From corporate careers to holistic counselling in Montville

Tania and Tayla: “... the work we do is far from alternative, and in fact should be the first point of contact when it comes to looking for the solution to your problems”.

Business Writeup: Cookies & Pickles

Founded to help people create change in their lives, Cookies & Pickles opened its doors in Montville in late August, 2022 and represents a labour of love for its mother-and-daughter business partners.

Tania Thomson and Tayla Roach come from corporate backgrounds, with Tania having been heavily concerned with business finance, data analysis and structure while Tayla was a manager at Apple.

“It was interesting that we both felt compelled to make a change and pursue our passion at the same time,” Tayla said.

“We are all about ‘going all in on yourself’ and this change represents us doing that in our own lives.

“I had owned this shop in Montville for years and when the previous tenants moved on, it seemed an opportune time to make a radical change ourselves!” said Tania. “I always wanted to own a store, and here we are.”

Over 6 weeks, Tania and Tayla renovated and fitted out the space themselves, including the design, the painting, and even polishing the concrete floors. The space is a peaceful showcase for the beautiful products they offer.

“We have body care products, medicinal mushrooms, adaptogenics and self development books,” Tania said. “The intention of the store is to bring people back to the core of natural healing and give them the tools and resources to heal themselves.” 

“We really wanted this community,” Tayla explained. “There are a lot of people here who are interested in wellness and natural healing. As well as providing our own treatments and products, we will be bringing in new practitioners who are in alignment with what we are doing.”

With qualifications in Psychology, Quantum Healing, Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) and a range of other holistic modalities, Tayla takes a multi-faceted approach to supporting her clients.

“I have a degree in Psychology but never felt inclined to register as a Psychologist because I felt it would limit me in terms of what I could offer,” said Tayla.

“My passion is for deep integrative work that leads to spiritual development. I don’t think it is any accident that people who seek me out are generally ready to engage in a collaborative process to ‘do the work’.”

Tayla uses a combination of modalities including NLP, hypnotherapy, past life regression, crystal therapy, colour therapy, spiritual and chakra work to assist her clients to understand and heal themselves at a very deep level.

“People are often then in the position where they are ready to go into a business of their own, or really focus on an existing business with renewed clarity and sense of direction,” Tania said.

“I can help small to medium sized businesses in such areas as set up, data and operating systems, strategy and implementation of systems and processes to get rid of the manual labour that creates errors. So what we are offering is an ‘end to end’ solution.”

“For years we have been heavily invested in holistic practices and services that guide individuals back on a journey of self discovery,” Tayla said.

“We believe that the work we do is far from alternative, and in fact should be the first point of contact when it comes to looking for the solution to your problems.”

Tania agreed. “At the end of the day, when an individual’s mindset shifts to a focus on health and wellbeing, it can be the start of something big. For us, we want to leave this place better than the way we found it, one person at a time.”

Cookies & Pickles is at Shop 5/168 Main Street Montville. You can get in touch at hello@cookiesnpickles.com