We were lucky to catch up with Thandiwa Schwartze recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Thandiwa thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

Back in 2021, I was on top of the world! I had just gotten engaged to my wonderful husband, started a new position at work, and was just progressing in all the ways that I could after what we all had experienced a year before. This all came to a halting stop in October of 2021. My husband, fiancé at the time, and I were relaxing on a Sunday night and we received a phone call that his childhood best friend had randomly died in his sleep. This rocked both of our worlds. He was about to be announced as the best man for our wedding which was scheduled to be October 31st of 2022. A week later, I am at the doctor’s office to get a normal medication refilled for my Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, and the next thing I know, I am being referred to an oncologist and hematologist for further testing. I felt robbed of my joy and fulfillment in life. I was getting ready to prepare for my second year of being part of the plus-size trap burlesque show, and now, I was in too much pain and too drained to even want to get out of bed. I remember becoming so angry about why everything was turning into complete chaos in my world. I had all of this creative energy, but nothing to do with it. I decided one night that I wished I had some shower steamers to use in order to just zone out in the shower and relax. However, I didn’t want to keep investing in buying the ones from the store because the quality had been very inconsistent. I started to do my research and decided this was my chance to let my creativity have its outlet. I started making some shower steamers and allowing people to test them. I told myself over and over again that there was no way anyone would pay for something that they could make on their own. I told myself I didn’t have anything that was special enough to sell. But, my husband, family, and friends told me that I should just go for it. That my shower steamers were great and if putting all of my love and positive energy into something that brought me peace and joy, I should follow that path.

Fizzle Sizzle Shine LLC was announced to my family, friends, and the public in January 2022. It was time to take my energy and focus and place it on something that brought me peace, and comfort and filled my cup. I wanted to create organic, natural homemade self-care items for everyone, but more specifically the black community because we spend a lot of time putting things in and on our body that is full of harmful chemicals. I wanted to show young women that growing up in rougher parts of the Kansas City Metro area wasn’t the determination of how successful they could be in life. I learned what I needed was the tenacity that made me, me. Being a product of teenage parents, I never dreamed of me being where I am right now. I never thought I would have my own business or be interviewed about it! Little 10-year-old me never thought I would do something that required me to network and get out of my comfort zone, but I knew I could do it and I needed to do it. I needed to get back out in the community and share why self-care was MANDATORY and not optional. That everyone needed to find something, no matter how big or small, that they do just for them. I watched many close family members push themselves past the point of exhaustion and deny the right to take time out just for them, I wanted to make my family proud. I wanted to open up a door to walk so that in the future, others can run, soar and dominate the self-care journey. If you remember nothing else from this, learn to give yourself grace. Love yourself. Allow yourself to relax, refresh and shine!

Thandiwa, 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?

I am a woman of many hats. I am married to my amazing husband, Michael, a full-time dog mom of a little Yorkie named Leo, a full-time Change Analyst at Oracle Health, formerly known as Cerner, a full-time lady of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Incorporated, AND the CEO, founder, and owner of Fizzle Sizzle Shine LLC. I graduated Magma Cum Laude from college in December 2017 with a Bachelor of Health Sciences.

What sets me apart from others is that I do not have a stop button. I am always trying to figure out a way to make something, repurpose something or organize something. In addition to that, I have a deep love for Baby Yoda, WWE, True Crime Kent, horror movies, playing video games, baking desserts from scratch, and true crime television shows. I am constantly learning ways to improve as a human while accepting that I have my flaws.

Fizzle Sizzle Shine offers organic, cruelty-free, vegan, gluten-free homemade self-care products to help one relax and unwind. Each ingredient that is used is heavily researched and any product that is introduced is tested by several people, including myself before, I offer them to my customers. I suffer from extremely sensitive skin; therefore, I make it a must for me to try out a product because if it causes me issues, I am not going to offer that to my customers. I try my best to cater to different allergens that a person may have and I do not upgrade for certain ingredients being swapped out of omitted, and all I ask is that someone contacts me before they place their order or notate their special request. Currently, Fizzle Sizzle Shine offers the following products:
-shower steamers ( 4 different scents)
– bath bombs (4 different scents)
– pedicure soak tablets ( 4 different scents)
– chamomile milk soaks
– oat milk chamomile soaks
– coffee scrub
– lip balms
– lip gloss
– lip scrub
– candles
– body oil
– beard balm
– gift cards

This summer, I will be releasing some new products that include hair oil, smudge spray, and salt soaks. I am consistently trying to find something new to add to our product list so that we can become a one-stop shop for everyone’s self-care needs! There is even a rewards program that gives someone $5 off after 5 orders of $35+!

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I am my biggest obstacle, hindrance, and challenge. That it is easier to say you could never without trying, but it took something special to try and accept whatever outcome because it is all a learning path. The backstory to this is that I doubt myself a lot, but will cheer on someone else!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I started Fizzle Shine, planned my entire wedding, built my own website, made my logo, participated in vendor events, and worked my regular 9 to 5 from January 2022 to July 2022. I did this while having numerous oncology visits and navigating my ADHD, depression, and anxiety.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.fizzlesizzleshines.com
• Instagram: @fizzlesizzleshinellc
• Facebook: Fizzle Sizzle Shine LLC

Image Credits
Images and Editing are done by me, Thandiwa Schwartze