It’s been almost four full months since self-billed “local apothecary” Get Me Some Green opened its doors for business in the Hoods Crossroads shopping plaza.

With the exception of an occasional critic who questions whether the CBD-retailer is bringing drugs to Mint Hill, Get Me Some Green has been well-received.  But Wiskes welcomes the critics. “That’s OK, a lot of people have that opinion,” she tells them. “That’s why we’re here. I’m not trying to get anybody high or anything like that.  I’m just trying to give you a healthier space to look at things.”

Education: it’s what Get Me Some Green prioritizes perhaps even above CBD sales.  “We really try to educate people,” says Wiskes. “Our goal is to teach people what is CBD, how does it work with your system, why does it work, and how you can use it to best benefit you whether it’s in place of big pharm or partnering up with your doctor.”

On the third Wednesday of every month, Get Me Some Green offers CBD-based educational seminars.  The most recent focused on headaches: what exactly a headache is, different types of headaches, and how CBD can help.  Wiskes chooses the topics for these seminars based on questions she receives in the store and electronically. Get Me Some Green also tries to bring in a guest speaker once a month to educate the public on other topics relevant to healthy living.  In April, they’ll welcome a guest to speak about air and water quality. In the summer, they hope to have a former Monsanto consultant to speak about GMOs.

Get Me Some Green offers so much more than just CBD.  “We don’t want to be a one-stop shop,” says Wiskes. “We want to offer more to the community and teach them about health and wellness and different ways they can utilize that to their benefit.”

“Health care is a confusing thing for a lot of people because they think ‘Ok I’m not sick.  I must be healthy. But there’s a lot more to it,” continues Wiskes. “When people say ‘I’m healthy’ – are you?  Do you never have a headache? Never have back pain? We as a society are so overwhelmed with stress we don’t even realize we’re living in a fight or flight syndrome day to day.”

Get Me Some Green offers a plethora of natural resources in addition to CBD products for both the sick and the healthy.  In the “Green Room,” clients have access to three different unmanned light therapies: Infrared Sauna with Chromotherapy, Pulse Electro Magnetic Field Therapy, and Migun Therapy.

“It’s essentially penetrating the very core of your cellular makeup and causing it to vibrate,” says Wiskes of the NASA-developed PEMF therapy.  “When a cell vibrates, it produces healing heat and energy that draw blood to that area and flush that system out. It’s amazing what light therapy can do,” she continues, describing how PEMF therapy actually helped save the foot of a diabetes patient preparing for amputation.  PEMF can also be helpful to people struggling with depression and anxiety.

The Green Room’s infrared sauna uses infrared heat to penetrate the body from the inside out.  “Although it gets warm it’s not your traditional sauna,” says Wiskes. “It’s using heat to penetrate the cells inside your body, so it’s heating you from the inside back out again.”  Get Me Some Green’s 2-person IR Sauna has been retrofitted with chromotherapy, allowing clients to take advantage of the healing power of different spectrums of light.

The last independently-operated therapy available in the green room is the Migun Therapy bed.  Jade balls on both sides of the spine open and close each individual vertebrae, like a massage for your spine.  Wiskes describes the therapy as a wonderful complement to traditional massage or chiropractic care.

When you book a time in the Green Room, you have access to all three light therapies.  90 minutes in the Green Room costs $100.00, but the room can accommodate up to four people at once with an additional charge of only $10.00 per person.  “It ends up being really cost effective for people,” says Wiskes.

Get Me Some Green also offers ear coning/candling.  “We’re literally putting a candle in your ear and we’re lighting it on fire,” says Wiskes.  “People think, ‘This is crazy!’ but what it’s doing is it’s creating a vacuum effect and it’s pulling all the built up wax and toxins out through your sinus cavity.”  On Fridays, they offer Hot Stone Massage. Alkaline water, CBD-based coffees and teas in bulk or by the cup, weighted blankets, salt lamps, Dr. Brauner’s soaps: the ways that Get Me Some Green helps people reach and maintain a healthy lifestyle are too numerous to count.

And there are still more “Green” offerings on the horizon.  Soon they’ll begin offering kombucha through a partnership with Winston-Salem-based company Up Dog.  They plan to have two kombucha taps, one “straight” kombucha and one CBD-infused version that will only be available at Get Me Some Green.  The apothecary plans to launch the kombucha keg at their 4/20 celebration, where Up Dog founder and owner Olivia Wolff will be present to serve and educate.

Wiskes also recently filed for a 501c for the “Green Gives Back” nonprofit food pantry.  The small supply of nonperishable items was originally started to assist federal employees out of work during the government shutdown, but Wiskes saw that need for the pantry didn’t stop once government employees went back to work.

“I had a patient come in recently, eighty-two years old,” recalls Wiskes.  After discussing what she needed, the woman pulled a grocery list out of her purse and began crossing items off.  Wiskes inquired conversationally if she had gone shopping today. “She said ‘No, this is the food I can’t get because I need to buy this.’  That’s not OK with me. We never want any of our clients or any patients or human beings period to have to choose between being healthy and eating.”  

Admissions costs of $5 for educational seminars or food donations fuel the food pantry, and Get Me Some Green is working with neighboring grocery store Food Lion to be able to offer gift cards for purchasing perishable items.  The food pantry is open to anyone who needs assistance. “If you need help, we’re here for you,” says Wiskes. “We’re not a huge pantry, but if we can ease your day and supplement a little bit, we really want to help.”

And all of this?  It’s only the beginning.  You’ll see more “Green” in the greater Charlotte area this year as Get Me Some Green opens their first three independently-operated franchised locations in the Concord area.

“We’re always looking for new modalites, and I don’t think we’ll stop,” says Wiskes.  “You’ll probably come back in three months, and I’ll have more things. We’re always looking for ways to bring new ideas and new healthy alternative to people.”