UPROOTED Black Hills is a local plant shoppe that began as a passion project amongst friends, operating as a solely mobile business in May of 2021. The potential to expand the business’s available services and open a storefront enticed Justice Fuegen to seek ownership. Along with her husband Steele, they purchased the business this past February. Now sharing a suite with local boutique Aurora Grace, the ability to have a home base has increased the available space for plant storage and allowed them to serve a larger clientele. 

“Having  the  storefront  has  allowed  us  to  teach  classes  and  provide  workshops  to  hundreds  of  people,”  Justice  said. “It has created a safe space for people to try plant parenthood along with all the resources and support they need.”

Having recently undergone a complete renovation the last two weeks of July, UPROOTED’s space has now doubled in size to house a more expansive inventory, as well as create a more functional storage and care space. “We now offer all the items people will need to be successful in their plant parentage,” Justice said, “including pots, soils, soil mix-ins, tools, pest treatments, plant foods, sprays, plant supports, lights, humidifiers, fans, and so much more. We even have a sweet repotting station for people to use. You just pay a few dollars for soil and mix-ins, a pot if you need one, and we can show you how to make your plant as healthy as possible.”

 In addition to being a high quality plant supplier for individual plant enthusiasts, UPROOTED also offers business-specific services. They offer plant styling, consulting with a business to bring plants into a space, and also plant care,  creating  the  opportunity  to  house  plants  within  the  workspace  without  the  stress  of  caring  for  them.  UPROOTED  will  water,  prune,  and  fertilize  your  plants  so  you  don’t  have  to.  This  care  option  is  also  available  short-term to individuals in terms of plant sitting. Taking a trip? Ask UPROOTED to look out for your plant babies while you’re away.  

Their complete list of growing services can be found on their website, but rooted at the heart of each one is a passion for quality. 

“What makes us different from other local greenhouses is because of our size and standard of ethics,” Justice said. “We physically inspect and clean every plant that comes through our doors before labeling it and putting it out on the floor to sell.” 

Justice recognizes that having a business with live inventory is an acknowledgment that some spoilage is bound to happen. Plants that come into UPROOTED sick receive quarantine and treatment. Sometimes, the plant is able to be rehabbed. Other times, it is not. But if not, rest assured, you will not find it on the floor for purchase.

“It’s actually illegal to sell plants that are sick with any sort of pest or disease,” Justice said. “Yet so many greenhouses skirt around this rule. Spider mites are the most common one I’ve seen this happen with, and it drives me crazy because it’s obvious and fairly easy to treat.”

UPROOTED’s quality product matches their caliber of service.

“It’s a judgment free zone,” Justice said. “We’ve all killed at least a dozen or more plants, and we’d rather share what we’ve learned along the way than have people make the same mistakes.”

Alongside Justice, UPROOTED employs four additional employees, all of whom are female. For most of them, UPROOTED is a part-time job they simply enjoying doing for fun.

“I absolutely love it, and I’m really proud of how we operate,” Justice said. “We know real life happens. We have a nurse, a stay-at-home mom who’s going back to school, a photographer, and a full time college student.”

Having a foot in more than one place is a role Justice is very accustomed to.

Not only does Justice work in the store three days a week, but she also balances her in-person interaction with behind-the-scenes necessities. She helps other team members process plant shipments, in addition to completing taxes, bookkeeping, payroll, employee scheduling, event scheduling, and overseeing services for other businesses. As if that weren’t enough, she also does bookkeeping part time for a construction company and cleans and manages her and her husband’s Airbnb. Together, they are also expecting their first baby.

“We are really looking forward to how we can be a suc- cessful, family-centered business,” Justice said. “I tend to bite off more than I can chew, so I’m very grateful to have a husband who sees when I need help and takes what he can off my plate.”

She describes Steele as unconditionally kind, deeply caring, patient, and sacrificial of his time and energy (and sometimes his back) to help her further her goals. They met at a time when Justice didn’t plan on putting down any roots or even dating.

