Today we’d like to introduce you to Leslie Whalen.
Hi Leslie, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’ve felt a connection to the natural world since I was a little girl. I spent many hours with the dandelions and pine trees, and was fortunate to have a childhood filled with time outdoors. I also grew up hearing stories of my great grandmother harvesting sassafras roots, foraging for wild foods, and relying on home remedies. Those stories planted seeds that would continue growing throughout my life.
In my early 20s, I began exploring holistic health through yoga, herbalism, nourishing food, and making most of my own body care products. The more I learned, the better I felt, physically, emotionally, and mentally, and the more I realized that so much of what I was searching for could be recognized by tuning into the rhythms of nature along with the rhythms or our own bodies.
That curiosity, and the awe that came along with these realizations, led me to years of formal study in holistic health, herbalism, nutrition, yoga, breathwork and countless hours learning from experienced elders and teachers. Along the way, friends and family began asking for guidance which led to classes and consultations.
I never set out thinking I would start a business like this. It just grew organically from working with people and feeling the awe and power of these practices. First, I began teaching yoga and mindfulness to children and families, and from that created my Plants & Potions kids classes to introduce the children to the food and medicine growing right in their yards. Watching these children discover that what they’d known as “weeds” were actually food and medicine was inspiring, and soon their parents wanted to learn as well!
That led to teaching adult herbalism classes through the forest school tutorial I co-founded here in Nashville, and eventually there was enough demand for classes, consultations, and educational programs that I stepped away to focus entirely on what is now the School of Earth and Awe.
Today I teach herbalism, foraging, holistic health, yoga, and breathwork through online courses, in-person classes, consultations, children’s programming, and Rites of Passage experiences.
Whether someone comes to me looking for herbal support, stress relief, or simply wanting to learn the names of the plants in their yard, my hope is always the same: that they leave feeling more connected- to themselves, to the natural world, and to their own capacity for healing and well-being.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Like with any small business, there have certainly been challenges. One of the biggest for me has been learning how to communicate something that doesn’t fit neatly into one category. I’m not just offering herbal consultations, or yoga classes, or plant walks. I’m both offering all of those things, and also offering something else entirely. Rather than selling a single product or service, I’m offering opportunities for people to connect with themselves, each other, and the natural world.
That can be difficult to market in a fast-paced culture that focuses on products rather than relationships. But I will remain true to my mission, even if it means growing more slowly than I would if I followed the trends of promising quick fixes and easy answers. I’m grateful for the chance to remain authentic.
As you know, we’re big fans of School of Earth and Awe. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
School of Earth and Awe teaches health sovereignty through relationship, not transaction.
I offer classes, workshops, courses, consultations, and guided ceremonies, but those are simply containers for something deeper. My goal isn’t to teach someone which plant will help with a stomach ache or which plant is edible, it’s to teach them how to be in relationship with the world around and within them.
We live in a time where information is quickly accessible. But information is not the same as wisdom. It is through recognition, observation, and connecting with awe that we can come into a deeper wisdom within our bodies and within our place in nature.
That is what I’m most proud of. School of Earth and Awe isn’t just about herbalism, or foraging, or holistic health. It’s about helping people rediscover their place within the natural world, and trust their own capacity for participating in their own well-being with curiosity, confidence, and wonder.
What matters most to you? Why?
What matters most to me is that people recognize they are a part of nature, and not separate from it. Modern life would have us believe that nature is somewhere out there, but our ancestors knew something different. We are made of minerals, we share air with the trees, and sunlight influences our sleep and our hormones. We are woven into the same living system as everything around us. When we begin to remember that truth, we can experience a greater sense of belonging, connection, and responsibility toward the world we share.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.schoolofearthandawe.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/schoolofearthandawe
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/schoolofearthandawe
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCApqL320PViSyLH7cveSMg
- Other: https://www.patreon.com/schoolofearthandawe
