What began at home has grown into an Upper Cumberland destination for hundreds of herbs, handcrafted botanical preparations and herbal education—all rooted in founder Sherri Stickler’s belief that faith, science and the natural world don’t have to exist separately.
Walk into Synergy Herbal Works and it takes a minute to take everything in.
There are jars upon jars of herbs. Bottles of tinctures line the shelves. There are teas, salves, soaps and other botanical preparations, along with the unmistakable earthy scent that comes from being surrounded by plants.
And there are a lot of plants.
Today, Synergy Herbal Works says its apothecary holds more than 498 organic and wildcrafted botanicals, with locations in both Sparta and Cookeville. The business describes itself as Tennessee’s largest apothecary, a distinction also used by the Tennessee Department of Agriculture’s Pick Tennessee Products program.
But the shelves only tell part of the story.
Before there were hundreds of botanicals, two storefronts or an apothecary on Sparta’s historic Liberty Square, there was Sherri Stickler—a woman whose interest in plants eventually brought together two parts of her life that might seem, at first, like opposites.
Healthcare and herbalism.
Science and tradition.
And, for Sherri, faith and creation.
Before the Apothecary
Sherri’s interest in the human body wasn’t born inside an herb shop.
She spent years working in healthcare, including respiratory and patient care, an experience she says gave her firsthand knowledge of conventional medicine while deepening her interest in nutrition, herbalism and more holistic approaches to wellness.
Her interest in plants went back even further.
Sherri describes being drawn to the natural world from childhood, but one of the pivotal seasons in her own story came when she became pregnant with quadruplets. As she raised and homeschooled her children, her interest in nutrition and natural living continued to grow. Eventually, that personal curiosity became formal study, mentorship and clinical herbal training. She later became a Registered Herbalist through the American Herbalists Guild.
What she was learning wasn’t destined to remain a personal pursuit.
In 2014, Sherri began Synergy Herbal Works from home, initially offering herbal consultations and education. As the work grew, she eventually moved beyond the home setting and, in 2018, opened Synergy’s Sparta storefront.
It was the beginning of something much larger.
From the Kitchen to Liberty Square
Synergy’s Sparta location sits at 14 Liberty Square, right in historic downtown Sparta.
There is something fitting about finding an herbal apothecary there.
Herbalism is certainly having a modern resurgence, but the practice of knowing plants, growing them, preserving them and turning to them as part of everyday life is much older. For generations, that knowledge was often passed through families and communities rather than discovered through an algorithm.
Synergy has grown considerably since its early days, but that connection between plants, people and knowledge remains central to what Sherri is building.
The Sparta operation isn’t simply a retail storefront. Synergy says its products are formulated and produced in-house there in small batches, including tinctures, teas, salves, soaps and other preparations. Some of the plants used in Synergy products are grown using regenerative practices on Sherri’s family farm or wildcrafted locally, while others are sourced from outside suppliers. Pick Tennessee Products says herbs grown or gathered on the farm travel only a few miles to the apothecary kitchen in Sparta for processing.
That connection from plant to finished product is one of the more interesting pieces of the Synergy story.
It isn’t simply a shop selling someone else’s herbal products.
Some of what sits on those shelves started much closer to home.
Nearly 500 Botanicals Under One Roof
For someone who has never stepped inside a true herbal apothecary, Synergy can feel a little different from walking into a typical wellness store.
There isn’t simply a shelf labeled “herbs.”
There are hundreds of them.
Synergy currently reports carrying more than 498 organic and wildcrafted botanicals, alongside loose-leaf teas, individual and formulated tinctures, tonics, salves, soaps and other botanical goods.
And that enormous collection is part of what Sherri wants people to experience.
An apothecary can be somewhere you purchase something, but it can also be somewhere you learn.
You can see the plants. Smell them. Ask questions. Discover something you’ve never heard of. Attend a class and learn what people have traditionally done with them.
That educational component has grown alongside the retail side of Synergy. The business offers herbal classes, workshops and other educational experiences, while Sherri also offers holistic consultations through the related Restored Wellness practice.
The goal isn’t simply to send someone home with another bottle.
It’s to help people understand more about what they’re using and why.
Faith, Science and Creation
Perhaps the most distinctive part of Synergy isn’t its size at all.
It’s the worldview behind it.
Sherri doesn’t talk about herbalism as though modern science must be rejected for traditional knowledge to have value. Her own background in healthcare makes that divide particularly interesting.
Instead, Synergy has been built around bringing faith, science and creation into the same conversation. Sherri’s Christian faith is openly woven into the business, including her belief that studying plants and the human body is another way of paying attention to God’s creation.
That gives Synergy an identity quite different from the highly commercialized version of “wellness” that has become common online.
There is less emphasis here on chasing the newest wellness trend and more on learning plants, understanding traditional preparations, asking questions and preserving knowledge.
For Sherri, herbalism isn’t simply inventory.
It’s something to be studied and shared.
Growing Beyond Sparta
In October 2024, Synergy opened a second location on Cookeville’s Historic WestSide at 44 South Cedar Avenue. The expansion brought the apothecary experience into Putnam County while the original Sparta location remained the center of Synergy’s production.
Today, Synergy Herbal Works in Sparta and Synergy Herbal Works in Cookeville give Upper Cumberland residents two places to experience the business in person.
And Synergy is still evolving.
The business has expanded into workshops, classes and retreats, and Pick Tennessee’s current listing notes plans for experiences connected to the farm, including workshops, foraging walks and garden tours.
For something that began at home, that’s quite a journey.
More Than an Herb Shop
There is a temptation, when writing about a place like Synergy, to make the story about the sheer number of jars on the shelves.
Nearly 500 botanicals certainly make a good headline.
But the more interesting story may be what those shelves represent.
They represent years spent learning.
Plants grown on a Tennessee family farm and others carefully sourced from farther away.
Products made in small batches in downtown Sparta.
A woman who moved from working in conventional healthcare into studying herbalism deeply enough to make it her profession.
A business that started at home and eventually grew into two Upper Cumberland storefronts.
And an effort to keep knowledge about plants from becoming something people encounter only through a product label or an internet search.
In a time when so much of what we buy arrives anonymously on our doorstep, there’s something decidedly old-fashioned about walking into a shop where you can see the herbs, ask someone about them and know that some of what you’re holding was formulated and made only a few miles away.
That’s exactly the sort of place Tennessee Almanac was created to find.
Visit Synergy Herbal Works
Synergy Herbal Works has two Upper Cumberland locations:
Sparta — 14 Liberty Square, Sparta, Tennessee
Cookeville — 44 S. Cedar Ave., Cookeville, Tennessee
Current published hours for both locations are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.–5 p.m., Monday-Saturday.
Herbal products and educational information are not substitutes for individualized medical advice. Readers who are pregnant, nursing, taking medications or managing a medical condition should consult an appropriate healthcare professional before using new herbal products.
