia medica, herbal therapeutics, safety, and the relationship between plants and the human body. Today, I am still learning, growing, and finding new ways to share this knowledge with others.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Moving to a new country without speaking the language meant that I had to rebuild many parts of my life from the ground up. Building a small, independent business came with its own uncertainties. Learning how to turn a passion for plants into something sustainable while balancing creativity, education, production, and the realities of running a business has required a lot of patience and persistence. There have been moments of doubt, financial uncertainty, and periods when I questioned whether there was really a place for the kind of slow, intentional, plant-centered work I wanted to do.
I’ve also had to learn that building something meaningful takes time. There is constant pressure to grow quickly, but my work has always been rooted in slowness: learning one plant at a time, making things by hand, researching traditions, and developing genuine relationships with the people who follow my work.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My work is the intersection of herbalism, traditional plant knowledge, self-sufficiency, folklore, and everyday ritual. Through Sekhmet Botanicals and Hortus Sanitatis, I combine hands-on herbal practice with education, storytelling, and a deep curiosity about plants and their cultural history.
I want plant knowledge to feel accessible, alive, and relevant, to inspire curiosity, self-sufficiency, and a more intimate relationship with the natural world.
What I’m most proud of is that I’m still learning: remaining curious, honoring what has been passed down, questioning what needs to be questioned, and continuing to grow alongside the plants themselves.

What matters most to you? Why?
What matters most to me is a connection to plants, to tradition, and to ourselves.
We have become increasingly disconnected from the natural world and from the knowledge that once helped us understand how to live within it.
Plants teach us to slow down, to observe, to recognize patterns, and to understand that health and wellbeing are not separate from the ecosystems and communities we belong to.
I care deeply about preserving and sharing traditional plant knowledge, including the stories, folklore, and cultural practices that surround medicinal plants.
I also value self-sufficiency as empowerment. Learning how to grow, identify, prepare, and work with plants can change the way we relate to our own wellbeing. It reminds us that we have agency, while also teaching us humility: plants are not simply resources for us to consume, but living beings with which we enter into relationship.
Ultimately, what matters most to me is helping people remember that they are part of nature, not separate from it.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: www.instagram.com/sekhmetbotanicals www.instagram.com/hortus.sanitatis
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sekhmetbotanicals
• Other: https://www.patreon.com/HortusSanitatis