From Aspiring Park Ranger to Hair Care Pioneer with Dominiqe Taylor.

Speaker 1: 0:32

I'm very much a balanced person. I don't like to sway one way or the other on anything. I want to have my lashes done, I wanna do my makeup sometimes and I wanna go get dirty too. I wanna go play outside and I go back and forth with things and I love that by the way.

Speaker 2: 0:53

Thank you.

Speaker 1: 0:54

So I was having this irritation with like, okay, I want to integrate this part of myself, you know, this more sustainably geared, environmentally minded person into how I like to care for myself. And there's a problem Like shampoo bars at that time were mainly soap and I had tried them on my hair and my hair freaked out and I was going through all these plastic bottles and I wasn't happy about that. So I started with these very, very simple ingredients Shea butters, whipped them up, threw in some essential oils and some other oils and flaxseed gel and that was it. And then that became a problem because I was living in a van. So it's like I'd have to go mess up my friend's kitchen to pick my hair product. And then it's like, okay, where do I store this? Like I'm in a van and I'd have like my cooler. And I started off in a Toyota Minivan, a 97 Toyota Minivan. That was my original van life experience. Okay, the engine blew on that thing. That was heartbroken.

Speaker 4: 2:12

You're such a badass. Thank you, Thank you. I remember when I was a dad, times were hard and things were bad. There's a silver lining behind every bow, Just for people. That's all. We were trying to make a living on a black lander. We put together in a family circle singing now.

Speaker 2: 2:36

During the summer of 2017, while working as a park ranger in Zion National Park, dominique Taylor began experimenting with natural ingredients in an effort to care better for her hair and for her environment. As a biracial woman who values eco-friendly, sustainably sourced products, dominique quickly recognized the absence of sustainable, high quality products designed for ethnic hair that was available in the market In 2020, with a mission of offering a cleaner, greener and more effective product to those with curly and ethnic hair, dominique launched Consciously Curly Company. Today, consciously Curly Company offers several different self-care product lines, many of which have been created around the unique hydrating, growth-promoting and strengthening properties found in a variety of different mushroom species. On episode 44 of Bend magazines, the circling podcast, join me and my friend, dominique Taylor as she shares her story of landing in Bend, oregon, the level of hustle required to work a full-time job in healthcare and start a haircare business, and her future goals for 2024 and beyond. Yo, dominique, it's been said that to be a genius is to be able to put into effect that which is in your mind as an idea. I think this might be right and I'm pretty sure you are, in fact, a genius.

Speaker 2: 4:06

Bend magazines, the circling podcast, is proud to be associated with Nota. Since adding visual show notes on Nota, feedback from listeners has been extremely positive. Visit Nota at notafm and experience how Nota takes you beyond the episode and makes podcasts even better with visual show notes. The circling podcast can now be found on Patreon. Visit our page and learn how a percentage of your financial support will support local nonprofits and the continued growth of local community podcasting. Become a member and learn about this unique opportunity at patreoncom. Forward slash the circling podcast. Lastly, remember to stay tuned after the show credits to hear from Dominique as she contributes to our Blank Canvas community art project that explores the magic found in art embedded with me. Thank you for watching. I'm going to be doing a little bit of a video about something I created in this magazine.

Speaker 2: 5:43

I didn't mean to cut you off. What were you saying? I was just thinking about what I created, and that's just like blowing my mind.

Speaker 1: 6:03

Good, you deserve it, this, erica Badu.

Speaker 2: 6:09

I'm a big fan of the music I created in my school. It's the year I moved to Salt Lake City to snowboard and I listened to this album all the way from North Idaho to Salt Lake City. Are you serious?

Speaker 1: 6:26

How do I never know? This is a true story.

Speaker 2: 6:32

I listen to it. Music, especially prior to it, digitized, when it was still fairly analog was a little more challenging to consume. Therefore, I think you had less variety. So there were certain songs that resonated with certain seasons of life, and that still happens. You don't have to go buy CDs or even have subscription, it's just easy. There are certain albums like this album.

Speaker 2: 7:10

I have a ton of Tom Petty albums that play that role too, I was so hyped when you were like Erica Badu, Plus I lived in Utah and you have too Not many Erica Badu fans that I've come across in Utah. How about?

Speaker 1: 7:28

in Bend? Not much. No, I don't think I've ever had an Erica Badu conversation in Bend or in Bend I thought we could just start about it.

Speaker 2: 7:41

It's fun.

Speaker 1: 7:43

My favorite artist of all time I think I also put in that question is Tosh Sultana. Erica Badu is a big inspiration for them. When I found that out too, I was just like yes, because Erica Badu is one of those people that if you know of her music, you're a fan Absolutely.

Speaker 2: 8:04

For me. I think what drew me to her back then was there was parallels with Lauryn Hill. The inspiration behind the lyrics is very powerful.

Speaker 1: 8:22

That's rad.

Speaker 2: 8:24

Hi Dominique, hey Adam, I'm hyped to see you. I've been looking forward to this.

Speaker 1: 8:29

Me too.

Speaker 2: 8:30

How are you Good? How's your hustle factor?

Speaker 1: 8:34

I'm on that hustle game. For sure I'm going, going, going. But I have a vision, I have a plan. I'm just trying to follow it through and trying to make the most of it in the meantime.

Speaker 2: 8:53

What else is going on in life? Are you still working? I work full time.

Speaker 1: 8:58

I run consciously Curly Co. I'm so passionate about that and I definitely want to be spending more time doing that.

Speaker 2: 9:09

And you're still working at the VA. Love it.

Speaker 1: 9:12

But I work full time at the VA as well which is a good environment for me. It's fun.

Speaker 6: 9:17

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 9:18

I like the people I work with. I like my schedule.

Speaker 2: 9:21

Tell people kind of the general summary of what you do at the VA.

Speaker 1: 9:25

So I'm what they call an advanced medical support assistant. So it's kind of your typical behind the scenes administrative stuff like scheduling, communicating with the community, getting records. A lot of similar is when we were working together.

Speaker 2: 9:42

Yeah, I tell your story a lot to people about your hair products and your hustle and your energy and your vulnerability, and yeah, so I was excited. You know, every one of these podcasts I do, I try to start with like why, what's the why behind this episode? And you know, and I try to share a story. In your case, you know it's, it's. I know you personally, but I'm also a fan of you on a professional level, thank you, and which made it fun, because I love telling the stories behind cool brands, which really means telling the story of the person behind that cool brand, especially in its early stages, which means that I get to tell a story about the you.

Speaker 2: 10:39

Who's the cool, rad person behind a rad brand. Thank you, and I get to hear it from you because I've heard pieces of it but I haven't heard it like kind of the whole story arc. Yeah, and there's and I know I've recommended books to you in the past, but I was reading this one earlier this week the story brand. I think the guy's name is Don Miller and he was talking about you know, there's a lot of different marketing strategies and business and startup, but kind of using a story arc approach, especially like many brands, oftentimes the product of the brand is the hero of the marketing campaign, whereas his argument is your customer should be the hero of your brand. And that seems very, very authentic with kind of your brand, you know, especially after talking to the people that I talked with this week which was rad. That's a huge compliment.

