Rising in Ritual: How Taylor Nickens ’13 Is Brewing Community in Philadelphia

When Taylor Nickens ’13 reflects on the path that led her to found Rise & Ritual, it begins not with a business plan, but with a personal reckoning. In the stillness and uncertainty of the pandemic, she found herself searching for grounding. What emerged was a simple yet transformative daily practice: a cup of loose-leaf tea, a journal, a mantra, and a commitment to “rise in ritual” each morning. From that sacred rhythm, Rise & Ritual was born.

 

Today, the Philadelphia native and Southern Methodist University graduate is the founder of Rise & Ritual, a Black-owned, women-led organic tea company and community wellness space in West Philadelphia. Since its grand opening on January 31, the storefront has become more than a tea shop: it’s a sanctuary. Through custom-crafted blends, herbal foot baths, tea tasting ceremonies, yoga experiences, and monthly wellness festivals, Taylor is reimagining what accessible, community-centered healing can look like.

 

In this Q&A, Taylor shares how her early education shaped her confidence, the moment she chose purpose over convention, and why tea — humble, sensory, ancient — became her medium for connection and change.

 

Attending Baldwin taught me to see leadership and excellence as something natural, not exceptional. My primary focus was always my education, which gave me the space to fully immerse myself in the community. I became as involved as possible — serving as class president, captaining my sports teams, performing in plays, and eventually becoming Head of Senate. Being surrounded by young women who were encouraged to speak up, take risks, and lead made things that were once just a possibility, feel within reach. That environment helped me trust my voice early, even when my path later looked unconventional.

 

My teachers and mentors modeled care and attentiveness in ways I didn’t fully understand until adulthood. My basketball coach and science teacher, Dr. Dorfman, my rowing coach and history teacher, Coach Preetam, Dr. Loke in calculus, and Ms. Gold in art each supported me differently — academically, creatively, and personally — helping me grow with confidence. Baldwin emphasized curiosity, reflection, and service, and these educators embodied those values daily. Those early experiences showed me that learning spaces can also be spaces of healing, connection, and belonging, which continues to shape how I build community today.

 

 

That realization came gradually during college, as I navigated anxiety, moments of depression, and ADHD. My mentor taught me a daily practice called 10/10/10—10 minutes each of journaling, meditation, and reading—which I still carry with me today and which grounds my routine. Turning to herbal tea and daily rituals became a form of self-restoration that felt both practical and spiritual. Majoring in Health and Society in college exposed me to health practices from around the world, sparking my interest in holistic and preventative approaches. Over time, my personal healing evolved into a calling to create accessible pathways for others.

 

 

Absolutely. I started college as a double major in premed and studio art, but by sophomore year I transitioned to majoring in Health and Society — introducing me to the moral side of medicine — and Photography, which became my first lane in entrepreneurship and freelancing. I often felt pulled in different directions, attending a college where everyone assumed science was my Plan A and art my Plan B. As a PSTP trainee and Hunt Leadership Scholar at SMU, I found myself in rooms focused on “becoming a world changer” and creating intentional paths for others. By junior year, I knew I needed to shift toward my own path. Studying for the MCAT at Jefferson in Philadelphia, I met a group of entrepreneurs who took me under their wing, and I became Director of Events at REC Philly, using my platform to create intentional experiences and offer wellness workshops to local artists. Choosing intuition ultimately meant redefining success on my own terms and following my pull toward preventative care and plant medicine.

 

 

Rise & Ritual was born during a period of deep personal reflection and healing. During COVID-19, I was furloughed from my role as Director of Events, and with the world appearing to be exploding around me, I had to redefine my daily routine and sense of internal peace and joy. My experiences with anxiety, depression, and grief led me to consider Western intervention for the first time, but before doing so, I returned to my roots—using the gifts Mother Nature provides by making teas and herbal remedies to support my emotional well-being. Blending my first tea, Valor, for anxiety relief felt like reclaiming agency over my health. From there, I began asking friends and family what they were experiencing and needed support with, which led to our first three blends — Valor, Get Lifted, and Breath and Believe—that have since become the heroes of our company.

