by Eric Brand

The end of this April marks the end of a wonderful era for me at Blue Poppy, so for one of my final blogs I would like to offer a sincere thank you to Blue Poppy and our outstanding readers.  I am afflicted with a constant desire to keep studying Chinese medicine, and over the past few years I have been finding it increasingly difficult to resist the desire to spend more time in Asia to take my studies to the next level.  It has been a great honor to work with the team at Blue Poppy and I plan to stay closely connected to the Western world of Chinese medicine, but for now I have decided to spend more time focusing on my study of Chinese herbal pharmacy and quality discernment.  I may periodically chime in with some comments or a guest blog at times, but for now, it is with a proverbial tear in my eye that I wish our readers a fond farewell.

I often feel incredibly fortunate to work in the field of Chinese medicine because our community is full of wonderful, positive, and passionate people.  My time spent working at Blue Poppy has left me with an even greater appreciation of our field than ever before, partially because I’ve had the chance to meet more friendly practitioners around the country and partially because being part of the Blue Poppy team gave me the chance to experience the wonderful inside of the industry.  My direct colleagues at Blue Poppy form an incredible team, and I will forever treasure my relationships with many of the great people from the wider world of Blue Poppy’s distributors and suppliers.

Over the past few years, I’ve enjoyed countless laughs and smiles with Blue Poppy’s practitioners- the radiant Honora, Shawn and Malia- and I will cherish friendships with the wider Blue Poppy team for years to come.  Each Blue Poppy employee has a specialty: Rick, our guru of graphics, moonlights as Superdad and lifts the whole office with his smile. Steve, the artisanal master crafter of the external line, runs the warehouse with military precision and lurks out of the spotlight as the unsung hero that keeps Blue Poppy running smoothly.  Jesse rides his mountain bike across the county through rain and snow to get the boxes safely out the door, and the customer service team tirelessly handles a deluge of calls with grace on a daily basis.  Margie and Bruce, our accountant and GM, round out the team in true Colorado-style.  Margie’s warm smile and fresh photos of fishing expeditions brightened every morning, and I’ll never stop cherishing my memories of traveling the hills of Guilin with Bruce and his wife during our site visits to China.

Beyond the human relationships, there was something intangibly great about riding my bike to a wind-powered office that prioritized the planet and the people over the normal priorities of the business world.  Chinese medicine is a field unlike any other, and I’m truly proud to have been a part of the Blue Poppy team for the past several years.  To all the people at Blue Poppy and to all our customers and blog readers, I bow my head in a sincere thank you and wish everyone the best on the next stage of the journey.  It has truly been an honor and a pleasure to write here.