Today we’d like to introduce you to Diamond Downs.
Hi Diamond, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
The Gehati aroma brand started as a form of healing for me. In 2016, three weeks after giving birth to my son, his father was in a severe car accident that instantly made me a single mother. So, between trying to manage postpartum depression, depression from the accident and anxiety, I needed to find unharmful ways to cope. So, I started creating routines and rituals that helped me heal and learn that not all tragedy is meant to leave you broken. Sometimes, it’s simply meant to strengthen you for the next phase of your life. That is where the brand’s motto stemmed from, ” Where a pampered soul lies, chaos cant reside.” I learned how to disconnect to reconnect, and it centered me so that I could be present in every moment of my son’s life.
I created self-care products that could be used as tools incorporated in routines that help to allow you expel chaos from your soul. The products made me accountable to stay consistent with my “ME” time. From lighting a scented candle and reading a book. To spraying my fresh sheets with an air mist to help me relax into a good night’s rest. Or keeping consistent with hydrating my skin within my skincare routine.
Every product created was of some sort of personal need. I created candles and used it during my wind-down, quiet time. I’m too sensitive to sit in a bath bomb during bath time, so I started making shower bombs for my shower time sessions. When my son was two months, his skin broke out with eczema and I needed something very light as a moisturizer to compliment the sensitive unscented soap I used, so I made a quick concoction with the whipped body butter that healed his chapped cluster of bumps and skin discoloration.
I like to think of the products as having an authentic purpose of cultivating personal growth and optimal well-being.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Absolutely not! The consistency in running a full operating business is very challenging, given that the ultimate goal is sustainability. For a very long time, I couldn’t afford to hire help outside of myself, so marketing became very challenging for me. I am a creator first and businesswoman second. So, I had to learn every facet of running the business and still try to hold onto my creative side. However, being creative with no business knowledge isn’t going to grow the business. The business will go right back to being a hobby as opposed to a full-time operation. It wasn’t until 2021 when I could finally hire the help of a marketing firm who understood the ins and outs of social media, algorithms, cold and warm audiences, analytics, etc.
To date, this is my biggest expense! So the next challenging part has been getting over the hump of the expenses as the economy has shifted and inflation has hit every single thing down to the cost of packaging. So, having to be forced to increase product and shipping prices on loyal customers of years has been challenging in trying to keep them. So, this is why consistent marketing is so important. You constantly need a flow of new traffic and faces being introduced to the brand. The influx of customers is so vital in keeping an operation alive. No customers equal no business which means nothing else can run smoothly.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am an aroma product creator. I love making things that can be a part of people’s daily lives. I love great presentations, so packaging is also my favorite part to create. What I’m known for and what sets me apart is my authenticity. I don’t oversaturate the Gehati (gee-au-tee) brand with products. I don’t keep up with the trends of the seasons. So, I don’t offer specialized fragrances for fall, Christmas, summer, etc. I offer everyday classic fragrances that when it becomes your favorite go-to, you can count on it being there for you to purchase. As a customer, you don’t have to wait for seasons or editions to have you’re daily product. I provide to my customers the quality that I want provided to me. I have to genuinely love and connect to what I’m making or selling before I sell it to someone else.
In addition, what makes me different from my peers and competitors is I’ve decided to create another sector of the Gehati Brand called Herxiety which stands for Her Anxiety. It is the conversation side of Gehati, covering topics that are prideful and aren’t glamorous enough for the media to positively encourage discussing, centering around mental, emotional, physical, etc. health issues that the current generations are struggling with. It discusses and encourages breaking past trauma cycles that previous generations struggle in breaking. Ultimately leading to the common goal of consistency in creating self-care habits and healing to achieve progressive movement in our daily lives.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
My advice to those starting a business these days is to just get started and don’t scroll through social media trying to perfect everything on a level that other businesses took several years to achieve. Allow yourself room to grow and don’t work already at the end goal. Enjoy the process and let it lead you to the end goal so that you can remain consistent and not lose passion.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.gehati.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/gehati
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/gehati
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/gehati
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX1I3pbgnPUoFcsND9Td9sw
