We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Evelyn Subramaniam. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Evelyn below.

Hi Evelyn , thanks for joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

My Mission is: Channeling the power of aroma and touch, and marrying traditions with modern life, to support your wellbeing through the phases of the day.

I have always deeply valued the traditions handed down by my wise ancestors. My grandmothers instilled in me the importance of herbal remedies and massage to nurture and maintain health. This appreciation deepened when I became a mother, eager to pass these practices on to my children to bolster their wellbeing and self-esteem. I integrated the power of nature, aroma, and touch into our daily routines, a practice deeply rooted in my husband’s South Indian heritage. There, my mother-in-law, dressed in her vibrant sari, would gently massage my children with coconut oil from our ancestral farm. This ritual marked the beginning of my journey into the ancient art of using pure, therapeutic oils for healing and daily wellbeing.

My children are grown now, and my understanding and passion for therapeutic oils have evolved. I founded Bija Essences to share the same high-quality, toxin-free plant oils that I trust for my family’s skincare. These oils, infused with proprietary blends of the finest essential oils, are designed to nourish and protect, maintaining health in a world that can often push us toward stress and disconnection.

My hope is that Bija Essences brings as much joy, harmony, and peace to your family as it does to mine every day.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I was born in Mexico and raised in Los Angeles. I had the unique fortune to spend all my holidays, as back as I can remember, in our farm in northern Mexico while living in LA with Fashion and Hollywood as my backdrop. Having always been surrounded by dozens and dozens of family members raising me with love and ancestral & strong family values and respect to nature allowed me to stay grounded during my career in Spanish & commercial TV / Media world.

When I got married to my husband who comes from India and shares a similar upbringing to mine, despite the fact that he was raised oceans apart, I became captivated by the culture’s family traditions and Ayurveda. This was the start to my education in Ayurveda and birth of Bija Essence.

In Ayurveda, I learned the valuable benefits of the powers of human touch, aromatherapy, and working with nature to support our health – spiritually, mentally and physically. I continued to use organic coconut oil to massage my babies, a practice I had learned from my loving mother -in-law that was past down for many generations. Years later with Bija Essence, I formulated 4 therapeutic body and massage oils. Each handcrafted to support a specific health ailment such as your IMMUNE SYSTEM, NERVOUS SYSTEM, CIRCULATORY SYSTEM and also comfort physical PAIN or SORENESS. In addition, we have a lovely home fragrance collection that helps to invigorate, stimulate or calm all. Bija Essence is devoted to helping you care for your personal wellbeing as well as for your loved ones.

I am proud of being able to change/ enhance people’s lives. I have customers thanking me for creating a stronger bond with their children or rekindling the love with their partners. Most importantly, for reestablishing the connection with themselves through self-care, self-love by applying our lovely all-natural body oils in a loving and meaningful way.

I am proud of helping many less fortunate people around the world through donating a portion of our sales to non profit organizations such as,
Global Fund for Widows
Hope India
India Youth Fund
and more. Just recently at the UN for CSW68, I was a delegate and advocating for Global Fund for Widows.

Finally, we are proud to be environmentally friendly. We want to give back the respect and love that earth deserves for providing us life. We strive to use packaging that is eco-friendly such as glass and less plastic. We are part of FAIRE trade and proud to partner with companies that have equal wage for men and women. We aim to partner with brands that share similar values to us.

Thank you,
Evelyn Subramaniam

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

During Covid, I had to pivot the way I connected with my community and clients.

Bija Essence enjoyed organizing in-person Pop-Ups, Meet & Greets, participating in Holiday Markets , and collaborating in in-person with other brands. When COVID occurred and we were in lockdown, I was catapulted into a new world of communicating, Instagram Lives. IG Live helped me to stay connected with our clients, friends and community as a whole during a very difficult time around the world. Talking about the power of touch and self-love gave many people comfort and brought balance into their lives.
Now that COVID is out of lockdown, I benefit both from in-person events as well as Instagram Live.

Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?

I do sell on my site, www.bijaeesence.com. In order to reach a larger market and multiple audiences I work with different online platforms that sell wellness, spa, and home products for B2B or B2C. After COVID, some stores that carried Bija Essence closed their brick and mortar and went online and took me with them. The advantage of being on multiple online stores is the convenience to drop ship. This is economically and environmentally more convenient and Bija Essence strives to be kinder to mother nature.

As much as online stores are growing, we enjoy having our products in Brick and Mortar stores so that people have the advantage to smell, feel and experience our body oils, candles, diffusers and mists before purchasing.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bijaessence.com
• Instagram: @bijaessence
• Linkedin: Evelyn Subramaniam