Speaker 2: 11:35

So I thought you know you're the story, dominique Taylor, and your story, you know, is a great one, from what I've learned, and it starts. I thought we could start it with your childhood friend, francis.

Speaker 1: 11:51

Oh, you talked to.

Speaker 5: 11:52

Francis.

Speaker 2: 11:52

I did.

Speaker 5: 11:54

So we actually grew up in Northern California like a very small town, a very small town in Shasta County, and oftentimes people say there are more cows than people in the town and I think that's probably true, like that's probably accurate. So, yeah, very small town, very conservative town, and that's how we met and have just been friends ever since. Meeting her at that time was so meaningful for me and like, especially like in hindsight, like feeling so, feeling so isolated and alone in that area and having like this incredible friendship and bond with Dominique who, as you know, is just this amazing person, it really helped me a lot get through that time. So after high school, dominique moved to Utah and Dominique has always been someone who's very creative and also very connected to just like the earth and the outdoors, very passionate about the outdoors, also like very science minded, like very much like just a very intelligent person and very scientific in how she, even as a young adult, was thinking about, like her positionality and her position in the world and climate change and the impact that she was having on the environments. Those were all things that really early on in life she was talking about and thinking about following graduation after moving to Utah really getting more connected to, like the location there, the environment there, the community there.

Speaker 5: 13:31

Also, I think, struggling to find products that were marketed towards her and the type of hair that she had, feeling really isolated in Utah, not seeing a lot of people around her that looks like her. So I think all of those things from talking to her were like pieces of inspiration for her to create consciously curly co. I can't think of a period in Dominique's life where she wasn't grinding and she wasn't just putting her all into everything she could. Truly, she's incredibly resilient, like maybe one of the most resilient people I know. She's been through so much and has come out, like on the other side, just so strong and motivated and compassionate and empathetic and loving. It's really cool to see. I'm just so thrilled at all the amazing things she's doing and love the idea of just amplifying it more.

Speaker 1: 14:42

Wow, that's special.

Speaker 2: 14:45

Yeah, you have some remarkable people in your life that love you a lot.

Speaker 1: 14:49

I'm very lucky.

Speaker 2: 14:51

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 14:55

Yeah, that girl has seen me through everything, so that's really cool yeah.

Speaker 2: 15:01

I'm glad I was able to get in touch with her.

Speaker 1: 15:03

Me too, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: 15:06

Cottonwood.

Speaker 1: 15:06

California. I wasn't anticipating this, no one ever is.

Speaker 2: 15:12

That's what's so fun about it. Wow, yeah, yeah, I don't even want to say I just want to get a box of tissues in here.

Speaker 1: 15:23

Wow, she just sums it up all really well and she's just held my hand through everything. Yeah, so she's a professor at Sac State.

Speaker 2: 15:39

She's so just amazing to talk to and listen to, totally Listen to. Is it sociology? Is that what she did?

Speaker 1: 15:47

Yeah, so social work.

Speaker 2: 15:49

Social work yeah, yeah, yeah, social work, yeah. Psychology yeah, that's cool.

Speaker 1: 15:54

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 15:55

I mean so. You grew up in a very small town in rural Northern California Even smaller than Reading so we usually just say Reading because it's what people know.

Speaker 1: 16:06

But I grew up in Cottonwood, so I grew up in this tiny little gated community and truly I had one black neighbor. I thought it was my grandma. One morning I was standing at the bus stop and I see this black lady coming down the road and I was like that's my grandma. I sprinted to her and was like grandma Wasn't my grandma. But yeah, that's just kind of what it was like there.

Speaker 2: 16:36

Did you get to know that woman?

Speaker 1: 16:39

No, actually she didn't last very long yeah.

Speaker 2: 16:43

I was, you know, I don't know when you moved away from Cottonwood what year it was Freshman year in high school. So what year did you graduate?

Speaker 1: 16:54

High school, yeah, 2011.

Speaker 2: 16:56

Ok, so the census of Cottonwood, california, in 2010 had a population of 3,316 people and at that point in time, according to this, there were four African-Americans that lived there, yeah, so, yeah, I mean just to you know, I just think it's incredibly contextual that people understand, kind of like, where you grew up, where you're from, it's part of your story which is, you know, part of your brand, because you are very much your brand which is amazing.

Speaker 2: 17:40

But yeah, I mean, I just you know, I'm just one. Wherever you want to go, with that really.

Speaker 1: 17:46

Yeah, I mean, and I want to say I'm really lucky because I know a lot of people. I meet a lot of mixed women. So I'm mixed Maltese and Black. My mom's background is from Malta and I meet a lot of women who are like adopted or just mainly grew up with the not-Black side of their family, who didn't get to have this experience with our culture. And I feel very lucky because I did Like I got to go and spend just about every summer with my aunt, detra and Sacramento, so she went to an all-Black church. I grew up Seventh-day Adventist, which is also not very dominantly Black.

Speaker 1: 18:29

But, they're just happened to be this Seventh-day Adventist church in Sacramento that was dominantly Black, and I would go and, yeah, like I said, spend this whole summer with her and just really get to be enveloped in that culture. Go to cookouts. Go to get my hair done.

Speaker 1: 18:50

These things are such a big deal in the Black community and really valued. So I learned a lot from her and I'm just really grateful. I feel like that's something that would have been missing in my life. And it's interesting to when I would be in school, I was definitely the Black girl. Then I'd go to Sacramento and I was more like the White girl because I'm mixed. And so there is this thing within the Black community of shade.

Speaker 1: 19:25

I guess skin color, lightness, darkness, and anyway, it's just been really interesting to have this experience and have this brand where I can connect with all of these different women with these different experiences. And there's this thing that unifies us and it's our hair. It's amazing and it's just important to each of us, no matter what our background is. It's just this thing that has carried on, I feel, through generations and it's just hard to really explain how important it is.

Speaker 2: 20:02

Well, it's an ultimate common ground.

Speaker 1: 20:04

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 20:05

You know, I mean, it takes away all the shades of minor differentiation, which is great. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 20:17

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 20:18

How did your parents like? What's the story about how your folks landed in Cottonwood?

Speaker 1: 20:24

That's a good question. I don't know that. I've ever really asked. I know my mom grew up actually in Texas so she moved to California from Texas when she was really young. And she was always really close with her sister. And I know my aunt her name's Carmela, but we call her Candy.

Speaker 2: 20:45

This is the one in Sacramento. No, that's my Aunt Dettra. So this is my mom's sister. Ok, OK.

Speaker 1: 20:51

So I think she kind of followed my Aunt Dettra there. She had my brother and was just kind of on her own and trying to build a community and you know so I think that's how she landed there. As far as my dad? I'm not entirely sure.

Speaker 2: 21:05

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 21:05

His family is from Louisiana.

Speaker 2: 21:07

OK, so I'm going to New Orleans in February. I've never been. Yeah, I'm excited, I'm excited for you.

