We were lucky to catch up with Rebecca Beyer recently and have shared our conversation below.

Rebecca, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

Yes I have! I’ve been self employed since 2016 and make a full time living from my businesses as a teacher of Earthskills (things like herbalism, basket making, Appalachian folk medicine), tattooing as well as authoring books about witchcraft and Appalachian folkways. It was definitely not that way at first. I worked for a small company teaching foraging classes while I built up my website and blog. I wrote about plantlore and witchcraft, spoke at conferences and wrote lots of articles for magazines and journals to build my online presence for a few years before I could let go of my other job and do my own thing full time! I wish I had managed my business and finances better when I first began and saved some money for the lean times in my work, but I am a wild creature and have had a lot of fun along the way even if sometimes it is somewhat chaotic!

I think if I had allowed myself to dream a little bigger I could have gotten my classes online sooner and that would have really been fantastic. I think the more passive sources of income we have the better!

Rebecca, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m Rebecca Beyer (she/her). I am a 35 year old tattooer, folk herbalist, craftswoman, forager, traditional witch and author. I mainly make my living working our of my tattoo studio, called Pars Fortuna, where I work with my beloved mentor and one of my best friends, Baylen Levore. I apprenticed with her starting in 2019 for a year and a half and have been tattooing alongside her as a junior artist ever since. I also run my business Blood and Spicebush School of Old Craft which I have had since 2016. I teach wild foraging, and a program called Hedgecraft which is centered around making herbal medicine, learning to ID plants and Appalachian folk medicine and magic as it is aligned with the changing seasons. I also teach basket making and spoon carving. My passion is reconnecting people to their ancestral folkways, honoring the history of Appalachia and the complex and painful past it embodies and addressing cultural appropriation through understanding and devoting myself to ethnobotany.

In my herbal business I also do land consultations and host private classes, though these days the tattooing is taking up more of my time as it is more lucrative. I also write books and have three out now with a fourth on the way. I have published with Three Hands Press, Simon and Schuster and Quarto Group, and I often write articles for magazines and journals, and present on these works at herbal and folk magic related conferences. I like to think I have so many hobbies I can’t devote myself to just one. I am a very high energy person and like to occupy my mind with lots of information and interests so I really love having multiple jobs and income sources.

I grew up all over the place but largely in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and often on farms. I did go to high school in Nothern New Jersey which was the first time I resoundingly knew that city life was not for me. I longed for old timey things and was obsessed with antique and traditional ways. I found witchcraft at 12 and luckily had open minded enough parents to let me pursue the study of what would come to shape my entire life. Through studying witchcraft I fell in love with plants and the idea of homesteading and self sufficiency. These things led me to Bard College where I became more politically aware and met my best friend, Saro Lynch Thomason. She is a TN native and Appalachian Ballad singer and fellow Appalachian folk enthusiast. I studied plant science and medieval history in college, eventually getting a degree from University of Vermont in Plant and Soil Science, and a Masters in Appalachian Studies from Appalachian State University. I’ll admit that I am a huge nerd and love academia and love being in and teaching at universities. I also worked in Living history interpreting farm yard folkways from 1890 when I was 19 which allowed me to experience true happiness for the first time in my life and pushed me to the life-way I now hold.

I moved to Appalachia in 2010 to follow my bestie to Asheville, North Carolina and I have been in the area ever since. I live on a 9 acre farm stead with 10 people and am building a home with my partner there. We are both avid hunters, foragers and earth skills practitioners who value local economies, anarchy and wildness. I find that I love how I get to make my own schedule, work a lot or a little depending on my needs, and I love teaching and sharing information that many people assume is dead and gone. I think folkways are important because they provide context and meaning to place, and encourage us humans to love our particular places we dwell in and protect them.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Yes, I had to create another income source a few years into creating my school because I could only really top out at 30k a year and I wanted to be able to save and build a home someday. I started tattooing for a few reasons, I love people and am an extrovert and I love art, but also being able to make more per hour for something I could create was a driving factor as well. I also took a huge risk, because tattooing is so difficult and you can be a great fine artist, but a terrible tattooer. I hoped and tried my hardest to make smart choices thanks to my mentor Baylen to help me not only tattoo well, but make good business choices alongside my art.

I raised my class prices and taught fewer classes alongside this transition and also now make passive income from my books which allows me so much more freedom in choosing how to focus on my different projects. At first I felt so sad to remove my sole focus from teaching but I love tattooing so much I now only feel deeply grateful and excited for what’s next!

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

My parents always discouraged me from non-traditional careers and well, I had to unlearn everything they taught me about what success looks and feels like. I am a deeply happy and grateful person with incredible friends and community and everyday I wake up deeply enchanted I get to do this life thing with all my loved ones. Unfortunately I do not have strong family bonds other than my beloved younger brothers who support me fully, but I have had to learn that success is a feeling that might not look like a 9-5 and a 501k, I feel successful as a woman who runs her own businesses and is a real author! I often look at where I was 10 years ago, an alcoholic, unhealthy, desperately sad person, and look at the woman I am today and just feel flabbergasted. I want anyone thinking of pursuing their dream to know you’ll have to take risks to do well, and they are often worth it even if you have failures along the way. Keep trying new things and just be your authentic self and ever stop trying to improve yourself and do your best to be a great communicator, have an open heart and deeply love others. The greatest thing I had to unlearn was that generosity will always make me more abundance, not take it away!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bloodandspicebush.com
• Instagram: @bloodandspicebush
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/bloodandspicebush

Image Credits
Nikki Scioscia https://www.nikkiscioscia.com/