INTERVIEW: SOCIAL ALCHEMY FOUNDER ROSIE

You are the founder of Social Alchemy, can you tell us about how you and your partner started the business?
Originally I created a more basic healthy hot chocolate as a craving crusher for PMS that was in a couple of local cafes. Around the same time I became pregnant with our first bubba and we started hunting for something to support ourselves through the journey of parenthood, as we saw so many parents relying on caffeine to get them through. Zen is a mastermind with adaptogens and functional mushrooms, so we started experimenting with my hot chocolate blend + superfoods and adaptogenic ingredients. We took over a year to perfect the taste, with our friends trying it and loving it... and thus Social Alchemy came to be.

 What inspires you as a business and brand?

Creating from a place of helping people feel good, eternally encouraging ourselves and others carve out more mindfulness and permission for presence within the day to day... and creating from a foundation that always has the earth in mind.
Another big inspiration is community, it’s always been a vision of ours to gather our alchemists around cauldrons of hot chocolate to share stories by fire light and weave magic into the atmosphere.

Lastly we are enamoured with all the small businesses that are unafraid to explore stepping out of the box of what products are expected to be and instead moving from honesty. We wanted Social Alchemy to hold integrity all the while making you feel luxurious and grounded in this very moment.

How important are the ingredients you choose for your adaptogenic hot chocolate?

We so appreciate this question. You can’t create alchemy without intention... We intentionally use fiercely ethical, sustainably sourced and 100% organic ingredients and handcraft in small batches to maintain a deep connection with our product. We have a healthy obsession with powerful plants, intelligent superfoods and all things medicinal & magical and knew this would be the first fundamental to our concoction.

 Have you always had a passion for wellness?

Yes, I have a background in yoga & meditation, focusing on pre and postnatal yoga, fertility & cycle awareness, and I’m also a birth doula so wellness has always been part of my world. Zen has a lifetime of being passionate about harnessing health through nootropics, adaptogens and biohacking and always knew he would end up creating something along this line.

We know sustainability is part of your brand, tell us about your partnership with Save The Bees?
Bees are fundamental to every single ingredient we use and the truth is we wouldn’t have a product without these magnificent miracle workers, so we wanted to give back to them first and foremost. When we searched for the best people to align with, Save The Bees were an obvious choice for us, they do the most genuine work to support the bees and be an advocating voice for them.

 You are passionate about slowing down and recharging. What daily rituals do you practice to help relax?

We used to have a lot more before our kids, but now keep it simple.
Every morning I let the chickens out and make sure I ground by going barefoot, no matter the temperature ~ and at the same time I lift my gaze to the sun to stimulate my circadian rhythm. Yoga every morning, even if sometimes it's just 5 minutes of moving and breathing.

We have also made it a priority to practice regular ice baths and infrared saunas, and of course a morning beverage has always been integral to starting our days. Ever since childhood, my Dad was a big tea drinker, a warm cup in the morning has always been an anchor to the present moment.

As a long time user of Retreatment Botanics, what is your favourite product?

As a skincare fiend, I had been on a lifelong search for the best cleanser. I found it in your radiance cream cleanser, it is the perfect creaminess my skin feels like it has been nourished and soaked in love. It has since been a daily staple for my sensitive skin especially with your glorious soft cotton cloth.