Open for business: Q&A with Botanical Rhapsody Organics of Wasilla owner discussing soft open

WASILLA — Botanical Rhapsody Organics of Wasilla opened for business Monday, Jan. 10 within the Carrs Mall off the Parks Highway. It is the latest addition to Alaska in the national chain of Botanical Rhapsody Organics.

Celena Kerns recently participated in a question and answer interview to discuss her first day of business as a first-time business owner.

Q: How was the first day?

“We actually haven’t had too many orders. We can’t get our banner outside right now, sadly because of all the wind. We had a couple of online orders, which is great. We’re kind of doing a soft opening since we just got here a month ago. We built all of this. I built it myself. It took about a month. It was some hard work,” she said with a laugh.

Q: Do you plan to hold an official grand opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony?

“We’re going to work with the Chamber of Commerce and I’ll have to schedule that when I get the chance, but yeah, we’ll do a bigger opening.”

Q: What in a nutshell does Botanical Rhapsody Organics offer?

“We have a lot of products. You can actually have just CBD, no THC. Then, we have our low THC. We also have our high THC gummies. That kind of rolls for everything except our bath bombs. Our bath bombs are only CBD. We have lotions. We have pain cream. That’s one of our best sellers actually, our CBD pain cream and our THC pain cream. We have pet products. We have coffee. We also have the normal CBD oils and tinctures. You can get just CBD or you can get THC and CBD. It’s just a preference.”

Q: Have you ever run a business before?

“No, and I’m actually in college also. So, I’m busy all the time,” she said with a laugh

Q: What motivated you to open your own Botanical Rhapsody Organics location?

“I went down to an event and met the owner. He was a really nice guy. That’s where my mom got actually got the coffee. When I realized it was helping her, I realized this was a great idea… Their slogan is, ‘we save lives’ and I agree with that.”

Q: What benefits have you seen?

“My mom has really bad nerve pain and osteoporosis. She drinks the coffee and takes the tinctures. She told me her that nerves have really calmed down from so much pain. It has been seen to help with bone density, which would help her. She says the pain is not as bad as it was. Also, I’ve given my dog those dog treats. He had really bad separation anxiety and he scratched a huge hole in my wall. He’s really calmed down since I’ve given him those. I myself actually take the CBD hard candies for anxiety, and it really helps sleep at night too, which is nice.”

Q: What are some of your long-term goals?

“I would like to make it the best it could probably be, and maybe even possibly open up more stores here. I’ve seen how good the products are, so I feel like I could probably do that… Just trying to reach as many people as I can.”

Q: Anything else you’d like to add?

“There are more products to come, soon. I know that. It’s going to grow definitely. There’s going to be a lot of options… All of our stuff is naturally made. We have farms in the U.S. We grow everything. That’s pretty much what we’re known for.”

Botanical Rhapsody Organics of Wasilla is located at 591 East Parks Hwy #406. For more information, call 907-373-4367 or visit botanicalrhapsodyofwasilla.com.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com