Community Business Spotlight: Shore & Sage

We're excited to introduce you to Olivia, founder of shore and sage wellness market for our community spotlight business feature for the week of 3/22.

Shore and Sage wellness market is San Diego’s first recurring community wellness market.

It’s also a third space. A place where people can gather outside of home and work, where they can connect, receive care, and spend time in community without pressure or barriers to entry.

At most markets, you come to shop.

At shore and sage, you come to experience.

You might get a massage, try acupressure, take a yoga class, connect with an herbalist, get your aura photo taken, or meet someone new, and yes, you can shop too. But the intention is that you feel welcome to stay.

What inspired it?

Three years ago, Olivia, founder of shore and sage, published her first guided journal (@journalinward) and started doing markets to connect with people. She hit the ground running and did 50 markets!

When Olivia moved back to San Diego, she went looking for something that felt deeper than just a shopping experience. She wanted a space where people could receive care and feel like they could linger, not just pass through.

She couldn’t find it.

And when she found something close, it usually came with a paywall, you needed a ticket just to be there or to access care and that never sat right with her.

At the same time, Olivia was feeling the weight of how divided and disconnected everything felt. The political climate, the violence of it all, and the isolation of how we live, it made her realize how much we’re missing spaces where people can simply come together and lean on one another.

That was the moment she knew this needed to exist.

So she built what she couldn’t find.

What makes it different?

Everything is curated with intention, both the small businesses she supports and the energy of the space.

Olivia prioritizes local artisans, handmade goods, and practitioners offering real, hands-on experiences. But beyond that, it’s about how the space feels when you walk in.

It’s not transactional. It’s relational and some might even say familial.

This isn’t a money grab. It’s something she's been very intentional about building in alignment with her values, even when it would be easier or more profitable to do otherwise.

People don’t just come to shop, they come to feel connected, to slow down, and to be in community.

Olivia's approach as a founder;

A lot of what makes shore and sage what it is happens behind the scenes, weeks of planning go into one six hour market.

She reads every application and takes the time to understand the people behind the businesses. She goes out into the community and builds relationships with vendors. She makes space for people to participate even when there are financial barriers through community-supported spots.

On market days, she's there doing everything from coordinating logistics to walking around handing out water, making sure vendors are supported, supporting with her own dollars, and even connecting with nearby businesses so they have things like bathroom access for everyone involved.

It’s very hands-on because Olivia cares deeply about the people and the experience they’re creating together.

She also recently launched Empower, a women’s accountability circle and mastermind.

It’s built around something she sees all the time, women who show up for everyone else, but keep putting their own goals on the back burner.

Empower is a space where that shifts.

It’s where women come together to focus, be supported, and actually move forward on the things they’ve been wanting to build out, whether that’s a business, a project, a task, or a dream.

This will be an inspiring session where women come to work and hold each other accountable to what they say they want.

What she's building towards;

Right now, shore and sage is a community hub.

What she's building toward is more of that, just bigger. Much bigger, she wants to shut down streets and partner with companies and brands who believe in what she's building.

Olivia wants more spaces where people can gather, connect, and experience care in a way that feels accessible, human, and deeply rooted in community.

You can experience this for yourself every fourth Sunday of the month! The next shore and sage market is on 4/26 and it’s free to attend! Follow and stay connected at @shoreandsagemarket