Danuelle Doswell and Mignon Hemsley are laying down roots east of the river. They’re the co-founders of Grounded Wellness Studio—part plant shop, part cafe, part therapeutic facility—opening in Anacostia on Saturday, Oct.12. Their mission is simple: cultivate a harmonious sanctuary where nature, wellness, and community converge.

“We’re just two Black women who want to be of service to people who look like us,” Doswell says. 

The project started as an online plant shop on Earth Day 2020 and has grown thanks to the founders’ love of their community and the brand’s strong social media footprint. The co-founders are committed to community work across the city, and Doswell says their presence in Anacostia has grown significantly. 

“We’ve built strong relationships with local organizations [and] high schools,” she says, adding that they’ve donated over 500 plants to Ward 8 residents. “In Anacostia, unlike other parts of the city, there’s a lack of green space.”

Hemsley is a multi-hyphenated creative—she DJs and does graphic design work for D.C. brands and creatives. Doswell, who spent a year working in communications for New York City’s Taxi and Limousine Commission, also has prior experience running her own brand consulting company. The two friends met in 2015 through one of Doswell’s clients and connected over their shared love of plants.

They started this whole thing with press releases and prayers.

“The Friday before our launch, an editor from DCist interviewed us, and when the story was published, it went viral on Twitter,” Doswell says. “By the end of our launch week, we had over 10,000 followers [on Instagram].” 

Grounded’s Instagram feed makes plant care education and the wellness benefits of plants feel accessible to Black people in a space dominated by White social media influencers. Now it has more than 28,000 followers on Instagram and has partnered with brands such as Topo Chico and Arc’teryx, and local streetwear boutique Somewhere. 

“Instead of just selling plants, we focused on helping people feel more ‘grounded’,” Doswell says. “Whether through our outdoor hike club, which connects people with nature, or our Grounded Radio playlist designed to enhance the experience of plant care, we’ve made it about cultivating a deeper connection to nature and well-being.” 

“We wanted people to feel like they’re walking from outside into nature again,” Hemsley says. 

Like a traditional plant shop, Grounded sells a variety of plants, as well as a pegged wall of merchandise. The wellness studio, which is secluded in the back, will offer yoga classes, Reiki sessions, sound baths, mat pilates classes, and breathwork exercises. Classes are available for every fitness level, and they’re all taught by people of color. Grounded also offers a membership program that includes perks such as free beverages from the cafe before or after classes, as well as a new plant every month.

To bring their vision for a serene plant oasis in Anacostia to life, the founders collaborated with Drummond Projects, a D.C.-based architecture firm led by Jimmie Drummond that has also worked with NUUAge, a multifamily housing development, and Bronze, an H Street NE Afro Caribbean restaurant with an ode to Afrofuturism. There are natural elements incorporated throughout the design that invoke the feeling of being outdoors. A rock material wraps around the cafe counter and the walls are painted a serotonin-boosting sage green. Concrete bleachers wrap around the space providing a 1970s conversation pit experience. 

D.C. chef and restaurateur Erik Bruner-Yang, who is behind Maketto and the recently opened cocktail bar Providencia, helped the founders develope the cafe’s food menu. “When we were first thinking of our space, we considered the food inequities that exist in Ward 8,” Hemsley says. “We are doing our part by offering healthy food options in our space.” 

Grounded Wellness Studio was partially funded by a grant from D.C.’s Neighborhood Prosperity Fund. It’s a part of real estate development company the Menkiti Group’s two-part MLK Gateway project that’s meant to connect downtown D.C. to a revitalized Anacostia. The second phase of the project was completed earlier this year.

For Hemsley, this is a homecoming of sorts. She attended Thurgood Marshall Academy just four blocks from where the new community hub will open. They have plans to offer programs dedicated to teenagers in the neighborhood through a nonprofit arm of their business.

“It was such a full circle moment creating a space where the people of Anacostia can come and treat Grounded as a third space,” she says.

Grounded Wellness Studio’s grand opening will take place on Saturday, Oct. 12,  from noon to 6 p.m. Programming will include DJ sets, a performance by TOB, plant giveaways, and an aurora reader photo booth. The event is free and open to the public. 1913 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE.