I decided during the pandemic, being that I can't do what I love and that's servicing people who want to get their nails done, that I would go down to Maryland where my daughter lives who is expecting a baby. And this light that came on in my head — I don't know how long the quarantine is going to take, but I'm going to take my hand at trying to make some soap. That's what led to the creation of The Body Suite Harlem.
I wish someone would give me a chance to platform my stuff, no different than any of my counterparts.
My daughter works at a shop and she already knew how to make soap, so I had an in-house teacher to basically show me all the basics. I added in all the things that I thought would be amazing and beneficial, because to me, it needed to be a soap with a benefit. We can always get pretty soaps or things like that, but a pretty soap is not going to make your skin feel better. I wanted to make sure that if I was putting something on my skin — on my adult daughter's skin — that it was going to be something that we would love. It became the most passionate thing for me, because I love me for me and I definitely love me for my daughter.
Right now, I'm in survival mode. Because like I said, I saw my business go from thriving to me having a team that I couldn't do anything for. I raised money for them the first week, but I had to take care of me and my family, and my bills. Initially when I made the soap, my friends bought it because they wanted to support me. But then these people that supported me actually tried the soap and I started seeing people return to the site and buy three, buy five, buy 10 at a time.
The support is amazing, especially with everything going on in the world. It's hard when someone feels like you have to be validated according to your colour. But I'm happy that this opportunity is coming around for me because, you know what? I have good product, and it should be. But I wish someone would give me a chance to platform my stuff, no different than any of my counterparts — whatever their nationality is. I'm quite a proud black woman, and I can't say it any other way.