We recently connected with Astarie Dennis and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Astarie, thanks for joining us today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

You would think the answer to this is pretty obvious. My name is Astarie and my business is Astarie Apothecay, but it’s not that simple. Astarie Apothecay was originally TasteFull Creations. I was baking as well as making a few products back then. Eventually I moved on to Only Skincare and decided to go with my childhood nickname from my dad: Ladybug Suds. But in 2017 after Late Husband had a stroke, hearing him say my name dug up something inside me.
You see with in name like mine, it’s often mispronounced, looked at as weird or just completely ignored. The amount of times I’ve heard “oh I’ll just call you…insert whatever nickname here…” is far to many to count.
I’d gone by Star for years to prevent the inevitable exchange at any new introduction: Oh that’s different, or Where are you from, or I’ll never remember that!
But my husband got it right the very first day we met, and never forgot how to say it, spell it or correct others when they got it wrong.
My name was one of the first things he said after confirming his stroke. When he later suffered a heart attack, a failed stint (heart stint) and subsequent heart bypass surgery and almost died…my name was what he screamed upon waking up. He later told me he really thought it was over.
My name brought him comfort in his worst moments. Right up until he passed away.
He made me see the beauty in my name. In its uniqueness and as I reevaluated my business and where I wanted it to go, I knew I had to put my name on it.
For me, for my Grandmother who I am named after, for every kid with a “weird name” but especially every black kid who gets told their name is qhetto or unprofessional.
Now I use my name daily. And I am quick to correct its mispronunciation or spelling. It’s too special to pretend it doesn’t exist.
Put some Respect on my Name.

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

Above any other title I am mom. I decided in 2022 after almost 13 of being just a boy mom, to start all over and have another baby. Ha! It wasn’t really that simple, but that’s story for another day. I’m the most proud of that job.

My second favorite title is Cosmetic Formulator. I am a cosmetic and skincare maker. I make all sorts of products from My famous Creamy Body Wash to Bath Bombs, Baby products, Face Cleansers, serums, masks and soon Hair Products. The excitement I get when I mix oil and water and make a lotion or a hair conditioner or a Bodywash never ever gets old. I also create formulas for other skin, care, makers, or potential makers, where I try to simplify things that might be difficult or sound complicated. My goal is to make cosmetic formulating not so scary and build confidence in the people that purchase the formulas and use them. I also make my products in bulk for those that don’t want to make it themselves, but want to add new things to their skin care lines that is my new favorite thing to do in my business I get to make products, but I don’t have to worry about needing to market or make labels or package it. I can just make it and ship it off And I love to see how my customers make everything unique to their business. Besides being able to use my skills to help other businesses grow, my favorite thing is when someone messages me and tells me that they now feel comfortable branching out and making formulas for themselves, or just have more confidence in formulating on their own that is my goal and it makes my heart happy when I hear that.

Have you ever had to pivot?

2020 like most of us was a crazy year for myself and my family. Of course we all dealt with the pandemic and quarantine and shut downs. Many of us were laid off school was out and we were all stuck at home in the midst of all of that is when my late husband got the sickest, and I was unable to be with him in the hospital during some of the worst parts of his illness, and unfortunately, he lost his battle to type one diabetes during the pandemic my mother-in-law, my son, and I had to move within a week of him passing away during the crazy pandemic. We had to plan a small service get all of our affairs in order pack our home and move so quickly because I worked from home. It also meant that I had to shut down my business and reevaluate. Once we moved before this time, I had actually focused on sewing and selling facemasks before you could find them everywhere I had to stop making skin care because people were afraid to purchase from smaller home businesses because of the fear of the illness, but they were willing to buy fabric facemasks that were in fun, designs or customized , so I went from skin care maker to face mask maker. I was just thankful that I had the skills to be able to continue to bring income into the house especially since I have gotten laid off once we got settled in our new home here in the Washington DC area. I went about trying to figure out how I could get back to work and I was blessed to be able to do that in a small office space and things have progressed from there

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

My initial business capital was literally one year‘s tax return. I knew that I was going to need a good some to get started and I didn’t know where it would come from, but my husband and I discussed it and decided to allow me to use our return that year to invest in my business.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.astarieapothecary.com
• Instagram: Astarieapothecary
• Youtube: @AstarieApothecary