Speaker 1: 21:15

Yeah, have you been there? Uh-uh? Yeah, no, it's going to be, but I know it's a rich culture.

Speaker 2: 21:20

Yeah, I mean it's about as far away as from Bend Oregon as you can get Good for you. Yeah, it's going to be fun. My wife has a conference there and I'm tagging along.

Speaker 1: 21:30

Awesome.

Speaker 2: 21:30

Yeah, it'll be fun. After high school and Francis talked about it you moved to Utah from Northern California. Talk about that.

Speaker 1: 21:42

Yeah, I was ultimately really looking for somewhere with tuition for school. So I was going to Shasta College for a moment and there was this rumor that it was losing its accreditation. So I had this plan where I wanted to do the whole junior college type thing and then transfer.

Speaker 2: 22:00

That's what I did, yeah.

Speaker 1: 22:01

And I kind of had a freak out of like I don't want to waste my time here. So I actually moved to Sacramento for a hot second and just had fun with girlfriends who were going to Sac State. And then I went to Utah because at the time the school that I went to was called Dixie State University, which is now. Southern Utah.

Speaker 2: 22:24

Polytechnic. Yes, yes, which was a whole push while I was going to school there, yeah, but that was an interesting experience, all kinds of change happened when I went to school there.

Speaker 1: 22:37

But was that pretty?

Speaker 2: 22:37

heavily Mormon. Yeah, yeah, and they considered this area Utah's.

Speaker 1: 22:41

Dixie. Ok, so it was just like I did not know what I was getting myself into. Ultimately, I didn't even really know what Mormonism was. Yeah, I was like I don't know what I was getting myself into, but when I got into the Mormonism was. I knew the place was beautiful and I knew the tuition was cheap.

Speaker 2: 22:59

And I was like OK let's see how this goes.

Speaker 1: 23:02

I've always had a really big sense of adventure. Like I like to just dip my toes in everything.

Speaker 2: 23:09

But yeah, so that's how I wound up there. What another area that Francis talked about is kind of your relationship with being outdoors and, like who was instrumental in kind of shaping you or exposing you to that as a kid, or was it just a byproduct of where you grew up?

Speaker 1: 23:29

My dad.

Speaker 2: 23:29

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 23:31

I get emotional talking about my dad. He's made so many mistakes. But you know, when you like, when you just really feel for someone and you don't ever question their love, what the hell but you're good but they've made just so many mistakes and like there's boundaries, you have to keep. Because of that, that's where I'm out with my dad.

Speaker 1: 24:17

Yeah we were inseparable when I was younger, so he was big into the outdoors. A big part of like Seventh-day Adventist religion is Nature. Like I would watch Animal Planet every Saturday, I mean that's all I could watch.

Speaker 1: 24:39

But I just loved it too there's worse things and and really we had like this limitation of what we could do on Saturdays or Sabbath, like sundown to sundown, right a Saturday night, saturday night, and so we always just ended up playing outside, I guess, but my grandparents lived on, I'm gonna guess, like five acres okay and Anderson like way out in the sticks and we would just go on these like nature walks, my dad and I, and Like kind of apply whatever we watched on on Animal Planet and like get our fingers stuck with sap and just like look at spiders and dig in pine cones and Just I don't know, climb these trees. And so he definitely. What's the word?

Speaker 1: 25:34

Cultivated yeah that curiosity of nature. And Then, when I was in high school, I I wanted to get healthier, I wanted to just be this better version of myself. So I started convincing my mom to go on hikes with me and my mom's not an outdoorsy person at all, but we did it like we would just be these two girls, just, you know, go and find in some trail. We had no clue what we're doing, but it's such a special time to reflect on, especially like the experience I've gained and now you know, in the outdoors, and like skills I've learned and yada yada. But just how much I had this pool always to be out there, to the point of where I'd convinced my mom and I mean she put up a fight like Dominique not want to be out here. I worked all week. I'm like, okay, I'm gonna go by myself then. And she wouldn't allow that. Of course I'm like 16 year old girl, but yeah, so I don't know. It's a combination of my dad really curating it and me having just this natural pole.

Speaker 1: 26:49

Yeah always to be outside.

Speaker 2: 26:51

Yeah, and then and then you studied biology in college, so it was part of that, probably a natural, like just the trajectory set from your curiosity, the little kids and just studying life.

Speaker 1: 27:04

Yeah, yeah that's amazing.

Speaker 2: 27:06

Yeah yeah, I studied biology. That that's what my undergraduate was in it, but it was. It wasn't for the same reason, you know. I mean it's. It's fascinating when you get into the.

Speaker 2: 27:18

You know the, the microscopic world of the planet that we live on is is you know, incredible, incredible and and I remember in some of the heavy science classes you just think about the vast majority of the world go through their entire or vast majority of the planet. People on the planet go through their entire kind of experience, a life, and never really you know, never really understand just how Complex it is, and I know that's kind of an obvious statement, but when you really start studying the complexities of it, it's phenomenal, yeah, it really is and in multiple different areas of study. Yeah, you know, physics, chemistry, biology.

Speaker 2: 27:58

Yeah that's stuff. It's fascinating.

Speaker 1: 28:01

Yeah it is yeah, yeah, that's cool.

Speaker 2: 28:05

So you also studied. I mean biology slash environmental science, what, what were you? Did you have a? Did you have kind of an idea of what you wanted to do?

Speaker 1: 28:14

Mm-hmm, I wanted to be a park ranger, so I Fell in love with Zion National Park and I was like, okay, well, this is right here. Like I've got this doorway, you know, I can do this thing.

Speaker 2: 28:32

Which is in Utah?

Speaker 1: 28:33

yeah, yeah, so it was like 40 minutes from St George.

Speaker 2: 28:39

Which is where you were going to school. Mm-hmm, I got lost on a backpacking trip in Zion.

Speaker 1: 28:43

What did you? Yeah Well, do you remember what you were backpacking?

Speaker 2: 28:46

Nope West Rim maybe, uh, I don't. It was so long ago, it was probably 1998, it was 97, 98 Fall, and we went backpacking and I just remember we got lost. We were lost for like two days, you know. I mean, we figured it out, we had a general sense of where we were, so we knew if we just walked in one direction long enough We'd run into something. Yeah but, and quite honestly, it was pretty fun.

Speaker 1: 29:12

It's a beautiful place, oh it's.

Speaker 2: 29:14

Ridiculous.

Speaker 1: 29:15

Yeah, man, I would love to see Zion in the 90s.

Speaker 2: 29:19

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 29:19

Like wow, I'm sure it was so much more just enjoyable.

Speaker 2: 29:24

The geology is insane yeah. Yeah like otherworldly. Yeah, you know it is, it is.

Speaker 1: 29:31

Oh my gosh, I get chills, just like I'm ready to go back. And well two years. Yeah yeah.

