We recently had the chance to connect with 0so Verde and have shared our conversation below.
Hi 0so, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: What are you being called to do now, that you may have been afraid of before?
What I’m being called to do now is step fully into my role as a medicine man and teacher. For a long time, I carried fear around being seen. I used to fear that people wouldn’t understand m spiritual journey and the relationship I have with plants, but I realize now that my work is not about being understood by everyone, it’s about being my authentic self. Playing it small doesn’t serve anyone. I’ve been given ancestral wisdom and after my initiations, I can no longer keep quiet. Before, I was comfortable working one-on-one, helping individuals heal their bodies with herbs, or guiding them through ceremony. Now I’m being called to speak on bigger platforms, to share that this is not superstition. The work I have been given is a marriage of science and spirituality. I am a voice for my ancestors in a modern world. So what I used to be afraid of (visibility, vulnerability, and carrying my medicine publicly), I now see as my responsibility. It’s my way of honoring the Most High God, my ancestors, the plants, and the people who are waiting to find this path.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is 0so Verde. I am an indigenous medicine man, master herbalist, ethnobotanist, and shaman. My ancestry is rooted in the Southern Tuscarora, Siculi, Gaelic, and the Limba Tribe of Sierra Leone. I carry the wisdom, resilience, and teachings of all my ancestors in the work I do today.
Through my apothecary, Bear Naked Herbals, I share natural remedies, medicinal teas, and botanical medicine offerings designed to cleanse, restore, and strengthen the body. My work is much deeper than physical healing, it’s about helping people remember their sacred connection to the Spirit, the Earth, themselves, and each other.
I see myself as a bridge between worlds: science and spirituality, tradition and innovation, the seen and unseen. My mission is to guide others back to their divine design and to help them clear away what doesn’t belong so that they can step into the fullness of who they are.
As a PhD student in quantum naturopathy, I understand that true healing cannot happen in the physical body alone. Every illness has emotional, mental, and spiritual dimensions, and if we ignore these, the imbalance will inevitably return; often in another form. My approach is holistic. I work with the body, mind, heart, and spirit together, using plant medicine, astrology, ancestral teachings, and energy-based practices to help people address the root causes of their struggles, not just the symptoms. Healing becomes a full-circle process, aligning every aspect of the self so wellness can be sustained.
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. What part of you has served its purpose and must now be released?
The part of me that must now be released is the warrior version of myself who thought he had to suffer and sacrifice to prove myself worthy of love, healing, or spiritual power. The old me wore pain like armor and hid in the shadows and called it protection. That version of me was raised by grief, sharpened by betrayal, and shaped by survival. In order to fully step into the light, I had to explore the darkness of my soul and do some serious shadow work by taking an introspective look at my life and the choices I had made that led me to where I was at that point in time. That part of me carried me through fire and transformation, shaping the medicine I am today. Its purpose is complete. Now I rise as who I have always been, only bolder, more authentic, and unafraid. I’m being called now to soften. To surrender the burden of always having to be the one who holds, heals, and endures. Spirit is inviting me into deeper trust and into community, into reciprocity, into divine flow. The old vanguard in me still wants to fight, still wants to control the outcome, but my higher self knows that true strength lives in vulnerability, in being seen, in allowing love to pour in as much as I pour it out. In this why, I can honor the warrior within, but my capacity to love and give love has increased exponentially because of what I was able to release that was holding me back from opening my heart fully. I’m releasing the story that healing must be hard and that medicine must come through pain. That part of me served its purpose. Now, I’m being reborn through self-love and grace.
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Suffering taught me the language of the soul. It showed me how to sit in the darkness without trying to escape, how to listen to pain without needing to fix it, and how to hold space for others only after I had first learned to hold space for myself. Success might teach you how to shine, but suffering teaches you how to see — to see what’s real, what matters, and what can’t be taken from you.
It was through suffering that I learned to pray fervently, to trust in what I couldn’t see, and to hear the whispers of Spirit when no one else was speaking. Healing isn’t about avoiding pain; it’s about making meaning from it. Success polishes you, but suffering forges you. Everything I carry in my medicine bag, every herb, teaching, song, and lesson from past relationships, was first revealed in a season of sorrow.
