Today we’d like to introduce you to Deanna Fike.
Deanna, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I first got into salt therapy back in 2018 when I moved to Jacksonville and had really bad sinus infections and allergies. A friend suggested that we visit a salt cave in Saint Augustine for a girls day out, and it ended up improving my asthma and allergy symptoms significantly. I quickly found out that one or two visits to a salt cave cleared my sinus infections and improved my asthma for days afterwards. One day in 2020 I was driving down San Jose, not far from where my shop is now, and suddenly received a spark of inspiration that I should open my own salt spa, so I started Earth Salt Stone as a jewelry company in September 2020 in order to manifest opening my brick and mortar business. I began selling homemade jewelry and crystals online and at trade shows while working my full-time remote job and mothering my then two-year-old son. A divorce and losing my job of 14 years were the catalysts for the huge leap of faith which lead me to signing the lease in May 2024, and we finally opened our doors January 17 of 2025. I can’t express how grateful I am for my family and friends for supporting me through the opening, which was not easy, especially my best friend Kessler, who is the shop manager and helped me build the salt cave with our own two hands. It is a labor of love and we are so proud of it!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
From the beginning, there were a lot of challenges regarding getting our lease and dealing with contractors, etc. The timeline that we were promised ended up being about six months longer than we anticipated. Being that I was using all of my retirement money for this project and working on it 100% of the time definitely left me with financial difficulties and lots of debt. But I wouldn’t change any of it for the world! Right now our biggest hurdle is just letting folks know we’re here, and getting customers into the store.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Earth Salt Stone?
I come from a background in graphic design. I received my associates degree in graphic communications, as well as a bachelors degree in art history and was working in the graphic design and print marketing industry for nearly 20 years. My most recent position was senior manager of digital art content for a nonprofit in New York City. After losing my job of 14 years I took the leap and opened Earth Salt Stone, a salt cave and wellness center in San Marco area specializing in Halotherapy and energetic wellness. We offer a beautifully curated wellness shop, salt therapy in our gorgeous, hand-built Himalayan-themed salt cave and classes like yoga, sound baths, workshops and other community events. We also rent out the salt cave and our community space for private events, business meetings, work lunches, etc. I am most proud of the fact that I built this brand from the ground up on my own, using my marketing design knowledge of 20+ years and whole lot of intuition! Right now we are offering discounted packages to allow our local community to come in and get to know us and how Halotherapy can be an essential part of their wellness journey. It’s not just for folks with breathing conditions, it’s wonderful for stress, anxiety, sleep issues, skin, sinuses, and even things like smokers cough and ear infections.
I also started the Holistic Business Association of Jacksonville shortly after I opened Earth Salt Stone. At HBA Jax, we strive to support, educate and grow the holistic business community in Jacksonville. We meet once a month at Earth Salt Stone to network and support each other.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Just go for it, life doesn’t wait for you to feel comfortable. Get started even if it’s messy, everything will fall into place! But make sure you plan for things like extra costs and delays.
Pricing:
- Salt Cave Session $44/45 minutes
- Yoga sessions in the Salt Cave $30
- 4 Sessions per month plan special $79/month
- 1 Week Unlimited special $49
- Unlimited monthly plan $200
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.earthsaltstone.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/earth.salt.stone
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/earth.salt.stone
- Other: https://www.holisticbajax.org/
