December 13, 2023 • 51 mins
On this episode, I am joined by Mekisha Banks. Mekisha is the founder of Everbella, which creates self-care rituals that treat eczema, psoriasis, dermatitis, dry and dehydrated skin conditions.
At the age of 13, Mekisha discovered that the common drugstore beauty products and conventional prescription drugs were not providing the results she needed for her eczema, environmental allergies, and asthma. This realization sparked her mission to create a product that was versatile enough to address all her skin concerns, yet simple enough using raw, natural ingredients. Through her journey with her skin, Mekisha realized that her passion and purpose lay in helping others manage their unique skin conditions. After receiving her license as a Medical Skin Care Specialist and working as an educator at a Medical Aesthetics College for 11 years, she knew it was time to put her knowledge, experience, and love for skin into her own brand. The Everbella brand is dedicated to not only improving the appearance of the skin but also the overall well-being of an individual, it is a brand that focuses on both beauty and wellness.
We discuss how important it is to take time for yourself and prioritize your well-being. Mekisha shares her daily rituals with us and how she hopes that her actions will inspire her daughter to make the same positive choices when it comes to her own self-care rituals.
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Everbella (@everbella) • Instagram photos and videos
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Ashley (@filledupcup_) • Instagram photos and videos
Filled Up Cup - Unconventional Self Care for Modern Women
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to the Filled Up Cuppodcast.
We are a different kind of selfcare resource, one that has
nothing to do with bubble bathsand face masks, and everything
to do with rediscoveringyourself.
We bring you real reviews,honest experiences, and
unfiltered opinions that willmake you laugh, cry, and most
(00:21):
importantly, leave you with afilled up cup.
Ashley (00:32):
I am so excited.
I have Mekisha Banks joining me.
Mekisha is the founder ofEverBella.
Thank you so much for joining metoday.
Mekisha (00:40):
Thank you so much for having me.
It's a pleasure to be here.
Ashley (00:44):
Can you explain what EverBella is?
Mekisha (00:47):
So EverBella is a self care company that helps empower
individuals to make self carerituals that will treat their
eczema, psoriasis, dermatitis,dry, and dehydrated skin.
Ashley (01:02):
Is there, a backstory on why creating these kind of
products was so important toyou?
Mekisha (01:07):
Yes.
For example, I had eczema frommy earliest times of remembering
my life and basically from likewhen I was about five or so
years old.
And I just remember every singletime having to go to the doctor
with my mom and get newprescriptions almost It's on a
weekly or monthly basis, justdepending on how severe it was
(01:29):
at that time.
I just got fed up.
I got fed up because there was acertain point around when I was
12, I started kind of getting alittle bit more into it, looking
at the product or theingredients that were in there.
And I realized at a certainpoint in time.
I would put it on and like aweek later, it wasn't good
enough.
I had to get a new prescription.
I would go put it on.
(01:49):
I had to go back.
It was just not strong enough tohelp dull it down.
So I started researching alittle bit into ingredients and
researching into eczema and juststarted to fiddle around with
essential oils and natural oilsand start mixing things
together.
And when I would.
Kind of moisturize my skin withit.
(02:11):
I started realizing that theeczema started going away and
I've always had this kind of intouch feeling with mother earth.
I always, you know, ate reallyhealthy or worked out and
meditate.
I started getting into yoga andeventually I just started seeing
my eczema going away.
My asthma started going away.
(02:31):
My allergy started going awayand I just.
I guess this is working and Ijust kind of kept going, but it
was more of like a side thing Iwould give to friends and
family, but not really trying tomarket it.
It was just because it washelping my skin.
Ashley (02:46):
I love when things like that become a passion that it's
something that again, obviously,like, It must have been really
frustrating for you having tokind of be scientist and create
all of these things to try tofind the root of of the problem,
but I find that sometimes whenwe find that thing, whatever it
is, and we have such passionbehind it, it really can be this
(03:08):
amazing gift to be able to sharewith people and it almost makes
work not feel like work in thesense when you find something
that feels like you were meantto do it.
Mekisha (03:16):
Yeah, I completely agree.
My full background is in,aesthetics and medical
aesthetics and like the beautyindustry and doing hair, but I
never really thought that was myactual, full passion.
It kind of just fell into it.
I've done so many differentthings from photography and.
Editing and website designing,but somehow I kept getting
(03:38):
pulled back into skincare and Ikept getting more involved and I
kept researching it and keptgoing deeper into it in terms of
meditation and just self careand so forth.
And it just.
Dawned on me at some point intime.
It was before 2000 and 15.
I was like, okay, I thinkthere's something I got to do
(03:58):
about this.
I need to go a little bitdeeper, a little bit more into
it.
And it was actually a studentthat I was teaching at the
college.
I was at.
She's the one that actuallyencouraged me to launch the line
because she.
Was a chemist and she checkedover everything and she was
like, I think you should launchthis.
This is really well formulated.
Who did it?
(04:19):
And I was like, it was just me.
And she's like, no, this isprobably a very advanced, you
know, scientifically wellbalanced, formula.
You should kind of go deeperinto this.
And that's when I just said,okay, I think this is time for
me to do it.
Ashley (04:34):
It's so funny.
I think especially as women,it's like, we almost don't trust
ourselves to be like, okay, I'mdefinitely gonna do it.
It's almost like once we havesomebody else be like, hey, this
is a really good idea that it'slike, yeah, this is a really
good idea and having thatconfidence to move forward.
Mekisha (04:50):
Absolutely.
I love that you brought up thatpoint of being a woman because
the industry that I was inbefore getting into aesthetics,
it was very male dominated, itwas very sometimes demeaning.
It felt really, unencouraging interms of, you know, pursuing the
career that I was looking into.
It was only until when I had mydaughter and I was like, okay, I
(05:12):
think I really need to pursuethis a lot deeper.
It was more of a curiosity.
It's where I found other womenthat were very encouraging that
said, you need to go furtherwith this.
You know, we need it.
being a mother, and we have ourchildren that have eczema, we
don't really know where to go,and males don't really have the
same kind of nurturing feelingtowards the skincare.
(05:35):
And that's where I said, yeah,it's very important because I
deal with that with my daughter,she actually ended up having
eczema in the beginning.
Now she has absolutely no eczemaissues whatsoever, because I
would use the products on her.
It's very much that thing wheresometimes you have to get
encouragement from other peopleto see that.
Yes, you can do this.
(05:56):
And once you start, you can'tstop.
Ashley (05:58):
It is
Mekisha (05:59):
one
Ashley (05:59):
of those things.
Like, not that we don't thinkabout what we put on ourselves,
but as moms, We don'tnecessarily want to just give
our babies steroid creams or aone mold fits all that it is
really, I think the industryprior was really lacking that
there didn't feel like a lot ofoptions or a lot of answers that
something like this, that is alot more natural and actually
(06:23):
natural, not just like quoteunquote natural is so amazing
for giving to young kids as wellas ourselves.
Mekisha (06:31):
Yeah, I absolutely agree.
The thing that was the issueback then is that there were no
natural products.
The closest that we were tonatural that we were familiar
with was Aveeno.
And it had a very strongpresence in the industry.
But eventually, when I wentdeeper into not just that brand,
(06:51):
but all the other brands thatwere out there, it was really
just waxes.
and fragrance.
There really was a very smallamount of actual natural
ingredients in anything morethan 10 years ago or 15 years
ago.
So it was slowly where peoplestarted opening up their mind
more to having more natural andIt's unfortunate because it took
(07:15):
almost a whole world having skinissues for people to open up
their eyes and say, wait,there's no other options.
There's no natural products.
There's no natural this.
And even now, when we're lookingat a lot of the products,
there's a lot of hidden thingsin ingredients.
There's a lot of hidden, thingson labels that make people feel
(07:36):
like they're getting natural,but they're not getting natural.
So that's why a lot of.
Handmade products or handmadebrands are coming out a lot more
because they're the ones thatare really truly getting natural
ingredients and putting thingstogether.
So a lot of the big brands, youreally can't fully trust
everything because they don'thave really clean labels with
(07:57):
their ingredients.
Ashley (07:58):
I think that there's this misconception that.
it's more regulated than it is.
Like, I think that in theindustry, there's so much
greenwashing that it can saynatural, or it can say even
organic, or it can say all ofthese words, but unless there's
specific symbols on it, they canjust say it.
There's nobody saying likethat's false advertising.
So unless you're somebody whocan look at the back of the
(08:20):
bottle and know, like, What wordlooks like some weird scientific
term that has way too manyletters and doesn't seem like
English Unless you're somebodywho's gonna look at that and
then Google it and see it's sortof what is in every single
product You really never know.
Mekisha (08:35):
Well, that's the whole thing Especially my background
of being a medical estheticianand skincare specialist.
Brands will say Shea butter orhyaluronic acid, you'll see that
in a lot of things, retinols,but the percentage of those
actual ingredients are sominimal, they don't do anything
on the skin, but because thatingredient is in their list.
(08:58):
They will put all over theirproduct, shea butter, shea
butter, shea butter.
But when you think of thepercentage of the shea butter,
it might be 2 percent comparedto setyl alcohol, which is just
an alcohol or water, which is90%.
There's really actually no sheabutter in there.
It's so diluted that you're notactually getting any benefits of
(09:18):
it.
So that's what customers don'trealize that.
Take turn the product to theback and just yes, take a
picture of it.
Go home and just throw the wholething in Google.
You actually see the fulllisting of it.
It's just they won't knownecessarily what the full
percentages of each ingredient.
But if you see that there's.
That ingredient that you werereally, kind of drawn to it's at
(09:40):
the bottom of the label.
There is nothing in that productwith that ingredient.
Majority of it is the topproduct or top ingredients on
the list.
And most of the time, those arefilled with water or alcohol or
a filler, carrier oil thatreally doesn't do too much, just
depending on the benefits ofthat ingredient.
(10:01):
But.
That's my point.
There's so much brands out therethat will say that their product
is infused with this and infusedwith that.
But unfortunately it's such asmall diluted amount that you
think you're getting thatbenefit, but you really are not
getting that benefit.
And that's again, one of thereasons why I wanted our labels
(10:22):
to be super clean and verytransparent and very
forthcoming.
So people understand whatthey're getting and what's going
on in their skin and how it canhelp.
Ashley (10:31):
It never really occurred to me that the list of
ingredients would really sort ofmatter that it is a really
interesting point that yeahwhatever is first that would be
used most and whatever is at theend is really just like a
sprinkle and one thing that Ireally do appreciate about your
products and your website isthat you actually have like a no
list and the list of productsthat you won't use in ever
(10:54):
Bella's products.
Mekisha (10:55):
Yes.
No, thank you.
And it's very true.
The no list is so importantbecause some of those
ingredients will trigger anissue in the skin.
They will strip the natural oilsfrom the skin.
It will actually cause the skinto purge.