“After graduating high school in 2018, I was convinced I would take a gap year to participate in a missions-based study abroad program before starting college to pursue a law degree,” Justice said. “I did a Discipleship Train- ing School (DTS) through Youth With A Mission (YWAM) focused on anti-human trafficking education and out- reach.”

This entailed six months of hands-on ministry in Eastern Europe working with existing non-profits and ministries to educate the public on different types of human trafficking. Justice recalls the experience as a time of immense personal and spiritual growth. Afterward, she thought she would continue to fund raise and ultimately got a job working at Pure Bean Coffeehouse to help support that goal. It was during this time she met Steele and also gained a love for business she couldn’t have imagined.

“Right when I was hired, I was given the opportunity (as a 19 year old) to run a coffeehouse full time,” Justice said. “I was given so much responsibility in such a short amount of time that it grew me and showed me how to run a business. By the time I transitioned out, my job included managing two shops, twenty-five employees, and a lot of moving parts. Nick, if you’re reading this, thank you for making me a businesswoman.”

Justice’s outlook on the future includes continuing to grow UPROOTED, both in the short term, hoping to add a full-time position for plant care of other businesses alone within the next year, and in the long term, to encompass her other passions.

“Looking ahead 5-7 years, I’d like to start a parent business that envelopes UPROOTED to allow for more community development and resources,” Justice said. “It would be structured similar to a co-op that allows other businesses to all join together.”

Types of involvement Justice hopes to include center on fast fashion, human trafficking prevention through edu- cation, and medically accurate, guilt-free, unbiased sex education. In addition, she would like to explore personal and professional development resources such as basic home maintenance, meal planning and cooking, budgeting and finance classes, gardening, car maintenance, and job interview practice.

“I feel like young people often get a bad rap for not knowing enough about ‘basic life skills,’ but how can we give anyone flack for not knowing something they weren’t taught?” Justice said. “So many people I’ve met are hungry for the chance to better themselves and be self-sufficient. I’d love to help make the connection between resources and young adults.”

UPROOTED in itself is already a resource for plant life and community, and it is evident from Justice’s passionate vi- sion that the future of UPROOTED is just starting to bloom.

Read more about UPROOTED and their full list of services on their website uprootedblackhills.com, and be sure to check them out at their upcoming pop-ups. They also host monthly community plant swaps, so follow along on social media to stay up to date!

“When I’m stressed, I _________ [insert: pour myself a glass of wine, online shop, eat something  sweet,  gamble,  etc.].”  We  all  have  it,  that  “thing”  that  distracts  us  from  feeling the feelings. For Shannon Riter Osborn, it was drinking. 

From the outside, Shannon looked like she had it all. She owned a successful business, was happily married, was a proud puppy mom, served on the SD Board of Pardons and Paroles, and maintained a healthy workout routine. She looked happy, fulfilled, and healthy. What came as a surprise to many close to her was the reality that Shannon was struggling with an alcohol addiction. On her 43rd birthday, Shannon awoke in the repeated haze of hangover and with an unexpected yet absolute awareness she couldn’t fight this battle alone.  Just a week later, she headed to treatment for alcoholism. Today, she celebrates over 1,000 days of sobriety, a gift that has brought her clarity, happiness, and an ability to deal with the muddiness of life. 

“Personally, I have learned that to stay sober, I have to feel, marinate, enjoy or maybe despise every single emotion I have.  We live in a world that encourages pushing through or numbing out emotions that make us feel uncomfortable.”  Doing so much out of habit, we lose the intentionality of our actions. “We don’t stop long enough to evaluate what we’re doing to artificially relax: drinking, playing video games, overeating, shopping. Maybe we  don’t  even  recognize  our  habits  that  distract  us  from  our  feelings.  Maybe  we  work  endless hours or maybe we are too attached to our cellphones. Whatever the crutch is, it’s merely a symptom of unresolved emotional dirt.” The challenge, she says, is noticing instead of reacting. The absence of the crutch is where you can really do the work and heal from the emotional dirt you’ve been avoiding — loss, disappointment, death, failures, broken relationships, and/or fears. It isn’t always easy, but it’s freeing. “We hardly take time to just feel, without any distractions. I never realized how little of life I was truly experiencing until I got sober.” 

