Yimi Afro-Caribbean Apothecary was founded by sisters Davanelle Freeman and Glorae Freeman with a shared vision of creating a space where heritage, traditional knowledge, education, and modern wellness could come together in a meaningful way. Although Yimi is a modern apothecary, much of the inspiration behind it began generations before we ever opened our doors, through family stories connected to herbs, agriculture, food, entrepreneurship, community, and a deep relationship with the land. For Davanelle, those roots are deeply connected to her upbringing in St. Kitts and Nevis and to generations of family members whose lives reflected different parts of Caribbean culture and traditional knowledge. Her grandmother, Albertine Buckley, was known as a bush doctor and carried knowledge of plants and traditional ways of caring for family and community. Her grandmother, Pauline Douglas, began her working life as a weeder in the sugar cane fields and later became a street vendor, selling treats along the waterfront and building a livelihood of her own. Her grandfather, Samuel Williams, was a farmer whose life maintained another connection to cultivation, food, and the land, while another branch of her family story reaches back to Uganda in East Africa, where her grandfather practiced as a traditional herbal doctor. ​What We Built Together Although each of them lived a different life, together their stories represent something much larger: generations of people who worked with what was available to them, cultivated the land, understood plants and food, created opportunities for themselves, cared for their families, and passed knowledge forward. Their experiences are part of the heritage that inspired Yimi, but Yimi was not created simply to reproduce what existed in the past; it was created to give that history a place within the world we live in today. As co-founders, Davanelle and Glorae have taken those roots and built Yimi together, creating an Afro-Caribbean apothecary where people can explore herbs and teas, learn about cultural traditions, ask questions, and become more intentional about the products they choose to include in their wellness routines. We believe that simply having access to an herb, supplement, or wellness product isn't enough, because people should also have access to information that helps them understand what they're purchasing, why they're considering it, and how to make more informed choices for themselves. That belief is at the heart of the Yimi experience. We aren't here to sell you everything; we want you to understand what you're choosing and why. Our shelves may be filled with herbs, teas, and other wellness offerings, but what we are building extends beyond the products themselves. We want Yimi to be a place where education and culture remain part of the conversation, where questions are welcomed, and where traditions can be respected without preventing people from learning, thinking critically, and making choices that fit their lives today. Come Experience Yimi When you walk into Yimi, you may recognize an herb or tea that reminds you of something your grandmother once prepared, you may discover a tradition that feels familiar even though you haven't encountered it in years; or you may be stepping into an Afro-Caribbean apothecary for the very first time. Wherever you're starting from, our hope is that you feel comfortable enough to explore, ask questions, learn something new, and leave with a deeper understanding of what you've chosen and why you've chosen it. ​ Yimi honors the people and traditions that helped inspire its beginning while also making room for what Davanelle and Glorae are building together today and for the generations that will come after them. ​ Our roots tell us where we come from, and what we build from those roots becomes our legacy.