Speaker 2: 29:42

So on your website, you it's it. You wrote. So there I was. I was living in southern Utah in a van, I worked in Zion National Park, was obsessed with photography and was going to university for biology and environmental science. Before you paint a clear picture of me, though, let me let me also say this I got my lashes done like clockwork every two weeks. I don't think living more sustainably means sacrificing every single aspect of your life. I believe there is room within a sustainable lifestyle for luxuries that make us feel our best. Consciously curly company began as a few simple products that I made for myself in an effort to care better for my hair and the environment. Contextually, like you're the, the. The problem that you were trying to solve that is evolved into your brand was was born During your time working as a park ranger in Zion right, so you know, go through the kind of the early stages of what were.

Speaker 2: 30:41

What were your first, like Ingredients, and, and why did you do this? And and talk about a little bit about your I mean. I, I would. I would imagine that a lot of your Convictions with sustainability and environmentally friendly Ego products comes from your Education and understanding about the delicate balance of life you know, yeah, so talk a little bit about that yeah, so. Yeah, I was living in my van.

Speaker 1: 31:14

So I would go and work in Zion For like three, four days out of the week and I just camp out in my van while I was doing that and then I'd go back home and stay with friends, like on the weekend in St George and Girls with curly hair. People with curly hair go through a lot of product. I'm not even exaggerating when I'd say I was going through you know five, six, maybe seven, eight plastic bottles of Product, whether shampoo, curl creams, gels, like. There's an array that we use right in the hair every month, every month and a half. So educate me a little bit about some of the like differences between ethnic hair and like.

Speaker 2: 32:04

Caucasian hair in terms of its Propensity to hydrate and hold hydration, because there's different. There's massive differences there from what I was reading. Yeah, really what? It comes down to is your hair's porosity. So there are.

Speaker 1: 32:23

Look at that higher porosity. You did your homework. Yes, I'd never even heard of that term. Yeah, yeah, so higher porosity. So, as I'm saying it comes down to Porosity like there are people outside of the black community that have Black texture, or like ethnic For lack of better words textured hair. Yeah, because it's all it has to do with the hair follicle.

Speaker 1: 32:57

Yeah, yeah, it has to do with the follicle and the cuticle and how open that cuticle is or how close the cuticle is and, like you're saying, well, I'm not sure how close the cuticle is and, like you're saying, like the shape of the follicle. So I've learned Through this I used to think it was more like black and white and I've learned there are a lot of people outside of the black community who have the same texture but don't have the same skills and don't have like the same Teachers.

Speaker 1: 33:34

I guess, you know, like they didn't have these grandma's and aunties and all these people to show them how to care for their hair.

Speaker 2: 33:42

And when you say care for their hair, and when you were going through eight bottles of product, is that to keep your hair Hydrated, because it dries out quicker?

Speaker 1: 33:52

Is that the main living in St George? Yeah, like there's so many, so it's not I mean styling is part of it but a lot of.

Speaker 2: 33:59

It is just the actual health and comfort.

Speaker 1: 34:01

Yeah, yeah and, and there are so many things that come into play, like you, the ingredients used, like humectants. So kind of to take it back to what you were asking me earlier is like, how did this thing start right? Like, and they started very simply, I was just slapping on shea butter and, like most black people have had their experience with some shea butter like cocoa butter, shea butter all day so I was like, okay, I know this will do something. And then I started learning about making stuff out of natural ingredients, like flax seed. You can boil flax seed and make a gel. Like you boil it, you squeeze the seeds through some type of cloth and you get a gel and it's. It works pretty good. But you leave that under your counter and you got a whole.

Speaker 2: 34:54

Another issue mold and right, it's got a definite shelf life.

Speaker 1: 34:59

Yeah, yeah so and it doesn't exactly like create the same effect, you know, as these more luxurious Lee crafted products do. Right, and I wanted that, like I'm very much a balanced person.

Speaker 2: 35:16

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 35:16

I don't like to sway one way or the other on anything yeah. I Want to have my lashes done totally. I want to do my makeup sometimes and I want to go get dirty too, like I want to go play outside. So and I like go back and forth with things and I love that.

Speaker 2: 35:34

Thank you.

Speaker 1: 35:36

So I was having this like irritation with, like, okay, I want to integrate this part of myself you know, this more sustainably geared, environmentally minded person into how I like to care for myself. And there's a problem like shampoo bars at that time were mainly soap and I had tried them on my hair and my hair freaked out and I Was going through all these plastic bottles and I wasn't happy about that. So I started with these very, very simple Ingredients shea butters, whipped them up through in some essential oils and some other oils and flaxseed gel and that was it. And then that became a problem because I was living in a van. So it's like I'd have to go mess up my friend's kitchen and it's like, okay, where do I store this? Like I'm in a van and I'd have like my cooler.

Speaker 1: 36:41

And I started off in a Toyota mini van a 97 Toyota mini van. That was my original van life experience. Okay, the engine blew on that thing. I was heartbroken. Then I moved to a oh God, what year was it? I don't know. I think it was like a 2015 Nissan cargo van.

Speaker 2: 37:09

Okay.

Speaker 1: 37:09

I could stand up in it.

Speaker 1: 37:11

Yeah, I was living my best life and and I had met my now boyfriend and he was helping me build it out, so it was not a finished product, you know. So I just didn't have any where to store these things. I was like, okay, I have to take it to the next step, like I've committed to this, I'm not going back to all these products. I've got to learn more, I've got to learn how to preserve this, I've got to learn how to make it last, and so I started looking into that and just from there, things just kind of built on themselves.

Speaker 1: 37:43

Yeah like I got really curious about it. I really like to see things through and I like I can't stop until I've kind of mastered it. And so, yeah, I just, and I don't feel I'm still learning so much. You know, like everything is always evolving.

Speaker 2: 38:03

Well, yeah, and that's reflective in your product line. Yeah, you know yeah.

Speaker 2: 38:08

You started with a product and now I think you have on your website. What do you have like? One, two, I mean, you have like multiple different cat. Yeah, different, different categories of products. Now it's phenomenal. Were there products on the market at that time that were checking the boxes for you in terms of kind of specialized towards ethnic or curly hair, that were kind of in granted? You know, 2017 is when you started doing this. I think you wrote. Yeah so like that wasn't that long ago.

Speaker 2: 38:44

Yeah, and maybe there were yeah, but like online, yeah, I don't know.

Speaker 1: 38:48

But Etsy shops and stuff, yeah, but I ever came across in terms of stores and I would go to zero-way shops, like I would go on trips to go to a zero-way shop.

Speaker 2: 39:32

What's a zero way? Oh, zero Waste.

Speaker 1: 39:34

Yeah, yeah, like with these refilleries and and I would be looking for that. I go to these fairs like anytime I was in LA and Michael Cam and a look at all the shops.

Speaker 2: 39:45

Nothing, wow.

Speaker 1: 39:46

Yeah, yeah, and and not even that, but just like, even outside of curly hair like it was skimp like it was. People were skimping on Really well formulated products.

Speaker 2: 40:01

Yeah, I didn't. I didn't when you were. I was spending some time. I Want and I've said this before one of my fate, and I've probably said it to you one of my favorite things about doing this podcast is how much you learn, and just learning about the Different concerning ingredients that are commonly found in a wide variety of hair products, and you know things that Can you know ingredients that are thought to potentially interfere with hormone you know distribution and there's even been links, I think, to like carcinogenic yeah and there's even been studies done that.

