Born and raised on the beautiful island of Jamaica, Annya (Annie) White-Brown is no stranger to oils and herbs, and her love for bright things runs deep! She’s a certified Aromatherapist who knows essential oils and herbs are the most ancient and powerful remedies readily available. Annie saw the many benefits of oils and herbs first hand with her infant daughter, so naturally she started putting them to use for skin and hair care. I personally love her baking soda face scrub and lavender body oil. All of her products are made in small batches in her home studio and are uniquely blended with pure essential oils, natural butters and infused herbal oils. They contain no nasty chemicals- no parabens, no sulfates, no phthalates, no weird dyes or fake perfumes, and the products are never test on animals.
I hope you guys enjoy this interview!
​What sets Natural Annie Essentials apart?
NaturalAnnie Essentials was born out of a very challenging experience I had after the birth of my daughter. I took on mixing butters with therapeutic grade essential oils and other all natural products to relieve her skin of the irritation and discomfort she was facing. This therapeutic craft not only healed her skin but also eased me of my stress and started reviving my creativity.
What sets us apart is our love not only for herbs and oils but nature’s beauty itself. Beauty found in everyday life- flowers, trees, grass, and just some of the simplest things you find in everyday life which brings so much joy. This you can see portrayed in our products, our packaging, and that extra touch of beauty found in all our wristlets. What’s that you ask? Roses! all our wristlets are packaged with dried roses that comes straight from my garden. A woman loves to feel beautiful, and what better way to fragrant her products and add a special touch of beauty than with roses! They love it!
What is your advice to emerging entrepreneurs about overcoming challenges in business?
-I’d advise emerging entrepreneurs to always keep going. Being a business owner is not an easy task, and I have stumbled over ever roadblock you can think of, and i am sure many more is on the way- but never stop. Take a break if you need to because it gets extremely overwhelming but never give up.
-Another thing is to ask for help, you will need it, weather it’s with your business or balancing family and life itself.
-Lastly, DO NOT compare yourself with others. This took a great deal of effort and time for me to actually get- but once I did, things got so much better and less stressful. Everyone does things differently, everyone’s business journey is different, the trick is to find your style and master it!
What is the best business advice you’ve received?
A good friend of mine who is also one of my business coaches gave it to me plain and simple one day- she said “You get too tied up on the tiny details, you have to stop, get things done the best you can and move on. Revisit it if you must but don’t stay there all year trying to perfect it”. In my head I have these perfect ideas and I get so caught up in executing every bit of it perfectly. But nothing is perfect- this is a journey where mistakes will be made. So I’ve been working on accepting not everything will be perfect and just keep it moving.
What is a valuable lesson you’ve learned as an entrepreneur?
Progress is the goal, not perfection. I now see why large companies comes out with one product this month and a 2.0 version two months later- the first one wasn’t perfect, so they keep making it better each time. I’ve taken on this method and it has helped me to grow so much in my business.
What is a financial tip you would give to emerging entrepreneurs that has helped you?
-Don’t use your own money for your business! If at all possible avoid this as you will run yourself bankrupt.
What’s next for Natural Annie Essentials?
-Currently I am working to get my products into boutiques and subscription boxes, and in general just spreading my wings to go as far as I can. I’ve added a a line of bags to my product line and I have been getting some amazing feedback. So I plan to partner with a few fashion influencers and in general like minded entreprenures to make great things happen! There is no limit, I keep believing that.
You can shop NaturalAnnie Essentials at :
naturalannieessentials.com and on Etsy at https://www.etsy.com/shop/naturalanniessential
On social media:
Instagram: @naturalannie
Facebook: NaturalAnnie Essentials
xo Yinka
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Office 365 Migrations
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