About Me

My name is Amy and I live in Northeastern Massachusetts with my family which includes our Australian shepherd and French bulldog.

Cultivate Cleaner has been an evolution. My initial goal was to provide information, as I started selling Beautycounter products, about dangerous chemicals in personal care and household items and simple steps on how to reduce exposure. As these items are not really regulated in the United States, it is our responsibility to learn more and how chemicals impact our health. Over time, this site has fed my interests in healthy living and public health, jewelry making, design, cooking, gardening, and various causes. As a cancer survivor, this website and Beautycounter's mission are deeply personal to me. 

Today, Cultivate Cleaner has evolved into a hobby-business of jewelry-making, where I source vintage, upcycled, and other materials. Upcycling fits in with lessoning chemical exposure. Making things solves my need to be creative. I also make magnets, ornaments, and coasters. 

I am a management consultant working in the government, non-profit, and health and human services space. I graduated from Mount Holyoke College and have a Master's Degree in Public Administration from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. I have a certificate in Nutrition and Healthy Living from Cornell University.

I completed the online Anti-Cancer Lifestyle program developed by the nonprofit Anticancer Lifestyle Foundation, and the Payson Center for Cancer Care, at Concord Hospital in Concord, New Hampshire. The program is based on Anticancer: A New Way of Life, by Dr. David Servan-Schreiber and includes a module on environmental risk factors including chemicals. I also completed a month-long master class entitled "Talking Toxins" with Lara Adler. 

It all comes together in a nice, not so neat way. But it is my story.