Suffering brought me closer to the Creator in a way I never imagined. I resisted the process of ego death, clinging to my past and the identity built around my trauma. For so long, my pain had defined me; I had lost sight of who I was beneath the titles, the labels, and the survival story.
Through surrender, I discovered a deeper, unshakable self, one that exists beyond accomplishments, recognition, and old patterns of suffering. Pain became my teacher, revealing my sacred connection to Spirit, to my ancestors, and to the medicine within me. True freedom and power come not from holding on, but from letting go and trusting the Creator’s flow.
Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
One of the biggest lies the wellness and herbal medicine industry tells itself is that healing can be reduced to quick fixes, formulas, or trends. Many people believe that taking the “right” herb, following a trendy regimen, or attending the latest workshop is enough to solve their struggles. But true healing isn’t a product or a performance… it’s a process of becoming. Healing demands presence, reflection, and willingness to confront the parts of ourselves we’ve ignored or hidden. It’s about addressing the root causes, not just the symptoms. Too often, the industry encourages people to chase results while skipping the internal work that makes those results sustainable. I see my role as a guide to help people navigate that deeper journey, to meet themselves where they are, and to awaken the wisdom that has always lived within them.
Another lie is that the spiritual and scientific are separate, as if one exists in a vacuum without the other. Many practitioners lean entirely on one side. They either insist it’s all chemistry and physiology, or that it’s all ritual and energy. But the truth is that the body, mind, and spirit are inseparable, and both the seen and unseen influence our health. Plants, ceremonies, and ancestral teachings have measurable, transformative effects on the body and mind, just as quantum science and energy-based medicines reveal the subtle forces operating within us. When these dimensions are bridged, healing becomes holistic and profound. My work is rooted in this integration. I honor the science that explains the body while listening deeply to the wisdom of the Earth and Spirit that cannot be fully measured.
Finally, there’s a tendency in the industry to glorify struggle or suffering as a badge of honor. While challenge often catalyzes growth, the idea that pain is the only path to transformation is misleading. Too many people are taught to push through cycles of trauma or scarcity, believing that endurance alone will make them strong. True healing is not about punishing the self or glorifying struggle. True healing is about empowerment, restoration, and reclamation. It’s about learning to move with grace, to open the heart, and to create practices that support wholeness rather than perpetuate old wounds. In my work, I teach that medicine is meant to illuminate, guide, and empower, so that people can step fully into their truth, rather than keep them tethered to suffering.
I build my practice around these truths: that healing is holistic, that science and spirit are inseparable, and that true empowerment comes from reclaiming the wisdom and medicine that already lives within each of us. My goal is to awaken their capacity for sustained transformation by helping them reconnect to Source, not just surface level healing and temporary fixes. I feel that is a form of spiritual bypassing.
Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
I hope they say that I was someone who helped people remember… not just who they were, but who they came from, and who they ultimately belong to. That through my medicine, my words, and my presence, I helped people reconnect to their own soul, to the Earth beneath their feet, to each other, and most importantly, to the Most High God, the Creator of all things.
I want them to say I walked in devotion. That I honored the old ways without hoarding them. That I lived with integrity, humility, and reverence for Spirit. That I was a bridge between worlds; between plant and person, pain and purpose, Heaven and Earth.
I hope they say I wasn’t just a healer, but a servant. That I didn’t point people to myself, but back to Source, to prayer, to truth. That I left behind a path overgrown with herbs, soaked in prayer, and lit with Spirit for others to follow home.
I hope they remember my relationships as reflections of growth and learning; that I loved with a fully, with all my heart, to the best of my abilities at the time. Each connection, even those that ended, revealed a different version of myself and taught me invaluable lessons about empathy, accountability, honesty, vulnerability, and compassion. I hope those I’ve loved can see the depth of the love I offered and forgive the ways I fell short while I was still learning and growing.
I hope they speak of the courage it took to walk my path with open eyes and an open heart, to weave together science and spirit, and to bring ancestral wisdom into the modern world. I want them to remember that I carried the voice of my bloodline forward, letting every lesson, every triumph, and every heartbreak become medicine; a guiding light to heal, teach, and inspire.
Above all, I hope the story they tell is of a life lived with purpose, integrity, and authenticity; someone who inspired others to step fully into their power, honor their own journey, and walk the path of their own medicine with courage, love, and an open heart.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/0soverde/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/0soVerde
