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

Hi Rise, thanks for joining us today. Is there a heartwarming story from your career that you look back on?

Back in the 1990s, I was initially introduced to essential oils when riding my 1969 Raleigh bicycle along the streets of San Fran’s Mission District where wafts of patchouli lingered in the air from passersby. I loved the aroma so much that I bought a small bottle and began buying different oils sprinkling them here and there on my clothes and throughout the flat I shared with roommates.

In February, 2019, I was physically assaulted by a former male coworker at a very toxic company. The amount of duress that I endured leading up to that event was beyond what anyone could have managed and not be affected by it. Needless to say, the incident spun me into a very dark place where I was clinically diagnosed with PTSD, chronic insomnia with associated nightmares, agoraphobia, and severe anxiety. I went on disability from my tech job because I simply couldn’t function in my job as a software developer in such an unhealthy environment. I became catatonic – emotionally, mentally, and physically. That workplace experience affected not only me, but also my daughter who was in elementary school at the time. She and my spouse really didn’t know how to deal with my mental state. Hell, I didn’t even know. Then, at the end of 2019, COVID-19 began to spread globally. The pandemic became just another stress factor affecting our family.

One day, as I was mindlessly surfing the Internet, I came across an online article that discussed the use of essential oils that helped heal keloids. A keloid is a thick raised scar tissue quite common among women of African-American and Asian-American descent. Being Asian descent I happened to have one on my forehead and began dabbling with tea tree essential oil. After a couple of weeks, the keloid was completely removed leaving no noticeable scar. I was pleasantly surprised when my daughter exclaimed out of the blue, “Mommy, your bump is gone!” From there I began to read more about the practice of blending essential oils together to form a synergism that could be helpful for my panic attacks, anxiety, and insomnia.

I found out about Aromahead Institute, a school in Montana which offered a self-paced, online Aromatherapy Certification Program. Hoping to see me come out of my shell — literally out of my bedroom — my husband encouraged me to enroll in the program. I dived deep into the program and finished it within 3 months and moved on to the Advanced Graduate Program that covered more information about essential oils such as essential oil sensitivity and safety, the chemical constituents that were key in providing therapeutic benefits, and the growing literature of aromatherapy research studies in respected journals. Within six months I had completed both programs and began mixing for myself, my family, and friends.

Encouraged by family, friends, and my therapist, I pushed out a Wix website and signed up for a free Etsy account listing my small initial set of essential oil blends, salves, balms, and lotions. I didn’t really know what I was doing on the business side of things. Just flying by the seat of my pants. But the lack of knowledge didn’t stop me. So, I waited. And I waited. Until finally, someone purchased an item from my little shop. It was a very profound and joyful moment for me, something I hadn’t felt within me for several years.

Since that first customer’s purchase I’ve grown a lot running a woman-owned small business. I’m more resilient when dealing with difficult customers — and caustic personalities in the tech industry. Handcrafting essential oil blends contributed to my healing process; it helped me come out of my depression. Even now, I feel a sense of calmness when I sit at my little workbench in the corner of our townhouse adding drops of various essential oils into the carrier oil held in a graduated cylinder, and best of all, deeply breathing in the unique aroma coming together in the making of the blend.

Most people do not understand, or respect, the craft of aromatherapy. I honestly didn’t until I learned more about it. Learning about aromatherapy involves covering a range of topics such as the different molecular components in which an essential oil is categorized, essential oil dilutions rates and safety, and using certified organic and wild-crafted unadulterated essential oils, carrier oils and butters from certified fair trade and sustainability-practicing farmers. All of this information and more goes into the making of my blends, balms, and lotions available as self-care and wellness products for folks to use. Aromatherapy has been given a seat at the table of complementary therapies, and rightfully so, because aromatherapy simply offers another beneficial option for people to use for holistic well-being. It’s a study and practice that I hope becomes integrated into the curriculum of pre-med, nursing, and mental health and clinical settings in the States.

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 back background and context?

Interestingly, I don’t know if I would have ever dived as deeply as I did in the practice of aromatherapy if I didn’t have that traumatizing experience back in 2019. I’m not a therapist, but in hindsight, learning about aromatherapy was probably a coping method for me. To fixate on the study of aromatherapy was a way to distract myself from my mental state and emotional pain during that time. Using essential oil blends and handcrafting them for others became a major step toward overcoming that horrific incident. I’ve come a long way from that dark place and am embracing a healthier lifestyle for me and my family.

I’ve told many of my customers that if you look at the line of products I offer in my shop, it’s a reflection of who I am and what I’ve been dealing with in my life. I handcraft a variety of products that cover the following areas such as:
– facial skin care from a healthy pro-ageing perspective
– emotional rescue by balancing the emotions such as fear, anxiety, grief, mood swings
– pain management (e.g., nerve issues, painful areas of the body (i.e., back, feet, shoulders, and neck), headaches, etc.)
– sleep issues
– upper and lower respiratory issues

Since I began my business, I have found that there are many, many people who are experiencing pain on various levels. Many customers have physical health issues which impact their emotional and mental state. Likewise, the mind and our emotions can wreak havoc on our bodies if we’re in a place of instability and insecurity. My goal is to handcraft an essential oil blend that provides care and comfort for a customer by becoming a part of a customer’s daily self-care routine. Since the FDA has not approved essential oils as a form of medicinal treatment, aromatherapists are not legally allowed to state medicinal claims in any advertisement. Etsy has taught me what’s appropriate to state in my descriptions and tags of my products. It’s very serious when the FDA sends a cease and desist letter. Luckily, I’ve never received one from the FDA, and I’m glad!

