Downtown Chehalis has become an entrepreneurial hot spot for women-owned, wellness-minded businesses, including Lauren Urich Yoga, Shona’s Food Company, Nature Nurture Farmacy, Good Fork and Juice and The Healing Sister.
A collaboration headed by Urich has opened new doors and brought the idea of holistic wellness, self care and creating community to the forefront of Chehalis small businesses.
Last month, Urich hosted a giveaway featuring 14 local Chehalis enterprises. The giveaway was born from Urich’s need to focus on something good.
“I had gotten sick and then my back went out,” Urich said. “I needed something good to focus on and decided to do a giveaway.”
In uniting the businesses, Urich highlighted one aspect that has been most important to her: self care. Although the giveaway has ended, the businesses continue to grow as they fill the gaps in holistic wellness that the community needs.
“I didn’t envision my practice in Lewis County because I didn’t know how it would be received.” said Jessica Grandorff, owner of The Healing Sister. “But that made me want it even more. There’s so much healing to be done here.”
Grandorff is a massage therapist located on Pacific Avenue in Chehalis. She offers massage therapy and bodywork as well as cupping, gua sha and wellness classes. Of the Chehalis wellness community, she said, “First of all, most of them, if not all of them, are women-owned, and I love seeing women succeed. It lights a fire in me to keep going when I see other women with kids and families mastering their professions.”
Shona Smith, of Shona’s Food Company, shared the same sentiment.
“There are a lot of women owned businesses down here and they are all so cool,” she said.
Along with their successes, the owners still face challenges that create difficulties for the small business scene.
Lack of funding, navigating the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, being able to reach and connect with people on all possible platforms and even opening their doors during the pandemic have made growing and meeting their goals difficult at times.
Despite those challenges, the owners have continued to strive toward fostering communities for people of all ages, backgrounds and experiences.
“There are holes in our community that people are falling through,” Urich said. “Bringing businesses together to create community and hold space for people fills those gaps.”
Lauren Olean, Nature Nurture Farmacy’s herbalist, gave an example of how the staff at Nature Nurture fill those gaps.
“From children to the elderly and everyone in between, so many people that come in are interested in our seed library,” Olean said.
The Farmacy’s free seed library is available to everyone. Local farmers contribute seeds for the community.
“Moving downtown has allowed for people to stumble in, and it’s so rewarding to see people be interested in the local products,” Nature Nurture Farmacy Outreach Manager Farley Walker said. “We’re really excited to fill that gap that was missing.”
The business made the move from a space behind the Vernetta Smith Chehalis Timberland Regional Library to North Market Boulevard last summer. The move allowed for them to offer more services and be easily accessible to the community.
“Community is so necessary and important when living in a rural area,” Olean added.
For all the benefits that come from small town living, building community through wellness practices can be difficult in a rural area. Despite this, downtown Chehalis still offers multiple resources for those who are seeking holistic health care, from hypnotherapy offered by Jana Dean, a life coach located at 34 NE Boistfort St., to fresh-pressed juice by Aimee Amacher, owner of Good Fork and Juice.
Urich gave examples for different modes of healing that can be found in the Chehalis wellness community.
“We just want to be here to love the community and support them in the way that we know how,” she said. “For me that’s yoga or sound healing. For someone else, that might be a cup of coffee, a sandwich, just a hug or a smile, and that’s all it takes.”
For downtown Chehalis, wellness isn’t defined by just taking a difficult yoga class. Different modalities of healing becoming accessible is another one of the goals the owners hope to reach.
Shona’s Food Company and Good Fork and Juice contribute to the wellness scene by offering farm fresh local produce in their menu.
“My ultimate goal as a dietician is to work with people,” Amacher said. “Piece by piece, we’re providing products that are fresh and local and avoiding additives as much as possible.”
The Chehalis Farmers Market takes place just outside Amacher’s doors where she sources ingredients for some of her products. The market, along with the other downtown Chehalis wellness businesses, aren’t just providing a space to heal physically.
“People are fed in so many ways, not just nutritionally. People’s souls are being fed and people’s lives are changing,” Walker said.
The care that Nature Nurture Farmacy offers is low cost, enabling access for healing that all people can reach.
The downtown wellness scene isn’t done growing, and as Grandorff sees it, “It’s never a competition. If someone new started a business here, whether it be acupuncture or breathwork healers, they would have endless support.”
In the future, Grandorff will be offering more services. She’ll be taking classes to enhance her abilities as a “spiritual healer” by diving deeper into hypnotherapy and refreshing her knowledge on energy work.
“I’m excited about what this means for the future of my business and the personal growth it will bring,” she said.
Nature Nurture Farmacy is having their yearly fundraising event on Aug. 10. Enchanted Herbal Evening tickets are still on sale. Smith will be collaborating to provide the meal for the event.
Good Fork and Juice is open and offering fresh pressed juice Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Despite being a new addition to the downtown Chehalis scene, Amacher has amassed a steady following of juice lovers and wellness-minded friends who continue to support her on her journey.
Urich’s giveaway last month boosted other businesses that contributed to her theme of self care. Shakespeare and Company, Willow Sage Wellness, Aduro Images, The Ally Hair Bar, Heart Center Massage Therapy, Beautiful Skin, Bigfoot Treasure, Enchanted Wellness Fit and Spruce Shoppe also donated goods and services to the giveaway. Many of the businesses have storefronts on North Market Boulevard.
Urich also has some plans in the near future for the community. Look for her at ChehalisFest where she’ll be doing outreach and providing activities. Her studio is at 438 N. Market Blvd., and her website is laurenurichyoga.com.
“Not to sound cheesy,” Urich said, “but if someone is seeking help they need to keep looking. Because we’re here and we care.”
