Did you know AORAE started as a Hair care company in a small dorm room kitchen? To celebrate this humble beginnings, we decided to sit down with our founder, Moanyi, and about how AORAE came to be.
Journalist: What inspired you start AORAE
Moanyi: I actually had not idea I was starting a business. It was September 2018, and I was in my 2nd year of at Spelman College. That fall, I had a very interesting class that shaped my entire life... Nutritional Biology. My teacher was going over various disease cases that sparked my interest and concern. I realized that everything I was consuming whether it was food, beauty products, music etc. A specific case that was really eye opening was about a 45 year old female, who suffered for High Blood pressure. My Teacher was going over the nutritional attributes of the patient and what could have prevent a stroke that she had. Blew my mind. I began to take a closer look into my life and realized the habits and lifestyle i was partaking in, was damaging my health. Now at the time, I suffered from concurrent acne, my hair was badly heat damaged, and my diet was insane. I realized that if I continued on this path that my health would deteriorate. so then In decide to change my life; I started creating my own hair products and became vegetarian.
Journalist: Is this what sparked your love for Plant Medicine?
Moanyi: yes it did. During that time, i was evolving and learning so much about the world and myself. And realizing the beauty and healing powers of nature really inspired me. I became inspired by the beauty around me. My early buisness moto was Nature is YUE-r healer based on my orginal brand name Yueai Botanica. This moto still stands true today in AORAE. I believe that the power of long term healing starts with healing the mind body and spirit. really healing it, not pacifying it or putting a band-aid over the issue but actually getting to the root cause of the issue. Plant MEdicine does that, it promotes the natrual biological responses in the body. it does not supress but supports. As a Student pharmacist, herbalist, and doctor of pharmacogynsy I believe in the combination of all wellness but also it is important to get to the root issue of ailments. nature can heal, and it is our most effective healer if done properly. Which is why my brand is so intentional, in that all of our products are natural, fragrance free, dye free, paraben free, and suflate free.
Journalist: Why did was AORAE originally a hair brand?
Moanyi: Yueai was such a sweet brand, it was actually a blend of hair care and skincare products, I decided to separate them for branding purposes. my hair care brand is on instagram @Ayolehaircare. But I wanted to create a brand that was geared towards wellness as well. Which is why AORAE encapsulates plant medicine. The first products I ever made a flaxseed gel that I twisted my hair with every night, an herbal moisturizing hair cream and my first skincare product was a Turmeric, honey ACV and lemon face mask. I applied it routinely every night. I made all of these products in my dorm room kitchen and stored them in mason jars. A few months later, my family requested some products for their hair so i began to put labels on them but I was not very serious about it until I moved to New Orleans.
Journalist: Why was New Orleans the catalyst?
Moanyi: New Orleans is such a great place for new entrepreneurs, theres so many markets so many people to connect with and everyone supports one another. Now initially, I did not go to New Orleans for Business but i went for graduate school but it just evolved to provideing a space for me to grow a business. in 2021 a year into graduate school, I attended my very first market on my birthday. Now that was a VERY hard market, I spent the entire week preparing. it was such a hard experience and I even had a few hiccups. I actually had no labels on my products as you can imagine, that was very frustrating but that market opened my mind and my heart to a world of possibilites. I saw this as something I never seen before, something that was possible, I never imagined was. After that market, I spent 3 years developing my business with so much help from so many wonderful people along the way.
Journalist: what are some challenges you faced and how did you overcome them?
Moanyi:
Journalist: do you have any advice for new entrepenuers?
Moanyi: my biggest advice is that sometimes we do not realize but we could be the thing that stands in your way. Sometimes we may be in our heads, overthinking, filled with doubt that is not our own but when we realize our capabilites, celebrate our strength, highlight our potiental and make space for our growth, we may see that our vision is attainable. a wise person once told me, if you dont like the cards you were dealt change how you play them.
