As Women’s Month comes to a close, I’ve been thinking a lot about where it all began for me.
Before Lotusbtr.
Before I ever poured a bar of soap or whipped my first body butter…
Before I even knew what it meant to create something with intention…
There was my Auntie Tamara.
She studied Chemistry, and to me, that felt like magic. I remember her coming home with molecule models she'd let me play with: small, colorful pieces that somehow connected into something whole. I didn’t fully understand what I was building, but I knew I wanted to be part of it. So she would sit with me, patiently, and show me how to piece them together.
I didn’t realize it then, but I was already being shaped by something bigger!
Because I’ve always been blessed to be surrounded by dynamic women — hustlers, nurturers, creators — in every sense of the word. From my grandmothers, to my mother, to my sister, my cousins, my aunties… I was raised in the presence of women who made things happen, who held things together, who loved deeply and showed up fully.
And my Auntie Mara was such a special part of that.
Looking back now, I realize she wasn’t just teaching me molecules. She was teaching me how to see possibility.
How to take something small, something seemingly ordinary, and understand that it could become something meaningful in the right hands.
And beyond that, she showed me what care looked like.
She never raised her voice.
She never made us feel small.
She loved her nieces and nephews with a softness that felt constant and safe.
That kind of presence stays with you.
It shapes the way you move through the world.
The way you create.
The way you care for others.
In many ways, the work I do today is an extension of those early moments, because even now, I’m still building.
Only instead of plastic molecule pieces, I’m working with ingredients—textures, scents, colors—blending them into something that invites people to slow down, to soften, to reconnect with themselves.
One ingredient that continues to ground me in that intention is lotus flower extract.
The lotus is known for its ability to bloom beautifully, even in murky waters. It’s often associated with renewal, resilience, and transformation—rising, gently and fully, into something radiant.
In skincare, lotus flower extract is loved for its ability to help support the skin’s elasticity, promote hydration, and deliver a sense of calm through its delicate, floral profile. It’s subtle, but impactful—much like the lessons that stay with us over time.
There’s something poetic about that.
That something so soft can also be so powerful.
That something so quiet can still shape who we become.
As Women’s Month comes to an end, I’m not just celebrating women in the abstract;
I’m honoring the women who poured into me.
Who showed me, in both big and small ways, what it means to create, to nurture, and to exist with intention.
My auntie is one of those women.
My first example of curiosity.
My first glimpse of what it looked like to build something from nothing.
And still, one of my biggest supporters.
This month may be ending, but the impact of women like her is ongoing.
It lives in the things we create.
The care we give.
The softness we allow ourselves to hold onto.
And for me, it lives in every product, every formula, every detail crafted with intention.
It's quiet continuation of something she started, without even knowing it.
