-Hi, I'm Rosey Alvero.

Today on SoCal Wanderer, we are in the heart of the San Fernando Valley with two sisters, Alex and Daniela who for the love of this community have opened their own wellness spa The Wild Plum.

Let's go check it out.

[music] Daniela and Alex first wanted to take me to their hometown of Pacoima, just down the street from their business so I can learn a bit more about their neighborhood.

The moment I get here, I'm surrounded by beautiful works of art and a thriving community.

I've never visited this part of the San Fernando Valley.

I've never even really heard of Pacoima.

-Many haven't.

-Could you tell me a little bit about this place?

San Fernando Valley and Pacoima?

-We were actually born and raised in Pacoima.

This community is primarily working class.

It's very much an immigrant community.

A lot of first-generation families coming here in pursuit of a better life.

It's like a forgotten part of LA this overlooked part that gets so little recognition.

With so little recognition, we get so little resources.

With that, tremendous health disparities.

We worked in Burbank, Santa Clarita Silver Lake, all in the outskirts and where there's an abundance of wellness.

It was really important for us to come back to our roots and bring that to our community.

-Alex and Daniela head over to The Wild Plum to set up for the big day they have planned for me.

Meanwhile, I thought I'd take in the sights.

[music] After a hot summer day stroll around San Fernando, it's time to find refuge at The Wild Plum.

The moment I step into The Wild Plum I'm welcomed by its warm, calm atmosphere.

They've got everything here, from spa treatments to full-on yoga classes.

-We really wanted to make this a space for the community to gather as opposed to just your general yoga studio.

You walk in, you hardly know anyone.

You walk out.

It's very much a space for gathering.

-Speaking of gathering, one of the first things I see is a photo album with pictures of Alex and Daniela's family.

Who's this?

-Mama and dad?

-Mom.

-These are our parents.

-Oh my goodness.

-We come from a family of immigrants, My mother came here in the '70s from Mexico, and my grandparents came here after World War II from Italy.

-We were seven children in about a decade of a span of age difference, and I just started noticing a lot of patterns in dysfunction and unprocessed trauma and things like that that I thought "Well, what is happening?

Why is there so much disease, and struggle, and sickness, and mental health issues, physical health issues."

You name it.

We have it in our immediate family Then, I had a daughter who was born with a genetic disorder.

I was told that she would not walk or talk, and would be very limited in functioning.

At that point, that's when I was "What is happening?

There's something incredibly wrong here in our environment, in what we're being fed, in everything we're exposed to."

That was my entry point into yoga -The line down at the heart center for a moment of breath, a moment of gratitude.

-It was my daughter receiving yoga therapy.

I remember coming home and telling her, "Oh my God, this practice is amazing."

No one was talking about wellness at all, and so, through that experience, her and I started our own practice.

Then, I did yoga training, working with children with special needs.

Then there was this discussion that one day we would create our own center.

-Inhale up.

We got certified.

We got trainings, all these things -Preparing you.

--yes, to prepare us.

And feeling a softness in the shoulders, let the shoulders fall down.

-Anyone we spoke to for business advice actually discouraged us from doing it.

I would say, almost all of them thought that this was not a wise investment, because all they're looking at is numbers.

I was so clear in my vision, I said "Absolutely, this is going to be our sanctuary."

-Take a deep breath and float up to dandasana, pinkies rolling towards one another.

-We put every penny and dime we had together to get it going.

It took us about 10 years of saving.

We knew we didn't want investors because, profit would be at the very forefront of all the decision-making.

The mission of our center is wellness for all people.

Access is a huge component, not just in the sense of wellness for all bodies, all shapes, all ages, all abilities that that's a huge part but also wellness for all income levels.

-It's so important for the community to have this, because it doesn't matter where you come from, who you are your race, your shape, gender identity, whatever, you deserve to have yoga, you deserve to have wellness.

-I've never been to a yoga studio where there was someone that looked like me or someone from a Hispanic background.

It was nice to have that inclusiveness.

-The connection is really important and, actually, a friend of mine posted on Instagram, and he was "Yeah, come through."

I was obsessed.

I was like, "I found myself in a sanctuary."

I cannot say enough good things about these women.

I love them.

-We're going to let the breath float back.

-After a restorative yoga class surrounded by these unique women it's time for some well-deserved me time.

You come from a big family, there's seven of you.

How is it working with your sister I know what it's like to be a sister and sometimes it can be combative but most of the time it's beautiful, what's that relationship like?

-Biggest thing is at the end of the day, you have each other's back.

No matter what you go through, there are challenges, and there are stressors, but then it's like, you realize, "Okay, we're going to get it done We have each other's back, and let's just get through it together."

You really are stronger together.

-I will say, as females, there are just challenges that we face in our day to day, right?

Just the amount that we have on our plate as women, as mothers.

The biggest challenge is the work-life balance.

Obviously, that energy that you're pulling from the home you're pouring in here, there is always that tug back to the home.

-Owning a business, you have flexibility, you have freedom.

I'll spend so much more time in the have-to mode, like, we have to do this, and we have to do that, and so much of your life just gets consumed by the have-tos but, my dream is like, what would a want-to life look like?

What if you got to wake up every day and design this life where every aspect is something you're deeply passionate about?

Everyday we've poured into the Plum we're getting closer and closer to that.

-I feel so fortunate to have met Alex and Daniela and learn about their history, their family, the ups and downs of opening a business from the ground up entirely on their own.

The love they have for their community is remarkable.

You can feel it in every corner of the sanctuary that they've created.

I'm grateful places like The Wild Plum exist for communities in need of a safe space.

[music] SoCal Wanderer is made possible by the Wurwand Foundation's key initiative to support local entrepreneurs.