It will leave a film on theskin, preventing certain
(11:16):
ingredients of absorbing intothe skin.
It could change your blood.
It could actually affect youroil glands.
So it was so important thatevery product, I scaled it down.
I made it very basic.
I added a lot of activeingredients that are really
clean and steered away fromanything that was synthetic,
(11:37):
that were fillers, that wereparabens, that were things that
just weren't benefiting the skinat all.
So a no ingredient listing wasreally important for Me, but
also for everyone else to knowthat, you know, compare it,
bring it to your other products,and if you see it's there, you
can actually educate yourselfand say, Oh, actually, this is
(11:59):
really bad.
Maybe that's why my skin ispurging or irritated or red or
inflamed.
Ashley (12:05):
I think that we really do need to think of like the
stuff that we're putting on ourbody, like our skin is our
biggest organ, that we really dohave to think this isn't
something that looks cute andsmells good, that we do have to
think is it triggering anallergic reaction?
Is it going to trigger anoutbreak on your skin?
Is it going to cause a rootinflammation issue within your
(12:27):
body that I personally haven'treally considered that enough to
think am I causing the problemwith the product I'm using that
I'm actually trying to fix?
Mekisha (12:36):
Yes.
And that is why we are reallyeducating people on our
Instagram and all of ourdifferent social media
platforms, because that is thebiggest and most important thing
people don't realize.
One, your skin is the biggestorgan, but two, your internal
organs are just as importantbecause what's inside shows on
(12:56):
the outside.
What you put on the outside.
Travels to the inside.
And it's a harmony between thetwo things.
And that's why self care is suchan important thing for us to
explain to people that you dowant to purge the inside.
You want to really take care ofthe inside of your body because
you'll see it on the outside.
But when you're looking at theoutside, you need to look at the
(13:17):
products that you're using,because if there's a lot of
fragrance in there that istraveling into your bloodstream,
and it can, And cause anirritation to your skin, it
could actually cause aninflammation to the skin because
depending on the fragrance anddepending on what they put
together to make that fragrance,those molecules can actually
(13:38):
travel into your bloodstream andthen start to cause issues
within your skin.
It's the same idea when it comesto very harsh detergents.
Those can strip natural oils onyour skin, leaving your skin
almost bare and start to itchand irritate as well.
So it's like a science.
(13:58):
It became a true science for meto see everything in detail, but
it's, such an important factorfor people to look at that.
Whether it's your soap thatyou're using to wash dishes or
to your clothes or perfume orshower gel or lotion or any of
that, those ingredients that arenot natural, they do negatively
(14:19):
affect your skin, especially nowbecause they're being a lot more
populated in a very unhealthyway that can irritate the skin.
Ashley (14:25):
Not only just for our own physical well being, we also
do have to be aware, we arerapidly polluting and killing
our planet that if we are usingwhatever kind of soap, whether
it's dish soap, whether it'slaundry soap, whether it's soap
for our body, that's going downour drain and into our pipes and
then leading into Ourenvironment.
So it's really also beingmindful of what we're putting
(14:48):
out there and what problems werepotentially adding to which is
why I also love that your brandis a supporter of the Eden
Reforestation Project.
Why was that an importantpartner for you?
Mekisha (15:01):
I was always kind of in tune with Mother Earth.
From when I was a kid, Iremember there was a time where
we used to have little fieldtrips and we would clean up the
schools.
That no longer happens at schoolanymore, but it took a major
impact on me in terms of neverlittering, throw things away in
(15:22):
the garbage, make sure you, youknow, recycle and so forth.
It's always carried with me andeven my friends and family, they
would make sure they neverlittered around me.
They would never throw anythingon the floor.
They would always recycle.
And I remember a lot of peoplecall me crazy.
They're like, it's just awrapper.
And I'm like, yeah, but guesswhat that wrapper does?
It accumulates, it clogs ourwater.
(15:43):
It goes into those stream thatwe try to drink.
And then it also affects ourmammals.
So when I started making theproducts, I never wanted to
leave that.
Principle that value that moralbehind and start adding to, you
know, that footprint of all ofthe amount of waste that comes
from the beauty industry.
So, in the beginning, it didn'treally have the funds to be able
(16:06):
to, have certain kind of postconsumer plastics or certain
glass.
But every single time I wouldwork my way towards it, having
very minimal packaging, veryminimal shipping material, very
minimal, things that wouldaffect the planet, but also
affect, what the skincareproduct is being held in.
So it was really important whenwe started to scale and the
(16:27):
business started to change andwe started to get a little bit
bigger that I wanted to makesure that I was giving back in
some way, shape, or form.
And I always wanted to planttrees.
I always wanted to do all ofthose.
Things.
And when I discovered that therewas a brand that we could
actually partner with even beinga small scale business, because
(16:47):
a lot of these charities willreally only work with larger or
medium chain businesses.
What I liked is that there was amiddle person called the good
API.
They were the ones that couldactually.
Bridge us to being able to workwith the even project in order
to help, every dollar go towardsplanting trees and it was
probably the most.
(17:08):
Fun most proud moment I've everhad was to be able to do that
because I've always wanted tobut I would reach out to
companies and they're like,sorry, you're not large enough.
Sorry.
This is like the minimumrequirement.
I'm like, how am I going to dothis?
Like, how is other brands doingit?
And I couldn't.
So this was a great opportunityand it made me feel so proud
because now seeing that weactually are contributing back.
(17:31):
I'm just really, really happywith that.
Ashley (17:34):
How frustrating that it's like, Oh, you want to help?
Sorry.
You don't have enough followers.
We can't deal with you.
So as a consumer, I actuallyreally love that brands are
partnered with theseorganizations so it's like a low
effort way of actuallysupporting if I don't have the
time to go plant a tree I candefinitely go shop and feel like
at least I'm doing somethingthat way and being socially
(17:55):
responsible.
Mekisha (17:56):
Yes, because that is our responsibility at the end of
the day, you know, a lot of thethings that are happening
globally.
It's man made.
It's caused by us.
The least we could do is try andgive back.
That's probably the mostimportant thing for me.
If I wasn't making products, Iwould definitely be out there
doing a lot more when it comesto reforestation.
(18:16):
And I even actually got theopportunity to plant trees and
it was the most liberating, themost.
Appreciative thing that I coulddo.
And it just, I loved it.
It really, really hit my heartreally well.
And I'm happy that we're able togive back on the larger scale
now.
So that's good.
Ashley (18:33):
It's kind of cool.
I do not have a green thumb atall.
So I'm always like, kind ofsurprised at the end of the
season that I'm able to keephouseplants alive, but I love
the fact of like actuallywatching them grow.
It's like being able to waterthem and nurture them and like,
see it, but it's awesome that Icreated that and to see sort of
it go full circle of like,whatever we take out of the
(18:54):
earth, being able to give itback, but actually in a sense,
being able to watch that treegrow.
It's such a surreal, likemagical thing to watch something
go from nothing to something.
Mekisha (19:03):
Yeah, I absolutely agree.
I find taking care of plants,especially my own home, it's
such a blessing because again,in the beginning, when I was
told that I had really badallergies, which was
environmental I kind of like ranaway from a tree or a bush that
I would see.
I'm like, oh, I can't, I'mallergic.
Now, especially going a lot morenatural and taking care of
(19:26):
myself through different selfcare rituals, I have not one
single issue with my allergies.
There is no such thing asallergies.
It is how do you tolerate orpurify your body to be able to,
be part of.
Earth, which is where we camefrom.
So I find, you know, now whenI'm able to sit there and, touch
them and nurture them and growthem and so forth and not have a
(19:49):
reaction.
It's just again, it's that samekind of message that we have to
kind of research and get digdeeper into what these allergies
are so that we can helpourselves more and help them.
Earth more and not condemn itand say, Oh, I'm allergic to
everything green.
I can't do anything about it.
No, you're not allergic.
It's just, there's a way of youreally kind of figuring out
(20:10):
what's triggering you and thengo from there.
Ashley (20:13):
Now, thinking that we are in the thick of the holiday
season, if there's somebodythat's like, I would like to try
the products or I have somebodyto buy for and I have no idea
what to get them, what's oneproduct of yours that you would
recommend as a beginner productfor somebody to try?
Mekisha (20:30):
I would always recommend the Everhydrate
collection because it's justmeant to hydrate the skin, give
it moisture, give it that laxityback again in the skin.
So I find anything from theEverhydrate collection to be the
best one for everyone.
Because unless you know thatperson really truly is suffering
from eczema or some type ofsensitivity, I wouldn't say give
(20:53):
them EverSooth because they'lllook and be like, I don't have
eczema issues.
So I would always, you know,steer people towards the
EverHydrate, especially in thisseason as well.
Now, everyone can benefit fromhaving some more hydration in
their skin.
So that would be the best one,such as the scrub as well as the
soak or even the butter.
(21:14):
Like they're all amazing just togive skin that liveliness it
needs that stimulation and giveit that moisture that it needs.
Ashley (21:21):
There's also on your website talking about a three
step ritual.
Can you kind of explain whatthat is?
Mekisha (21:28):
Yeah, so I find a lot of people that I've interacted
with for so long, they don'treally know what to do.
They just kind of wash and goout the door.
And that's why we created thatthree step ritual.
So a person kind of starts theirjourney in ritual building.
self care building, and it kindof takes you on that journey of,
(21:50):
cleansing the skin really well,taking your time exfoliating the
skin so that you can get rid ofany dead skin cells and kind of
remove that toxicity, removethat heaviness off of the skin,
and then finish off withnurturing the skin with moisture
or oils.
So that would be a butter or anoil itself.
(22:11):
I find the oils are a little bitbetter for people that need
conditioning in the skin orsomething lightweight because
they don't want any kind ofthickness on the skin.
So that's where the oils aregreat.
Or the butter is where you wantsomething a little bit thicker,
especially on your elbows oryour knees, or even on your
hands if you like something alittle bit thicker.
So the ritual is really to helpsomeone know how to do like a.
(22:34):
three step kind of programversus just buying a soap and
thinking that's it.
They don't need to do anythingelse or just buying a scrub and
thinking that's the way to doit.
It really brings a person onthat journey of going through a
self care ritual and taking thetime to really treat their body
versus rushing out the door and,not giving themselves that
little moment of like breathand, you know, relaxation and
(22:57):
nurturing.
Ashley (22:59):
I love that too.
It's like taking the time tohave that intentional moment for
yourself.
And I feel like a lot of thetimes like stereotypically
thinking women, we often will doso much for other people, but we
often will put ourselves last onour to do list.
So it's like even givingyourself 15 minutes in the
(23:20):
morning or evening to just goingto wash my face.
I'm going to take this time.
I'm going to think about themoments of the day, let it kind
of pass and then be able to,leave your bathroom and be like,
Okay, I got this, or I'm readyfor bed, I can relax now and
just really, I don't know,finding that center of yourself.
Mekisha (23:38):
Thank you for saying that because it's so true.
