Issue link: http://maconmagazine.uberflip.com/i/1512887
DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024 | maconmagazine.com 91 INTERVIEW BY MACON MAGAZINE STAFF | PHOTO BY DSTO MOORE Macon Chose Me is a photo series by DSTO Moore highlighting residents who weren't born in Macon but actively chose to move here and enjoy positively representing the community. eather Owens came to Macon less than two years ago, yet she's quickly become a key player in Macon's wellness, makers, craft cocktail, and pickleball scene. Whether you're meeting her in her Wild Roam Club studio downtown, from behind the bar at Quill, or at the farmers market, her warm energy, wit, and adorable Frenchie sidekick – the one and only Tito – quickly transform strangers into friends and clients. Can you tell us the story of how you came to live in Macon? It's quite the story! I started Wild Roam Club in Omaha, Nebraska before moving the operation to Macon. My partner was offered a job in Milledgeville while we lived in the Midwest, so we decided on a move to Macon for our adventure back south. We had lived in Colorado before Nebraska but are both from North Carolina originally. We were very excited for the opportunity to move back to the South, and Macon has been a great place for us. You've lived all over the country, from growing up in North Carolina, to Boulder, Colorado, and most recently, Omaha, Nebraska. It's a wide, wild world to roam. Why Macon? The Confederate monument downtown was moved the week before we moved here. Even though this was just one step of many that are long overdue toward the goal of reconciliation in the South, it is inspiring to be somewhere where the work needs to be done, and folks within this community are ready to make change happen together. What inspired you to start Wild Roam Club? I took my primary inspiration from my background in hospitality and cocktails. I use quality ingredients and cra them by hand into products and services I'm proud to offer our community. What should we know about your work? My soap, candles, body oils, and bath soaks are free of palm oil, plastics, and petroleum products. You're worth giving them a shot! I offer individualized facials and waxing, and I particularly enjoy li ing and tinting lashes, too, so I hope you'll book. What makes you feel supported or embraced here? I've been embraced by excellent people here – whom I now call friends. We rolled up sight unseen to Downtown Macon last summer and rented a lo on Mulberry. We loved being able to walk to restaurants, coffee shops, bars, and venues. Being in the middle of it all was a great way to build the relationships that I get to enjoy today. I quickly found my way into the downtown farmers market, Macon Pride, markets hosted by Fall Line Brewery, and even established my studio space in the American Federal Building. Today we own a home in the Vineville neighborhood and while we still enjoy a walkable neighborhood with restaurants and bars, Wild Roam Club has benefitted so much from the extra space. The house smells great all the time, and it serves as a great landing pad for the Macon Lil Pickles – our pickleball crüe – when we hang out and share meals. We're the hottest thing in pickleball right now. If you had to give a "pitch" for someone considering moving to the area, what would that pitch be? Macon needs you! More outside perspectives allow more growth, more art, and more relationships. Heather Owens M A C O N C H O S E M E H See our gift guide pick of Wild Roam Club's candles on p. 38.