Speaker 1: 40:47

Have studied the amount within ethnic products in comparison to.

Speaker 2: 40:53

I was gonna bring that up yeah. I found that same stuff. That was mind-blowing like jaw dropping yeah. Yeah and, and I so explain what we're talking about. Yeah because the way I understood it was and correct me if I get this wrong a lot of Self-care yeah, a lot of self-care ingredients targeted like for value self-care ingredients have an incredibly Disproportionate amount of dangerous ingredients. The vast majority of those products are most commonly found in lower income populations yeah and that that's just that's what's accessible.

Speaker 2: 41:39

Yeah, it's kind of like the, the self-care version of Fast food in a way yeah you know what I mean. Yeah, would you agree with that? Yeah, yeah totally. So, yeah, that that was just that was. That was really interesting. I don't know, I've never heard that before. Yeah and it seems like wow, I don't know how many people. Do you think many people know that?

Speaker 1: 42:01

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 42:01

I think a lot of well.

Speaker 1: 42:03

I think a lot of consumers are catching on to that.

Speaker 2: 42:06

I I'm also incredibly naive about a lot of stuff especially women's hair care products. Yeah, yeah, I've not anymore.

Speaker 1: 42:13

Yeah, well, and it is a hard thing to figure out, right, like how to make these things, as Ask Kyle, what my biggest crossroad is with this business is how can I make it more accessible? How can I like Just make it more available to these people who those products are only? You know, though they only have access to those products. How can I get this to them?

Speaker 2: 42:42

Well, I mean, your prices are incredibly fair. Probably like girl you should probably raise those prices a little this goes into you know your, your strengths are not business.

Speaker 1: 43:02

Told you, it's a passion project. I struggle with that I struggle with that because I grew up very poor and I don't think that's a bad thing.

Speaker 2: 43:13

Yeah, it's not, it's not at all. Yeah because I don't. You know, and you know, going back to books, that I've encouraged you to have helped me. A lot was the E-myth. You know where people find. They find there like you're not the manager, you're not the business person. I'm not either. I'm horrible at business, I'm a very you know me. I mean I'm a thinker, I'm an idea person and I love that doesn't mean you can't learn business. Yeah, but just knowing your, your weak spots, you know yeah but yeah, well, let's talk about your prices Going back to.

Speaker 2: 43:52

It's very. We just got to get the word out. It's very affordable.

Speaker 1: 43:55

Thank you. Well, I am told that and I really try to absorb that. There's something I think maybe I just need to work through as far as like not feeling like I need to give everything away and Knowing that I'm worthy of making what this is capable of making. That's something I'm working through.

Speaker 2: 44:19

Where do you think that comes from, because I'm very similar. You know like even with this podcast.

Speaker 2: 44:24

You know it's like the idea of starting to monetize it Is is not so it's complex to me because it changes your relationship with it yeah and and I think you would probably Understand what I'm talking about, because you started this not with an idea to make money, but it's an idea, something that you became passionate about, to solve a problem, and you have a giver's heart, so you're you're just as prone to give it away, because you get more joy from that and getting money true and you know, unfortunately, joy doesn't pay the bills.

Speaker 2: 45:00

So it is like this real, it's a real, you know yeah struggle for, I think, a lot of people you know and I'm learning that lesson right now.

Speaker 1: 45:10

Right, like we were saying earlier, I'm grinding and hustling, and I have been for a long time. I know you ready to play more and Enjoy my life. Yeah. Have more balance in that regard. So I do feel I'm I have to feel things out like I have to kind of work my way there. I'm a little bit of a learn the lesson the hard way kind of person that is. I mean, mistakes are just the first attempt in learning.

Speaker 2: 45:40

Yeah, you just don't want to keep making the same one. Yeah, but I do feel myself getting there of like okay.

Speaker 1: 45:49

There is no way to argue this anymore, like it is a little bit of a it. There's not as much of a gray area here is. I want there to be as far as like basically being a charity and like Over over servicing, I guess like um, not having guilt about the exchange of like, I'm offering you a quality product, and that comes at a price.

Speaker 2: 46:25

There's so much value in your product. Thank you so much and you know I mean it, I hear you and I absolutely respect the process you're going through and I have no doubt in my mind that as time goes on, you're gonna become more comfortable with people telling you that there's a lot of value in that, thank you. So, yeah, yeah, where do you get a lot like let's go back and talk about the products that you make and kind of, are you, do you still? You make them all.

Speaker 1: 46:57

Yeah, yeah, I make everything.

Speaker 2: 46:59

So everything. Where do you get your raw and like supplies?

Speaker 1: 47:03

from Many different places but I do try to source as much as I can in Oregon. There are companies here like there's in Portland, essential wholesale. They recently changed their name. They may be essential labs now, but I've even gone up and picked up ingredients and like gotten to walk around in their. You know where they allow you to pick up their where they manufacture.

Speaker 1: 47:34

And I also go through Mountain Rose Herbs. That's where I get most of my herbs. I actually make all of my extracts in-house now because I was learning about preservatives that people will use. So they'll say like, oh, I've got organic horsetail, for example, great. And then you kind of look more into it and you're seeing all these red flag like preservatives that aren't really necessary, like there's great alternatives. So I just started making my own. But I do source the hard material, like the plant, from Mountain Rose Herbs and they are a low waste company as well, like completely sustainably geared, and so I really like sourcing from them there in Oregon. But I mean I probably have 25 suppliers.

Speaker 2: 48:28

So I bet you're developing some core relationships with them though.

Speaker 1: 48:33

Yeah, I mean most of them are big companies.

Speaker 2: 48:35

Yeah, okay, so not so much yeah.

Speaker 1: 48:38

But you know I always write thank you with like a little colon and whatever that is, parentheses. Yeah, a little smiley face, totally.

Speaker 2: 48:48

What a like. How did you, you know, cause starting out with flaxseed oil and shea butter and like pretty like raw ingredients and now kind of having a lot more focus on your product around mushroom, like talk about how kind of that evolution a little bit.

Speaker 1: 49:08

Yeah, so when I was in biology, the mycology section of that was just like I don't think I was more focused on anything than that, like I just never wanted to stop learning about it. And looking back, I'm curious as to why I didn't pursue that. I don't think it was like something I realized was a thing.

Speaker 2: 49:31

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 49:32

Like as far as like making a career out of. But I always knew I came to Oregon a lot as a little girl. We used to actually go over to North Fort and go swimming. I don't know if you know where that is, but it's like kind of by mill city. It's like in between here and Salem yeah.

Speaker 1: 49:49

And there's like cliff jumping. And anyway, I loved Oregon. I loved how green it was. I always knew this would be a pit stop, at least for me, like I knew I would live here at some point. I didn't know where, I didn't even know Bend existed at that time, but my partner and I I kind of had convinced him to move to Oregon and he was like where? I'm? Like I don't know, let's go figure it out. So we just kind of road tripped through Oregon and he applied to all kinds of different jobs. I applied to all kinds of different jobs and got offers in different places and we kind of were down between seaside and here, super different, but Bend was the most comparable, not to Utah, but just in terms of like what we like to do Hiking, climbing's available.

