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When her husband was diagnosed terminally ill with melanoma following the birth of their daughter in 2002, Ms. McGlynn was motivated to find alternative health options for an illness that conventional medicine could not service at such a late stage. Together, she and her husband explored several holistic healing modalities that at least helped prolong the inevitable. From that experience, Ms. McGlynn took what worked best during that timeframe and started The Wheatgrass Grower in 2005. Today, Ms. McGlynn continually educates herself in her unusual field and keeps abreast of advances in integrative medicine by attending seminars and taking continuing education courses through the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). Though her energies are focused mainly in the area of growing medicinal herbs and functional foods, her education and experiences in conventional health fields help ground her holistic business approach, and most of her clientele comes through physician referrals. In 2008, The Wheatgrass Grower received recognition in several Scranton area newspapers, and Ms. McGlynn was invited by the University of Scranton to represent their Small Business Development Center in Harrisburg for their annual Legislators’ Expo. At the same time, Wheatgrass Grower also received recognition from the Pennsylvania Senate as an example of fine business leadership. |
Ellen McGlynn is an Herbal Information
Specialist through the American Botanical Council and studied
organic gardening practices through Cornell University’s Department
of Horticulture extension programs. Ms. McGlynn graduated Summa Cum
Laude with a BS in Psychology from Chestnut Hill College in
Philadelphia. Her health-related job experiences include working
with severely brain-injured adults, assisting with diabetes research
in a clinical setting at Thomas Jefferson University, and working in
the research labs at Fox Chase Cancer Center. Her interests in
gardening and herbalism were nurtured by two green-thumbed parents
who provided a lifelong example of backyard microfarming as a means
of feeding and providing extra income for a large family.