In the beginning, I never reallytook the time to take care of
myself.
And then while I was going onthat journey of discovering
eczema issues and so forth, Idid.
Slow down in the morning and Iperfected like a morning ritual
for myself and a nighttimeritual for myself and I realized
(24:00):
that, you know, a lot of peoplewould really just rush the day,
they rush and wake up, they rushto get their food, they rush to
go to work, they rush throughwork, they rush home after work,
they rush to get their food, andthey get in the bed and they're
like, oh, finally.
But if you really start your daywith a ritual that really just
centers yourself, alignsyourself, clears your channel,
(24:24):
really allow yourself to breatheand steady your breath, you'll
start to notice that you're moreaware through the day, you will
have less anxiety, you'll havemore of awareness of triggers
and things that bother you.
So I find it's such an importantthing for us to do and it's
becoming a little bit more knownnow to be more aware and it
(24:46):
doesn't have to be meditation.
It just means just breathe, justtake your time and breathe, be
conscious and aware of whatyou're putting on your skin and
what you're saying to yourselfin the morning and what you're
saying to yourself while you'redoing your work and you know, go
through your day with that ease.
I find it's, such an importantthing that we had to bring out
(25:07):
more.
Ashley (25:08):
I think that if the pandemic taught us anything, it
was sort of that hustle culturewasn't doing much for us.
We were having to do, way morehousework, way more at home
work, way more, teaching of ourkids if we had them.
And it got to the point that Ithink collectively we got all so
burnt out that we kind ofrealized that, what's the point
(25:29):
in hustling?
We have 24 hours in a day, butdo we need to make every single
one of them this like do or dieand if I miss this moment, then
it's gone forever.
It's undeniable like pressure onourselves where I feel like if
we start to be intentional andwhether we want to call it,
taking time for yourself.
If you find that like putting ameditation as a label on it
(25:51):
feels stressful, like it canstill be that.
But it's just taking that timeto breathe, to check in with
your body, to be like, I don'tknow, in yourself a little bit
more than just the go, go, go.
I feel like it's so needed forour health and for our mental
health and just overall for usto be better humans to each
(26:12):
other.
Mekisha (26:12):
Yeah.
And it's very true that In thelast, how many years of
humanity, it's always been aboutgetting it done, chasing, going
after your goals, setting yourgoals and chasing it and chasing
it, that we almost lost thepresence of just being there.
(26:33):
Having fun, enjoying company,enjoying people, enjoying, each
other's company or in justenjoying what our life is about.
So now there's such a majorshift and that's what we've kind
of been feeling and I know somepeople might find a little bit
too spiritual, but that's amajor shift that's really
happening right now acrosshumanity where.
(26:53):
We're becoming, whole again.
We're coming back to thatfeeling of loving myself and,
confidence and self esteem andself love and taking the time to
really just be in the moment andnot thinking about yesterday,
not thinking about tomorrow, butthinking about this very moment
that we have.
And that's why self care ritualsare so important and whether it
(27:17):
is breathing and doing, youknow, Certain kind of breathing
techniques, whether it is aboutjust, writing a I love you list,
gratitude list whether it isjust sitting down and, just
listening to clear music,singing bowls, any of that.
It's just really about being inthat moment of self care and
(27:38):
self awareness and just enjoyingyourself again.
Ashley (27:41):
I definitely agree with that.
I also think that we arestarting to come back to
community a little bit.
I feel like we, for the longesttime, had this lack mindset
where there could only be oneskincare brand that's going to
be the popular one.
Or one influencer that's goingto be the one to get all of the
things.
And I think that If nothingelse, the Internet has taught us
(28:03):
that that really isn't the case,that there is this abundance out
there and there is room foreverybody.
So it's like we can be incollaboration more than we have
to be in competition.
Mekisha (28:14):
Yes, thank you.
Oh, I love everything thatyou're saying because that is
exactly what I've dealt with onmy own personal journey for so
long and again, being in thebeauty industry, that is mainly
what sometimes drives the beautyindustry.
You have to be the it one.
You have to be the top.
You cannot have another fellowwomen beside you or another
(28:37):
fellow stylist beside you bepopular.
It's always this idea ofindividual You know, one person
being the leader when really weall are a team.
We're all here together.
We're all collectively, creatinga business.
We're all collectively, youknow, creating art.
We're all collectively here justliving.
It's very true that we.
(28:59):
Are now seeing that a lot more,especially on social media that
we're here to be together versusindividually.
And I find now we are able toconnect with people across the
world.
So even more now we're becomingmore of a community across the
globe versus it be so.
Singular one tribe in this onecity, and that's it's very
(29:23):
diverse now as a global effect.
And I do agree about it beingsomething where we can all do
what we like to do without itfeeling like a competition.
It's really about building acommunity versus being like,
you're the outsider.
You can't be in this team.
Ashley (29:40):
I definitely agree.
One thing that I love about yourbrand too is that you really
include that wellness componentthat you have blog posts it's
not just hey buy my product.
It's like this is our lifestyle.
This is what we stand for.
Mekisha (29:54):
Yes, it's, very much a movement of wellness.
It's a movement of healing.
It's a movement ofinclusiveness.
It's not about singling out aperson because we're all here.
We all have the same qualitiesand the same gifts, you know,
one may be a little bitdifferent than the other, but
the point is that we can all.
(30:15):
Rise together as a community notindividually.
I don't want people to feelsingled out I don't want anyone
to feel you know Abused or anyof that.
I want everyone to feel likethis brand is good for everyone
You know, we are all heretogether.
We can all rise together Let'shelp each other because at the
(30:35):
end of the day while you'reholding someone up someone else
is holding you up So it's aboutBuilding a community of people
that have that same inspirationand aspirations to help heal,
build, prosper, abundance andgrow.
I
Ashley (30:50):
love that you're creating that safe space in your
corner of the internet.
Mekisha (30:53):
Yes.
Thank you so much.
Ashley (30:55):
Can you tell us what your favorite wellness routine
is?
Mekisha (30:59):
It depends on the day, but my normal day to day routine
or ritual is I get up around345, four o'clock.
I go for a walk.
And while I'm walking, I'mrepeating mantras.
I'm star gazing.
Just really taking in thatbreath and that groundedness
outside.
(31:19):
And then I go to the, gym.
I have a meditation kind ofbreath, work in the sauna room
just so I can really groundmyself, purify my skin, and get
rid of any toxins.
Then I go and actually work outfor about an hour, depending on
what area that I really want tofocus on.
After that, I come home, I drinkmy tea, I journal.
(31:41):
I read a little bit.
I learned something new.
So I'm, you know, learningdifferent languages now.
And then I start my day with mydaughter making her breakfast
and have that moment with herand my cats as well.
And that's like my morning kindof ritual.
I have like a night ritual andthat.
comprises of after dinner andall that great stuff with my
(32:02):
daughter, I go to learnsomething.
So I try to read again foranother 30 minutes, or I try to
kind of note down how was theday productively.
And then I start to watch somethings that are spiritual.
And then I.
Go to bed and my bedtime isrelatively early.
Everyone used to make fun of me,but it's okay because I find
(32:25):
because I get up so early I haveto go to sleep.
But I also realized if you'renot resting, you cannot put your
best foot forward in the day.
So that's like my normal day today kind of ritual.
I have bath rituals.
I also have hair rituals.
I have a whole different slew ofdifferent rituals, but that's my
(32:45):
regular day to day that I buildon.
And I really kind of changedepending on my mood and how I
feel.
But it's such a big thing formyself, my foundation to be able
to run a business with mybusiness partner or be a mother
or, be an employee if I'mworking anywhere or just be a
person.
It keeps me centered.
Ashley (33:06):
I think it is really important to put value on that
routine.
It's like, it gives yousomething to look forward to.
It gives you sort of that peaceof mind that from this time to
this time, like anything couldhappen in a day.
But these are the things thatI'm like, I know I can count on
myself doing this.
Movement is so great for ourmental health.
But I think sleep is somethingthat is so overlooked.
(33:29):
Like people will kind of likelaugh if you're like, Oh, I love
to nap.
Or I love to sleep it makes sucha difference if you're somebody
who can't sleep or doesn't getenough sleep or has broken
sleep, like it can have such abig ripple effect throughout
your whole entire day.
Good for you that you can go tosleep early and that you can get
up early and create that routinefor yourself because it is
(33:51):
something that's setting you upfor success.
Mekisha (33:53):
Thank you.
It's very true that your sleepis important.
I'm studying it a little bitright now too, because I know
some people know the term REMsleep and your brain needs a
minimum of six hours for it tohave this flushing effect.
And many people don't realizethat their brain has like a Full
out flush in the sleep.
(34:14):
So if you're not getting aminimum of six hours of sleep,
six to eight hours of sleep,you're not flushing those toxins
or resetting your brain, if youwant to call it.
So what ends up happening, theresidual Build up and the the
nervous system is so wired thatthe next day, that's why you
have this unawareness.
(34:35):
You're not centered.
You have this chaotic mind isbecause your brain did not fully
flush while it was sleeping.
And again, I will know more ofthe terms and study a lot more,
but from what I gather, that iswhat's happening when you're
sleeping.
So sleep is really important,especially for recovery on your
muscles and your tissue and yourorgans and your digestive
system.
That alone is what's happening.
(34:57):
We overlook it and it became afashion that if you don't sleep,
you're working.
If you don't sleep, you'reproductive.
No, you're dying.
It's so important and I took itin myself.
In my younger days it was okay,but I value it so much more now,
more than I did before.
Ashley (35:14):
I Think that when we're hearing those messages, those
go, go, go.
And the, don't sleep or sleep isfor the lazy or whatever we
really have to question likewho's benefiting those messages
and why are we being sold thatis that really helping us or is
that feeding into somebodyelse's propaganda?
Mekisha (35:32):
Exactly.
I find my daughter was very muchon the bag wagon of staying up
and trying to be on socialmedia.
I said, no, we are cutting thatphone off at a certain time at
night because you do not need tobe on social media until two or
three in the morning.
It is going to ruin your life,ruin your eyesight and give you
the misconception of what's outthere.
(35:54):
And it's not correct.
It's like this illusion.
So even her, I put her into thatsame practice of going to sleep
at a certain time, or at leastlocking off her social media so
that she.
Stops being so activated withwhat she sees on social media.
If we actually all get into thispractice of turning off social
media or turning off actualdigital, we'll actually notice
(36:16):
that we do want to go to sleep.
Our body is actually tired, or Ican actually have a conversation
with the people around me.
And then you will fall asleepmuch easier because you turned
off things that are actuallystimulating your brain and
stimulating your nervous systemand stimulating your body.
And that's where you're feelinglike you don't need to sleep.
But if you actually turn themoff and move them away, that
(36:39):
electromagnetic field one willturn off and it's not
stimulating you, but you're notgetting activated visually by
seeing it as well.
