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In a sunlit storefront in Springfield, jars of herbs line the walls, eco-friendly products fill carefully curated shelves and conversations about healing happen as naturally as breathing. For Keya Hicks, owner of Mindful Necessities Herbal Wellness, the shop is more than a business. It is the continuation of generations of healing traditions rooted in family, wellness and community care.
“My mission is really, and what inspired me, was that I come from a long line of ancestry of healers in my family,” Hicks said.
That legacy began in childhood. Hicks describes herself as a “pretty sickly” child who struggled with immunity and staying healthy. Her grandmother, an herbalist, became both caregiver and teacher, introducing her to natural remedies passed down through generations.
“She would literally teach me what she learned from her parents and then their parents,” Hicks said. “She really inspired me as I saw over the years and from my youthful years how her remedies really helped keep her family healthy.”
Those lessons stayed with Hicks into adulthood and motherhood. As a single mother raising four boys, she often returned to the healing traditions her grandmother taught her.
“There were times that they would get their little scrapes and cuts, and I always tried to find ways to reconnect with what my grandmother taught me and how she kept me well as a child,” she said. “So, I would use those same healing traditions that I was wonderfully exposed to as a child growing up for my boys, and it kept my family healthy.”
Before opening her storefront, Hicks spent years involved in activism and social and economic justice work, helping people navigate challenges and seek positive change in their lives. Over time, that advocacy naturally evolved into wellness work.
“I’ve always been an advocate for healing and wellness,” she said. “I’ve worked with people, I’ve listened to their stories and I’ve offered alternative solutions to help them find the power within them to make change in their lives.”
That philosophy is now central to Mindful Necessities Herbal Wellness, which officially opened April 6. Hicks describes her approach as deeply holistic, emphasizing the connection between mind, body and spirit.
“One of the things with herbalists, we take a very holistic approach in addressing everything that bothers or enters the body that keeps it unwell,” she said. “It has to be the mind, it has to be the body as well as the spirit. And balancing those three because without one working right, all of the others will fail.”
Rather than focusing solely on illness, Hicks hopes customers leave her shop feeling empowered to actively participate in their own wellness journeys.
“My practice, it really isn’t about waging war on death and illness because we know that’s just part of the cycle of life,” she said. “But instead of that, I feel like if I am nurturing wholeness and wellness and helping people actively be participatory in their own wellness journey, that’s really my mission.”
Education is also a major part of the experience at Mindful Necessities. Customers browsing the shop can learn about herbs like chamomile and milk thistle and discover how natural ingredients may support wellness in everyday life.
“Some of them don’t know about milk thistle or chamomile maybe, or they don’t know all there is to know about these herbs and how they help people,” Hicks said. “Education is a big piece of my mission and helping people to understand you can make small changes that lead to larger changes in life.”
That commitment extends beyond herbal remedies. Hicks carefully selects eco-friendly and ethically sourced products that align with her values around sustainability and environmental wellness.
“Whether it’s products that I make myself, I handmake, or products that I sell in my store, they all have to be in alignment with that mission of wellness,” she said. “I believe in looking out for the ecosystem and working with ethical companies.”
Since opening, Hicks says the response from the community has been encouraging and emotional. Some visitors arrive ready to shop, while others simply want a place to talk and share their stories.
“Sometimes they don’t want to buy anything right away,” she said. “They just want to talk. They just want to tell their stories.”
Others express gratitude that a wellness-focused herbal shop has opened in Springfield.
“They’re like, ‘Oh my goodness, I’ve been looking all over for a place, a store like this to open in an area like this,’” Hicks said.
For Hicks, those interactions reinforce the purpose behind her work. At her grand opening, she told visitors the space belongs to the community.
“This is the community store,” she said. “This is for everybody. All walks of life are welcome here.”
Ultimately, Hicks sees her role not simply as a business owner, but as someone dedicated to healing people and nurturing a healthier world.
“Because I’m a healer,” she said. “That’s what I do. I work to heal others and the world.”
MINDFUL NECESSITIES HERBAL WELLNESS IS OPEN TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY FROM 10 A.M. TO 4 P.M. AND ON SATURDAY FROM 10 A.M. TO 6 P.M. FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT WWW.MINDFULNECESSITIESSHOP.COM.