As an herbalist, Deb Soule believes in the power of plants. The born-and-raised Mainer fell in love with medicinal plants and gardening over 40 years ago. In 1985 she started Avena Botanicals to help people heal using plants. Over the years the company has evolved from a mail-order business to include a small herb shop on a biodynamic farm in Rockport, but Soule’s desire to help people has remained the same. “Having grown up in rural Maine, I wanted to make high-quality medicinal herbs avail- able to women and their families living in rural areas,” she says. Helping others understand and embrace alternatives to traditional Western medicine is important to Soule, and she teaches classes at Avena about different ways of using plants. She says it’s important to proactively care for one’s health. “We need to shift from a reactionary health care model where we only think of healing when we are sick, toward a more life-affirming model of health that includes the well-being of our whole planet,” Soule says. As a place known for its natural resources, Maine is the perfect place to do her work, Soule says. “I am grateful to do this here in Maine, where my roots grow strong.”