Career

Angela spent 14 years as senior account service rep for a company that did marketing including direct mail, database management, list rental services, fulfillment and telemarketing. She also has experience working for a market research company and an international manufacturing firm. 

Health

Angela was born with scoliosis. She had her first knee surgery, ACL repair, at 17. In her mid twenties she was in a car accident which caused herniated discs in her back and neck. Over the years the scoliosis caused additional pain with herniated discs. In 1998 she was diagnosed with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. Additional diagnoses of  Sjogren’s and hypothyroidism would come later. In the early 2000s after living with years of pain, she was prescribed opiate painkillers. While they helped her function, they didn’t really help your pain. “They numb your mind and get you high so you don’t care about the pain.” She says she was lucky she never became addicted. In 2010 after 10.5 years with a company, without notice, she was laid off. Due to the price of Cobra insurance she couldn’t afford being unemployed, she was left with health issues and no insurance. While she had dabbled in natural medicine since a teen, it wasn’t until having no insurance that she started to explore it again. In 2013 a veteran friend introduced her to kratom. She had been in a horrific car accident and had many surgeries and lots of pain. A friend introduced her to it and it helped her so much she told Angela about it. That changed her life. 

Advocacy

In 2014 she became involved in kratom advocacy and helped launch the American Kratom Association with the original founders as one of the original five board members. She was involved with them until 2022. Over the years she increased her knowledge on other botanicals and how helpful they could be for various issues both physical and mental. She and other botanical advocates noticed there was a very large absence of grassroot advocacy for botanicals and supplements. In 2024 she helped start Botanical Advocacy and Education. They wanted to advocate and educate for botanicals and supplements as a choice over standard healthcare. Education is key in fighting the stigma of holistic choices when it comes to our health.