Many of my products have been initially made for myself, family, and friends. I continue to use them for my own mental, emotional, hormonal and physical issues. So I’m proud to say that it’s been handcrafted with love and hugs, human-tested, and I’ve used only certified USDA|OTCO organic, wildcrafted essential oils, butters, and lotions. Many shops choose other oils that might be adulterated with fillers such as additives and preservatives so their price point for their products is a lot lower than mine. But I don’t want to use low-quality essential oils, carrier oils, or butters. Case in point: I went to a retreat awhile ago and was given an oil blend from a multi-level marketing brand. I ended up getting a rash on my chest for a good solid week! I don’t want that to ever happen to my customers because I care about them. That’s why it’s important for me and my shop to offer products that are certified organic, organically-sourced, and/or wild-crafted (i.e., wild harvested).

One of the most joyful moments I have is when customers write in their reviews, and even direct message me, how helpful a blend has been for them. In some cases, it has been a night-and-day experience for the customer, which makes me feel really good that I’ve introduced them to aromatherapy as an available option that complements western medicine in managing their wellness. I’ve formed a few tight bonds with some of my customers where we just catch up with each other through Etsy’s chat feature. That’s special and very encouraging. It makes me want to keep running the business even though financially it’s been rather difficult in light of the pandemic, inflation, and current affairs.

Running a woman-owned small business where I am the lone employee means I do everything myself within a very tight, tight budget — one I don’t often have. LOL. I was recently let go from my most recent tech job. I just don’t have that financial buffer anymore. So managing my business carefully is even more crucial so the shop doesn’t go belly up. However, I still buy from knowledgeable vendors who sell high-quality, certified organic, organically sourced, wildcrafted single essential oils, carrier oils, and butters. I don’t want to give up quality over quantity.

An important point to note is that I always include directions on how to use a blend that a customer has purchased. I give them information on testing for sensitivity and safety, how long to use the blend, adjusting nutrition habits by eating more whole foods, less processed foods, and incorporating at the very least light exercise into their weekly routine (e.g., walking for 15 minutes in place or around the block). I also include information about the practice of acupressure that is complementary to the blend and helpful for their issue.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Etsy is really great at helping vendors become successful with our shops. They have a lot of literature, trainings, online webinars, seller forums, and other resources available to us.

One feature that Etsy offers is the “Etsy Star Seller” program. It’s simply a little icon displayed with every product I sell as well as on my shop’s channel that signifies excellence in the following areas:
– great quality product (based on reviews of the customers)
– great customer service (fast and efficient communication with the customer)
– great shipping (Order is processed on time)

I always communicate with customers. If they reach out to me, I respond within 24 hours, on average within a couple of hours. I’ll even reach out to them to check if the blend is providing the help that they need for their issue. I also always respond to their reviews – whether it’s a happy customer or dissatisfied one. Yes, sometimes there are customers who didn’t read my online policies, or who didn’t realize what they were buying in spite of my product descriptions. I view 3 or less stars as actually positive feedback because it makes me want to improve that particular blend or provide another option with the blend that a customer wasn’t happy about — and I’ll thank them for their feedback. An example was with a customer who loved a blend but didn’t like the idea that it was only in a 1ml bottle. So I told them thank you and said I would offer a second option — a 5ml bottle. It’s always a learning process whenever you have an online business and can’t consult with a customer in person to retrieve more detailed information from them. If a customer reaches out to me, I’ll ask a set of questions to understand more of what they’re experiencing, and will customize the blend for them (e.g., allergies to nuts, so I won’t use Sweet Almond carrier oil or any essential oil derived from nuts).

Communication is key. It’s extremely important to listen to the customer and understand from where they might be coming. Sometimes, customers don’t know exactly how to articulate what they are experiencing . So learning different ways of helping them to talk about what they are dealing with is really important. Understanding someone simply builds trust.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your firm or practice?

For many small businesses we put up our own initial capital — which basically means we have a day job or another career that “pays the bills”. This point is especially true for women, and especially women of Color, who use Etsy, Shopify and/or other e-commerce platforms to bring their shop to consumers. In a Majority Staff Report, dated July 2023, “Women, particularly those from minority communities, continue to face persistent barriers to entrepreneurial success that make achieving their professional and personal ambitions more difficult than their male counterparts”.

Cited at https://www.sbc.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/b/9/b99ffab8-b62a-48e1-95ba-b14c5451880b/D779F6653743546214AD6E09EAED29F7.women-entrepreneurship-report.pdf on 11/28/2023 .  That’s why it’s important for consumers to support women-owned small businesses by “shopping small, buying small”.

I’m currently looking into grants for women-owned businesses, Asian-owned businesses, over-50-aged entrepreneurs, and other minority/under-represented group grants. I’d be honored to receive a grant that would cover the cost of a marketing campaign to advertise my products, my business brand, and just get the word out there that my shop exists.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.fusionessentials.etsy.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fusion.essentials.llc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063491294798
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/FusionEssentia1
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCp-f9OEy-FK3pEkg5gjjQsw
• Yelp: https://biz.yelp.com/biz_info/wFhigc7Z-9ZuIxDOPNF70Q
• Other: tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/fusionessentialsllc
  pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/fusionessentialsllc/