4 Sacred Skincare: Honouring Ancestral Knowledge Through Land Based Healing

For Rachel Jannati, founder of 4 Sacred Skincare, entrepreneurship is about much more than building a successful business. It is a way to honour her family, protect traditional knowledge, and create opportunities for future generations.

Rachel credits her late father as her greatest inspiration. A proud Squamish Nation member and Residential School survivor, he was taken from his family at just four years old and endured years of hardship before becoming an innovative entrepreneur and respected boat builder. Despite the challenges he faced, he taught Rachel the importance of working for herself, serving her community, and recognizing opportunities others might overlook.

“Find a need that nobody else is filling, and fill it,” he often told her.

Those words stayed with Rachel throughout her life. She launched her first business at 18 after receiving a small grant to teach yoga before building a successful career as a cosmetologist specializing in skincare, makeup, and bridal services. While working with clients, she noticed many struggled to find natural products that truly supported healthy skin.

Drawing on the knowledge she learned from her family and years spent working with traditional plant medicines, Rachel began creating small batches of clean, natural skincare products. She named her business 4 Sacred Skincare to honour the four sacred medicines: cedar, sage, sweetgrass, and tobacco. While tobacco is not used in her products, she carries it in her medicine bag and offers it to the plants during harvesting as a gesture of gratitude to the Creator for the gift of traditional medicines.

What began as thoughtful gifts for brides and their wedding parties quickly grew into something much bigger as clients experienced the results and began requesting more.

Today, 4 Sacred Skincare also incorporates plants such as Devil’s Club and wild rose into its product line. Every product reflects Rachel’s deep respect for the land and the teachings passed down through her family.

Harvesting is never simply collecting ingredients. It is ceremony.

Before gathering medicines, Rachel offers prayers, songs, and gifts to the land. She harvests responsibly, ensuring every part of each plant is respectfully used while protecting the surrounding ecosystem. Her flagship Devil’s Club products remain intentionally small batch—a commitment she refuses to compromise.

“Our ancestors are embedded in these plants,” Rachel says. “We will grow, but we’ll never lose the teachings that guide how we harvest and create our medicine.”

With support from NEDC, Rachel gained the confidence to expand into farmers’ markets across Vancouver Island. Today, she regularly sells out while shipping products throughout Canada and the United States. Her business has grown to include five Indigenous independent contractors who share her passion for land-based healing and community.

Looking ahead, Rachel’s vision extends beyond skincare. She hopes to teach traditional harvesting practices in schools, Friendship Centres, and community organizations while mentoring the next generation of Indigenous Knowledge Keepers.

For Rachel, success is measured not only by sales, but by ensuring traditional teachings continue to thrive.

Through 4 Sacred Skincare, she is proving that Indigenous knowledge, when shared with care and respect, can create healing for people, communities, and the generations still to come.