We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Debra Mercier a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Debra, appreciate you joining us today. If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.

I had started my business with the thought of being a local herbalist, working in my gardens, helping people when they came to see my gardens. Teaching people how to use herbs. Never did I think I would be working with doctors and other medical professionals in this world of Lyme disease. It started back in 2004 when my father came down with Lyme disease, then my daughter and grandson. They were on the treatment of antibiotics, but as soon as they stopped, the symptoms came back. I started researching and reading and finally came up with my own protocol, an eclectic combination of herbs that bring down inflammation, support the immune system, opening detox pathways, as well as eliminating the spirochetes. The one thing I learned is that one size does not fit all. I started with my family members, friends and saw a vast improvement with the herbs and sometimes putting the herbs with the antibiotics so that by the time they were done with the antibiotics the herbs took over. So each blend was custom made for each individual, sometimes as trial and error, but eventually the correct herb or blend for that person. Now, I work with people all over the country as well as some parts of the world.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

It started with gardening. I found gardening to be a huge stress relief for me and my corporate job. Sometimes I didn’t even make it into the house to change from my business clothes. One day while weeding, I sat on the ground and looked at this plant that I thought was a weed and wondered what it was. I brought out plant identification books and once I found the plant started reading about it and all the wonderful things it did medicinally. It wasn’t long until I signed up for an apprenticeship program in 1998, and it just went from there. All these doors opened up for me and I wasn’t sure which to go through so I went through them all. I have an apothecary, where we grow a lot of the herbs and sell, We make lotions, creams, extracts, syrups, I have a clinic where I see people several days a week. 99% of my practice is now Lyme disease, where I do phone consults and zoom meetings with clients who cannot make it into my office. I have a school where I teach herbalism, Level 1 and clinical. and I talk and lecture on Lyme disease a couple times a year, in person or over zoom. I am now writing a book on Lyme disease.

I am happy when working with someone and can release them from my care once we achieve their goals. It’s very satisfying and food for the soul.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn that not everyone is the same or responds to treatment the same. I just can’t throw herbs at a person because of their symptoms. There is a reason a person is unwell. There is an underlying cause and you have to get to that underlying cause to see a person get well. So it’s not about throwing white willow bark at a person for a headache or joint pain. Why is this person suffering from all these headaches. Most illnesses have that underlying cause. Yes, I will give you something to relieve symptoms but we need to also work on that cause.

If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?

For my entire life I felt like I was acting. When were people going to catch on to me? I was unhappy, I wasn’t being me. But someone that people expected me to be. When I stepped on this path I felt my spirit soar. I would pick this career again. I just wish I had picked it sooner, though I can’t regret my education or the things I learned in my previous jobs. I have used them to bring this business up and running without loans or credit debt.

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