Interview with Britt, co-owner of Healing Harvest, a retailer of top quality, independently tested Cannabidiol products. The shop, located off of highway 169 in St. Peter, Minnesota, aims to help people reach their wellness goals and flourish from the ground up!
"My wife, Jennifer, and I opened Healing Harvest in October of 2022, wanting to offer innovative products to the St. Peter community. Our goal became focusing on how we could set up a business to feel accessible, warm, and welcoming. We wanted people to feel comfortable asking questions and be open to trying new things. We also needed to take something we felt passionate about and build the business around it. From that place, I knew it was possible to create a business that would help support and enrich our employees and the community as a whole. We wanted to hire employees that are paid well for doing something they love and feel comfortable enough to thrive.
Jennifer is the handywoman of the business and took care of remodeling the storefront. She used to own a cleaning business prior to this and when I brought up this giant life and career change idea she didn’t even bat. She hopped on this big adventure with me, giving me so much trust and support. Before opening Healing Harvest I was working a government job, managing three public libraries, before that I was a teacher and before that, I was a florist. Those jobs became the perfect trifecta of learning opportunities to help me feel confident within this new business.
The library taught me how to find answers to any topic I didn’t already know. Now I help customers find the right products for their lifestyle during their reference survey meeting. During this process, I work in collaboration with the customer to figure out exactly what their needs are and what I have access to in order to determine what their best options are. Our knowledge and willingness to research topics we don’t already have an answer to are what differentiates us from a lot of other shops. Working within a local government organization has helped me to become good at navigating those spaces and to have a good understanding of the community and its regulations.
Teaching has taught me the importance of education and re-education. It’s important that we continue to look at the science behind cannabis. As more studies are done the data continues to prove that these products make a difference for not only humans but for all mammals. We have been treating our dog, Sister Irene, after she was diagnosed with lazy lymphoma. After three months of giving her our whole-plant bacon-flavored pet tincture one of her lymph nodes was no longer detectable and others have shrunk to less than half of their original size. There is a need to focus on the education that goes along with this business. We have many cultural stigmas to break free from and even more misinformation that needs to be corrected.
The reason we chose to be a part of this industry is simple, we believe cannabis has infinite health and wellness benefits and want to share both products and knowledge with the community. As we grow and policy changes are made, we will continue to think of our community and how we can offer experiences, like yoga, mindfulness, and art classes in combination with our products. We look forward to serving all walks of life and hiring a diverse group of people that represent a whole community."
To help support Healing Harvest and the community you can add your name if you agree that Minnesotans deserve the freedom to make responsible decisions about cannabis use themselves:
