Not a good fit for me!
I took Linda's 8 month Herbal medicine and wild food certificate program. The early fee is $1850. Linda has a no refund policy. I find it very unethical to keep money for classes not attended by women she has either kicked out or drove out with her behavior. On the first weekend of class I found her to be very aggressive toward myself and at least 2 other ladies in the group. I was a bit surprised by this because she says she teaches non violent communication. An example of this behavior is when some of us ladies were casually chatting during a slow moment of class in the kitchen I said "flower water can help clear heavy energy" and she bursts out "WE DONT USE THE WORDS CLEAR OR CLEANSE!" I thought this was just a trigger for her and said ok but was really taken back by her yelling, in your face aggression. I witnessed her being very harsh to a particular woman three different times. Ex. The lady walked in class and said "hi guys" Linda freaked out on her saying "WE ARE NOT GUYS!" Another time she blew up at a lady for being 3 minutes late to help in the kitchen because she went to the bathroom. She was told she should have asked first. This lady was told to leave by Linda because she wanted to bring her issue up to the group. Then on this second weekend of class we witnessed another woman break down in tears because Linda chastised her. Linda thought the woman was going to run over the time limit for the opening. The lady still had plenty of time. This behavior made most of the group cry then Linda says she feels like people are upset with her for "holding the container" and then Linda asks for some compassionate support. This was jaw dropping shocking! On the third weekend Linda tells the group that this lady emailed her and said she won't be returning to the class. On Saturday another woman shows up a couple minutes late, Linda asks to speak with her and she tells that lady she is kicked out of class too. Sunday comes we are supposed to make a spiral garden. This project is supposed to be 2 hours and turns into 3 hours in the hot sun. I asked Linda about the plant she brought. "How tall do they get? She replied "oh kinda tall", I ask how much nutrition do they offer she replied "oh not a lot they are herbs" I'm thinking that herbs have a lot of nutrition, this is supposed to be a wild food and medicine class with a focus on nutrition! Later I said I didn't understand why we were planting cultivated herbs in this wild foods class she tells me that is why I am not a good fit, that it was a lesson in teamwork. I am 49 years old. If I haven't developed teamwork skills by now, chances are slim that this project is going to help me. I sat down in the shade and another lady took off her boots I say they are nice boots and Linda stands over me yelling down at me "CAN WE STICK TO THE TOPIC ?"I say yes ok. She agains yells "CAN WE JUST STICK TO THE TOPIC?" I again say yes, ok, no problem. At that time there wasn't really a topic, we were working she was not talking. About 45minutes later we are sent inside to start lunch. I start gathering ingredients for a recipe. I pick up the black pepper and Linda is standing less than 3' away from me literally yelling "BLACK PEPPER IS BAD FOR PEOPLE WITH DIGESTIVE ISSUES, I HATE BLACK PEPPER! I was shocked! (People don't aggressively yell at me in my life.) I said ok and put it back as I start food prep she again yells "BLACK PEPPER IS BAD FOR PEOPLE WITH DIGESTIVE ISSUES ." I looked it up and found black pepper to be helpful to people with digestive issues. It helps with nutritive absorption and more. I had witnessed several moments of incorrect herbal information. Also she brings political perspectives and man bashing comments into class. I understand woman were suppressed in a patriarchal society but I don't believe we should be discussing current political points of view in herb class.
On Thursday I got a phone call from Linda saying I was not a good fit for the class, I told her I did have issues with the class but paid a lot of money for the class and it would be dishonoring to my hard earned money to quit, she tells me I shouldn't stay in a relationship for financial reasons. I'm thinking this is a class not a friendship. I have to admit that I was relieved to not have to go back. In the beginning when she interviewed me for the class I asked if she had people leave her previous class, she said 3 people were not a good fit and left. Now she has lost 4 ladies in 3 weekends. That is a lot of money she is keeping for not teaching. This is a bad form of business practice. Having said all of that, One positive thing about Linda Conroy is that she is the founder of the Midwest woman's herbal conference, it's a wonderful conference with many diverse workshops and presenters. I have tried to leave a review on her Facebook and website but it appears it was deleted which brought me to yelp and this specific review. read more