Ashley (36:47):
We've created this myth that we have to be accessible or
that we're going to somehow missout.
It's like if our phones aren'tat arm's reach all the time, and
again, I'm not as good aspracticing as I preach.
I'm still pretty bad for it, butit's like creating the solution
that it doesn't have to be nearus all the time.
If somebody has to wait untilthe next morning to get a
response from an email.
(37:08):
Or a text or things like that,the world is not going to
implode, we're going to be okay.
But I think it's remindingourselves of that just because
we're so used to this idea that,everything happens
instantaneous.
Mekisha (37:20):
Yes, it's the feeling of immediate gratification.
And if we turn off this idea ofimmediate gratification, we'll
actually be a lot more relaxed,and we'll be a lot more aware
and present in our life, and notfeeling like, if I don't do
this, something's gonna happen.
This immediacy, thisanxiousness.
(37:40):
And again, Like we said, we'reall kind of working through,
we're all kind of dealing withit because that's kind of the
world we live in, but we haveto, recondition ourselves to
take that away and take that,down.
And I'm, guilty as wellsometimes.
I'm like, oh, let me doublecheck.
Let me see that.
But then I'll like, stop.
I'm like, hold on.
I've been scrolling.
(38:01):
For so long, or why am Iresponding to emails and it's at
nine o'clock at night or 10o'clock at night?
It's a really important thingand you know, if we don't start
doing it now, the nextgeneration is going to be
unfortunately the ones thatsuffer from this.
Ashley (38:15):
We really do have to model the behavior, we can tell
our kids like.
Don't do as I do, do as I say,but that never ever works.
So if you're somebody who'sconstantly scrolling, you can't
really be surprised when yourkid is doing the same thing.
If you have children that it's,it's, they really do model after
us.
Mekisha (38:34):
Yes, absolutely.
My daughter is she's like alittle project to me.
I literally am always tellingmyself, okay, if I'm not doing
it, she's not doing it.
Okay, perfect.
And then I'll see things that Ido that she starts doing.
I'm like, oh, yes, I'm notfailing.
I'm making it.
I'm making it.
She's literally my project of,instilling great behavior in
(38:57):
her.
Which makes
Ashley (38:58):
it easier when we can sort of rationalize it in that
sense that it's not just for meIt's for the next it does sort
of make it easier to be like,okay, I can put this down I
don't have to worry about it.
Mekisha (39:09):
I definitely try not to look at my phone at a certain
time at night and some days Iwin, some days I don't, but I
definitely try to stay away fromlooking at it.
Even if it's a book, I'm tryingto be more of a physical book
versus a digital book because ittakes one second for an alert to
drop down on your digitaldevice.
(39:29):
You're like, let me check itout.
And you're like, no, no, I toldmyself not to.
To check it out.
So that's one thing I toldmyself, I don't give me a
digital, book for Christmas orfor any occasion buy the
physical book, I love thefeeling, the smell and the touch
of it, and it also allows me tonot be looking at a digital
device.
Ashley (39:49):
I find too, with paper copy of books, I get like the, I
don't know, the dopamine hit oflike, Oh, I only have a hundred
more pages to go where I feellike if you're reading like on a
Kindle, you just don't get thesame satisfaction that way.
Mekisha (39:59):
No, you don't.
You don't even feel excited.
I like to flip the page and Ilike to highlight and I like to
touch it.
I like to hold it.
I'm very much, you know, verystudious in that way.
I'm excited when I have bookslike I have journals upon
journals and I'm excited lookingat that.
I have so much journals, youknow, stacking up like I
(40:22):
literally want to have alibrary.
I want to have a library and beable to look at that and see,
maybe my daughter may want to goin there and pick out a book
that she might have saw me read.
So you can't do that with adigital book.
You can't be like, Oh, gothrough my books on a Kindle.
Ashley (40:40):
I also really love the name of your company, Everbella.
Do you have a story on why youchose that name?
Mekisha (40:46):
Yes, it's such a funny, beautiful name, but my middle
name is Everte, and mydaughter's name is Isabel.
So I kind of cut the two and putthem together, and it wasn't for
the brand, it was actually justfor my Instagram profile.
It was for my Instagram profilea long time ago before the brand
(41:10):
even came about.
It was like when Instagram firstdropped, I'm like, oh my God.
I gotta have my name.
I didn't want my real name.
So I put the two of thosetogether.
And then when I had theinspiration to start the
company, I just couldn't figureout what name it should be.
And then it dawned on me thatwhy not EverBella?
No one even knew about everBella.
No one even thought of that.
(41:31):
So that's when I put it outthere and.
It kind of stuck and everyone'skind of said it's such a
beautiful name and I'm so, soproud of it because I started to
see a much deeper meaning to it.
Ashley (41:42):
I love that.
And again, it kind of falls backinto the meant to be that it was
so simple of like, it was yourpassion, but that this perfect
name was waiting.
You just didn't know it yet.
Mekisha (41:53):
Yes, it's great.
I noticed now it's a little bitmore popular in the industry or
on social media and so forth.
And it's okay.
It's such a beautiful name, butit's something that's been
around with me for a long time.
It's stuck with me and it usedto mean, forever beautiful.
That's where it first came.
And now it's just kind of keepsevolving and growing, but it's
(42:17):
still kind of represents thatforever, that infinity and Bella
mean beautiful and all differentforms of beautiful, not just one
kind of beautiful.
So it's a timeless name.
It really is.
Ashley (42:30):
Definitely is very timeless.
I am excited that it ended upworking out and that you were to
kind of claim it before theBella maybe became a lot more
popular.
Mekisha (42:40):
Yeah.
The Bella or the ever, I noticedeverything is happening that
way.
And I'm like, Oh my gosh, it'sso popular now, but it's okay.
Cause sometimes when you kind ofchannel things through the
divine, you kind of are ahead ofthe time and you know, that's
kind of what's happening rightnow is that self care movement.
It was.
Something I've been doing for solong and now it's becoming more
(43:01):
popular and I'm so happy it is,but I never realized I was doing
self care before I even becamethis household name, you know,
spirituality is becoming a lotmore of a household, recognition
versus it being, you know, othertraditional things that we
would, believe in or follow,but, knowing a lot more that's
(43:22):
happening and Knowing what's outthere more in terms of divine
kind of things.
It's such a great feeling to seeit becoming a lot more common, a
lot more of a regular topic ofdiscussion versus it being, Oh,
that's woo.
We don't talk about that.
So yeah, it's a great feelingthat, things are coming a lot
(43:42):
more normalized.
Ashley (43:44):
Yeah, we really do need to take the stigma off and stuff
like that and just really beable to have open frank
conversations and if what peopleare talking about resonates with
you, perfect.
Maybe you found a community thatway.
And if it doesn't, well, itdoesn't hurt you to disagree and
find a different community likeit just has to be more, I don't
(44:04):
know, acceptance of each other.
Mekisha (44:06):
Yes, like we just have to have openness.
That's it.
Just a openness towards any andeverything, you know, science is
discovering a lot of things fromspirituality that they denied,
over a couple of decades ago.
Now they're like, actually, wecan prove it's correct.
And it's like, see, it's not tosay things are wrong.
It's just that you just didn'thave an open mind to it.
(44:29):
Now you're having a more of anopen mind to it.
And it's a great feeling becausewe're evolving.
And that's what's happening.
We're evolving as a species, asa humanity, as a world, as
everything.
And we have to remember that.
We have to just have that openmind, that compassion, that love
and that respect for everyone'schoices, beliefs, decisions in
(44:50):
where they're going with theirlife and just, you know, accept
it for what it is.
It's not harming you.
Ashley (44:55):
I couldn't agree with you more.
I think that we have been sodivided or this idea that we're
so cut off for people or thatwe're so different that it's
really like, Accepting peopleand learning from people and
just being open and I think,takes way more energy to hate
something than it does to choosekindness and to choose love and
(45:15):
like all of our weirdness andall of our differentnessif we
were all the same, like howincredibly boring and we would
probably fight a lot morebecause we would have to create
sort of drama entertainment.
So it's like.
The more weird we are reallybenefits everybody and helps
everybody shine in such a uniqueway that it's like instead of
(45:35):
trying to, I don't know, createthe sameness.
It's kind of cool that we're allso different, but in a
collective way that we can allwork together.
Mekisha (45:45):
Absolutely.
It's one of those ideas that,because it's been bred in us,
you know, from a tribal time.
It's all about, you have to bepart of the tribe, you have to
be a certain way.
And if you're not, you're kickedout, right?
Now it's, we're breaking thatkind of foundation conditioning
that we've had where if you'renot part of us, look like us, do
(46:07):
like us, eat like us, act likeus, you're not part of the
tribe.
Now it's more of a breaking ofthat conditioning and saying,
Hey, you like rainbows.
I like black.
I like white.
I like stripes.
I like coconuts.
I cats.
I like dogs.
We're all hanging out together.
Do you want to come and hangout?
It's such a great feeling thatwe're now kind of abolishing
(46:29):
that conditioning and we'rechanging it and we're becoming
more unified versus segregatedand demeaned and bullied for
being different.
I've always known that eventhough I was a person that got
bullied when I was younger forbeing different.
I just never changed that aboutmyself.
I'm like, I don't care.
(46:50):
This is who I am and this is howI am.
And if I feel like I want to dothis, I'm going to do it.
And now I feel so happy thatpeople are like, I love your
quirkiness.
I love that you're weird.
I love that you're different.
And I'm just like, no, I'm notweird.
I'm just, just me, you're you.
And I love you the way you are.
So it's really, really fun tosee and so encouraging to see
(47:12):
that.
We're becoming different andwe're slowly but surely are
accepting of it.
The more everyone believes thatit's okay to be their own
different, then we'll have a lotless hate.
We'll have a lot less fighting.
We'll have a lot less war.
We'll have a lot less ofeverything because People are
sticking to, I don't care whatyou have going on with you.
(47:35):
I still love you for who youare.
See the person for their heart.
See the person for their true,honest intentions, not for how
they look, what they eat, whatthey do in their personal
private life, just love them forwho they are.
I'm hoping that in every way,shape or form, I can keep
pushing that message along with,the message from EverBella too.
Ashley (47:56):
I hope that anybody listening to this can really
like absorb that into themselvesand take that energy into 2024
so that we are really workingtowards that peace..
Mekisha (48:08):
Yes, yes, and we can all do it if we just stop
looking at things that arenegative and, paying attention
to things that are hurtful.
And instead, really try to feelgrounded and resonating with who
they are.
Take the time to really get toknow who you are, what are your
values, what are your morals,what are your likes, dislikes,
(48:30):
and so forth, and let it shine.
Because when you do that...
I guarantee you like attractslike and you will find the
people that resonate just likewhat you are resonating with and
you kind of create your own kindof community and then it starts
to spill out to other peoplebecause other people will see,
Hey, you're doing your thing andyou're doing it the way you want
(48:51):
to.
