Carpe Diem Holistic Wellness

09/03/2026

Based off of my Google ranking I received this recognition. I thank each and everyone who left me a review to get me to this achievement. This is actually the 3rd year I’ve been sent this letter. I used to have the belief that bragging was distasteful… not anymore. If a business isn’t speaking up they will be forgotten.

I do find it stupid that this company wants me to purchase a window decal and trophy from anywhere of $200-$500. Nope. I’d rather invest my money where it will actually be beneficial.

What will benefit Carpe Diem is word of mouth or social media exposure more like. Please, keep leaving those reviews, please keep sharing Carpe Diem’s social media pages to the community pages. That is the biggest compliment I can receive. Don’t tell me how cute my shop is, or how nice it smells or how good of a therapist I am. I already know that my shop is cute and it smells good and that I’m a good therapist all of that came from my chaotic, creative mind and hard work.
Please, compliment me by sharing so others can find me.

20 years ago we had the yellow pages. If anyone wanted to find a business you’d look there or have advertising on signs or word of mouth, or just happen across a shop by walking or driving around.

Nowadays everything is tied to social media and the ever changing algorithm. My Google score isn’t just based on reviews, Added in is how much people interact with my social media accounts. How many likes, shares, interactions and sales. Determines how easily I am to be found on a Google search. Yes, I said sales. Thanks to “the tech bros” whom I call Skynet. They have created this algorithm into surveillance. Thanks to GPS we are constantly being surveilled on where we drive, what we drive past, where we shop and spend money, what stores we stop in even if we don’t spend and what we search for on the web. Everytime you spend in my shop, even with cash my algorithm is improved. Scary isn’t it?

People just don’t walk the town for fun anymore. All I see is a phone crammed in someone’s face as they pass by the shop. How much of life do they miss out on. I’ve been in Cory for 7 years and people still ask when did I open.

Anyways, thank you again to my constant supporters, I’m sure you’re tired of hearing me beg, lol. But the squeaky wheel gets the grease and I’m (all small businesses) constantly up against invisible metadata that exists in the ether… what a world we live in.
I’ve survived 17 years of business, I’d like to be around for 17 more and that requires nonstop begging and advertising.

Yours fiercely and humbly,
Amber

09/03/2026

From Smalltownstartup:
I've spent enough years sitting on both sides of this conversation to know how backwards we can make this.

I've been the small business owner trying to figure out payroll, rent, marketing, employees and whether the numbers actually work. I've also spent five years in local government, sitting in meetings talking about economic development, downtown revitalization and how badly we wanted more businesses to choose our community.

And somewhere between those two tables, I realized something: we say we want small businesses a whole hell of a lot more than we build communities where it's easy to run one.

We'll call them the backbone of the community, we put them in the tourism brochure, ask them to sponsor the ball team, donate to the fundraiser, participate in every festival and make downtown look alive.

Then somebody actually tries to open one and suddenly they're navigating confusing regulations, permitting, signage rules, parking requirements, buildings that have been neglected for decades, landlords who have no urgency to fill them, financing gaps and five different people telling them five different things in five different buildings. Then we wonder why the storefront is still empty.

Supporting small business cannot just mean asking residents to shop local harder or giving them some marketing here or there. At some point, cities, chambers, economic development organizations, property owners, advocates, and the rest of us have to look at the environment we're asking these businesses to survive in. Is it one we could easily navigate? If not, it should be priority #1 to fix that. The brochure can wait.

That doesn't mean small businesses shouldn't have to compete or work hard to succeed. They absolutely should. A town can give you every opportunity in the world and you still have to build a good, solid business.

But if we're going to keep calling small businesses the backbone of our communities, the least we can do is stop putting unnecessary weight on their backs.

From Carpe Diem: I would also like to add the town council, businesses and residents could take more pride in their community aesthetics. Cory isn't a quaint town, it isn't beautiful or well kept. It's rundown and trashy. And before you jump me for saying the truth, look around. Actually look around. I live here too, I walk often and I see rundown properties owned by slumlords, the people that live there don't care because it's not theirs. My grandmother taught me that no matter where you live, you should take pride in it. It's your home after all.
Go walk around Sewickley. It's well maintained, it's cute and visually pleasing. It's accessible to walk. There is a police presence. (except the parking nightmare). Gettysburg, Sewickley, Salem, NOLA... What do these towns have in common? We can have that too, every single one of us can contribute to our town just by picking up trash instead of waking by it and saying "it's not mine so it's not my problem".... sorry to tell you.. it is your (our) problem.

09/01/2026

08/22/2026

It’s the start of cold and flu season…. And with kids going back to school the spread will accelerate.

Start NOW with (it should be all year) supporting your immune system with elderberry. 1 spoonful a day to keep the flu away
I have 2 bottles left $18 each

I’m open today till 2pm

08/20/2026

A new business opened over on 4th Ave across from the closed PNC bank.
They are called the Urban Bird Sanctuary.

I couldn’t locate a social media account so I have no page to share. But, they sell bird houses, bird baths and seed for our wild feathered friends. Go check them out and support your community🐦‍⬛

08/18/2026

Fun fact:

08/17/2026

08/13/2026

The many cycles of menopause have been a big conversation in the treatment room lately. I myself At 46 am going through perimenopause. Which is also exacerbating the chronic injuries from a near fatal crash years ago.

My doctors suck in helping me find relief. So like with the accident recovery I find myself doing my own research through my medical texts, pubmed, listening to specialists like Dr. Haver and connecting my own dots and figuring out what works for me.

What is tragic is that the majority of my clients don’t even know the many symptoms of the menopause cycle other than hot flashes. And that perimenopause slowly starts in the mid to late 30s.

Give Dr. Haver a watch she is very informative.

In this episode of unPAUSED, Dr. Mary Claire Haver continues her co...