MY STORY

31 Jan

Can you believe January is over? I hope 2022 started well for you. For me, this year started with (and will be anchored in) Gratitude. There are so many reasons for me to be grateful. Daily, I am grateful to God; my Creator whose love for me knows no bounds and who has blessed me with great gifts. I am grateful for the love and support of my family. I am grateful for my customers; without whose loyalty, feedback and recommendations this journey would be pointless.

In my first newsletter of the year, I would love to share with you a story of gratitude that is personal; My story and journey in creating EARTH | Essences Aromas Relaxation Therapy Healing® and the amazing people who inspired me; to whom I owe a debt of gratitude.

I would like to begin by giving you some back story about my family and the environment I was raised, as this has provided a solid foundation and motivation for EARTH.

I grew up in a household that thrived on herbal remedies, eating and living well. My mother had a deep appreciation for nutrition and was an excellent cook who would only source the best quality in-season fruits and vegetables. Her approach towards cooking was always very conscious as she would focus on the nutritional benefits of ingredients. She is also a qualified pharmacist and owned a successful pharmacy at the heart of Lagos Island. My mum is by far the strongest and greatest woman I know and I’m so blessed to have inherited some of her strengths.

My paternal grandma who lived with us and whom I loved dearly had various herbal concoctions and tinctures she regularly formulated and used right up until she died; aged 102.

When I turned 16, at the insistence of my loving and unrelenting dad, my twin and I came to England to study. We were very fortunate to live with my mum’s school-mate and very close friend; Mrs. Adejumo during the school holidays.

Aunty Minomi as we call her is also a qualified pharmacist and a medical herbalist. Living with her meant we always had our fill of herbal goodies; also being in her home felt like being in a spa with the lovely aromas that came from her dispensary. I was fascinated by how meticulously she measured and blended her formulations from scratch. She also had a herbal clinic at home and was widely sought out for the efficacy of her products and her expert advise. There, my appreciation for herbal and natural remedies was heightened. Need I say, Aunty Minomi has remained a positive role model and a great asset throughout the process of creating EARTH.

On a personal level; I love to give thoughtful and meaningful gifts that offer relaxation and wellness. For adults it would be gifts like candles, massage oils or pyjamas and for children it was always a pair of pyjamas. My love of giving these kind of gifts would also one day be another reason for my brand.

The journey between my young adult life up to the launch of EARTH was naturally filled with the stressors of modern living and their attendant effects. The nostalgic feeling of growing up experiencing the benefits of herbs and natural remedies would sometimes consume me, creating an urge to do something. I also had a career in financial services which I enjoyed and was very conscious that whatever I decided to do on the side would have to exist in a way that did not get in the way of my day job.

After I turned forty, I knew it was a now or never situation, that if I was ever going to do something, that was the moment. I already had the right building blocks; a family of high achievers, positive role models of strong, hard-working women like my mum, grandma and aunty Minomi. Add these to my personality, my supportive husband, my beautiful children, loving sisters, brothers and loyal friends that believed in me, I knew I had all the right ingredients to start “something”. It became apparent very quickly that the “something” would be amazing and it would be along the lines of natural skincare or wellness products with herbs at its core.

In time, I embarked on a journey of further learning and research. I discovered more about formulating natural self-care products. I studied various natural ingredients, their origins and different uses. I inquired from friends and colleagues about their self-care preferences and ingredients. I found that most of us had a scent, plant or flower that reminded us of our childhood. I also discovered that given a choice we would use mainly natural, organic and ethical products.

I found no shortage of natural and organic skin-care and wellness brands, however, I found only a few had truly mastered the art of effectively incorporating herbs, non-conventional butters and plant oils into skin, hair and wellness products that work and are devoid of synthetic fragrances or perfumes. These types of products were even scarcer in men’s grooming. Interestingly, in all my research, I did not find anything that came close to the superior formulations I was accustomed to.

These insights convinced me that there was indeed a space for the kind of products I wanted to make in a market that seemed saturated. A space for a range that was 100% natural, clean, effective, sustainable and a beautiful natural sensorial appeal with herbs at its core.

So, even though the vision had become clearer in terms of the brand and product range, I needed the expert knowledge of Aunty Minomi. Under her kind guidance, I began to learn more about different herbs, plant oils and the alchemy of making balms, washes and lotions with herbs. This process involved many weekend trips to Maidenhead and spending numerous hours in her dispensary formulating to reach the perfect blends; many of which you now enjoy :-) . Concurrently, I completed a diploma in natural and organic skincare formulation with Formula Botanica.

On the 28th of June 2020, with an audience of 298 friends and family, I launched EARTH. A business born of strong family values, kindness, generosity and firmly rooted in nature. From that moment till now, it has been a privilege to have EARTH formulations included in the self-care kit and regimen of so many people, be a gift of choice for a loved one, win an award, be featured in amazing magazines, pop-up at iconic Fenwick, stocked in boutique stores and appear on the treatment menu of a spa.

The learnings, new connections, personal growth and exciting possibilities that this journey affords me are aspects I am and will always be grateful for.

Thank you for taking time to read my story.