We recently connected with Kamaria McMillian and have shared our conversation below.

Kamaria, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

The backstory behing how I came up with Moonly Organics begins with my first period experience, which was amazing compared to so many of the horror stories that I have heard over the years from other women. Before I started my first menstrual cycle, I was fully prepared by my Grandmother, who was a women’s Health Nurse for 25+ years, my Aunt and my mother. My grandmother sat me down months prior to me starting my cycle, and she spoke with me for hours about my feminine parts and what to expect as I am going through puberty. My mother also spoke to me way in advance about my menstrual cycle and what to expect With so much information, I felt ready and excited to get my first period. The day that I started my cycle, my aunt gifted me with a homemade First Period Kit. This kit sparked a light in my heart for menstruation. I have always felt prepared and understood the sacredness of my menstrual cycle. As an adult, when I began experiencing excruciating menstrual cramps, PMS symptoms, and reoccurring BV, I sought a more holistic and organic alternative to all of my vaginal hygiene needs. I began to research and look into the different chemicals and additives that are in the mainstream marketed vaginal and sanitary hygiene products. Something that I was once so passionate and confident about, had been almost tainted by the painful experiences I was having. I switched to all organic menstrual and feminine care products in 2016 and with this change, my menstrual experiences were more and more manageable each month. This sparked the passion to educate women on the importance of using menstrual care products that are not bleached or filled with dioxins and chemicals that are known carcinogens. Moonly Organics was born from the threat of losing my love of embracing my menstrual cycle each month. We offer menstrual care products that are not only organic but are made with love and the intention to provide a divine menstrual experience for all women, without causing unnecessary harm to your celestial body.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

Yes, Thank you! My name is Kamaria McMillian, born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. I spent most of my 20’s working as a pharmacy technician, while putting myself through school to be a pharmacist. My time working in the pharmacy really helped push me to research more about alternative medicine and holistic care. My holistic health journey began in 2015. After watching “What The Health” on Netflix in my biology class, I had a sudden urge to become more aware of my diet and the things that I consume. I started living a plant-based lifestyle, which helped to fully transform my mind. Although I made drastic changes to my diet and lifestyle, vaginally, I was still unbalanced. After a series of reoccurring BV, I found myself in an urgent care facility. The practitioner that day, asked me a series of questions, some of which were about what sanitary products I used vaginally. After sharing with her the common vaginal products that I used, she advised me to discontinue the use of those products and to only use organic feminine hygiene and sanitary products. As for my BV, she said it could be coming from the feminine soap that I showered with. It was causing bacteria and an imbalance in my pH. Through my research, I realized that there were not enough FULLY ORGANIC menstrual and feminine hygiene products available. From this thought, Moonly Organics was created. Moonly Organics is a fully organic menstrual hygiene collection, featuring organic vaginal washes, vaginal sprays, and vaginal scrubs, that align with the natural pH of our vaginas. Not only are our products good for you, but they could also help to decrease your cycle length, flow, and PMS symptoms. So many women are experiencing the same things that I once did. Women who choose to switch to Moonly Organics for their period and feminine care needs can expect more manageable, divine, and sacred feminine hygiene experiences. We provide women and girls around the world with top-quality menstrual hygiene alternatives that are better for us – and better for the Universe! I started Moonly Organics with a bold vision; for every woman and every girl to have access to organic feminine products. For years our ancestors and elders have suffered from womb diseases, heavy menses, and other related diseases due to many factors, including our genetics, environment, and the products we use. Today, I present a company that caters to your womb.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Of course! I mean, there are so many but I have to let you know about one of the most important lesson that myself and other entreprenuers have to learn at some point. When starting your first business, it is easy to get trapped in the cycle of what I like to call “perfectionist procrastination”. We have all heard of the saying “Give It 100%”. This was one of the phrases that shaped my work ethics as an adult. If something needed to be done or if I wanted to achieve something, I would have to give it 100% of my energy, focus, and time in order for it to grow. My goal was always to do it, and do it right. I essentially became a perfectionist. In school, at home, and at work, if I did something, it had to be done “right”. It wasn’t until far into my entrepreneurial journey, that I realized how my desire for perfection was detrimental. It was causing me to procrastinate wherever perfection was not possible. Launching my business would have taken 1-2 years, versus 3-4 years, had I not been chasing a false perfection. I am still very happy with the launch and the hard work that I put in does show within my brand. But some of it was just wasted energy trying to get things perfect when they already were perfect for the moment. It’s great to have an idea of where you want to go and how you want things to go, but we just can not plan every single detail. Leaving room for miracles and the unexpected to happen, is perfection. Overplanning to make sure things go exactly perfect is draining, stressful, and definitely something that I had to unlearn. To all business owners out there, that are trying to make things so perfect before they launch, just LAUNCH YOUR BUSINESS with what you have so far. Get in there and get your hands dirty through experience. There is no perfect plan or strategy to follow when you are going through your own individual business journey. There will be trail and error, but you will loose out, trying to make things a certain way.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Resilience? That’s a great question. I would say my resilience was tested many times while product sourcing for my business. Sourcing good suppliers in the feminine hygiene industry seemed almost impossible, especially if you’re like me, and actually care about the products and ingredients that go inside of your products. One of the most trying times of my business journey was losing a good chunk of my savings, on purchasing products that a supplier has claimed of being organically made, and when I got the products here, through lab testing, we realized that they weren’t organic at all. Not only did this set me back financially, but after this happened so many times, it was hard for me to trust suppliers going forward. After 2 years of sourcing, purchasing samples, and ordering the wrong products, we were finally able to get it right! Patience is key but also, staying true to what I originally wanted, and not settling for anything less, was me staying resilient. Yes, it would have been so much easier to not focus so much on the organic part of my products, but to me, this was the most important factor and I wasn’t going to compromise that for anything.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.moonlyorganics.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/MoonlyOrganics
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MoonlyOrganics
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/MoonlyOrganics