Rebecca Guanzon and Justin Adkins have been operating Wild Soul River for four years. They recently expanded hours and offerings to better serve their customers.

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Wild Soul River recently changed its hours and added more to its menu.

Owners Rebecca Guanzon and Justin Adkins opened the herbal and metaphysical shop in 2021. The shop offers a lot of herbs, herbal teas, and one-on one-sessions for tarot reading and reiki.

"At our core, we're a small herbal business, and that's kind of the core of everything we do," Adkins said. "Rebecca is a trained herbalist, and she sees people one on one for herbal consultations. She also does reiki and tarot readings, and then we're also like a little cafe slash metaphysical shop, and all of it comes together, though, really around hers and around herbal healing."

Since opening the shop at 248 Cole Ave, the two noticed that they would be able to get more customers and help if they were to open earlier and add more items for patrons.

"We realized that that's where we were, and we are right across the street from elementary school, and this street is actually really busy in those morning hours, and so we've always been really focused on our neighborhood and our community, and so seeing that our neighborhood and community are up and on the street before 10 a.m., we're like, we should be up before 10  a.m.," Adkins said.

The two say they have worked hard to make their shop a community hub and hope that by expanding hours and merchandise, customers will feel more welcome and that they can sit and enjoy a cup of tea before starting their day.

"I think with this expansion, we're really thinking about how we can be of better service to our community. We're a gathering place in many, many ways, and for people to have the opportunity to come in and have a cup of tea or coffee and a little nibble, before going to their work day, or, after somebody drops the kids off at school, having a little bit of time to themselves in a place where they know that they're going to be in this welcoming and supportive environment, and with the possibility of meeting other really cool people, like people connect here, and I love that about the shop," Guanzon said.

The two realized the Berkshire community didn't have a herbal shop like theirs close by and they hoped to fill that need.

"Our region does not actually have another herbal business where you can come in and buy, like an ounce of a different plant," Adkins said. "We have a lot of herbalists, but we don't have any like retail herbal businesses. The closest one that we know about is in Florence, out by Northampton."

The store now offers green and black tea, a dirty chai, baked goods, and simple coffee that they get made just for them.

"Our coffee is roasted by our friends in Pennsylvania called French Creek coffee and tea. And Rebecca grew up with them, and they have created. Blend that is just for us. And so they roast our coffee and ship our coffee," Adkins said.

Guanzon used to do trauma-informed work then turned to higher education. She began to learn about herbs and natural remedies, which inspired her to open the shop.

"From there, I moved into higher ed. I was doing bystander intervention training, and so during those times, I had been reading tarot since I was in my 20s, I had been working with different informal herbal medicines, and then I formalized my education while I was working in higher ed for the herbalism," she said.

Adkins has had a love for plants and herbs since a young age.

"I always was doing things that were really land based when I worked at Williams College, I helped start a program called root, which is about sustainability and identity in place. And we did, like different plant walks and stuff like that. When I was a teenager, at the summer camp I worked at, I would lead, I had no clue what I was doing, but I would lead kids on a walk of looking at different edible plants. So for both of us, it's just something that's been really a core to who we are," he said.

In the spirit of community, the two also set up community garden boxes by their building to provide herbs to others for free.

"We're an Herbalists Without Borders site, so those herbs are not sold in the shop. They're only free to the community, and people can come and harvest them. If they're not all harvested, we harvest and dry them and then give them away," Adkins said. "So this idea is that herbalism is the medicine of the people, and coming together as a community."

The shop is now open Tuesday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

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