We recently connected with Lai and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Lai thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?
Starting a business is interesting because almost always, it starts out as a desire for yourself that becomes larger than yourself! In 2020, the pandemic turned us every which way but loose, and being 20 years old at the time, I knew I wanted something for myself. I had a friend who made waistbeads, and then she suddenly stopped. I didn’t know anyone else who made them, so I curated them for myself. Not only that, but living a life where I began to go inward in my healing journey and truly get to know myself, I knew I wanted my practice to be intentional. Am I a bit of a germaphobe? Maybe. So cleaning my jewelry and setting intentions (spiritually) before, during, and after handmaking them made me feel closer to myself and, oddly enough, closer to God. They do say “cleanliness is next to godliness.”
This intentional outlet for me turned into people requesting them from me. I’ll never forget the first piece I made out of rose quartz and clear beads. I posted that and people were attracted, so I wasted no time and started selling through Facebook and Instagram with personal sales through my DMs. A month later, I added aromatherapy lava stone diffuser bracelets for both men and women, which did exceptionally well that first year. A few months later, I built my own website, which I’m still using and revamping as the seasons go!
But as my life took a turn with homelessness and falling out with what felt like everybody, my business didn’t stop. Just nine months after starting my business, my auntie kicked me out due to differences me and her daughter had. I wanted to be an entrepreneur, and they wanted me to get a “real job,” so I’m sure you can imagine that dynamic. I thought I could confide in my mother to let me live with her, but considering the depths of our strained relationship and the unsafe predicaments she continuously put me in since childhood, I had no choice but to leave. And trust me, I fought to stay.
But the inevitable happened, and I spent weeks sleeping in hotels after DoorDashing daily to afford them, and sleeping in my car parked outside of hotels most of the time with my precious cat. In the midst of all of this, I was booked for pop-up events as a vendor. They weren’t as packed, and most times the money I made was only enough for food and gas. But I stayed persistent with cleansing my jewelry before, during, and after creating it, shipping them off, delivering them, and still marketing myself online, all while living in my Ford Taurus at the time.
A few weeks later, I found a group home in the hood with several men and women living there. No privacy, not even a curtain separating my space from the pregnant couple who occupied the room with me. Not to mention, homeboy had an ankle monitor that would beep nonstop throughout the night! It was hard to sleep and equally hard to create jewelry considering my intentional process. I couldn’t jeopardize the quality of my jewelry, and I understand from a surface level that as long as the jewelry “looks” well, it is well. But every single thing we touch holds energy. The exchange of energy can be studied scientifically, but because it’s not always visible to the eye, people don’t understand that exchange nor take it seriously.
Something about being in a toxic environment with a lot of different people energetically affecting the space around me made me uncomfortable with creating within the group home. So daily, I spent hours inside my car setting the intention and creating the jewelry, packing them, and shipping or delivering them. Not to mention any vendor event I attended, this was my same process.
This went on into 2022 until I moved in with a relative and found my footing again. I slowed down a bit but never stopped! Soon, I had my own apartment, and 2023 was a prosperous year for Lai’s Body Galore. At some point, I made $5,000 within 3 weeks and saw how lucrative my creations could grow to be. But due to being a one-woman show and struggling with other things in life, I fell sick with an autoimmune disease that physically stunted my growth and actually almost killed me. A battle that started in October of 2023 that I have finally healed from over two years later after making a difficult decision to give up my plant-based lifestyle (don’t fall for the people telling you meat is unhealthy. Everything is unhealthy in mass amounts).
At that time, it was horrific. I couldn’t physically get up to create for weeks at a time. So ultimately, I lost sales and missed out on keeping up with my newly gained momentum. I had it until I lost it. And then I found myself DoorDashing in between my autoimmune flare-ups that, without failure, had me bedridden weeks at a time per flare. I then couldn’t meet up with my rent, and I fought so hard to get on disability, to receive state assistance, and to deliver food just to meet rent.
But my only means of getting back on my feet was taken from me when I was hit by someone running a red light and totaled my car. I didn’t have insurance at the time, so I got no money. That’s still painful to this day! And soon enough, my eviction process started, and anytime I felt well enough to create jewelry, I did. But I physically had to slow down to allow my body to heal in between my flares.
2024 rolls around and I’m still sick. The state refused any help since I didn’t have proof of income to show them I was able to pay rent moving forward. My food stamps were taken away due to not working (ironic, right?). And inevitably, I was evicted in the summer of 2024. Things slowed down greatly as I fell into depression and slept in a family member’s basement for a while. I still created jewelry.
And not only that, I was actively building my waist-whining and healing brand (Whine2Heal) since 2023. So I was spread thin, but giving up has never been in my spirit. Towards the end of 2024, a dear friend of mine and an exceptional musician in Kansas City (Malek Azrael, look him up!) allowed me to roommate with him. It was the help I needed, and we got so much closer to each other during that period. I was bracing for the entire year of 2024 and 2025 to be difficult, and my friend showed me it could be beautiful, and healing doesn’t always have to hurt.
I am forever grateful for that time period and showing myself what I’m made of. As much as Lai’s Body Galore needed (and still needs) time to get back to the $5k+ a month status, my second baby (Whine2Heal) began walking! I had a viral moment on TikTok, and ever since, Whine2Heal has been growing at a fast pace that I’m still trying to catch up to and maintain. But I am so grateful.
I haven’t curated jewelry consistently lately, but I still have not ever stopped! Waist whining was the balance I needed, as both practices are true testaments to my healing and genuine trauma-informed additions to anyone’s life.