I guess I can do it too.
And then they'll start doing it.
So it's like a ripple effect,but it all starts with just one
person, 1 percent every day, oneaction every day.
To just feel grounded and acceptthemselves and love themselves.
And we can change the world andwe can change everything that's
happening around us.
If we just stop paying attentionto the negative and really focus
(49:11):
on that positive.
Ashley (49:13):
I couldn't agree more.
It's a beautiful mindset.
And I do think that the morepositive that you put out and
that how you've managed tocreate this, authentic safe
space that I do really believethat like attracts like and that
Everbella will have this rippleeffect and that you will have
created this ripple effect forpeople.
So I really appreciate the factthat you're sharing your story
(49:36):
and that your products did cometo fruitation.
And I really appreciate youhaving this conversation with me
today.
Mekisha (49:43):
Thank you so much, Ashley.
This was one of my favoriteconversations with anyone and it
allowed me to have that samesafe space to express myself and
I cannot wait for other peopleto hear it and feel inspired and
I love what you do and I lovethat your own journey is to
(50:03):
bring these stories and bringthese people, whoever they are,
and whatever their walks of lifeare out to light so that other
people can hear it and beinspired to.
Ashley (50:13):
Oh, thank you so much.
If anybody was wanting topurchase Everbella products,
where are they available?
Mekisha (50:20):
So we are in a few pharmacies, but they're more in
Ontario.
So if they're in Mississauga orBrampton, they'll find those
products there.
Nonetheless, we do ship.
Internationally, worldwide,Canada, everywhere on our
website.
So everbella.
ca and we also do, directshipping.
They can do pickup, but if theyare in certain areas, they can
(50:41):
definitely pick them up atpharmacies or through certain
naturopaths, but alwaysaccessible on our website, no
matter where you are.
Ashley (50:48):
Can you let people know on social media where they can
find you?
Mekisha (50:53):
Everbella.
Just that one word, EverBella,they'll find us on there.
We're on tikTok, YouTube,facebook, Instagram.
We're pretty much everywhere..
That's so great.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for joining ustoday for this episode of the
(51:13):
filled up cup podcast.
Don't forget to hit subscribeand leave a review.
If you like what you hear, youcan also connect with us at
filledupcup.Com.
Thanks again for tuning in andwe'll catch you in the next
episode.
Welcome to the Filled Up Cuppodcast.
We are a different kind of selfcare resource, one that has
nothing to do with bubble bathsand face masks, and everything
to do with rediscoveringyourself.
We bring you real reviews,honest experiences, and
unfiltered opinions that willmake you laugh, cry, and most
(00:21):
importantly, leave you with afilled up cup.
Ashley (00:32):
I am so excited.
I have Mekisha Banks joining me.
Mekisha is the founder ofEverBella.
Thank you so much for joining metoday.
Mekisha (00:40):
Thank you so much for having me.
It's a pleasure to be here.
Ashley (00:44):
Can you explain what EverBella is?
Mekisha (00:47):
So EverBella is a self care company that helps empower
individuals to make self carerituals that will treat their
eczema, psoriasis, dermatitis,dry, and dehydrated skin.
Ashley (01:02):
Is there, a backstory on why creating these kind of
products was so important toyou?
Mekisha (01:07):
Yes.
For example, I had eczema frommy earliest times of remembering
my life and basically from likewhen I was about five or so
years old.
And I just remember every singletime having to go to the doctor
with my mom and get newprescriptions almost It's on a
weekly or monthly basis, justdepending on how severe it was
(01:29):
at that time.
I just got fed up.
I got fed up because there was acertain point around when I was
12, I started kind of getting alittle bit more into it, looking
at the product or theingredients that were in there.
And I realized at a certainpoint in time.
I would put it on and like aweek later, it wasn't good
enough.
I had to get a new prescription.
I would go put it on.
(01:49):
I had to go back.
It was just not strong enough tohelp dull it down.
So I started researching alittle bit into ingredients and
researching into eczema and juststarted to fiddle around with
essential oils and natural oilsand start mixing things
together.
And when I would.
Kind of moisturize my skin withit.
(02:11):
I started realizing that theeczema started going away and
I've always had this kind of intouch feeling with mother earth.
I always, you know, ate reallyhealthy or worked out and
meditate.
I started getting into yoga andeventually I just started seeing
my eczema going away.
My asthma started going away.
(02:31):
My allergy started going awayand I just.
I guess this is working and Ijust kind of kept going, but it
was more of like a side thing Iwould give to friends and
family, but not really trying tomarket it.
It was just because it washelping my skin.
Ashley (02:46):
I love when things like that become a passion that it's
something that again, obviously,like, It must have been really
frustrating for you having tokind of be scientist and create
all of these things to try tofind the root of of the problem,
but I find that sometimes whenwe find that thing, whatever it
is, and we have such passionbehind it, it really can be this
(03:08):
amazing gift to be able to sharewith people and it almost makes
work not feel like work in thesense when you find something
that feels like you were meantto do it.
Mekisha (03:16):
Yeah, I completely agree.
My full background is in,aesthetics and medical
aesthetics and like the beautyindustry and doing hair, but I
never really thought that was myactual, full passion.
It kind of just fell into it.
I've done so many differentthings from photography and.
Editing and website designing,but somehow I kept getting
(03:38):
pulled back into skincare and Ikept getting more involved and I
kept researching it and keptgoing deeper into it in terms of
meditation and just self careand so forth.
And it just.
Dawned on me at some point intime.
It was before 2000 and 15.
I was like, okay, I thinkthere's something I got to do
(03:58):
about this.
I need to go a little bitdeeper, a little bit more into
it.
And it was actually a studentthat I was teaching at the
college.
I was at.
She's the one that actuallyencouraged me to launch the line
because she.
Was a chemist and she checkedover everything and she was
like, I think you should launchthis.
This is really well formulated.
Who did it?
(04:19):
And I was like, it was just me.
And she's like, no, this isprobably a very advanced, you
know, scientifically wellbalanced, formula.
You should kind of go deeperinto this.
And that's when I just said,okay, I think this is time for
me to do it.
Ashley (04:34):
It's so funny.
I think especially as women,it's like, we almost don't trust
ourselves to be like, okay, I'mdefinitely gonna do it.
It's almost like once we havesomebody else be like, hey, this
is a really good idea that it'slike, yeah, this is a really
good idea and having thatconfidence to move forward.
Mekisha (04:50):
Absolutely.
I love that you brought up thatpoint of being a woman because
the industry that I was inbefore getting into aesthetics,
it was very male dominated, itwas very sometimes demeaning.
It felt really, unencouraging interms of, you know, pursuing the
career that I was looking into.
It was only until when I had mydaughter and I was like, okay, I
(05:12):
think I really need to pursuethis a lot deeper.
It was more of a curiosity.
It's where I found other womenthat were very encouraging that
said, you need to go furtherwith this.
You know, we need it.
being a mother, and we have ourchildren that have eczema, we
don't really know where to go,and males don't really have the
same kind of nurturing feelingtowards the skincare.
(05:35):
And that's where I said, yeah,it's very important because I
deal with that with my daughter,she actually ended up having
eczema in the beginning.
Now she has absolutely no eczemaissues whatsoever, because I
would use the products on her.
It's very much that thing wheresometimes you have to get
encouragement from other peopleto see that.
Yes, you can do this.
(05:56):
And once you start, you can'tstop.
Ashley (05:58):
It is
Mekisha (05:59):
one
Ashley (05:59):
of those things.
Like, not that we don't thinkabout what we put on ourselves,
but as moms, We don'tnecessarily want to just give
our babies steroid creams or aone mold fits all that it is
really, I think the industryprior was really lacking that
there didn't feel like a lot ofoptions or a lot of answers that
something like this, that is alot more natural and actually
(06:23):
natural, not just like quoteunquote natural is so amazing
for giving to young kids as wellas ourselves.
Mekisha (06:31):
Yeah, I absolutely agree.
The thing that was the issueback then is that there were no
natural products.
The closest that we were tonatural that we were familiar
with was Aveeno.
And it had a very strongpresence in the industry.
But eventually, when I wentdeeper into not just that brand,
(06:51):
but all the other brands thatwere out there, it was really
just waxes.
and fragrance.
There really was a very smallamount of actual natural
ingredients in anything morethan 10 years ago or 15 years
ago.
So it was slowly where peoplestarted opening up their mind
more to having more natural andIt's unfortunate because it took
(07:15):
almost a whole world having skinissues for people to open up
their eyes and say, wait,there's no other options.
There's no natural products.
There's no natural this.
And even now, when we're lookingat a lot of the products,
there's a lot of hidden thingsin ingredients.
There's a lot of hidden, thingson labels that make people feel
(07:36):
like they're getting natural,but they're not getting natural.
So that's why a lot of.
Handmade products or handmadebrands are coming out a lot more
because they're the ones thatare really truly getting natural
ingredients and putting thingstogether.
So a lot of the big brands, youreally can't fully trust
everything because they don'thave really clean labels with
(07:57):
their ingredients.
Ashley (07:58):
I think that there's this misconception that.
it's more regulated than it is.
Like, I think that in theindustry, there's so much
greenwashing that it can saynatural, or it can say even
organic, or it can say all ofthese words, but unless there's
specific symbols on it, they canjust say it.
There's nobody saying likethat's false advertising.
So unless you're somebody whocan look at the back of the
(08:20):
bottle and know, like, What wordlooks like some weird scientific
term that has way too manyletters and doesn't seem like
English Unless you're somebodywho's gonna look at that and
then Google it and see it's sortof what is in every single
product You really never know.
Mekisha (08:35):
Well, that's the whole thing Especially my background
of being a medical estheticianand skincare specialist.
Brands will say Shea butter orhyaluronic acid, you'll see that
in a lot of things, retinols,but the percentage of those
actual ingredients are sominimal, they don't do anything
on the skin, but because thatingredient is in their list.
(08:58):
They will put all over theirproduct, shea butter, shea
butter, shea butter.
But when you think of thepercentage of the shea butter,
it might be 2 percent comparedto setyl alcohol, which is just
an alcohol or water, which is90%.
There's really actually no sheabutter in there.
It's so diluted that you're notactually getting any benefits of
(09:18):
it.
So that's what customers don'trealize that.
Take turn the product to theback and just yes, take a
picture of it.
Go home and just throw the wholething in Google.
You actually see the fulllisting of it.
It's just they won't knownecessarily what the full
percentages of each ingredient.
But if you see that there's.
That ingredient that you werereally, kind of drawn to it's at
(09:40):
the bottom of the label.
There is nothing in that productwith that ingredient.
Majority of it is the topproduct or top ingredients on
the list.
And most of the time, those arefilled with water or alcohol or
a filler, carrier oil thatreally doesn't do too much, just
depending on the benefits ofthat ingredient.
(10:01):
But.
That's my point.
There's so much brands out therethat will say that their product
is infused with this and infusedwith that.
