Feb 15, 2023
For Diara Chukuigwe, starting her own brand, Yawoni, has been a
deeply personal endeavor. She infuses the brand with her passion
for natural remedies and oils, which she learned about from her
mother and grandmother, who imported them from Mali. The brand
name, Yawoni, is a combination of her mother's nickname, "Ya," and
the word "woni," which means "beloved" in her grandmother's Moorish
language.
Diara is driven by her desire to honor the West African
traditions of her heritage and share her connection to nature with
others. As an expectant mother, she wants to create a legacy she
can pass down to her children. Despite the challenges of starting a
business, Diara finds balance by incorporating self-care rituals
and valuing family.
Quote from interviewee for call-out box:
“My dream and my vision is to also have this two way
communication with Mali where I empower the people back home
because I sourced some of my ingredients from back there.”
Biggest Takeaways You Don’t Want to Miss:
- Yawoni's products include Shea butter, mango butter, and cocoa
butter, which are staples in traditional beauty products from
Mali.
- Personal care and beauty products contain several ingredients
that often include a wide range of endocrine-disrupting (hormonal
system) chemicals like phthalates, parabens, phenols and toxic
metals.
- Body butters can be used in your self-care rituals not only to
provide moisture but also a spa-like and healing experience.
Check Out These Highlights:
- How Daria is balancing self-care (18:55)
- The motivation that drives Daria to keep pursuing her vision
and brand (25:13)
- Daria expresses gratitude for transparent all natural products
and BLK+GRN (34:14)
Quotes:
- “You have to give yourself these times where you allow yourself
to take breath, because it's not a race, it's a marathon.”
- “Growing up, my mom, my grandmother were very into natural
remedies and oils and shea butters and all kinds of natural
ingredients that we would import from my home country, from
Mali.”
- "So [my brand] was very personal it was definitely more than
just business. It was something that I could put my soul into and
share with the world and not focus on loss, but just
creating.”
- “I just want to create a path for women back home to become
more independent and have something of their own.”