After pandemic isolation, Olivia Steadman-Oladipo launched Shore and Sage Wellness Market with a focus on access and community.
Written by Lauren J. Mapp, Edited by Kate Morrissey and Maya Srikrishnan
Before having her son, Olivia Steadman-Oladipo had researched a variety of resources for new parents in San Diego, including postpartum support groups and breastfeeding classes.
But she gave birth in March 2020, a time when the world — and with it, many resources and third spaces — shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Steadman-Oladipo struggled with postpartum depression while juggling the new responsibilities of being a stay-at-home mom.
“I wanted community, and I couldn’t have it because it was unsafe for everyone — the babies, the parents,” she said. “It wasn’t safe to be in a room.”
When in-person activities like baby-and-me yoga eventually reopened, Steadman-Oladipo said, they often came with hefty price tags as business owners tried to financially recover from shuttering their doors during the pandemic.
“There was this huge push for experiences, and they all came with tickets, and that was inaccessible to me,” she said.
Years later, after moving away from and back to San Diego, she founded the Shore and Sage Wellness Market as a curated third space to center holistic health and community building.
Iris Studio Jewelry owner Kenyotta Boone speaks with customers at her booth at the Sage and Shore Wellness Market on Jan. 25, 2026. She began making earrings in honor of her mother, Iris, who died of cancer in 2007 and always encouraged Boone and her sisters to wear earrings before leaving the house. Brittany Cruz-Fejeran/Daylight San Diego
Only a few months after launching out of the Pilgrimage of the Heart yoga studio in Normal Heights last autumn, the market outgrew the space and migrated down the street. Since January, Steadman-Oladipo has hosted Shore and Sage at the Normal Heights Masonic Center on the fourth Sunday of each month.
Vendors at the market offer a variety of products, including candles, free yoga classes, skin care products, ceramics, jewelry and body art. Guests can also have mini self-care sessions with massage therapists and chiropractors.
Sometimes, the low-stakes, low-cost mini sessions inspire guests to get a massage for the first time, massage therapist Michelle Morris said. Although she owns a brick-and-mortar salon, The Massagerie on Adams Avenue, Morris said sometimes people feel more open to trying massage in a casual, open-air setting than in a private studio that requires booking a full session.
“It’s really cute — I really like whenever it’s somebody’s first time getting a massage,” Morris said. “I think that people seeing it, it’s like, ‘Oh,’ and then they often will have a partner who’s very encouraging that’s like, ‘You need that.’”
The Massagerie owner Michelle Morris massages a client at the Sage and Shore Wellness Market on Jan. 25, 2026. Brittany Cruz-Fejeran/Daylight San Diego
On April 26, the market is returning to Pilgrimage of the Heart to celebrate its six-month anniversary. It will return to the Masonic Center on May 24, where it will include two free fitness classes at 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
While Shore and Sage is a shopping experience, it has also fostered a robust community. Throughout the day, vendors flit back and forth to one another’s booths chatting, while children run around playing with toy cars and guests chat with friends, old and new.
“You’ll see people crying and hugging and laughing and sitting. You’ll see someone watching someone’s kids so they can get a massage,” Steadman-Oladipo said. “It really is just such a special space for you to come and gather and experience, and it was the crux of the idea of what I want this to be.”
While there are markets across San Diego County almost every weekend, many of the vendors at Shore and Sage said very few of those markets are primarily focused on wellness.
“They’re more flea markets. They’re more clothing and just stuff-based,” Morris said. “But I think that this one’s cool because it’s more wellness and holistic healthcare-based, which is fantastic.”
Kikki Avila said Steadman-Oladipo’s intentional focus on health and wellness brands helps business owners build stronger communities.
Avila — founder of Indiefog Naturals, a skincare and hair care company that uses natural ingredients for people with chronic illnesses and sensitive skin — said vendors often share upcoming markets and support each other in the challenges of owning a business.
“It’s just a lot easier to navigate business, especially as a small business or an entrepreneur, because a lot of times you’re missing that community. You’re missing that camaraderie. You’re missing, basically, your whole board of directors,” Avila said.
Indiefog Naturals founder Kikki Avila speaks with a customer during the market on Jan. 25, 2026. Avila began making all-natural skincare and hair care products after exposure to polluted water led to diagnoses of Hashimoto’s disease and irritable bowel syndrome, and she struggled to find relief from her symptoms. Brittany Cruz-Fejeran/Daylight San Diego
Prior to starting Shore and Sage, Steadman-Oladipo sold as a vendor at other markets. She designs guided journals that include self-care prompts, gratitude practices and affirmations. After her partner was laid off in May 2023, Steadman-Oladipo started vending at markets every weekend and sometimes throughout the week, but the events didn’t always have the best conditions.
“I would see things like they don’t provide bathrooms, they don’t provide water, or they have us directly in the sun the entire time,” she said. “It’s like 94-degree days, and we’re out in the sun.”
Now as a market organizer, accessibility in all forms is one of Steadman-Oladipo’s key tenets.
She offers two community-supported spots during each market for vendors with financial restrictions. And when a potential vendor mentioned they couldn’t set up at the prior location because of their disability, Steadman-Oladipo fast-tracked finding a new, more accessible space.
Yaya’s Crib owner Lay Alston speaks to another vendor at her booth during the Jan. 25, 2026 Shore and Sage Wellness Market. Brittany Cruz-Fejeran/Daylight San Diego
Lay Alston, ceramic artist, chef and Yaya’s Crib owner, handmakes the dishware she serves food on during the intimate meals she hosts.Initially, she was inspired to create ceramic art as a kid when watching her comfort movie “Ghost,” a supernatural romance film featuring a scene where stars Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze, who plays the titular spirit, mold clay together at a pottery wheel.
“When I first saw them do that, I was like, ‘I want to do pottery,’ but for some reason my kid brain was like, ‘The clay will cut my hands,’ or something like that, so then I kind of had it in the back of my mind for a while,” Alston said.
After she experienced a spinal cord injury later in life, she didn’t think working at a pottery wheel would be possible since most potters use a foot pedal to spin the wheel. But eventually, Alston decided to take up pottery to make her own dinnerware.
As a wheelchair user, Alston said the way she works with clay is different from her able-bodied peers. She takes a little extra time to set up her work station so that everything is within reach and the pedal is on top of the table next to her.
“I throw differently because I don’t have as much core strength as an able-bodied person, so I have to position myself to work with the wheel, versus against it,” she said.
When Steadman-Oladipo attended one of Alston’s dinners last October, she encouraged Alston to start selling her handmade pieces.
Andale Wellness owner Naiby Mencias places ear seeds onto a customer’s ear at the Sage and Shore Wellness Market on Jan. 25, 2026. Brittany Cruz-Fejeran/Daylight San Diego
During the January market — the first at the Normal Heights Masonic Center — Alston sold her handmade bowls for the first time after previously creating them only for her curated dining experiences.
“She inspired me to put myself out there and be more confident in the work that I have,” Alston said.For Steadman-Oladipo, creating Shore and Sage has been as much about supporting others as finding her own sense of purpose. She said the market has evolved into something larger than what she initially envisioned, shaped not just by her, but by the people who show up each month.
“I wanted to create a third space where we can come and be together,” Steadman-Oladipo said. “I get emotional when I think about it, because it really is just such a beautiful space that has been created and co-created by the community.”
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