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

Cryss, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Parents can play a significant role in affecting how our lives and careers turn out – and so we think it’s important to look back and have conversations about what our parents did that affected us positive (or negatively) so that we can learn from the billions of experiences in each generation. What’s something you feel your parents did right that impacted you positively.

I come from good stock. Period. I was raised by my entire family – literally. My grandparents and my mom. They all played an intricate part of me becoming the woman I am today. My grandparents were always in business – dry cleaning, car dealership, serving the community through the church and a local rec center.

My grandfather always found a way to instill in me responsibility and that my word was always all I had. “Don’t ever say something that you can’t do and don’t over promise, it’ll bite you in the butt!”, Poppy says. And he meant every word. As I grew up, it allowed me opportunity to understand what I wanted, who I wanted to offer it to and how to ensure that I delivered well without providing an over expectation to people. When I began my first job, I found it easier to say, “I’ll be able to do this by XX time, but I will need XX to complete the remainder of the task by this XXX. As a result, I became a strategic thinker; it formed my analytical mind and to see the picture from an aerial view and sharpen my leadership skills.

My Granny, she taught me service. She cared for the women in our community who dealt with abuse, loss and womb issues all while speaking life to them through the edification of God’s word. She declared they are triumphant and that although life was happening and shaping them, it didn’t have to shape them to the negative. It would be become an opportunity to save a life once they were comfortable enough to share their stories. I learned from Granny that viewing the glass as half full vs half empty is a perspective shift everyone should adopt. I learned from Granny that one hand can’t clap alone and we all need someone to help us through. Building a village is very important. You must always have someone around you who loves you and wants to see you win!

My mom…she knew hard work. She knew it took guts and glory to make it all happen. She is my personal superwoman. She knew that if you didn’t dig in to analyze and assess – you would be in trouble. She reminded me often that it is “a dog eat dog world we live in” and it’s important to pay attention to those around me and recognize the red flags. She reminded me that even Jesus had a Judas and that everyone around you good or bad has a purpose but it is up to me to ensure I know which place to put them in. This life is a game of chess, not checkers.

Cryss, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Hey y’all! My name is Cryss Simmons, owner and Creative Director of Lamb and Honey. LH is a plant based body and skin care brand that thrives on people able to take care of people from the inside out. I learned how to formulate and create products from my Granny; her name is Honey. She was an herbalist who took care of women of suffered from sexual abuse, pre and post menstrual issues, post partum and womb issues such as infertility and pregnancy loss. While making sure these women were able to heal themselves from the inside, she would also speak life to these women, reminding them of their greatness and they are more than the issues they are currently facing.

As time went on, I found myself facing a similar challenge and dealing with my own personal defeat, but my Granny reminded me that I am more than a conqueror. That I am not my issue – that I am worthy, loved, and valued. As a result, I was able to create a company with purpose that is filled with love – that intentionally chooses to illuminate the outer you while loving and elevating the inner you. This story is how we came up with our name Lamb and Honey – the Lamb of God and of course, my Granny aka Honey. Without these two, I’d would’ve never made it. They literally save my life and countless other women from depression, anxiety and unworthiness.

We also offer workshops and classes for women who want to dig into the self care piece of what we do. We believe that Self Care is Soul Care and we can be your best self if we put in the work. We are here to work through “our stuff” together while teaching you how to make your personal jars of body butter. The best part of our class is the fact that you can’t mess it up. It’s yours! You are beautifully and wonderfully made just the way you are – no one can do it like you therefore no one can take it from you!

The things that me give all the handclaps, finger snaps and toe taps are (1) I am able to service women to help them become better – that we get to watch them grow and glow their process, (2) that our products are 100% handmade and (3) we get to continue in my Granny’s legacy.

Have you ever had to pivot?

In late 2019, early 2020 I had the unction to rebrand and relaunch. I actually pulled the trigger in the height of the pandemic. It seemed very apropos because everyone was needing an outlet of release. People needed something to lean on and what was better than to provide an opportunity for us to create a brand that leans into your self care – both mentally and physically.

We created or should I say reinvented, our plant based bodycare with intentionality. We went in knowing how we wanted to serve women and their families and what we wanted to provide. The beautiful thing is every jar and bottle comes with an affirmation and correlating scripture written on the side of the bottle to remind people of who they are and the response has been nothing short of phenomenal! We are definitely excited for our next. We are looking forward to sharing all of these experiences with the community we are continuing to build.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Throughout the process of relaunching and rebranding during the pandemic, the word that kept me going was “resilient.” Despite the challenges and obstacles we faced, including delayed supply chain issues that caused us to push back our launch date twice, we knew we had to keep pushing through. There were nights when I felt hopeless, like a penny with a hole in it, and even shed tears. But we couldn’t give up because we knew people were counting on us. We had to communicate with our customers and let them know about the delays, but we never lost sight of our goal.

We understood that we couldn’t quit because people were watching us, and we wanted to be an inspiration to others. We knew that even when we stumbled, we had to get back up and keep going. Looking back, these are stories that we can always draw strength from and say, “we did it!” If we can overcome these challenges, we can encourage others to keep going and never give up on their dreams.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lambandhoney.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/lambxhoney
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/official.lambxhoney/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lambxhoney
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@lambxhoney

Image Credits
Takia Lamb, TK Consulting and Design