Woman Wonder #4: Meet Alyssa Melody
Woman Wonder — meet the women that inspire us. I am every woman is not a cliche, it is the way we are connected. We are all the same but different. We all think similar thoughts, feel similar feelings, experience similar experiences. I want to connect the dots between women. Let’s really get to know each other and recognize the greatness within each one of us.
Alyssa and I share a common goal: to empower women through ancient traditional mediums of herbs and potions that truly heal at the root. She does just that through her brilliant creations on Root + Bones, uncovering the Root causes of disease and accelerating the paradigm shift towards holistic healthcare. She also happens to be a burger girl, anyone else a burger girl here? I sure am! Enjoy getting to know this Wonder of a Woman.
Please, introduce yourself.
Talk to us about you. What is special about you?
First I would like to thank you for inviting me to be featured on your blog!
I am an acupuncturist/Traditional Chinese herbalist with a business baby called Root + Bones where I sell potent, therapeutic tonic herbs and medicinal mushrooms. I grew up in Emeryville, CA and currently live in Arcata, a small Northern CA town surrounded by old growth redwoods and ocean.
These past few years for me have been quite the ride of rapid changes. I became pregnant with my first kid just 6 weeks after my boyfriend and I started dating. Then came covid, and then I found myself pregnant again at 4 months postpartum. I realized going back to work as an acupuncturist was not going to be sustainable so I put everything I had mentally into growing Root+Bones into what it is today.
What does connection mean to you?
Connection to me means being connected to source. It means being in tune with my intuition, innate wisdom and being able to move through life without questioning my why, or doubting progression forward.
What has been your proudest moment in your career or personal life to date?
I don’t know if I can pick one moment, so I will go with my current state of being: A mom to two young boys, 2 +3, and owning this business. I never thought I would be a mom, so to be able to experience motherhood and be so in love with these small people I created has been absolutely incredible. I also never imagined my business being in the place that it is in. I started it as a supplemental side project to my acupuncture practice, but it had blossomed into full time work that includes my boyfriend being massively involved and being able to structure our lives to be able to spend quality time with our kids.
How do you balance your work and personal life?
Well, I think with anyone who owns their business, there will always be a little spillover of work into personal life, but I try hard to make sure it is never more than a little. I have certain hours I am in my office, and when I go home, I make sure the focus is kids and family time. I have been better this last year at delegating tasks and have hired an assistant so that I truly can be more hands off when I am not in my office.
What female role models do you look up to and why?
Oh gosh, there are so many it is really hard to just pick a few. These last few years I have been awe struck by so many strong women standing up for their sovereignty, their families and not caving to external pressure.
What key learnings would you like to pass on to the next generation of women?
Be unapologetically you. Have strong boundaries. Structure your life to nourish yourself and those that you love.
How do you champion women in your personal and professional life?
Most of my “enjoyable” products; skin care, supplements, ingestables are made by women with small businesses. The majority of who I interact with on instagram is women who are creating incredible businesses or products and I love supporting them.
What is something that used to challenge you but doesn’t anymore? What challenges you now?
I used to find the entirety of running an online business complicated and it felt sticky and slow to learn new tools or techniques. As I continued though, it really did feel like anything was possible, and you just have to start somewhere. I have become more organized over the years and have an easier time taking on new challenges, sometimes even enjoying the process!
My biggest challenge now is resting and relaxing. With limited time during the day for myself my priorities have shifted to working out, eating well and getting good rest, though I would love to incorporate more deep relaxation into my life.
Quick fire: (short answers are encouraged!)
What is your favorite city (anywhere)?
To be quite honest, I don’t really enjoy cities as much as I used to..It’s not that I don’t like traveling, but I prefer smaller towns and going into nature. Since my kids are still young, we haven’t done very much travel with them, so we have really just been enjoying our local area.
When you’re in your favorite city:
Walking, finding great coffee and burgers.
Your go-to restaurant:
Cafe Phoenix
Your favorite tea/coffee/smoothie shop:
Familia
Your favorite neighborhood to wander:
Trinidad
Favorite hole in the wall:
No Brand Burger Stand
Where do you go when it rains:
It rains a lot here, we just put on rain gear and continue on.
Tourist’s attraction:
Fern Canyon
Take away…
Advice your auntie/mother/grandmother gave you:
I don’t necessarily have any quotes, but my grandmother on my mom’s side was a very independent lady, was a San Francisco icon, and really showed me the art of being yourself and pursuing your interests.