But unfortunately it's such asmall diluted amount that you
think you're getting thatbenefit, but you really are not
getting that benefit.
And that's again, one of thereasons why I wanted our labels
(10:22):
to be super clean and verytransparent and very
forthcoming.
So people understand whatthey're getting and what's going
on in their skin and how it canhelp.
Ashley (10:31):
It never really occurred to me that the list of
ingredients would really sort ofmatter that it is a really
interesting point that yeahwhatever is first that would be
used most and whatever is at theend is really just like a
sprinkle and one thing that Ireally do appreciate about your
products and your website isthat you actually have like a no
list and the list of productsthat you won't use in ever
(10:54):
Bella's products.
Mekisha (10:55):
Yes.
No, thank you.
And it's very true.
The no list is so importantbecause some of those
ingredients will trigger anissue in the skin.
They will strip the natural oilsfrom the skin.
It will actually cause the skinto purge.
It will leave a film on theskin, preventing certain
(11:16):
ingredients of absorbing intothe skin.
It could change your blood.
It could actually affect youroil glands.
So it was so important thatevery product, I scaled it down.
I made it very basic.
I added a lot of activeingredients that are really
clean and steered away fromanything that was synthetic,
(11:37):
that were fillers, that wereparabens, that were things that
just weren't benefiting the skinat all.
So a no ingredient listing wasreally important for Me, but
also for everyone else to knowthat, you know, compare it,
bring it to your other products,and if you see it's there, you
can actually educate yourselfand say, Oh, actually, this is
(11:59):
really bad.
Maybe that's why my skin ispurging or irritated or red or
inflamed.
Ashley (12:05):
I think that we really do need to think of like the
stuff that we're putting on ourbody, like our skin is our
biggest organ, that we really dohave to think this isn't
something that looks cute andsmells good, that we do have to
think is it triggering anallergic reaction?
Is it going to trigger anoutbreak on your skin?
Is it going to cause a rootinflammation issue within your
(12:27):
body that I personally haven'treally considered that enough to
think am I causing the problemwith the product I'm using that
I'm actually trying to fix?
Mekisha (12:36):
Yes.
And that is why we are reallyeducating people on our
Instagram and all of ourdifferent social media
platforms, because that is thebiggest and most important thing
people don't realize.
One, your skin is the biggestorgan, but two, your internal
organs are just as importantbecause what's inside shows on
(12:56):
the outside.
What you put on the outside.
Travels to the inside.
And it's a harmony between thetwo things.
And that's why self care is suchan important thing for us to
explain to people that you dowant to purge the inside.
You want to really take care ofthe inside of your body because
you'll see it on the outside.
But when you're looking at theoutside, you need to look at the
(13:17):
products that you're using,because if there's a lot of
fragrance in there that istraveling into your bloodstream,
and it can, And cause anirritation to your skin, it
could actually cause aninflammation to the skin because
depending on the fragrance anddepending on what they put
together to make that fragrance,those molecules can actually
(13:38):
travel into your bloodstream andthen start to cause issues
within your skin.
It's the same idea when it comesto very harsh detergents.
Those can strip natural oils onyour skin, leaving your skin
almost bare and start to itchand irritate as well.
So it's like a science.
(13:58):
It became a true science for meto see everything in detail, but
it's, such an important factorfor people to look at that.
Whether it's your soap thatyou're using to wash dishes or
to your clothes or perfume orshower gel or lotion or any of
that, those ingredients that arenot natural, they do negatively
(14:19):
affect your skin, especially nowbecause they're being a lot more
populated in a very unhealthyway that can irritate the skin.
Ashley (14:25):
Not only just for our own physical well being, we also
do have to be aware, we arerapidly polluting and killing
our planet that if we are usingwhatever kind of soap, whether
it's dish soap, whether it'slaundry soap, whether it's soap
for our body, that's going downour drain and into our pipes and
then leading into Ourenvironment.
So it's really also beingmindful of what we're putting
(14:48):
out there and what problems werepotentially adding to which is
why I also love that your brandis a supporter of the Eden
Reforestation Project.
Why was that an importantpartner for you?
Mekisha (15:01):
I was always kind of in tune with Mother Earth.
From when I was a kid, Iremember there was a time where
we used to have little fieldtrips and we would clean up the
schools.
That no longer happens at schoolanymore, but it took a major
impact on me in terms of neverlittering, throw things away in
(15:22):
the garbage, make sure you, youknow, recycle and so forth.
It's always carried with me andeven my friends and family, they
would make sure they neverlittered around me.
They would never throw anythingon the floor.
They would always recycle.
And I remember a lot of peoplecall me crazy.
They're like, it's just awrapper.
And I'm like, yeah, but guesswhat that wrapper does?
It accumulates, it clogs ourwater.
(15:43):
It goes into those stream thatwe try to drink.
And then it also affects ourmammals.
So when I started making theproducts, I never wanted to
leave that.
Principle that value that moralbehind and start adding to, you
know, that footprint of all ofthe amount of waste that comes
from the beauty industry.
So, in the beginning, it didn'treally have the funds to be able
(16:06):
to, have certain kind of postconsumer plastics or certain
glass.
But every single time I wouldwork my way towards it, having
very minimal packaging, veryminimal shipping material, very
minimal, things that wouldaffect the planet, but also
affect, what the skincareproduct is being held in.
So it was really important whenwe started to scale and the
(16:27):
business started to change andwe started to get a little bit
bigger that I wanted to makesure that I was giving back in
some way, shape, or form.
And I always wanted to planttrees.
I always wanted to do all ofthose.
Things.
And when I discovered that therewas a brand that we could
actually partner with even beinga small scale business, because
(16:47):
a lot of these charities willreally only work with larger or
medium chain businesses.
What I liked is that there was amiddle person called the good
API.
They were the ones that couldactually.
Bridge us to being able to workwith the even project in order
to help, every dollar go towardsplanting trees and it was
probably the most.
(17:08):
Fun most proud moment I've everhad was to be able to do that
because I've always wanted tobut I would reach out to
companies and they're like,sorry, you're not large enough.
Sorry.
This is like the minimumrequirement.
I'm like, how am I going to dothis?
Like, how is other brands doingit?
And I couldn't.
So this was a great opportunityand it made me feel so proud
because now seeing that weactually are contributing back.
(17:31):
I'm just really, really happywith that.
Ashley (17:34):
How frustrating that it's like, Oh, you want to help?
Sorry.
You don't have enough followers.
We can't deal with you.
So as a consumer, I actuallyreally love that brands are
partnered with theseorganizations so it's like a low
effort way of actuallysupporting if I don't have the
time to go plant a tree I candefinitely go shop and feel like
at least I'm doing somethingthat way and being socially
(17:55):
responsible.
Mekisha (17:56):
Yes, because that is our responsibility at the end of
the day, you know, a lot of thethings that are happening
globally.
It's man made.
It's caused by us.
The least we could do is try andgive back.
That's probably the mostimportant thing for me.
If I wasn't making products, Iwould definitely be out there
doing a lot more when it comesto reforestation.
(18:16):
And I even actually got theopportunity to plant trees and
it was the most liberating, themost.
Appreciative thing that I coulddo.
And it just, I loved it.
It really, really hit my heartreally well.
And I'm happy that we're able togive back on the larger scale
now.
So that's good.
Ashley (18:33):
It's kind of cool.
I do not have a green thumb atall.
So I'm always like, kind ofsurprised at the end of the
season that I'm able to keephouseplants alive, but I love
the fact of like actuallywatching them grow.
It's like being able to waterthem and nurture them and like,
see it, but it's awesome that Icreated that and to see sort of
it go full circle of like,whatever we take out of the
(18:54):
earth, being able to give itback, but actually in a sense,
being able to watch that treegrow.
It's such a surreal, likemagical thing to watch something
go from nothing to something.
Mekisha (19:03):
Yeah, I absolutely agree.
I find taking care of plants,especially my own home, it's
such a blessing because again,in the beginning, when I was
told that I had really badallergies, which was
environmental I kind of like ranaway from a tree or a bush that
I would see.
I'm like, oh, I can't, I'mallergic.
Now, especially going a lot morenatural and taking care of
(19:26):
myself through different selfcare rituals, I have not one
single issue with my allergies.
There is no such thing asallergies.
It is how do you tolerate orpurify your body to be able to,
be part of.
Earth, which is where we camefrom.
So I find, you know, now whenI'm able to sit there and, touch
them and nurture them and growthem and so forth and not have a
(19:49):
reaction.
It's just again, it's that samekind of message that we have to
kind of research and get digdeeper into what these allergies
are so that we can helpourselves more and help them.
Earth more and not condemn itand say, Oh, I'm allergic to
everything green.
I can't do anything about it.
No, you're not allergic.
It's just, there's a way of youreally kind of figuring out
(20:10):
what's triggering you and thengo from there.
Ashley (20:13):
Now, thinking that we are in the thick of the holiday
season, if there's somebodythat's like, I would like to try
the products or I have somebodyto buy for and I have no idea
what to get them, what's oneproduct of yours that you would
recommend as a beginner productfor somebody to try?
Mekisha (20:30):
I would always recommend the Everhydrate
collection because it's justmeant to hydrate the skin, give
it moisture, give it that laxityback again in the skin.
So I find anything from theEverhydrate collection to be the
best one for everyone.
Because unless you know thatperson really truly is suffering
from eczema or some type ofsensitivity, I wouldn't say give
(20:53):
them EverSooth because they'lllook and be like, I don't have
eczema issues.
So I would always, you know,steer people towards the
EverHydrate, especially in thisseason as well.
Now, everyone can benefit fromhaving some more hydration in
their skin.
So that would be the best one,such as the scrub as well as the
soak or even the butter.
(21:14):
Like they're all amazing just togive skin that liveliness it
needs that stimulation and giveit that moisture that it needs.
Ashley (21:21):
There's also on your website talking about a three
step ritual.
Can you kind of explain whatthat is?
Mekisha (21:28):
Yeah, so I find a lot of people that I've interacted
with for so long, they don'treally know what to do.
They just kind of wash and goout the door.
And that's why we created thatthree step ritual.
So a person kind of starts theirjourney in ritual building.
self care building, and it kindof takes you on that journey of,
(21:50):
cleansing the skin really well,taking your time exfoliating the
skin so that you can get rid ofany dead skin cells and kind of
remove that toxicity, removethat heaviness off of the skin,
and then finish off withnurturing the skin with moisture
or oils.
So that would be a butter or anoil itself.
(22:11):
I find the oils are a little bitbetter for people that need
conditioning in the skin orsomething lightweight because
they don't want any kind ofthickness on the skin.
So that's where the oils aregreat.
Or the butter is where you wantsomething a little bit thicker,
especially on your elbows oryour knees, or even on your
hands if you like something alittle bit thicker.
So the ritual is really to helpsomeone know how to do like a.
