We recently connected with Diamond Downs and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Diamond thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
Gehati is a handcrafted aroma product brand that pushes a societal message of self-healing. We are all experiencing living in the same unrecognizable world that is mentally draining to push through, daily. So, the brand places emphasis on self-care routines and rituals. The motto is, “Where a pampered soul lies, chaos can’t reside.” The products are created to be used as tools within these routines to encourage personal growth and cultivate optimal wellbeing.
Gehati aroma brand started in 2016 shortly after I gave birth to my son. His father was in a severe car accident, three weeks later, that instantly placed me in the position of being a single mother. I needed to figure out unharmful ways to cope through postpartum depression, depression from the accident and anxiety. I didn’t want what was happening to me internally to affect my baby. So, I figured out routines and rituals that worked for me, where I would actually be consistent with incorporating into my daily chaotic life. I knew if I had relaxing objects I could grab, it would motivate me to keep up with my daily self-care. For example, I got into creating candles which were incorporated into my wind-down time with a good book. I’m too sensitive to sit in a fragrant bath bomb so I started creating shower bombs so that I could turn my shower time into a spa oasis. Eventually, by prioritizing my “ME” time, I was able to get back on track without my baby missing out on the best of me.
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
My name is Diamond and I am the creator behind the brand, GEHATI /gee-au-tee/. I didn’t initially have an explanation or purpose for what the brand stood for until 2016 after giving birth to my son, three weeks later, his dad was in a severe car accident that turned my life upside down and instantly made me a single mother.
I started creating routines and rituals that helped me heal and learn that not all tragedy is meant to leave you broken. Sometimes, it’s simply meant to strengthen you for the next phase of your life. That is how the brands motto, “Where a pampered soul lies, chaos can’t reside,” was formed. I learned how to disconnect to reconnect, and it centered me so that I could be present in every moment of my son’s life.
I created self-care products that could be used as tools incorporated in routines that help to allow you expel chaos from your soul. The products made me accountable to stay consistent with my “ME” time. From lighting a scented candle and reading a book. To spraying my fresh linen sheets with an air mist to help me relax into a good night’s rest.
Every product created was of some sort of actual personal need. I don’t create products out of trending purposes. I create them to be a need throughout the year. So, as a customer, if you find a product in the Gehati collection you absolutely love and make apart of your daily essential, you can get it anytime through the year. I, honestly believe creating like this is a reflection of who I am, personally. I’m a consistent, dependable individual and treat my brand with as much consistency, as possible unless a worldwide event affects the operation. But, then I’m still consistent and communicative with customers through emails and on the site. I like making products with a purpose. I created candles and used it during my wind down, quiet time. I’m too sensitive to sit in a bath bomb during bubble baths, so I needed something that could achieve the same relaxation but in the shower, so I started making shower bombs. When my son was 2 months, his skin broke out with eczema and I needed something very light as a moisturizer to compliment the sensitive unscented soap I used, so I made a quick concoction with the “Unscented” whipped body butter that healed his chapped, cluster of bumps and skin discoloration.
What sets Gehati apart from other relative brands is my direct correlation between product and reality. I’ve recently started a Youtube channel called, Herxiety, which stands for Her Anxiety. This is not a completely separate brand, rather this is an extension of the Gehati Brand. Gehati is the product side and Herxiety by Gehati is the conversation side. On the channel, I am diving into different topics centered around mental health and the importance of self care. In my personal life, I’ve not only helped myself through traumatic times, but I’ve helped my friends get through rough times and some as severe as battling suicidal thoughts (even with a therapist). This is honestly one of my most proudest moments in my career. It shows me that by selflessly putting my journey on display, I’m inspiring others to be accountable in consistently showing up for themselves regardless of the surrounding chaos. The media isn’t consistent enough discussing topics centered around mental health issues. Often times, they wait until something tragic takes place then that becomes newsworthy. Unfortunately, there are still so many people who don’t have health insurance to afford therapy or medication. So, they have to go the route of trying to figure out what they can do to cope through their pain and sufferings. So, I’ve been willing to transparently come out of my own “Suffering in Silence,” no matter how it looks to help navigate and provide with a disclaimer (I’m not a licensed physician), unharmful solutions based on my real life experiences on the journey of self-healing. I want my messages to convey independence in the way people view and what they believe about themselves. For me, self-healing isn’t co-dependency on anyone other than self because a lot of times when we go through issues, people are initially there and then they return back to their own lives. To avoid that emptiness, we’ve got to do our own work, so when life strikes again, we’re individually equipped for the storms.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
I had to unlearn that I couldn’t be a one woman show in business. I was doing everything from creating products, marketing, packaging, customer service, you name it. I was every facet of the business, ultimately leading to a burnout and losing passion. So, when the pandemic hit, I re-evaluated my business goals. I ended up getting more business than ever because people could do nothing but stay searching the internet. I partnered with Afterpay and Sezzle, who were heavily promoting businesses on their platforms and it really helped out with brand awareness. So, as I started making more money, I rebranded the aesthetic of my brand to give it more of a luxury feel and then I hired three different marketing companies. One for social media and google ads, another for email marketing campaigns and the last for sms marketing. Very costly and my biggest expenses to date, but it has allowed me to shift my focus back to creating and expanding.
What’s been the best source of new clients for you?
The best source of new clients has been from social media advertising. Marketing is so crucial in a business because it’s the only way people know that you exist in a sea of businesses. The businesses that are able to invest in marketing are the ones that are more visible to consistent new influxes of traffic.
However, my best advice when it comes to marketing is to approach it as organic as you possibly can. Always place yourself in the customers position and address questions centering around how you would personally want to be marketed to.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.gehati.com
- Instagram: @gehati
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/gehati
- Twitter: @gehati
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX1I3pbgnPUoFcsND9Td9sw
- Other: Email: weborders@gehati.com