We recently connected with Shannon Abney and have shared our conversation below.

Shannon, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear how you think where to draw the line in terms of asking friends and family to support your business – what’s okay and what’s over the line?

Your friends and family are not your target audience but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other ways for them to support your business. I didn’t realize this until almost a year in business. I wanted to expand my business and add candles to inventory. I didn’t want to make the candles myself but I wanted to be able to oversee the process. I was talking with one of my friends and she said I want to do it. Why didn’t you ask me? In that moment I was thinking and I realized I didn’t ask because it was never a thought. I was thinking I need to pay someone instead of investing in my friend as she was investing in me. She did an amazing job learning and will be taking classes to perfect the process.

Shannon, 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?

Throughout the pandemic I wasn’t feeling like myself, especially during the quarantine period and the unknowns of what was to come. Seeing so many people lose family and friends to COVID as well as my own concerns for my family really took a toll on me. I had insomnia and couldn’t keep any food down. I would pace the floor and couldn’t sit still. My shoulders felt like they were up to my ears. When I tried to fall asleep it felt like someone was sitting on my chest and I’d wake right back up. This happened for over a week. I became delirious from lack of sleep and gestational issues. Finally, I did a virtual appointment with a doctor, and she told me to go to the emergency room as soon as possible. The emergency room experience was horrible, and it took a black female doctor coming in the room for me to get the help that I needed. She explained that she thought it was just anxiety but due to the gestational issues, she wanted an endoscopy done just to be on the safe side. The results came in and I was fine except now I had to recon with an anxiety diagnosis and the fact I didn’t like the anxiety medication they gave me. First thing I did was find a therapist because I didn’t want to be medicated but I wanted to know my options. I started to do yoga, meditation, and changed eating habits but I still felt like something was missing. I saw a video of candle making and how it could be fun as well as relaxing it could be, so I tried making candles. The process for candles still just wasn’t doing it for me and still in the pit of my stomach I knew it was something else and it was like a lightbulb came on that led me to room sprays. I did some research and discovered how smelling fragrances can help with anxiety. I didn’t realize how important our sense of smell was to our health and memory. I felt like it was my mission to figure out how to make a fragrance that would not smell like chemicals, be good for your mental health, help eliminate odor, and not be overbearing. The next thing I know I had everyone around me smelling recipes that I came up with. At first my inner circle didn’t realize I was making the sprays with my own recipes but when they did my friends pushed me to make a business out of it. I knew I really had something when my mom smelled them and loved it. She is a big critic of fragrances, and I knew she would give her unfiltered honest opinion. I started with 3 solid fragrances but couldn’t come up with a business name, so I prayed about it and heard in a dream a few days before Oh’Dor Eater was launched. April of 2021 Oh’Dor Eater launched. From there Oh’dor Eater made its mark in a retail store The Sistah Shop located in Atlanta, Ga. We’ve been providing handmade luxury fragrances for almost 2 years and have had continuous growth. I couldn’t be more proud of the progress my business has made. I want all of my potential customers and returning to know how much love is poured into each bottle. I pray over all of my products because outside of the smell I want them to feel the good energy that comes with it.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

The best source of new clients for me has been from being in retail. Having the bottles on the shelf for people to touch and smell made a major difference.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Being independent is the biggest lesson I had to unlearn. I thought I could do it all myself and learned quickly that’s not the case. I encourage every business owner to learn how to ask for help and join or create your own business friends. It makes it better being around other people who can relate and share information with.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ohdoreater.com
• Instagram: @ohdoreater
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OhdorEater

Image Credits
BNL Studios