Today we’d like to introduce you to Erica Robinson.
Hi Erica, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My name is Erica Robinson and I’m a yoga teacher who owns Asali Aromatics. Asali Aromatics is a luxury, naturally aromatic bath and body care collection whose line honors nature, pure botanicals, and the honeybee. The line reflects a passion for formulas that inspire wellness of the mind, body and soul. I got started when I fell in love with essential oils while working at a health food store while in college at Howard University in Washington DC. Now I have a full online store and products retailing in small boutiques and yoga studios.
Asali Aromatics started out as an artisanal soap company incorporating specific honey bee products and aromatherapy formulas in the recipe. Now Asali includes aromatic butter bars, lip balms and beeswax candles. This unique and naturally fragrant line contains various combinations of organic honey, beeswax, essential oils of herbs, flowers and woods, as well as premium unrefined emollient plant butters and oils, clays and salts, all while using the best quality ingredients from around the natural world.
Asali Aromatics is committed to never using artificial ingredients or synthetic fragrances. Asali is also a sustainable company that supports the wellness of bees and the planet and therefore refrains from using plastic or excessive packaging and instead uses reusable tins and glass.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
For the most part, it has been a smooth road. However, some of the challenges have been developing my own website by myself and keeping up with the ever-changing faces of social media. The pandemic was twofold. On the one hand, it did cause some challenges since many in-person boutiques were closed due to the pandemic. On the other hand, I began to focus promoting more online, and as a result, received many more online orders since the pandemic. People were washing their hands more, and therefore treating themselves to luxury soap!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I specialize in teaching Vinyasa Yoga, Aromatherapy and Natural perfumery. I owned a yoga studio named Asali Yoga, in Harlem NYC, for five years. This was a vinyasa studio that focused on alignment of poses and creating community. The soaps were of course sold in the yoga boutique. What set me apart from others was that I was very committed to integrity of the yoga practice and instruction, as well as the premium quality of the Asali Aromatic products. Many yoga studios were suddenly beginning to pop up, and some of the instruction was not so good. I was committed to having the best teachers on staff, even if it meant offering less classes during the week. Quality over quantity! I am most proud of the former NYC studio and looking to possibly open up an Asali Yoga 2 right here in Atlanta! At the moment, I am participating in pop-ups to sell the Asali Aromatics products. I also currently teach yoga at an awesome yoga studio, Lift Yoga and Body. The two locations are in Alpharetta and in Dunwoody.
What’s next?
Plans for the future are to expand the Asali Aromatics business and to generate more online sales, as well as retail placements here in Atlanta.
Pricing:
- Honey Soap $12
- Butter Bars $16
- Lip Balm $8
- Candles $16 / $28 / $40
Contact Info:
- Email: sales@asaliaromatics.com
- Website: www.asaliaromatics.com
- Instagram: @asaliaromatics
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/asaliaromatics
- Twitter: @asaliaromatics @ericarobinsonyoga
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/asaliyoga
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/asaliflow
- Other: www.ericarobinson.com
