Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Emily Giles. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Emily, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea
The Lord planted the idea of having a brick and mortar building in my heart about 4 years ago. It would be a coffee & herb shop where we would promote community through the coffee, herbs, and the cafe side all while serving as a ‘hub’ to minister to the community through recovery classes, bible studies, work life classes , etc. In my mind, this was a long term goal but it began to take more and more of my thoughts until I was out checking on buildings and beginning the process. I had little to no extra money to start this new adventure but the Lord had placed a lot of people around me with a similar vision and the resources and talents to get it up and going. So we set off into the great unknown… the Lord provided the deposit, our first 6 months rent, and a lot of talented people along the way to get it off the ground. I had been serving actively in the Somerville community with outreach ministry and teaching a Work Life Class in the jail and in the community. Little did I know that God would use the very same people that I poured myself into helping, they would be my biggest help in starting up my little shop and running it day to day.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
My name is Emily Giles. I have 20+ years experience in physical therapy and 15 years experience practicing with medicinal herbs. My youngest daughter was the catalyst for me getting into herbs at all. She was born with chronic bronchitis and asthma, we used traditional medicine for the first two years of her life but she was still constantly sick. We lived the antibiotic/steroid cycle until we finally branched out and tried some herbs to strengthen her lungs and boost her immune system. This is where we finally found relief; within 3 days her mucous went from green to clear and within one week she was completely well! At this point, I dove head first into studying herbs, checking out every book I could get from our local library and then eventually studying under the Southern Herbalist Darryl Patton for 3 years. I now have a local coffee and herb shop where we make all of our herbal products, an online store, and we do local farmers markets and festivals. I also teach classes on herbs and how to make your own herbal products. I continually help others with their health and wellness and hope to instill confidence in others for taking responsibility for their own health and that of their family. In addition to this, I love people, especially the down and out. Motivated by this, I’m able to use my business as a platform to help others. We don’t turn people away, we feed the hungry and care for the sick regardless of their ability to pay. I also teach a Work Life Class where we help people that are struggling to find or hold onto meaningful employment because of records or generational poverty. I teach bible studies and recovery classes in my shop and continue to stay active in my community showing others the love of Christ. Our little shop is nothing short of a miracle, full of diversity and love, it is a place of peace to so many people,
How’d you meet your business partner?
Well…. I entered into this adventure as a single mom of two girls. I’ve mentioned that I have done a lot of ministry in my community. One of the places that I minister is Westview Cove, known as the projects and it is there that I met my husband. His best friend had just been murdered and he was desperately searching for peace which brought him into my little shop. He would spend all day, every day at the shop with us. He was definitely part of our shop family from day one. Through Covid, God really began to do a work in my little heart and we fell in love. The shop opened its doors in Sept. 2019 and we were married in November 2020. We’ve now been married 2 years and I literally could not run that shop with out him.
Another cool story…. well…. I’ve mentioned that I taught a Work Life Class in jail. One of the ladies that I taught was coming up for parole and didn’t have any where to go. She wasn’t from here and didn’t have any friends or family support. After much prayer, I offered for her to come and live with me. It turned out that she was a missing link from our family and she fit right in. I never planned for her to work at my shop and assisted her with getting other jobs. At one point, she was in between jobs so I offered for her to help me some. Again, she was a missing link at A New Life Herbs Coffee and Tea Cafe. She definitely found her gifting working with people and she is thriving. She has been with me at the shop for over a year now and is basically our shop manager :).
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
My products work! This is probably the main thing that has helped build my reputation. At first, I decided to make some of my herbal products and sell that at a local farmers market. From this point, it was a lot of word of mouth. A lot of people have been helped with my products and they go and tell others their story. Through the years, a lot of people have been helped and that has helped to establish my reputation. In addition to this, I run my business with honesty and integrity. I live my life with honesty and integrity.
Contact Info:
- Website: anewlifeherbs.com
- Instagram: A New Life Herbs
- Facebook: A New Life Herbs
Image Credits
Mandy Strickland