Rising Stars: Meet Wacera Kamawe

Today we’d like to introduce you to Wacera Kamawe.

Hi Wacera, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I was born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya and I moved to the US to attend University. I graduated from University of Alabama Birmingham with a Bachelor of Science in Respiratory Therapy and a minor in Polysomnography. After I graduated, I proceeded to work in my profession for 14 years.

For as long as I can remember, I have always had a passion for all things to do with healing. Growing up in Kenya, my parents and grandparents taught me not only to discover, understand and also to embrace natural & herbal remedies and body treatments. Because of this I found myself always making my own all natural herb infused oils, body butters, face masks and other body products. This was partly a hobby but but mostly a necessity for me because I struggled with very dry skin as well as multiple allergies all my life and over-the-counter products hardly worked for me and I suffered allergic reactions to them.

It was while working in a hospital setting that I developed my first commercial product. Constantly washing my hands left them stripped and dry and nothing seemed to quite work to hydrate and give lasting moisture to my dry raw hands. Over time I tested different formulations of pure oils and raw butters and I shared samples with my co workers who were experiencing the same challenge until I came up with my winning formula. The feedback I received from my family, friends and coworkers that had tried my body butter and who had great results from it played a major role in further encouraging me to believe in my products. I decided to give it a serious shot and make a huge batch of body butters. I took them to work and I was shocked when they sold out in one day. My hobby turned into a business which I later registered in January 2019 and Kastone Natural Beauty was born.

I then started selling my branded products not only in person but also online and later started getting into local pop-up markets, fairs and festivals.

As time went by I kept feeling more and more called to leave employment and pursue full time entrepreneurship. I felt I had so much more to offer the world through my business if I pursued it full time. I was also frustrated at numerous opportunities I was missing out on because my free time was so limited. So after great thought and lots or prayer in early 2021 I took a leap into the unknown and I quit my job of almost 13 years where I was working at that time as a Respiratory Therapist Supervisor. Since then I have been working on building and growing my brand.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No, it has not been smooth at all. It has actually been the toughest part of my life but by far the most rewarding.

One of the largest initial hurdles for me was getting over my own self doubt and learning to trust that I have what it takes to do this. Taking a leap into the unknown required that I let go of all negative self talk and ideas and work on believing in myself before others could believe in me.

Another major huddle was juggling all roles of a business owner with a full time job as a Respiratory Therapist Supervisor during a Respiratory pandemic. My job required a lot from me mentally, physically and emotionally and having an entire business to attend to at the end of my work day was extremely difficult.

Lack of funds and business knowledge was yet another major challenge. I was channeling all my income to my business and my dreams for my business were greatly limited to my income and availability of time to execute . I also had no business knowledge, very few business resources and very limited time left to seek any help and so I have had to do lots of online research and make mistakes along the way as I learn this new role.

There are many more daily challenges that I am facing but I have purposed to use them as learning opportunities.

I am a full time entrepreneur and I make and sell handcrafted body products from natural, toxic free, ethically sourced ingredients. My products include whipped body butters, herb infused oils, body scrubs, lip balms and lip scrubs.

I specialize in skincare but my products are multipurpose and can be used on hair and beards as well. My 4 different whipped body butters are my signature product and what I’m mostly known for.