Speaker 1: 50:41

I haven't even climbed once since I've moved here. But mountain biking, you know the river, everything and then mushrooms. So that was like a huge thing for me. It was like okay, that's something I could actually get into. And I think, like the year we moved here, we found Morels. So within like the first six months or so, kyle didn't even think he liked mushrooms and kind of just was tagging along. But he's also a see it through like I don't know, do it to the max kind of person.

Speaker 2: 51:19

So, Commit to what you started. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 51:22

And so now he's just as obsessed as I am. But yeah, that's kind of how. As far as the mushroom interests. Yeah, you had a previous interest and then I started kind of seeing mushrooms in like skincare products, mainly Tremella, like that's the snow fungus or the beauty mushrooms, kind of what it's touted as.

Speaker 2: 51:48

Right.

Speaker 1: 51:51

And that got me really curious how that could be applied to hair products. So then I was learning about, like Rishi is a mushroom that helps block DHT. Dht is a hormone that can build up in your scalp and cause male pattern baldness, which affects women as well as men. But it will help to prevent that hormone from building up in your scalp, and it can be effective topically as well. So I just was so excited as I was learning like these things can be incorporated into our self care routine. It's like bringing some nature into you know, like bringing a little bit of nature into your daily tasks.

Speaker 2: 52:41

And were there other like hair line products that were used in mushroom at that time?

Speaker 1: 52:45

Did you Not that I knew of? Yeah, I don't. I'm sure there are, I don't know, but yeah.

Speaker 2: 52:51

I like that you don't. Would you say that you kind of like, if an idea comes to you and you're interested, you don't really care if people have done it or not, you just do it your way. Yeah, I love that, yeah.

Speaker 1: 53:01

Yeah, doesn't matter. No, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: 53:06

That's good stuff. Yeah, I didn't know that, like all the different. You know the hydrating component of mushrooms, growth promoting, the strengthening, I mean those seem like pretty obvious. You know advantages to people who have curly hair or longer hair. It's funny, you know. You think about hair and it's a. It's a hair in and of itself is kind of a funny. You know it's just a protein filament, that's kind of dead tissue that grows from follicles. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: 53:41

I've always found it funny when people say I have healthy hair, because how can you have health, something that's technically dead tissue, but healthy, but I get it, yeah, and like it's so interesting how historically just all different cultures have had such a place to such an importance on hair, you know. Oh yeah.

Speaker 1: 53:58

Like not just, it's everybody in their own way, you know.

Speaker 2: 54:02

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 54:03

So I just think it's so cool.

Speaker 2: 54:05

I do too.

Speaker 1: 54:07

It feels like we're tied to our ancestors, you know, and how we care for our hair and I just yeah.

Speaker 2: 54:19

Yeah, I, like I said it goes back to it's a, you know, it's a commonality, which is how all good things start, you know, find commonality. So I told you or I don't know if I told you or not, but I spoke with Laurel Larkin, who's the founder of Marigold Sav, which is also a local small business, that kind in that it's amazing. And that self-care kind of product line. She makes really high quality and affordable skincare products.

Speaker 1: 54:52

Yeah, and that I use every day. Yeah, and they're amazing, yeah.

Speaker 2: 54:56

So I got a chance to talk to Laurel.

Speaker 6: 55:01

So I was part of a giveaway with her a couple of years ago is how she was like popped onto my radar and then good old social media. I started following her on social media and I think we exchanged a few DMs, but I didn't actually meet her until she came to help. She actually I messaged her to get help with my daughter's hair and she showed up at my door. I'd ever met her in person and she had a whole tote of spray bottles and hair clips and her products and as some other products she thought we might want and she spent four hours with me and my daughter teaching me how to do her hair and she was really. She listened to music with us and we danced and she just honestly was phenomenal.

Speaker 6: 55:48

In a kind of hard, uncomfortable situation she was just a ray of sunshine. So the first time I actually met her in person was actually when she came to my house to help with my daughter's hair. I tried out some other products and there isn't so we have with all the cancer we've had in our family and being able to find clean hair care, especially for ethnic hair, is next to impossible. I just feel like what she's doing is very unique and she makes really great products that work but also aren't putting a ton of toxins on people all the time. So I just I think for so many reasons I don't think it'll take long either, because, on top of being a really great, wonderful human being, her stuff is amazing. So I don't know she's, I just yeah, I would love to see it explode, and her not, and it'd be her full-time job.

Speaker 6: 56:48

I am Laurel Larkin. I am a registered nurse here in Bend. I have a side business that is not so part-time anymore, but I am a small business owner here for clean skin hair. We've got a daughter, we've got a couple acres and some fruit trees, got a husband and, yeah, life's really busy but really good.

Speaker 1: 57:12

I love her so much.

Speaker 2: 57:14

I bought some of her lavender and eucalyptus skin salve. It's over there, I use it. It's good. I use that stuff a lot because I guess not not as much as it used to be but in my old role, when I was in surgery, more of my hands would get cracked and washing them so much and tie in suture and I would just get constant cuts and that stuff is amazing.

Speaker 1: 57:37

It is yeah, yeah, yeah, no. Like greasy gross left over, I'm gonna get some for my wife for Christmas, because I think it'll be good like foot cream. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, her brand's really cool and she's a hustler too, like I have so much respect for people like I think she's probably one of the kindest, most joyful just I mean like your heart just explodes being in her presence, like she is just such an impactful person.

Speaker 2: 58:12

Yeah yeah, it's cool. Marigold is the name of her company. Marigold Savv, I think it's. Is it, Marigold?

Speaker 1: 58:20

Savv. And then she has salve. She has face oils. I use her like eye oil it's got a caffeine, you know. So it helps with.

Speaker 2: 58:30

Am I saying it wrong? Savv salve, how do you say it?

Speaker 1: 58:33

I might be saying it wrong.

Speaker 2: 58:35

All right, potato, potato. So right now, I mean, you're mostly direct to consumer, but you also do you have, like some. Are there some retailers that are nice, Not in Bend?

Speaker 1: 58:51

And it's becoming kind of an issue. Like. I, if anyone is listening, if you want to sell, just like really cool products. But I am constantly and I mean like on a weekly basis having people ask me where they can pick up product here in Bend. But I'm in one store in Oregon. It's a zero way shop in Portland that's called WaveBeing and I'm actually in the original Heinz building or I'm sorry, heinz building, the old like original factory in. Washington DC. There's also a zero way shop there called Mason and Greens.

Speaker 2: 59:35

Nice.

Speaker 1: 59:35

So on Capitol Hill like that's pretty cool.

Speaker 2: 59:39

How long have you been there?

Speaker 1: 59:41

Going on two years.

Speaker 2: 59:43

Is that going well? Yeah, Are they like? Are they seeing like return customers?

