A new Black-owned and women-led wellness brand, Rise & Ritual, has officially opened in West Philadelphia.
The small business dedicates its services to enhancing daily rituals with custom-crafted tea blends and hosts local events monthly aimed at fostering community, connection, and holistic well-being.
Founder Taylor Nickens recently celebrated the shop’s grand opening, located at 1439 N. 52nd Street, with a community-focused event held earlier this month. Attendees were able to experience the custom-crafted tea blends in a vibrant social atmosphere that Nickens aims to grow into something more.
The vision for Rise & Ritual began from Nickens’ personal life experiences, growing up always watching her grandmother work with plants.
“It was definitely a sense of programming going on as I just watched her work with the medicines to create different remedies,” said Nickens. “Whether that be a tea, an oil, or different things of that nature.”
Nickens later went to school for pre-med education, and after 12 years of studying, she says she was able to see the “moral side of medicine.”
“It was through that learning that I knew access to health care is a basic human right,” she added. “While it may not be affordable to all, we can return to our roots by using plants as medicine and using what we have readily available that Mother Earth provides us with every single day.”
After encountering what Nickens describes as a “health transition,” she decided to return to her roots through tea.
Those teas, Nickens says, first focused on anxiety relief, which evolved into many more blends shared with friends and family members.
Nickens adds that this journey hints at the name chosen for her business, ‘Rise & Ritual.’
“In order to make sure my day happens as it needs to, my morning ritual is important,” Nickens explains.
She credits a mentor who introduced her to a process called the ‘10-10-10 Rule,’ which focuses on meditation, journaling, and reading for 10 minutes each. Through that habitual lifestyle, Nickens says she always kept a cup of tea beside her.
Nickens would later enter her business vision into a sponsored pitch competition where she placed third out of 20 entrepreneurs, winning a $5,000 award.
That reward, part of the B-Smart Program by Vestedin, helped Nickens jump-start her business financially, bringing Rise & Ritual to the forefront in West Philly.
“I went through nine months of business entrepreneurship training,” Nickens stated. “Those entire nine months really began to shape me into the entrepreneur and businesswoman I always wanted to be and step into.”
Without the B-Smart Program grant, Nickens believes she would not be where she is today.
“That grant paid for 90% of everything I brought to get this store up and running. I’m beyond grateful,” she added.
After gaining a financial boost and having the opportunity to learn and network, Nickens is ready to leave her imprint on the community.
She aims to provide not just a space, but a platform, to allow others to “find their own tools of medicine.”
“Our slogan is to ‘return to your roots.’ However, no matter what culture you come from, we all come from a history, ancestrally, of using plants as medicines,” Nickens explained. “It’s really to get people to an understanding of being in full autonomy of their health.”
