K’oda is an organic skin care line that uses all clean earth based products to nourish and heal the skin. My products are not only organic but vegan as well.
What gave you the idea for your business and how did it start?
The idea for K’oda came about when my 9 year old daughter (at the time) developed a debilitating skin condition that no dermatologist could identify and treat. I needed something that would heal and protect her skin so I went on a search of ingredients that would hydrate her skin long enough for the healing to take place. It took many years and many trials to come up with the right ingredients to synergistically work together to create the perfect product.
What’s your favorite thing about your job?
The favorite part of my job is knowing that I am providing a high quality product that helps my clients to cherish the skin they’re in.
What are your keys to making yourself productive?
The keys to making myself productive are staying true to what I believe and walking in the shoes of others who have been where I was with a child or even themselves suffering through a skin condition. Having experienced the hardship first hand gives me the compassion to understand and therefore uphold the standard of quality and care.
Tell us one long-term goal in your career.
Right now K’oda consists of three major products, Body Butter, Baby Butter and a Body Scrub. The reason for these three products is when I was going through this ordeal with my daughter It is my long term goal to take my product worldwide and to continue to build onto K’oda to encompass other are her skin would scale up and then crust over. I needed something that would gently exfolliate that dead skin and once the new skin was exposed to replenish the lost moisture and then begin the healing on the cellular level. That is why we started with the Body Butter and the Scrub. The Baby Butter was developed because essential oils cannot be used on babies skin under 3 months and but babies skin should be nourished from birth so I changed the ingredients around for the baby butter. So my long term goal is to begin to incorporate other products into my arsenal and having it being used around the world.
What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned through the course of your career?
To absolutely never give up. There were many times in the course of me trying to find the right formula that I just wanted to throw it all in but I had to continue to think about my child. I believe that I have an amazing product and had I given up I would not have found my gem.
What advice would you give to others aspiring to succeed in your field?
If you believe in what it is you are doing keep doing it until you get the end result. There is a quote that I always return to when the going gets rough ” The trip from Kamakura to Kyoto takes twelve days. If you travel for eleven but stop with just one day remaining, how can you admire the moon over the capital?”
What are your favorite things to do outside of work? I love tennis, to play it to watch it. I love to travel and I love spending time with my daughter.
Name a few influential books you’ve read and/or websites you keep up with that you’d recommend to readers. Ask and it is Given by Esther and Jerry Hicks, The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle, Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly and Becoming by Michelle Obama.
