Above: Justin Adkins, co-proprietor of Wild Soul River, which opened on Cole Street this month; photo by Mei Craig.
Herbalists, Rebecca Guanzon and Justin Adkins, bring the powers and energies of spirituality, herbal medicines, crystals, tinctures, and tarot cards to their new retail shop, Wild Soul River, in Williamstown, Massachusetts.
Wild Soul River is an apothecary shop with a distinctly witchy vibe that specializes in herbal medicine and energy healing. The shop offers herbalism workshops, tarot readings, crystal books for people to read, as well as coffee and herbal teas to drink from. There isn’t another business-like Wild Soul River in Williamstown, which makes the shop stand out and adds more diversity and charisma to the shopping scene downtown.
Wild Soul River opened for business in May 2021 on 248 Cole Avenue. Before shop owners, Rebecca Guanzon and Justin Adkins, started their business in Williamstown, they met at Alleghany College in Meadville, Pennsylvania. With a shared love of plants and energy healing, the pair decided to open an apothecary store and relocate to Williamstown, where Justin used to live and work.
“I worked at Williams from 2007 to 2016 and then I moved away to Pennsylvania where I worked at Alleghany College and met my partner Rebecca, and we were trying to figure out what the next phase of our life was going to be and I loved this building and neighborhood and we have a friend base here, so we decided to go for it” says Justin.
The other owner of the store, Rebecca is a trained herbalist with over 20 years of experience and is a practitioner of multiple energetic healing modalities. She has used her herbal skills to help survivors of trauma and incorporate trauma informed care practices.
A herbalist is someone who uses plants for healing….