Speaker 1: 59:49

Good question. Yeah, hard to know, huh yeah there's so many things within being this, doing this, that I need to strengthen. There's only so much bandwidth Right there's so much happening all the time, so many moving parts, but At what point do you take the leap and or like, where do you see this?

Speaker 2: 1:00:14

Like what's your? You said you're working towards your goals earlier.

Speaker 1: 1:00:18

I have a plan. Yeah, I'm going to take a leap in exactly one year.

Speaker 2: 1:00:24

Exactly one year from today.

Speaker 1: 1:00:25

From December 1st that's awesome. Yeah, so I am going to be able to have my debt paid off in a year. From then, there's no reason to not give it 100% and just go all in.

Speaker 2: 1:00:43

That's awesome.

Speaker 1: 1:00:44

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 1:00:45

Are you like? Is your goal to continue to kind of grow this without taking on investors or future debt? Or, you know, are you interested in like, licensing or partnering, or what, where? Or do you even know?

Speaker 1: 1:01:05

I do know that I'm not gonna take out tens of thousands of dollars in debt for it in the business it has sustained itself. It has grown organically and I am just holding this intention that it can continue to do that. But at the same time, like I don't know what to expect, I don't really have many examples to follow, so I'm willing to pivot however I need to, and however we'll best serve this thing.

Speaker 1: 1:01:38

I'm trying to build and my customers too, I definitely don't wanna be in big box stores like Target or maybe I don't wanna be in big box stores, but I wanna be in all of the little you know, small, sustainably geared shops Like that. Would just be so amazing just to be out there, and there are so many you know, so, yeah.

Speaker 2: 1:02:09

I don't think it'll. I think it's just a matter of time. I also have a lot of respect for you kind of taking the slow approach and just focusing on and you and I were talking about this a little bit earlier like you don't know what you don't know, and also sometimes that's okay, as long as you just focus on these kind of the next thing rather than like where you're trying to get, because sometimes that it's a waste of energy because it's gonna look at so many different versions of that by the time you get there.

Speaker 2: 1:02:47

You know, when I talked to Laurel we talked about kind of that common shared experience that most entrepreneurs and small business owners go through. But it's also kind of painful, which is that the demands of kind of day-to-day life and the distraction on your ability to grow it. It's always helpful to hear other people's experience.

Speaker 6: 1:03:10

It's not always pretty and I have honestly been for the business side of it. I have been figuring it out as I go and sometimes that means it takes a backseat to other life happening and I've gotten very attached to my calendar, which I am not a planner and I was never that attached to my calendar prior to. So, yeah, I think and Dom and I have talked about it too how it's some nights you come home from your normal job and you've got shipments you have to get out and really you wanna make dinner and sit on the couch and not do much else, but you're up late getting your shipments pulled together or making product or I don't know. I don't know if I have a good answer for how I how to balance it. I think it's just trying to carve out time where you can.

Speaker 2: 1:04:07

Yeah, I listened to that clip a few times and the reality is I don't, I think, and it kind of goes back to like setting your expectations for success because it's you can't balance it. To try to balance it is an impossible ask. I think it's more of this kind of fluid shift of everything has a trade off. One day you're hustling for consciously curly co and your relationships have less investment, and the other day it's different and I guess over time that's balanced, but it is hard.

Speaker 1: 1:04:47

Yeah, something I've definitely been realizing is it's a lot of self forgiveness and just so like, I've been reading this book called Getting Things Done by David Allen.

Speaker 2: 1:05:00

Okay, I'm excited. Yes, dude, finally someone tells me about a book.

Speaker 1: 1:05:06

It's just kind of helping me, like, I guess, keep myself accountable, but also being done when I've done those things, and that gives me so much freedom. Because I was just feeling so much overwhelm and like to the point where I was just buckling, like I'm talking meltdowns all the time, and I kind of just had to have this moment and multiple moments of just like, okay, these are the choices I'm making, how can I best serve myself during this? How can I hold space for all the things I need to get done if I'm not ready to choose something else, like I'm not in a place to choose something else? So how do I put the tools to work? I guess, as far as just like you do, create the list Cause I know, for me it was like I would always divvy from the list. It's like I would make these lists and then I'm like, but this actually feels more important, or you know, but if you just devise this plan, you stick to it and you, at the end of the day, say I did what I could.

Speaker 1: 1:06:16

It's time to go to bed or it's time to have an hour to myself, and that's just how it has to be, and you've got to forgive yourself for all the things you can't get done.

Speaker 2: 1:06:26

That's a healthy perspective. What time do you get up in the morning Five and do you work pretty much every day on CCC stuff?

Speaker 1: 1:06:35

Yeah, I go to bed at like 1030, which is hard for me. I'm an eight hour kind of person.

Speaker 2: 1:06:39

Yeah, eight hours sleep.

Speaker 1: 1:06:42

But I know for a fact, if I get up before sunrise and I have, and I'm up at five, my day is way different than if I sleep in to the last minute. It's always a million times better. I just am able to like get the energy that I want for that day, I guess, and you know, getting my mindset where it needs to be. And then I go to work and I really try to be present there because I've noticed if I'm trying to like be there, then all my lunch break be with consciously curly co and then on my any 15 minute break. You know, it's just it's hard to jump back and forth.

Speaker 1: 1:07:24

So my time at that job is my time at that job. I leave, I come home and I dive right in to work. My partner has taken on, I'd say, 90% of our household tasks, which has made such a huge difference in terms of what I'm able to get done and like feeling this guilt of not being able to do it all. And so, like I get home, I go to the business room and I start packing orders. He kind of takes, you know, a little time to himself, to his self, and then he starts cooking dinner and we just have like this routine and then we now have like a weekly meeting At home. We call it maintenance Monday.

Speaker 2: 1:08:21

So tonight at six o'clock.

Speaker 1: 1:08:24

we will be doing our maintenance Monday and it's just kind of like we. We kind of talk about what dinners we want for the week, what hike we're going to do, cause now, once a week we do a hike, because if you don't like, plan these things in with this kind of lifestyle it just doesn't happen.

Speaker 2: 1:08:40

So and you got it. That's a really important leg on the table to make sure you know your relationships.

Speaker 1: 1:08:49

Yeah, it's funny because when this first started happening he was almost kind of offended, like why are you putting me in your calendar? Like I don't understand, like cause you're important to me and I want to make time for you and if I don't, everything else will consume everything and it's been really helpful for our relationship and navigating like hard times. I know historically if, when I wasn't doing that, it's so much harder to come together during hard times when there is no together, you know.

Speaker 2: 1:09:24

Oh, yeah, yeah, so Absolutely yeah. Yeah, there's a guy. First of all, the person that sat in that chair before you had the very similar story about working at home and his home office, fulfilling orders and hustling, and now he's about to build like a massive, you know multi-block warehouse headquarters for his brand.

Speaker 1: 1:09:50

So, yeah, amazing.

Speaker 2: 1:09:51

You're well on your way, dom, thank you. You know, whatever that looks like for you, you're already successful, but I have no doubt that this is gonna grow. Because, well, it's true, I mean things. It's just, it's almost, it's just a function of time, you know. I mean you're solving a really good problem. It's growing. It's pain for itself. I mean it's succeeding already. It's just you draw that out over another couple of years and that's where it looks really. That's fun. Yeah.