(22:34):
three step kind of programversus just buying a soap and
thinking that's it.
They don't need to do anythingelse or just buying a scrub and
thinking that's the way to doit.
It really brings a person onthat journey of going through a
self care ritual and taking thetime to really treat their body
versus rushing out the door and,not giving themselves that
little moment of like breathand, you know, relaxation and
(22:57):
nurturing.
Ashley (22:59):
I love that too.
It's like taking the time tohave that intentional moment for
yourself.
And I feel like a lot of thetimes like stereotypically
thinking women, we often will doso much for other people, but we
often will put ourselves last onour to do list.
So it's like even givingyourself 15 minutes in the
(23:20):
morning or evening to just goingto wash my face.
I'm going to take this time.
I'm going to think about themoments of the day, let it kind
of pass and then be able to,leave your bathroom and be like,
Okay, I got this, or I'm readyfor bed, I can relax now and
just really, I don't know,finding that center of yourself.
Mekisha (23:38):
Thank you for saying that because it's so true.
In the beginning, I never reallytook the time to take care of
myself.
And then while I was going onthat journey of discovering
eczema issues and so forth, Idid.
Slow down in the morning and Iperfected like a morning ritual
for myself and a nighttimeritual for myself and I realized
(24:00):
that, you know, a lot of peoplewould really just rush the day,
they rush and wake up, they rushto get their food, they rush to
go to work, they rush throughwork, they rush home after work,
they rush to get their food, andthey get in the bed and they're
like, oh, finally.
But if you really start your daywith a ritual that really just
centers yourself, alignsyourself, clears your channel,
(24:24):
really allow yourself to breatheand steady your breath, you'll
start to notice that you're moreaware through the day, you will
have less anxiety, you'll havemore of awareness of triggers
and things that bother you.
So I find it's such an importantthing for us to do and it's
becoming a little bit more knownnow to be more aware and it
(24:46):
doesn't have to be meditation.
It just means just breathe, justtake your time and breathe, be
conscious and aware of whatyou're putting on your skin and
what you're saying to yourselfin the morning and what you're
saying to yourself while you'redoing your work and you know, go
through your day with that ease.
I find it's, such an importantthing that we had to bring out
(25:07):
more.
Ashley (25:08):
I think that if the pandemic taught us anything, it
was sort of that hustle culturewasn't doing much for us.
We were having to do, way morehousework, way more at home
work, way more, teaching of ourkids if we had them.
And it got to the point that Ithink collectively we got all so
burnt out that we kind ofrealized that, what's the point
(25:29):
in hustling?
We have 24 hours in a day, butdo we need to make every single
one of them this like do or dieand if I miss this moment, then
it's gone forever.
It's undeniable like pressure onourselves where I feel like if
we start to be intentional andwhether we want to call it,
taking time for yourself.
If you find that like putting ameditation as a label on it
(25:51):
feels stressful, like it canstill be that.
But it's just taking that timeto breathe, to check in with
your body, to be like, I don'tknow, in yourself a little bit
more than just the go, go, go.
I feel like it's so needed forour health and for our mental
health and just overall for usto be better humans to each
(26:12):
other.
Mekisha (26:12):
Yeah.
And it's very true that In thelast, how many years of
humanity, it's always been aboutgetting it done, chasing, going
after your goals, setting yourgoals and chasing it and chasing
it, that we almost lost thepresence of just being there.
(26:33):
Having fun, enjoying company,enjoying people, enjoying, each
other's company or in justenjoying what our life is about.
So now there's such a majorshift and that's what we've kind
of been feeling and I know somepeople might find a little bit
too spiritual, but that's amajor shift that's really
happening right now acrosshumanity where.
(26:53):
We're becoming, whole again.
We're coming back to thatfeeling of loving myself and,
confidence and self esteem andself love and taking the time to
really just be in the moment andnot thinking about yesterday,
not thinking about tomorrow, butthinking about this very moment
that we have.
And that's why self care ritualsare so important and whether it
(27:17):
is breathing and doing, youknow, Certain kind of breathing
techniques, whether it is aboutjust, writing a I love you list,
gratitude list whether it isjust sitting down and, just
listening to clear music,singing bowls, any of that.
It's just really about being inthat moment of self care and
(27:38):
self awareness and just enjoyingyourself again.
Ashley (27:41):
I definitely agree with that.
I also think that we arestarting to come back to
community a little bit.
I feel like we, for the longesttime, had this lack mindset
where there could only be oneskincare brand that's going to
be the popular one.
Or one influencer that's goingto be the one to get all of the
things.
And I think that If nothingelse, the Internet has taught us
(28:03):
that that really isn't the case,that there is this abundance out
there and there is room foreverybody.
So it's like we can be incollaboration more than we have
to be in competition.
Mekisha (28:14):
Yes, thank you.
Oh, I love everything thatyou're saying because that is
exactly what I've dealt with onmy own personal journey for so
long and again, being in thebeauty industry, that is mainly
what sometimes drives the beautyindustry.
You have to be the it one.
You have to be the top.
You cannot have another fellowwomen beside you or another
(28:37):
fellow stylist beside you bepopular.
It's always this idea ofindividual You know, one person
being the leader when really weall are a team.
We're all here together.
We're all collectively, creatinga business.
We're all collectively, youknow, creating art.
We're all collectively here justliving.
It's very true that we.
(28:59):
Are now seeing that a lot more,especially on social media that
we're here to be together versusindividually.
And I find now we are able toconnect with people across the
world.
So even more now we're becomingmore of a community across the
globe versus it be so.
Singular one tribe in this onecity, and that's it's very
(29:23):
diverse now as a global effect.
And I do agree about it beingsomething where we can all do
what we like to do without itfeeling like a competition.
It's really about building acommunity versus being like,
you're the outsider.
You can't be in this team.
Ashley (29:40):
I definitely agree.
One thing that I love about yourbrand too is that you really
include that wellness componentthat you have blog posts it's
not just hey buy my product.
It's like this is our lifestyle.
This is what we stand for.
Mekisha (29:54):
Yes, it's, very much a movement of wellness.
It's a movement of healing.
It's a movement ofinclusiveness.
It's not about singling out aperson because we're all here.
We all have the same qualitiesand the same gifts, you know,
one may be a little bitdifferent than the other, but
the point is that we can all.
(30:15):
Rise together as a community notindividually.
I don't want people to feelsingled out I don't want anyone
to feel you know Abused or anyof that.
I want everyone to feel likethis brand is good for everyone
You know, we are all heretogether.
We can all rise together Let'shelp each other because at the
(30:35):
end of the day while you'reholding someone up someone else
is holding you up So it's aboutBuilding a community of people
that have that same inspirationand aspirations to help heal,
build, prosper, abundance andgrow.
I
Ashley (30:50):
love that you're creating that safe space in your
corner of the internet.
Mekisha (30:53):
Yes.
Thank you so much.
Ashley (30:55):
Can you tell us what your favorite wellness routine
is?
Mekisha (30:59):
It depends on the day, but my normal day to day routine
or ritual is I get up around345, four o'clock.
I go for a walk.
And while I'm walking, I'mrepeating mantras.
I'm star gazing.
Just really taking in thatbreath and that groundedness
outside.
(31:19):
And then I go to the, gym.
I have a meditation kind ofbreath, work in the sauna room
just so I can really groundmyself, purify my skin, and get
rid of any toxins.
Then I go and actually work outfor about an hour, depending on
what area that I really want tofocus on.
After that, I come home, I drinkmy tea, I journal.
(31:41):
I read a little bit.
I learned something new.
So I'm, you know, learningdifferent languages now.
And then I start my day with mydaughter making her breakfast
and have that moment with herand my cats as well.
And that's like my morning kindof ritual.
I have like a night ritual andthat.
comprises of after dinner andall that great stuff with my
(32:02):
daughter, I go to learnsomething.
So I try to read again foranother 30 minutes, or I try to
kind of note down how was theday productively.
And then I start to watch somethings that are spiritual.
And then I.
Go to bed and my bedtime isrelatively early.
Everyone used to make fun of me,but it's okay because I find
(32:25):
because I get up so early I haveto go to sleep.
But I also realized if you'renot resting, you cannot put your
best foot forward in the day.
So that's like my normal day today kind of ritual.
I have bath rituals.
I also have hair rituals.
I have a whole different slew ofdifferent rituals, but that's my
(32:45):
regular day to day that I buildon.
And I really kind of changedepending on my mood and how I
feel.
But it's such a big thing formyself, my foundation to be able
to run a business with mybusiness partner or be a mother
or, be an employee if I'mworking anywhere or just be a
person.
It keeps me centered.
Ashley (33:06):
I think it is really important to put value on that
routine.
It's like, it gives yousomething to look forward to.
It gives you sort of that peaceof mind that from this time to
this time, like anything couldhappen in a day.
But these are the things thatI'm like, I know I can count on
myself doing this.
Movement is so great for ourmental health.
But I think sleep is somethingthat is so overlooked.
(33:29):
Like people will kind of likelaugh if you're like, Oh, I love
to nap.
Or I love to sleep it makes sucha difference if you're somebody
who can't sleep or doesn't getenough sleep or has broken
sleep, like it can have such abig ripple effect throughout
your whole entire day.
Good for you that you can go tosleep early and that you can get
up early and create that routinefor yourself because it is
(33:51):
something that's setting you upfor success.
Mekisha (33:53):
Thank you.
It's very true that your sleepis important.
I'm studying it a little bitright now too, because I know
some people know the term REMsleep and your brain needs a
minimum of six hours for it tohave this flushing effect.
And many people don't realizethat their brain has like a Full
out flush in the sleep.
(34:14):
So if you're not getting aminimum of six hours of sleep,
six to eight hours of sleep,you're not flushing those toxins
or resetting your brain, if youwant to call it.
So what ends up happening, theresidual Build up and the the
nervous system is so wired thatthe next day, that's why you
have this unawareness.
(34:35):
You're not centered.
You have this chaotic mind isbecause your brain did not fully
flush while it was sleeping.
And again, I will know more ofthe terms and study a lot more,
but from what I gather, that iswhat's happening when you're
sleeping.
So sleep is really important,especially for recovery on your
muscles and your tissue and yourorgans and your digestive
system.
That alone is what's happening.
(34:57):
We overlook it and it became afashion that if you don't sleep,
you're working.
If you don't sleep, you'reproductive.
No, you're dying.
It's so important and I took itin myself.
In my younger days it was okay,but I value it so much more now,
more than I did before.
Ashley (35:14):
I Think that when we're hearing those messages, those
go, go, go.
And the, don't sleep or sleep isfor the lazy or whatever we
really have to question likewho's benefiting those messages
and why are we being sold thatis that really helping us or is
that feeding into somebodyelse's propaganda?
Mekisha (35:32):
Exactly.
I find my daughter was very muchon the bag wagon of staying up
and trying to be on socialmedia.
