Stay Wild: A community hub built around natural health
By Laura Newton
When Leah Langlois opened Stay Wild Natural Health in Pemberton, BC, seven years ago, the move aimed to address a lack of availability of natural health items in the area—but she also wanted it to be more than just a place to shop for quality natural health products. She wanted it to be a welcoming and comfortable community space for people to browse, learn, read, enjoy a nutritious meal, share ideas, and meet new people. Since then, along with her dedicated team, Leah has grown Stay Wild into just that: a community hub built around natural health.
“Stay Wild is a collection of all the things I love! Organic, natural foods—local, when possible—high quality supplements, body care, essential oils, and of course lots of books!” explains Leah. “We have an eatery with a selection of hot drinks and smoothies, with easy grab-and-go food items in the fridge, and daily baked creations.”
A sense of place
A vibrant farming community, the small, but rapidly growing village of Pemberton is located 30 minutes north of the world-renowned ski resort town of Whistler and is itself a famous mountain biking and outdoor recreation destination. The result is an active, outdoor- and health-minded community that values locally sourced products and mutual support.
“Pemberton as a whole is a very active, healthy community,” says Leah. “We have such a broad spectrum [of customers]: people who are new to natural health and those that have been immersed in it their whole lives.” Despite the community’s small size, Leah explains that there are many naturopaths, Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners, nutritionists, and other natural health professionals available in Pemberton. “We also have an abundance of people with knowledge of local medicinal plants, people interested in creating salves, tinctures, and more. It is amazing how we learn from our customers on a daily basis.”
Stay Wild is located in the heart of Pemberton—both literally and figuratively. The downtown location provides a sense of connection to the happenings of the small community, while the café-style seating on the sidewalk and in-store provides a welcoming space to read a book, meet up with a friend, and enjoy some of the freshly prepared food created daily in the Stay Wild kitchen. “The eatery area is my favourite,” notes Leah. “Local Anastasia Chomlack donated the amazing fig tree that really completes the comfy couch [and] bar seating area. There are books to browse, people to meet, kids running around. I love it.”
The store’s well-stocked shelves offer customers groceries, fresh organic and local produce, frozen prepared items, natural beauty and body care, and of course—a wide range of supplements. Most anything that a customer may want that is not stocked can be ordered in; listening to customer needs and wants is a guiding principle of the store’s mindfully curated inventory. “One of the biggest requests is local products, we do our best to carry them whenever possible.”
In many ways, Stay Wild provides a physical space to leverage local knowledge within the community for the betterment of all. “We have so many regulars that we get the opportunity to chat with daily, it’s what makes living in a small town so great. We do our absolute best to be as knowledgeable as possible on items.” Leah further notes that where knowledge gaps exist, staff can easily leverage the impressive network of trained professionals within the community to connect customers to the best choices.
Staffing
More than the welcoming décor and layout of the store, Leah believes that the warm and inviting atmosphere at Stay Wild is due mainly to the happy and friendly staff that work there. “I’m so lucky to have the most wonderful staff both past and present,” she comments. “Laura Joce is the store manager, she is so loved by our customers, taking the extra time to help everyone. Junko Kawashima is the assistant manager—having completed her diploma in Applied Nutrition through Alive Academy, she is a wonderful asset to the store.”
Leah says that, over the years, she has found that one of the most important aspects of being able to put together a strong staff is being able to locate candidates that are eager to learn. “Luckily for us, Pemberton seems to draw people with similar interests,” says Leah. “A large number of our staff have been in Pemberton for 10-plus years and have no intention of leaving.”
Living wages in action
Leah feels fortunate to have been able to retain quality staff with minimal turnover over the years and says her recent membership in Living Wage for Families BC provides further support for this. The program works with communities across BC to calculate their local living wage—the hourly amount that each of two working parents with two young children must earn to meet their basic expenses, including rent, childcare, food, and transportation, after government taxes, credits, deductions, and subsidies. “This gives my staff a minimum hourly wage of $25.68,” explains Leah. “I also give them 30 percent [off] groceries and a staff meal with each shift. I know how expensive it is to live in this area, but I also I know how worth it—mentally and physically—it is to live in this area!”
“I’m proud to be the first Pemberton business to join this initiative, and I hope that many others join as well,” says Leah. “So far, I can only see benefits for raising the starting wage. Staff morale is up, turnover is down, and I don’t need to work every day. Win-win! Paying your staff that extra bit is so worth it.”
Looking to the future
Moving forward—and as Pemberton continues to grow—Leah says she’d like to hold onto the “small-town vibe” by placing more focus on creating events that provide an opportunity to draw the community even closer together. “I would love to have more talks, community gatherings, book clubs, all the things that allow us to connect,” she says. “We have lost some connection over the last few years, and I see so many people really striving to achieve that again.”