As a little girl, Tashanya Traile, enjoyed simple childhood pleasures in the small community of Gibraltar on the outskirts of Moneague in St Ann.

She rode her bicycle through rows of bananas plants, read the newspaper aloud to patrons at her grandmother’s grocery store, played with the children in the community, but especially enjoyed satisfying her curiosity about local herbs with her grandfather who was just as eager to share his own passion for curative plants.

Years later, she found what she thought was her own passion in the corporate world as a marketing and communications specialist, and worked with some of the biggest names in the manufacturing and finance industry, and the public sector.

Today, however, she has come full circle embracing the world of alternative medicine to which she had been introduced by her late grandfather. This time her partner and biggest supporter is her mother, Novelette Anderson.

“My grandfather was a herbalist in his own right. From an early age he introduced me to and nourished my love for plants. We grew accustomed to his making his concoctions to keep us well. In 2015, after he died, I realized the wealth of knowledge that went with him. In an effort to honour his memory, and to work on my own health, I started pursuing studies in botanical medicine,” she explained.

“I started questioning the older folks in my community about herbs and they were more than willing to share. I started to dig deeper and explored Ayurveda (ancient Indian plant-based medicine), then traditional Chinese medicine. I got certified in Neuro Linguistic programming, as well as becoming a certified life coach,” she said.

Traile said having been diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) was even more motivation to explore the field.

She would however serve as the director of operations for a local ecommerce business a full three years before fully accepting what she now sees as her calling.

In 2021, after seven years of study and research, Traile and her mother gained the courage to launch ‘Indie Organics’, a herbal apothecary/dispensary for herbal teas, supplements, and health and wellness programmes.

“Since our launch we have received amazing feedback, as well as support. I believe the timing was perfect because people were, and still are, looking for a way to take charge of their health especially since the pandemic.

“We’ve restocked twice since launching and that told us that not only were people loving what we had to offer, but that we were solving a problem.”

Currently pursuing certification in laboratory analysis and diagnostic procedures, Traile has plans to better serve her clients by pursuing a doctorate in naturopathic medicine in Canada next year fall.

“Our health and wellness programme, specifically our detox programme, is backed by science (data drive everything we do) and unlike many who tout false claims of rapid weight loss, is designed to support the body’s natural process of detoxification. One of the key sellers of our programme is the emotional component and the support our clients receive. The emotional component is KEY to our programme because a lot of what makes people sick is really emotional,” Traile said.

She is fully backed by her family, friends and clients whose trust she has earned, and especially her mother who is actively involved in operations.

“I am most grateful for my tribe, the people who keep me grounded especially my mom and partner. She prays over every order and does things on the backend that is simply magical.”

She added: “My family, my mother and I are the first to test all of our products. Nothing gets launched without their feedback especially my mother’s whose own health has been restored because of what we do. Every product in our apothecary has been analysed by a third party company. ALL our herbs are certified organic and we are very intimate with the chain of production knowing the components of each herbal blend, where they came from and even as far as the year and date our teas were harvested. So everyone is supportive and shares with others about what we do.”

SUCCESS STORY

From one success story of healing to the next, Traile said a changed life is motivation enough for the mother/daughter duo to continue doing what has been placed on their hearts as their calling.

“We had a client who had hormonal issues, that is, she had scanty periods and when her period would show, it was extremely painful. She also suffered greatly from constipation. After 21 days of working with us, she called in tears saying her period came and she didn’t know because in all her years this was the only pain-free one. There are many other stories of women and men who lost weight, reduced inflammation and got to the root cause of their issues by working one on one with us. My mom and I sometimes read the comments and cry.”

The duo look forward to having their own farm to grow their teas locally and employ more people, while Traile’s ambitions also include opening a wellness centre in the next 10 years.

“By then I would’ve completed my doctoral studies and so we can really get to work. I want people to feel empowered taking care of themselves. I want to hire Jamaicans and for us to continue honouring tradition and learn more from the elders and pass on this knowledge because our oral tradition sadly is dying.”