Hello Podfriend!

Happy New Month! Happy (Almost) Spring to those in the Southern Hemisphere ☀️🍃.

It’s a busy time at SAL. There is one more milestone to celebrate for 2025. We recently published the 100th episode of Shades and Layers. Can you believe that? The podcast has also been going for five years, and in case you missed it, here is a link to the Celebrating Five Years of Entrepreneurial Wisdom episode we published recently.

And now it’s time also to get fully into gear and bring out a new season of the podcast. Keep an eye on your feed for new episodes soon. The summer is over and the kids are back in school as of this week. Yikes the summer was long AF, but we had a great staycation and a couple of short lefts to the north and the south of these United States of America. Niagara Falls was breathtakingly beautiful and Orlando was pleasantly surprising in its chillness and family friendly vibes. Now I can truly say I’ve had an American summer 😁.

Here’s what’s coming up in this edition :

-Studio Update

-Pair It With

-On My Mind This Month

Remember to spread the love and tell your friends to join the party by SUBSCRIBING . Or if this edition was forwarded to you by one of our amazing pod friends, you can do the same. Thank you 😊

Alright pod friends, let’s get to business!

STUDIO UPDATE

In this milestone 100th episode of Shades and Layers, we welcome back Sundra Essien, co-founder of Isang's Hair and Body. Since first appearing on SAL in June of 2020 Sundra’s Copenhagen-born and based brand has come a long way and still remains committed to creating high quality products using organic, fair trade, and vegan ingredients. In our latest conversation, we dig deeper into the importance of supply chain transparency, sustainability, and inclusion in the beauty industry. This episode is one to bookmark because it captures everything that SAL stands for: empowering women of color entrepreneurs and fostering positive impacts through mission-driven businesses.

Join the celebration of this milestone and lets get deeper into ethical business practices, what de-growth and supply chain transparency looks like IRL.

PAIR IT WITH

SHEA RADIANCE

Shea Radiance co-founder, Funlayo Alabi, knew that it was time to quit her corporate job when she sat in a meeting discussing the details of a phrase in a document of no consequence. At that point, she had already had some success with her shea butter products at the local farmer’s market in Baltimore. Soon after that meeting, she set out to create her vegan, all-natural body and haircare brand, which had a mission to create a positive and enduring impact for customers, women suppliers and the planet. With her products, she has helped customers to solve their challenges with dry skin or eczema, she has provided a source of income for shea butter producers, who are all women, in West Africa and she is helping the planet by running sustainability projects that benefit their shea butter suppliers. For example, in Oyo State in Nigeria they provide women with the Clean Cook Stove, which is better for roasting the shea nuts they use for making raw shea butter - it’s less polluting and better for their health.

Seriously, do follow Funlayo’s socials because she’s a total vibe!

ON MY MIND THIS MONTH