Now, in 2026, I am healthier, stronger, wiser, but still growing and applying myself because there’s truly levels to all of this. But the journey of entrepreneurship has been the complete opposite of easy. You know how many times I felt so defeated the only options seemed to be to give up?? And I never did.
This isn’t something I learned to be like; I’ve always been tenacious, and I pride myself in that as a 26-year-old woman still catering to her 20-year-old vision. I’m refining by the day, but this time I’m organizing. And when I pop back out, I promise the world will see me!
So ultimately, the process from idea to execution wasn’t a perfectly mapped-out plan. It was curiosity, intention, posting my first creation, responding to the demand, and figuring out each next step in real time while refusing to stop.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I’m a Black woman first, and then a psychology graduate, creative, and holistic healing practitioner immediately after. I genuinely believe the body is one of our greatest tools for self-awareness and transformation. Therefore I got into entrepreneurship when I needed something and supplied it for myself. And in doing so, especially during a sensitive time in the world, I noticed this need in others. Not solely a need for wearing waist beads, but a need for adorning the female body and getting closer to self. I saw this collective need for expression and safety, so I created it intentionally.
My work sits at the intersection of creativity, healing, and embodiment. And my years of education and my continuation of my education furthers my knowledge and credibility to show up fully for those in need of my services- between body adornment and womb healing through trauma-informed practices, like yoga and waist-whining.
Through ‘Lai’s Body Galore,’ I hold space for women of all sizes, shapes, and backgrounds to confide in me with where they are in life and where they want to be. Consultations aren’t strict with me, as I offer them through DM discussions as well. Although I stopped my Reiki infusion practice, I went on to patent an idea for a 4-in-1 Microbead where they quite literally are four small beaded non-stretch waist beads that sit up on the waist, helping to track weight loss and weight gain, hypoallergenic, naturally adjustable to sit on your waistline and hipbone, with corresponding crystals and colors that have psychological and spiritual meaning with color identification and energy exchange.
Whine2Heal offers a more direct approach at healing trauma stored in the womb, as science shows that humans, and more commonly women, experience ailments, diseases, etc., due to a buildup of inflammation, which is often a result of unresolved trauma in our brain that manifests into physical ailments with physical symptoms in the body. Not only are we releasing trauma through this practice, I’m building confidence in my clients and a self-awareness that will always prevail.
What sets my work apart is that it’s rooted in both lived experience and psychological understanding. I’m not just teaching movement — I’m teaching people how to feel safe and present in their bodies again. That’s a big deal, no matter if people try to minimize the work I do. I cannot help that I’m insanely attractive and my waist moves like water. But what I can control is what I do with my physical abilities, and I’ve clearly taken on the role of helping others while I help myself.
Whine2Heal is equally for me, as I am forever a student in this world. What I’m most proud of is that I never gave up and never listened to those who didn’t take my creations seriously. I pivoted so many times and will continue to do so. I know that I’m truly aligned with my path because the thought of losing LBG or W2H feels like losing a limb. These businesses are who I am, and every setback has only catapulted me forward. Even through some of the hardest periods of my life, my work has continued.
What I want potential clients, followers, and supporters to know about me and my work is that everything I create comes from a place of intention, lived experience, and genuine care for the people I serve. Nothing about my brands is performative or surface level. Whether it’s through the jewelry I curate with Lai’s Body Galore or the embodiment practices I teach through Whine2Heal, my goal is always to help people reconnect with themselves in a deeper way. I want people to understand that healing, confidence, and self-awareness are practices that can be cultivated over time, and the tools I provide are meant to support that journey. My work is not about perfection — it’s about presence, growth, and honoring the body we live in. If someone chooses to support my work or engage with my brands, I want them to know they are stepping into a space that values authenticity, intention, and personal transformation.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
Honestly, I built my audience very organically. I never went into social media with the intention of chasing numbers or trying to go viral. My focus was always on sharing what felt authentic to me in that moment. In the beginning, I was simply posting the jewelry I created and talking about the intentions behind it. People were drawn to the authenticity and the meaning behind what I was doing rather than just the product itself.
As my healing journey deepened, my content naturally evolved. I began sharing more about embodiment, movement, and the connection between the body and emotional healing. That’s how Whine2Heal began gaining traction. I’ve had a few viral moments on TikTok that has introduced thousands of people to waist whining as more than just movement, but as a form of embodiment and healing. From there, the audience continued to grow because people were resonating with the message.
If I could give advice to anyone building a social media presence, it would be to focus less on trying to “game” the algorithm and more on showing up consistently and authentically. People can feel when something is genuine. Social media can change overnight, trends come and go, but authenticity will always attract the right audience. When people trust you and feel connected to your message, growth becomes a natural byproduct of that connection.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
The best source of new clients for me has honestly been word of mouth and organic discovery through social media. From the very beginning, people were drawn to the intention behind my work. When someone receives waist beads from me or participates in my Whine2Heal practice and genuinely feels a shift within themselves, they naturally share that experience with others.
Social media has also played a major role, especially platforms like TikTok and Instagram. I’ve had moments where my content reached a much wider audience, and that introduced many people to my work for the first time. But even then, what keeps people coming back isn’t just the content itself — it’s the authenticity and the intention behind what I do.
At the end of the day, the strongest source of new clients for me has been genuine connection. When people feel seen, supported, and impacted by your work, they naturally want to share it with others. That kind of trust is something I value deeply, and it’s been one of the most powerful ways my businesses have continued to grow.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/LaiGoddess
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laixgoddess?igsh=MW9kaDN0eXE0OHFnOA==
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@laigoddess?si=3Zm3tnihKmOSSwX3
Image Credits
Nuovo Photography (main photo)