Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to DeAndre Moore. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, DeAndre 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?

I birthed Morris + Wade to fill the void of people not having access to culturally relevant all natural body care solutions, especially for folks of color. All of our formulations aid in moisturizing and soothing dry, aged, or inflamed skin with ingredients that are straight from the earth. Our mission is to revitalize the connection between nature and the health of our bodies by designing products, curating experiences, and building infrastructure that bridges black culture into whats naturally us. Many of us are so far removed from what truly moves and inspires us. We far too often look to others for answers, we must look within and around our natural world to find and reconnect with what we seek. We must not give our power away and instead empower ourselves and our communities. My intention with M+W is to harmonize culture and nature to aid in the transition back to healthy living.

DeAndre , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is DeAndre, I am artist-designer born and raised in Los Angeles and founder of Morris and Wade. When developing Morris + Wade I wanted to create a series of products that would benefit people, build community, and encourage people to live better lifestyles. So I started to reflect back to my own childhood, growing up in a household that didn’t know what the concept of organic was or even read food labels. We ate what normal households ate, a lot of quick cook meals, boxed potatoes, boxed rice, canned vegetables, fried food, tv dinners, highly processed foods, sugary drinks, etc. The products we used to clean and maintain our bodies reflected the same, filled with chemicals, unnatural and toxic. Like most folks living in south Los Angeles a food desert, this is what we ate to live and didn’t see anything wrong with it. It honestly felt completely normal especially in the eyes of a kid. Moving forward, I remember in my 20’s being exposed to different cultures and a better quality of life and deciding to embark upon my own health journey by eating clean wholesome foods, using all-natural shower products, shower filters, consuming fresh juices and smoothies and this stayed with me. With that in mind, I began creating a design case study for my new soap brand. I started with the look, feel, and story all of which I developed simultaneously. I wanted to create something uniquely different that spoke to the people, felt real, familiar, and empowering but I also wanted something that was worthy of legacy. I began to reflect deeply on my family lineage and I settled on the name Morris and Wade because it payed homage to my family roots, my grandfather Morris who was a craftsman and my big brother A. Wade who was very big into music production. After that, designing the logo, packaging, and building the story all came together easily. The next thing was to design the product, which took months to develop a formulation that I was happy with. Once satisfied, we sent out case study samples to friends and family for months, before we knew it, we realized that we had something great on our hands; now this is where the real work began.

M+W is All-Natural Luxury Handmade Body Care and we specialize in creating “an experience” with each product while keeping it straight from the earth. Whether it’s the First of the Month “pay day fresh” basic essential bar, our How Does It Feel “grown and sexy” moisturizing bar, or our whipped “Badu on your skin” smoothness of The Healer, our signature body butter, there’s a vibe for everybody. We currently offer a series of shea butter-based soaps and a calendula-infused healing body butter. All our products are suited for anyone who is trying to find or maintain a healthy body care routine/practice. Our products are intended for people who want to show love to themselves and their bodies through a high-quality, unique, and holistic experience. Our products are like healthy food for the skin, moisturizing, cleansing, and nourishing. Regular use can help prevent dry skin irritation by cutting out harsh chemicals often found in industrialized bath products. We are creating access to a cleaner and more sustainable body care solution, and creating an invitation for folks to adopt a more natural and earth-conscious lifestyle while having fun and celebrating our culture. I’m really proud of how M+W is received by the community, as well as the level of consistency we have when it comes to showing up with suds. This is what makes Morris and Wade so unique and special; it’s truly one of a kind.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Post college I would begin my career as a motion graphics artist working with various studios on major commercial projects. After about a decade of being in the industry, my entrepreneurial spirit and passion for design was reinvigorated. I began tinkering with ideas and concepts and landed on a design which felt exciting and innovative. I fully committed to the project and stopped designing for other studios for an entire year. I went all in on prototyping and manufacturing, teaching myself how to sew, and creating the brand around my product. I even purchased an industrial sewing machine. I fully immersed myself into realizing my design into a production-ready product. After about 6-8 months in, I started to run low on resources and couldn’t pay my rent. Seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, I was able to launch my design to market but I was missing one key component, resources for marketing and a supportive business community. I simply thought my company would magically become successful, and I was trying to do it all on my own. Ultimately it didn’t have the expected outcome. I was at the end of the line, couldn’t pay rent and was now getting evicted. This is when I moved to the Bay Area in November 2018.

New Place – Building Community

I left LA feeling down on myself from the previous business endeavor. With all of the uncertainty circling, I was still excited about the possibility of being in a new place. After about a year of rebuilding myself and finding community, I decided that it was time to give another business venture a shot. This time I would utilize the tools and insights that I acquired from building with my newfound community. With my renewed spark and strong community support, I set out more determined, focused, and calculated.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

I’m currently reading many books but I’ll mention one called Rocket Fuel, By Gino Wickman and Mark C. Winters . A big reason why I love this book is because it supplies you with concrete examples of why certain business relationships succeed or fail, as well as the impact that they have on a businesses success. The authors break down the importance of knowing whether you are a visionary or an integrator and the essential roles they play in operating a successful business. This book has given me copious amounts of insight and understanding within my daily operations and growth plan and I encourage anyone that is hiring, growing their business, or even within family dynamics to read this book.   

Contact Info:

• Website: morrisandwade.com
• Instagram: @morrisandwade
• Facebook: morrisandwade
• Twitter: @morrisandwade

Image Credits
Josh Egel, DeAndre Moore