If we aren’t distracting ourselves from discomfort, we’re rushing through it. When Shannon is teaching a strength class at Sol Vibe, she notices how quickly we want to move through discomfort. “It’s always the third set. People start to rush because that’s when they’re really starting to feel it. We do it in life, too. The real work and the real results happen when we get uncomfortable.” 

One of the greatest challenges for a person dealing  with  an  alcohol  addiction  is  the  prevalence  of  alcohol  in  their  day-to-day  lives.  Alcohol is normalized in society as an  appropriate coping mechanism, the conduit for a good time, or even a healthy choice for your heart. (Recently, the World Heart Federation released a policy briefing, debunking the heart health benefits of red wine.) It’s a bad habit too many of us can relate to — a stressful day means a large glass of wine (or two). Shannon, too, began innocently drinking a glass of wine at the end of the day to relax. As the days became more stressful, more wine was needed to relax.  It’s a slippery slope, she says. Some red flags she noticed in herself related  to  her  drinking  included  “planning  your  day  around  drinking,  thinking  often  throughout  the  day  about  when  you  could  drink  next,  making  excuses  to  not  attend  functions  where  there’s  no  alcohol  or  only  wanting  to  attend  events  where  alcohol  is  served,  having  secret  stashes  of  alcohol,  consistently  drinking  to  the  point of intoxication, and mood swings.” 

Shannon is always eager and willing to offer support and an empathetic ear to those struggling. After posting a celebratory post on Facebook about her first year of sobriety, Shannon was overwhelmed by the responses she received. “So many people reached out to  me  to  say  they were quietly and shamefully  struggling  and  didn’t know where to turn.” Although once encouraged to remain anonymous, today, the recovery community  focuses  on  openness  and  vulnerability.  Shannon has  found  that  speaking  openly  about  her  recovery  —  the  highs,  the  challenges — is far more freeing and powerful than living in secrecy. “I don’t want secrecy around my recovery, as I’ve already spent enough years hiding. I show up authentically, with bruises and all, but with no shame in speaking my truth.” Quoting Brene Brown, Shannon said, “If we can share our story with someone who responds with empathy and understanding, shame cannot survive.” 

Shannon  has  found  solace  and  community  in  unexpected  places.  “Instagram has been amazing. You see (and meet) sober people living exceptional  lives  but  also  being  authentic  about  the  challenges  they  face.”  Shannon  recommends  searching  the  hashtags  #sobercurious  #sober_celebs,  #soberbuzz,  #sobergirlsociety,  and  #sobervibes,  and  following  these  accounts:  @jenleehirst,  @drop_the_bottle_,  and  @happy.sober.free.

In  bridging  the  gap  between  in-patient  treatment  and  back  to  life,  Shannon found support through Lionrock, an online sobriety counseling forum that offers meetings, counseling, and group therapy. For recov-ery,  it  isn’t  a  one-size-fits-all  treatment  plan.  Shannon  encourages yoga, therapy, meetings, reading, finding community with others, and re-discovering  and/or  creating  hobbies,  passions,  and  purpose-filled activities.  Her  book  recommendations  include  The Four Agreements, This Naked Mind, The Courage to Change, and anything by Brene Brown.Through sobriety, Shannon has found clarity and experiences life more fully. “I’m given so many opportunities to learn about myself and this life through sobriety.  The love of that learning, the love of myself, and my desire to be even more present as my genuine self each day give me courage to stay the course. Sobriety reaches a point where honoring yourself feels more natural, alive, and secure than you could have ever imagined.” 

Photos by Boden Photography