We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alliyah Maydwell a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Alliyah thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear how you think where to draw the line in terms of asking friends and family to support your business – what’s okay and what’s over the line?

Asking friends and family to support my business was a delicate matter. It’s appropriate to inform them about my business and what it offers, and it’s reasonable to ask for their support if they’re genuinely interested. However, it’s important to avoid pressuring them or making them feel like they’re obligated to show physical or financial support. Respecting their boundaries and understanding that not everyone may be able or willing to support my business is crucial to maintaining healthy relationships. I don’t let business interests strain my personal connections.

I used to stress about not having enough support for my business, and I would get discouraged. I learned that even if I made 1 sale, that’s still progress. Once I perfected my products, and people actually started using them, the products sold themselves. Sometimes your biggest supporters are the people who don’t know you from a can of paint.

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 from Fort Wayne, IN. I’m a Navy Veteran and full time mother of 2 beautiful children. I originally started making skincare products when I was in the Navy. I was stationed on a ship and I would get cystic acne from the water; the low air quality would cause my skin to peel and hair to dry out. I would make masks to offset the moisture imbalance in my skin and hair. I started making body butter when I had my son, I wanted to use more natural products on his skin because he was so sensitive towards everything. My father used to make soap when I was younger, and sometimes I would sit and watch him create all of these different scents. His soaps were amazing and I learned a lot from being his shadow in his soap workshop. I started making candles as a form of therapy. When I get overstimulated or stressed, I go into my workshop and make candles. The different scents calm me down and they make my house smell amazing.

I make soap, body butter, and candles. I’m proud of how far I’ve come with my business, there is always room for improvement, but I’m happy with how I’ve progressed thus far. I never understood how hard it was building a company from scratch, watching it flourish is refreshing. The biggest thing that sets me apart from everyone else, is my motivation to continue and my creative capacity. I’m always making new scents and will sometimes even make special products just because. I love what I do, and that love is reflected in my products.

All of my products are 100% made from scratch, vegan, and cruelty free. I don’t believe in creating a product that I wouldn’t use on myself or my children and I will always stand by that.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

The biggest way I built my audience was by word of mouth. I would offer testers to people and they would tell their families and friends about my products. People would start following me based on product reviews from mutual friends or personal experience.

The best advice I can give is to be genuine and patient. It takes time, but the followers and customers will come. I never exchange products for reviews because I want the reviews and feedback to be based off personal experience. Gaining honest, loyal clientele is so much better than making a fast dollar. The goal is to establish longevity.

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

All of my products are made by me. When I first started, I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. It took me a year to create a recipe that would work. There was A LOT of trial, error, and frustration. I never thought of finding a vendor because I never want to cheap on my products and I want to know exactly what’s being out in them. The biggest lesson I learned was to be patient. Things will work themselves out as long as you put in the work as well.