Charlie “Rose” Carter, LMT, RYT, RN, co-owner of Yoga Den Oakleaf along with her husband, Twain, originally began her healing career as a massage therapist. Around seven years in, she chose to expand her offerings and pursued a degree in nursing. “I wanted to continue serving others in a healing profession, and the umbrella for nursing was huge,” says this avid learner, who considered several nursing avenues—from labor and delivery to dialysis and oncology. “I had to commit to these units for six months to a year, but I just kept switching,” explains this holistic practitioner. “At some point it was obvious I wasn’t going to find my purpose in nursing.”

While coming to that realization was disheartening, this gifted intuitive, tarot card reader and psychic medium, knew it was valuable information that would help point her in the right direction. “I was doing a lot of inner work at the time,” she recalls. “I was coaching myself, reading tons of books, and researching anything that would help me on my own healing journey.” It was during this intense time of personal transformation that Carter envisioned her path. “I just had this ‘a-ha’ moment—I wanted to create a healing center focused on natural, holistic and spiritually-focused modalities.”

That was when the idea for her first business, Hedge Life Metaphysical Wellness Center, came into being.  On July 1, 2019, Carter opened the doors to her new space, offering massage, reiki and intuitive guidance, along with psychic and tarot card readings. Eventually, she added coaching to her list of services as well. “Hedge Life truly is my dream coming together all under one roof,” says this devout believer in following one’s intuition. “The path might start out unclear, but it will lead us where we need to go.”

Speaking of intuition, during the 2019 holiday season, Carter sensed that significant changes were on the horizon. “I felt like something massive was coming,” she shares. “And I had a really strong sense that it would be the last Christmas I spent with some of my family.” Three months later, her sister was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer and her health declined rapidly. “I began going back and forth from Florida to Ohio, doing everything I could to help. The pandemic hit, but I was so focused on my sister, I didn’t even realize the gravity of it.”

During this time, Carter intuited needing to add another layer to her self-care routine. “I kept hearing ‘do yoga, do yoga, do yoga,’” she says. “However, there were no yoga studios near me. Then, I saw a Yoga Den franchise ad and something clicked. “I sent them an email to let them know there was a missed opportunity as there were zero yoga studios in Oakleaf. And…I added that I was open to the possibility if it was a good fit.”

Not long after she sent that email, Carter received a phone call from Kelly Chufo, the Director of Franchising for Yoga Den. “She wanted to meet up, but it was right when COVID hit. Kelly was like ‘I know everything is shut down so we can’t do yoga, but we certainly can still talk about yoga!’”

The ladies met, hit it off, and left their meeting feeling inspired. “I resonated so much with the Yoga Den philosophy and having a yoga studio fit perfectly into my vision for Hedge Life.” Carter chose to pursue the franchise opportunity and began securing financing, attending the yoga teacher training program, and adding the yoga studio to her space—all while enduring the loss of her sister and ex-husband in April, and later losing her mother to cancer, against the backdrop of a global pandemic. “There’s no way I could have done any of this without my husband,” she affirms. “I am profoundly grateful for him. He is a huge supporter of my dreams.”

Additionally, Carter adds that she is thankful for her Yoga Den team.  “I was really blessed to get the juicy fruit cream of the crop yoga instructors. They’re wonderful collaborators. Our yoga community loves them just as much as we love our yoga community,” says this passionate yogini, who shares that nothing warms her heart more than seeing new practitioners advancing through levels as they increasingly become more adept at yoga.

“Our Yoga Den studio really is welcoming space. We keep a very chill atmosphere around here,” she says. “Our students know they can show up on the mat, however they are on any given day. Just come as you are.”