About Camille Freeman

Despite seeing hundreds (thousands?) of students come through our university training, I was shocked by how few were actively practicing when I searched for referrals as I prepared for a maternity leave in 2010. It became clear that most had knowledge but lacked the business skills and support to keep a practice afloat. The missing piece wasn’t clinical skills - it was practical business support. I began adding mentorship and continuing education to my work at Bloom & Grow with the goal of seeing more clinicians actively practicing. 

Bloom & Grow now exists to be a source of practical support and encouragement for busy practitioners. Together, we break down the challenges of running a practice and working with complex clients into manageable steps, so you can spend more time doing the work you’re passionate about.

Learning to become a practitioner

I began my herbal studies in 2001, when I became an apprentice to Monica Rude in Sliver City, NM. During the apprenticeship, I loved growing and learning about herbs, and making salves, tinctures, fire cider, and more, but I realized that my true interest was in clinical work. Conveniently, the first master's degree program in herbal medicine in the US was just starting up at the Maryland University of Integrative Health. I moved there, became part of the very first class to start the program in 2002, and began seeing clients as a student in 2003. 

Since I knew I wanted to work with menstrual health and fertility, I dropped off physical copies of my CV (it was a different era!) with local OB/Gyn offices after graduating. One of the OB offices took me on as a contractor, and thus began my formal career as a practitioner.

Later, I went on to practice out of a home office, in a large fertility clinic, and in a group practice with other integrative healers. I got a second master's degree in physiology from Georgetown, became licensed as a nutritionist, and got hired as a faculty member at the Maryland University of Integrative Health, where I taught for almost 17 years and was eventually promoted to the rank of full professor. I also earned a doctorate in clinical nutrition while in my 40s, working as a professor, and seeing clients on the side. 

In 2024, I left my job at the University to focus full-time on Bloom & Grow, where I've been happily bopping away, teaching continuing education programs and supporting other clinicians. Now, I teach an annual deep dive (a monthly continuing education lecture), run the Monday Mentoring community of practice, and provide 1:1 support for clinicians.

I also wrote a book, Write Better Newsletters, which is based on my experience running both my practice and the programs at Bloom and Grow using my newsletter as the cornerstone of my marketing. (I left social media in 2018 in the run-up to the mid-term elections here in the US and never quite made it back!)

8 things I've learned after 20 years of doing this work

1. Being in business for yourself as a clinician requires more personal growth than seems entirely reasonable.
2. Most clinicians recommend protocols that are too complex and overwhelm the client.
3. You know what's best for your practice. Not the gurus, not the expensive online courses, not the fanciest mentors. These folks can provide guidance, but you're in charge. People who imply that they have all the answers usually do not.
4. The people who succeed in this work are usually the ones who keep showing up and keep trying things. They do not have more training than you or an innate talent for self-promotion. 
5. Small steps and showing up regularly are more important than dramatic overhauls. Keep it simple and trust that things will add up over time.
6. Marketing just means being present + visible and building relationships. It doesn't have to be gross.
7. Critical thinking is more important than hording facts until you need them.
8. Everything is easier if you find a community of other practitioners to work alongside so that you can help one another.

What I'm doing now

After teaching at the university for so long, I realized that people had plenty of knowledge but still weren't succeeding as practitioners. I decided to change that. Now, here are some of the services I offer at Bloom & Grow:  

For business skills, I have been most influenced by the following teachers (some of whom I have studied with directly, and some of whom I have learned from less formally via workshops, books, and so forth): Mark Silver, Illana Burk, Trudi LeBron, Christine Kane, Tara McMullin, George Kao, Jenny Blake, Jenny Shih, Bear Hebert, and Rachael Cook. 

ON a personal note

I grew up between KY and SC, went to undergrad at Rice in Houston, TX, and then worked in outdoor education through the W Alton Jones Environmental Education Center in RI and at Camp Orkila in Orcas Island, WA. I now live in Staunton, VA with my partner, our dog, and  our two homeschooled kiddos. I enjoy reading (you can find some of my book recs here), gardening in a very loose sense of the word, and doing puzzles. 

let's Stay in touch!

You may have noticed above that I'm not on social media. If you'd like to learn more about what's happening at Bloom & Grow, the best way to do that is to sign up for my Thursday Practitioner Notes. I'll send along a short note, 3 recommendations (recipes, books, tools, articles), and links to any upcoming classes or programs.