 

 

Tea invites pause in a way few things do. The process of boiling water, steeping herbs, and drinking slowly creates space for reflection and connection, making it a gentle but powerful way to introduce healing practices into everyday life. My experiences working in labs and hospitals in places like Vancouver, Canada, and Spain showed me firsthand how medicine and healthcare should be practiced, and it reinforced my belief that health care is a basic human right. Traveling to countries such as Japan, Peru, Mexico, Dubai, The Bahamas, and Morocco taught me that drinking tea is a daily practice for people around the world, one that has been honored for centuries. Tea also allowed me to welcome and connect with customers from all backgrounds and cultures, given that it is a universal ritual. Additionally, in my own daily practice, tea became a way to activate all of my senses with intention and presence, enhancing both reflection and ritual.

 

 

They taught me that healing is deeply relational — with the land, with community, and with ourselves. Across cultures, plant medicine is rooted in listening, patience, and respect for tradition. In Peru specifically, I learned to honor the land I was working with: to ask permission to be there, to work with its regional medicines, and to give thanks to the mountains, trees, and elements that constantly provide exactly what we need as we develop through life. Those experiences reinforced that wellness is less about quick solutions and more about sustained connection.

 

 

Community has always been a source of grounding and resilience in my life — it’s in my blood. I come from ancestors who operated in a tribal way of living — from my Cherokee Native American ancestors, to my African and island ancestors, and my community growing up in the inner city — where I saw firsthand the power of people supporting one another as a tribe would. My mom has always been active in our neighborhood and continues to serve as block captain, creating substantial change on the block I grew up on. I’ve seen how collective care can transform individual healing into something sustainable and shared. Rise & Ritual is built on the belief that wellness becomes more powerful when practiced together, and that community is everything — we are all here to experience human connection.

 

 

I hope people feel exhale, warmth, and belonging — a sense of relief, safety, and as if they’ve arrived home. My intention is for the space to feel like a sanctuary where rest, curiosity, and connection are welcomed, and where visitors can receive tools to begin or continue their healing journey or add to their daily rituals. I want them to walk in, take a deep breath as they smell sage burning, and feel surrounded by warm, understanding, and welcoming energy. Even a brief visit should remind someone that care can be simple, accessible, and deeply nourishing.

 

 

Cooperatives center shared ownership, mutual support, and long-term sustainability, and these are values that mirror how I think about wellness. Collective business models create opportunities for communities to thrive together rather than individually, and that alignment makes co-ops feel like a natural extension of my work. This is why we have included over 10 local makers and businesses as consignment vendors in our shop, continuing the wheel of shared exposure, community access, awareness, and financial growth.

 

 

Learning to grow at a sustainable pace has been one of the biggest challenges. I’ve been selling teas through Rise & Ritual for five years, but it wasn’t until we opened our first brick-and-mortar that the vision became tangible and resonated as a direct need within the West

Philly community. One of the hardest parts has been helping people understand the vision before it physically existed — before there was something concrete to show. Balancing vision, financial stability, and personal well-being requires constant recalibration, but with a physical space, the business has grown rapidly and is now being celebrated for its existence. Entrepreneurship continues to teach me patience, resilience, and trust.

 

 

Start by paying attention to what genuinely restores and energizes you. Don’t rush the process of your growth and evolution. Check in often with your inner voice when choosing a path you want to commit to and nurture. Purpose often reveals itself through small, consistent actions rather than dramatic moments, so find space to remove the noise of the outside world and the expectations we’re often told we must follow to live a “successful” life. See your life as a canvas and paint it according to what sparks the most joy and feels sustainable for you. Curiosity and courage will carry you forward, and you don’t need to have everything figured out to begin.

 

 

I would tell her that her path will make sense even when it looks different from others’. That while life won’t always make sense, it will come together and come full circle, revealing why certain experiences and relationships were cultivated in her life. The skills she’s building — empathy, creativity, and perseverance — will matter more than any single achievement. Most importantly, she can trust herself.