We had the good fortune of connecting with Mariah & Anthony Alexander and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mariah & Anthony, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?

My husband Anthony & I are passionate permaculture farmers, but incredibly nomadic, which makes for a difficult combination. However, we’ve managed to cultivate a lifestyle where we can truly do it all!

Anthony & I met and fell in love in Santa Cruz, CA, bought a van instead of rings for our engagement, and launched off to explore the country for to embark upon a wedding roadtrip. After a few years on the road, and living in Key West for a year, we were hesitant to dive back into the work force. We love being with each other, and we didn’t want to sacrifice the little time on Earth spending it elsewhere. We found our rescue pup in the Everglades while living in Florida, and the four of us have become inseparable. We were lucky to establish a beautiful forest farm for my parents in Northern Michigan, and converted our van to run our apothecary from the road where we could forage & support our small-farmer friends. We were able to do what we love most with who we love most, spending each and every day with one another, our daughter, and our beautiful adventure pup. We now are based in both Northern California, Northern Michigan, and everywhere in-between, where we grow and forage everything that goes into our skincare & consumable potions.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?

We grow & forage all of our own botanicals & herbs, processing everything from the raw plant ourselves. All of our butters, oils, clays, and oils are transparent sources to small farmers or wild harvesters, not allowing any additives or shelf stabilizers to linger within. When we aren’t stewarding, foraging, and growing on land in Northern Michigan or Northern California, we travel in our van and explore the country. When traveling, we forage and process all herbs & botanicals and run Wild Wanderers entirely from our Spaceship van.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?

Currently we’re in Northern Michigan, so we will answer this question for this area!

First and foremost, we would be attending the Boyne City & Charlevoix Farmers Market to support our local growers and makers. Northern Michigan has an incredible freshwater coastline, so a great portion of our time would be spent exploring the Great Lakes & swimming, paddle boarding, and kayaking. A tucked away beach & a picnic makes for a memorable Northern Michigan evening. We would drive to the west coast of Northern Michigan to hike the Sleepy Bear Dunes, the largest freshwater dune system in the world, and visit the small fish town of Leland to eat at the Village Cheese Shanty. After a day of visiting the surrounding small towns of Charlevoix, Petoskey, and Boyne City to support our small businesses, we’d stop at the Petoskey Back Lot. Food truck lots are our favorite places to visit all over the country, and in Northern Michigan’s Happy Taco is the best! They’re dog (Milo goes EVERYWHERE with us!) and family friendly, while providing an incredible culinary local and seasonal experience. After visiting all of the beautiful places that surround us in Northern Michigan, we would enjoy our beautiful homestead. Harvest the gardens, forage the forest, hike the trails, and enjoy a beautiful farm to table meal with our loved ones.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?

Anthony: For me, as far as books go, I think Gaias Garden by Toby Hemenway and Mycelium Running by Paul Staments were some of the big inspirational influences that nudged me towards permaculture, and the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams encouraged me to travel. As far as people that have made me the gardener that I am, that would be my Great Aunt Annie. She was a passionate gardener who grew the best Jersey tomatoes on the planet. She taught me that it’s hard work to grow a salad, but it’s all worth it in the end!

Mariah: Since I was single digits I have been passionate about food quality, almost to a fault. My parents were incredibly supportive and informative as I was evolving to learn about the world around me, shedding as many impurities as I had in my power. As I began to learn about the corruption of our food system, I began to take my food supply into my own hands. My passion for growing and preserving food led to a passion of homesteading, providing as much as I possibly can for my family & friends from the land we steward. I have an insatiable drive to learn, grow, and evolve as much as humanly possible (too many books of inspiration to reference!), hoping to do everything on my own, and supporting others who do the same. After making and processing my own skincare from the botanicals I grew, and only supporting small farmers and wild harvesters, It became apparent that the cosmetic industry is corrupt.

Homeless Garden Project in Santa Cruz, CA was the first to open my eyes about the power of skincare superhero calendula, and the importance of transparency in your herb and botanical supply chain. Homesteading and travel don’t typically go hand-in-hand, but my husband’s endless support & drive was my biggest inspiration to allow this life we yearned for to come to fruition. We were able to travel and live bi-coastal, while homesteading on and stewarding the land we live on. Our daughter Harmony, our son on-the-way Indigo, and our adventure pup Milo, are endless inspiration to continue this life we lead, a beautiful life of living, loving, and learning together. To be able to spend time with one another and live a sustainable, ethical, and organic lifestyle is the greatest gift of all.

Website: www.thewildwanderers.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wild.wanderers.apothecary/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wildwanderersapothecary

Other: adventurousalexanders@gmail.com

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutMiami is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.