A Business is Born
The love of herbs and medicinal was innate in me and I recall that as a little girl I would spend hours gathering golden rod, poke weed and anything that had a berry or flower. I remember fashioning them into mud based pies and coaxing my brothers to eat them. (My brothers lived to lead healthy lives!). Of course, I had no idea what the herbs were used for (or did I?) and in fact, called them wild weeds.
I’d always loved the notion of a small business inspired by my grandmother’s small grocery store which she ran from a store front attached to her home. When I was still in grade school she would let me wait on customers and ‘work’ the huge cash register.
I was in Heaven!
To tell you the truth, I did not want to be a nurse, I wanted to be a teacher but I was not permitted to attend college plus we did not have the money. My parents said, Nursing or Nothing so off I went to Nursing School. I called home every week for 3 months crying for my father to come and get me. One weekend he gave in and said, OK, I am on my way. For some reason I changed my mind and called him to cancel. He said Cheryl Ann, do not call me again and ask to come home because I will not come! And, I never did call again demanding rescue from the torture of studying my buns off!. I would never had been a nurse if it were not for my parents and I am so grateful they ‘made me do it!’ It was a excellent choice for my career because there are so many options and as it turned out- I am a teacher after all!
My choice of essential oils and herbs as a complementary modality is based on my love of plants, nature and the earth. This of course, stimulated by my father and his mother, my grandmother Endlish, whom we all believe had native Indian blood flowing through her veins. My dad taught me how to garden and identify wild medicinals including mushrooms and wild tea berry. I was in awe of my grandmother’s ability to grow magnificent flowers and create herbal remedies and crafts.
There were two other women whom I never talked to but whom I watched with fascination whenever I saw them. Older women, apparently familiar with herbal remedies like my grandmother Endlish, although I did not know them personally and was somewhat afraid of them, I loved to watch them harvest wild plants and medicinals and I really wanted to do what they were doing. Every time I harvest my wild medicinals such as goldenrod and red clover, I think of these women too and send them a thank you.
My business was born when a wonderful woman encouraged me to ‘take a leap of faith’ by starting a company. “Name it” she said and it will grow from there. I was still riding a delicious high from my very first selling experience— a hospital craft fair in which I sold a ton of rice packs and was so shocked that people actually bought something I had made! So, I took her advice and I named it C-alternatives Aromatherapy and my business began.