Speaker 2: 1:10:26

I asked you what one of your you know some of the best advice you ever gotten. I loved it. It's when you feel like you have nothing else to give, do the bare minimum and reevaluate. It's kind of just keep things alive. You know, it's kind of like I have this pause if you must, but don't stop yeah. You know like you just kind of you can only do what you can do, but usually you can do something you know Like, even if it's 1% of the task.

Speaker 1: 1:10:52

It's something and it's so impactful for the long run.

Speaker 6: 1:10:55

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 1:10:56

Yeah, I've been getting this message a lot of like the whole motivation doesn't last kind of thing and it's the consistency, you know, that sees you through, and I feel like that is just having that in the back of my head and like this will help me build the momentum that I need, because just about any time, like yesterday, I needed to make.

Speaker 1: 1:11:22

I made 120 products yesterday and the beginning of it I was like God, I just wanted to take today off and Because I didn't have some of the ingredients and I forgot that I didn't have them and I needed to go get some and it was just a little bit of a mess and so my weekend looked different than how I originally wanted it to and I I started by, you know, just kind of feeling sorry for myself, but then I was like I'm just gonna do one of the things I need to do. I did that and I was like this is fun. Actually, I really enjoy this process and that momentum gets built. And then you're always like wow, I am capable of so much more than I want, or I thought I was by just sticking my toes in the water.

Speaker 2: 1:12:08

Yeah, showing up for one thing.

Speaker 1: 1:12:10

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 1:12:10

Yeah, I mean, there's true, you, you gain momentum. Yeah for sure.

Speaker 1: 1:12:14

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 1:12:15

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you've shared with me how you draw a lot of your inspiration in life from authentic people, connecting with them, vulnerability, love I think you call it the beautiful side of being human and You're two younger sisters, myanna and Shaliyah Mm-hmm, they inspire you for those exact reasons. I got in touch with them. Oh gosh, yeah, and I thought it would be fun. You might cry a little, but they're amazing.

Speaker 7: 1:12:51

Even when she's I don't know, five hours away from us and Bend, oregon, I feel like we don't. We don't really like talk every day, which is weird, but like every time we're around each other, it's like nothing has changed and like we're all pretty busy in our own lives, but like I don't know it's, it's like nothing ever really changes. We always have that Really a strong connection and really strong bond between each other. She was the coolest girl to us. Like we wanted her clothes when she was very younger. Like she was very Independent, always had her head on straight. She was just like, yeah, she just always went for what she wanted. She always knew what she wanted. She would just be I don't know always a great big sister, just playing with us, interacting with us, like she was never like go away, like how older siblings sometimes get. She was always very embracing of us.

Speaker 3: 1:13:53

I came over to visit her and Bend like a couple years ago and and she was just like working every day on her haircare business and like I would just watch her, like Honestly at all, and I was just like, wow, she just wake up at the crack of dawn and like make her coffee and start working and I was just like amazed.

Speaker 7: 1:14:23

I've always seen her like the minute that she could work in high school she like was getting a job, trying to get her own car. She was like, yeah, always very Independent and just she. She made it seem like it wasn't even work. She would just be like happy and giggly all the time. Hey Dom, it's my Anna. I love you, big sissy, and I'm so proud of you. You keep going at it, girl.

Speaker 3: 1:14:55

Hey, dominique this little sister and I hope that you, you know, I wish you a very successful future Because you're successful.

Speaker 1: 1:15:12

They're awesome there's the highlight. I just I Can't even explain just how grateful I am To have the connection that we do like. I don't really know how to put it into words. It's such an unspoken Well, I don't think you have to yeah, I think it comes across pretty pretty clear yeah yeah.

Speaker 2: 1:15:35

I Think you're a genius, and I say that because I think You've been able to put into effect what was in your head and I think that's kind of the definition of being a genius. And I think that you, having the care that you have, and the reason why you're doing what you're doing with, like, your Customer, is your brand, and that's clear when you read your testimonials and the people you talk to and it's fun, and I knew this from the first time I met you. You know like it went as soon as you told me, when we started working together, what you're doing and why you're doing it, and I was starting to learn about a lot of different things, I was like man that is, that is, she's solving a rad problem and in doing it in a really rad way. So those things just it's just a matter of time. Thank you, yeah, thank you for coming. This is fun.

Speaker 1: 1:16:25

Thank you All right, this was amazing I can't wait to To see what's next. Yeah.

Speaker 2: 1:16:33

Yeah, all right, talk soon.

Speaker 1: 1:16:35

All right, bye, bye.

Speaker 2: 1:16:59

Hey, thanks for listening to Ben magazine's a circling podcast. Make sure to visit bin magazine comm and learn about all the outdoor adventures in our area, and keep an eye out for Dominique. In the January February issue of the magazine, our theme song was written by Carl Perkins and performed by Aaron Colbaker and Dr Aaron Zerflu of the errands. We love mail, so please send us comments, questions or art to the circling podcast at bin magazine comm. Support the circling podcast by becoming a member on patreon at patreoncom forward. Slash the circling podcast and learn how your financial contribution will support local nonprofits while also supporting local podcasting. Follow us on Instagram at the circling podcast to learn more about past, current and upcoming episodes. Please subscribe to the circling podcast on all major podcast platforms and leave us a review. It really does help.

Speaker 2: 1:17:59

I'd like to say a special thank you to all of those who participated in the making of this episode. It wouldn't be the same without your contribution and I appreciate your trust. Visit Dominique online and learn about all the amazing products that consciously curly company offers at consciously curly cocom. Don't forget to stay tuned after the show credits for Dominique's contribution to the circling podcasts community art project and Visit mark jam, nick calm to learn more about subliminal story art embedded with meaning. Lastly, if you know someone who you think would enjoy today's episode, please share it with them today. Hey, thanks for your time. Since Oregon, get outside. We'll see you out there and remember, the health of our community relies on us. Ever. It's a complete shit show. All right, so you just contributed to the circling what you just contributed to bin magazines. The circling podcast, blank canvas community art project, where my buddy mark jam Nick is gonna write, write paint over this canvas and kind of explore this idea of Art embedded with meaning. So read what you wrote on the canvas.

Speaker 1: 1:19:29

I Wrote when we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too. By Palo Coelho.

Speaker 2: 1:19:40

That's pretty self-explanatory yeah. When did when did you first come across this?

Speaker 1: 1:19:47

when I read what's it? The four agreements, okay.

Speaker 2: 1:19:56

You read it somewhere.

Speaker 1: 1:19:58

Start that part over. Are you editing this to totally?

Speaker 2: 1:20:01

and I'm just more curious. I'll probably just end with yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 1:20:08

I'll come in so I'd say about five, six years ago.

Speaker 2: 1:20:10

Yeah, reading the alchemist. Yeah that's a good contribution, I agree. I Appreciate you.

Speaker 1: 1:20:18

Yeah, I appreciate you, bye, Bye I.