I said, no, we are cutting thatphone off at a certain time at
night because you do not need tobe on social media until two or
three in the morning.
It is going to ruin your life,ruin your eyesight and give you
the misconception of what's outthere.
(35:54):
And it's not correct.
It's like this illusion.
So even her, I put her into thatsame practice of going to sleep
at a certain time, or at leastlocking off her social media so
that she.
Stops being so activated withwhat she sees on social media.
If we actually all get into thispractice of turning off social
media or turning off actualdigital, we'll actually notice
(36:16):
that we do want to go to sleep.
Our body is actually tired, or Ican actually have a conversation
with the people around me.
And then you will fall asleepmuch easier because you turned
off things that are actuallystimulating your brain and
stimulating your nervous systemand stimulating your body.
And that's where you're feelinglike you don't need to sleep.
But if you actually turn themoff and move them away, that
(36:39):
electromagnetic field one willturn off and it's not
stimulating you, but you're notgetting activated visually by
seeing it as well.
Ashley (36:47):
We've created this myth that we have to be accessible or
that we're going to somehow missout.
It's like if our phones aren'tat arm's reach all the time, and
again, I'm not as good aspracticing as I preach.
I'm still pretty bad for it, butit's like creating the solution
that it doesn't have to be nearus all the time.
If somebody has to wait untilthe next morning to get a
response from an email.
(37:08):
Or a text or things like that,the world is not going to
implode, we're going to be okay.
But I think it's remindingourselves of that just because
we're so used to this idea that,everything happens
instantaneous.
Mekisha (37:20):
Yes, it's the feeling of immediate gratification.
And if we turn off this idea ofimmediate gratification, we'll
actually be a lot more relaxed,and we'll be a lot more aware
and present in our life, and notfeeling like, if I don't do
this, something's gonna happen.
This immediacy, thisanxiousness.
(37:40):
And again, Like we said, we'reall kind of working through,
we're all kind of dealing withit because that's kind of the
world we live in, but we haveto, recondition ourselves to
take that away and take that,down.
And I'm, guilty as wellsometimes.
I'm like, oh, let me doublecheck.
Let me see that.
But then I'll like, stop.
I'm like, hold on.
I've been scrolling.
(38:01):
For so long, or why am Iresponding to emails and it's at
nine o'clock at night or 10o'clock at night?
It's a really important thingand you know, if we don't start
doing it now, the nextgeneration is going to be
unfortunately the ones thatsuffer from this.
Ashley (38:15):
We really do have to model the behavior, we can tell
our kids like.
Don't do as I do, do as I say,but that never ever works.
So if you're somebody who'sconstantly scrolling, you can't
really be surprised when yourkid is doing the same thing.
If you have children that it's,it's, they really do model after
us.
Mekisha (38:34):
Yes, absolutely.
My daughter is she's like alittle project to me.
I literally am always tellingmyself, okay, if I'm not doing
it, she's not doing it.
Okay, perfect.
And then I'll see things that Ido that she starts doing.
I'm like, oh, yes, I'm notfailing.
I'm making it.
I'm making it.
She's literally my project of,instilling great behavior in
(38:57):
her.
Which makes
Ashley (38:58):
it easier when we can sort of rationalize it in that
sense that it's not just for meIt's for the next it does sort
of make it easier to be like,okay, I can put this down I
don't have to worry about it.
Mekisha (39:09):
I definitely try not to look at my phone at a certain
time at night and some days Iwin, some days I don't, but I
definitely try to stay away fromlooking at it.
Even if it's a book, I'm tryingto be more of a physical book
versus a digital book because ittakes one second for an alert to
drop down on your digitaldevice.
(39:29):
You're like, let me check itout.
And you're like, no, no, I toldmyself not to.
To check it out.
So that's one thing I toldmyself, I don't give me a
digital, book for Christmas orfor any occasion buy the
physical book, I love thefeeling, the smell and the touch
of it, and it also allows me tonot be looking at a digital
device.
Ashley (39:49):
I find too, with paper copy of books, I get like the, I
don't know, the dopamine hit oflike, Oh, I only have a hundred
more pages to go where I feellike if you're reading like on a
Kindle, you just don't get thesame satisfaction that way.
Mekisha (39:59):
No, you don't.
You don't even feel excited.
I like to flip the page and Ilike to highlight and I like to
touch it.
I like to hold it.
I'm very much, you know, verystudious in that way.
I'm excited when I have bookslike I have journals upon
journals and I'm excited lookingat that.
I have so much journals, youknow, stacking up like I
(40:22):
literally want to have alibrary.
I want to have a library and beable to look at that and see,
maybe my daughter may want to goin there and pick out a book
that she might have saw me read.
So you can't do that with adigital book.
You can't be like, Oh, gothrough my books on a Kindle.
Ashley (40:40):
I also really love the name of your company, Everbella.
Do you have a story on why youchose that name?
Mekisha (40:46):
Yes, it's such a funny, beautiful name, but my middle
name is Everte, and mydaughter's name is Isabel.
So I kind of cut the two and putthem together, and it wasn't for
the brand, it was actually justfor my Instagram profile.
It was for my Instagram profilea long time ago before the brand
(41:10):
even came about.
It was like when Instagram firstdropped, I'm like, oh my God.
I gotta have my name.
I didn't want my real name.
So I put the two of thosetogether.
And then when I had theinspiration to start the
company, I just couldn't figureout what name it should be.
And then it dawned on me thatwhy not EverBella?
No one even knew about everBella.
No one even thought of that.
(41:31):
So that's when I put it outthere and.
It kind of stuck and everyone'skind of said it's such a
beautiful name and I'm so, soproud of it because I started to
see a much deeper meaning to it.
Ashley (41:42):
I love that.
And again, it kind of falls backinto the meant to be that it was
so simple of like, it was yourpassion, but that this perfect
name was waiting.
You just didn't know it yet.
Mekisha (41:53):
Yes, it's great.
I noticed now it's a little bitmore popular in the industry or
on social media and so forth.
And it's okay.
It's such a beautiful name, butit's something that's been
around with me for a long time.
It's stuck with me and it usedto mean, forever beautiful.
That's where it first came.
And now it's just kind of keepsevolving and growing, but it's
(42:17):
still kind of represents thatforever, that infinity and Bella
mean beautiful and all differentforms of beautiful, not just one
kind of beautiful.
So it's a timeless name.
It really is.
Ashley (42:30):
Definitely is very timeless.
I am excited that it ended upworking out and that you were to
kind of claim it before theBella maybe became a lot more
popular.
Mekisha (42:40):
Yeah.
The Bella or the ever, I noticedeverything is happening that
way.
And I'm like, Oh my gosh, it'sso popular now, but it's okay.
Cause sometimes when you kind ofchannel things through the
divine, you kind of are ahead ofthe time and you know, that's
kind of what's happening rightnow is that self care movement.
It was.
Something I've been doing for solong and now it's becoming more
(43:01):
popular and I'm so happy it is,but I never realized I was doing
self care before I even becamethis household name, you know,
spirituality is becoming a lotmore of a household, recognition
versus it being, you know, othertraditional things that we
would, believe in or follow,but, knowing a lot more that's
(43:22):
happening and Knowing what's outthere more in terms of divine
kind of things.
It's such a great feeling to seeit becoming a lot more common, a
lot more of a regular topic ofdiscussion versus it being, Oh,
that's woo.
We don't talk about that.
So yeah, it's a great feelingthat, things are coming a lot
(43:42):
more normalized.
Ashley (43:44):
Yeah, we really do need to take the stigma off and stuff
like that and just really beable to have open frank
conversations and if what peopleare talking about resonates with
you, perfect.
Maybe you found a community thatway.
And if it doesn't, well, itdoesn't hurt you to disagree and
find a different community likeit just has to be more, I don't
(44:04):
know, acceptance of each other.
Mekisha (44:06):
Yes, like we just have to have openness.
That's it.
Just a openness towards any andeverything, you know, science is
discovering a lot of things fromspirituality that they denied,
over a couple of decades ago.
Now they're like, actually, wecan prove it's correct.
And it's like, see, it's not tosay things are wrong.
It's just that you just didn'thave an open mind to it.
(44:29):
Now you're having a more of anopen mind to it.
And it's a great feeling becausewe're evolving.
And that's what's happening.
We're evolving as a species, asa humanity, as a world, as
everything.
And we have to remember that.
We have to just have that openmind, that compassion, that love
and that respect for everyone'schoices, beliefs, decisions in
(44:50):
where they're going with theirlife and just, you know, accept
it for what it is.
It's not harming you.
Ashley (44:55):
I couldn't agree with you more.
I think that we have been sodivided or this idea that we're
so cut off for people or thatwe're so different that it's
really like, Accepting peopleand learning from people and
just being open and I think,takes way more energy to hate
something than it does to choosekindness and to choose love and
(45:15):
like all of our weirdness andall of our differentnessif we
were all the same, like howincredibly boring and we would
probably fight a lot morebecause we would have to create
sort of drama entertainment.
So it's like.
The more weird we are reallybenefits everybody and helps
everybody shine in such a uniqueway that it's like instead of
(45:35):
trying to, I don't know, createthe sameness.
It's kind of cool that we're allso different, but in a
collective way that we can allwork together.
Mekisha (45:45):
Absolutely.
It's one of those ideas that,because it's been bred in us,
you know, from a tribal time.
It's all about, you have to bepart of the tribe, you have to
be a certain way.
And if you're not, you're kickedout, right?
Now it's, we're breaking thatkind of foundation conditioning
that we've had where if you'renot part of us, look like us, do
(46:07):
like us, eat like us, act likeus, you're not part of the
tribe.
Now it's more of a breaking ofthat conditioning and saying,
Hey, you like rainbows.
I like black.
I like white.
I like stripes.
I like coconuts.
I cats.
I like dogs.
We're all hanging out together.
Do you want to come and hangout?
It's such a great feeling thatwe're now kind of abolishing
(46:29):
that conditioning and we'rechanging it and we're becoming
more unified versus segregatedand demeaned and bullied for
being different.
I've always known that eventhough I was a person that got
bullied when I was younger forbeing different.
I just never changed that aboutmyself.
I'm like, I don't care.
(46:50):
This is who I am and this is howI am.
And if I feel like I want to dothis, I'm going to do it.
And now I feel so happy thatpeople are like, I love your
quirkiness.
I love that you're weird.
I love that you're different.
And I'm just like, no, I'm notweird.
I'm just, just me, you're you.
And I love you the way you are.
So it's really, really fun tosee and so encouraging to see
(47:12):
that.
We're becoming different andwe're slowly but surely are
accepting of it.
The more everyone believes thatit's okay to be their own
different, then we'll have a lotless hate.
We'll have a lot less fighting.
We'll have a lot less war.
We'll have a lot less ofeverything because People are
sticking to, I don't care whatyou have going on with you.
(47:35):
I still love you for who youare.
See the person for their heart.
See the person for their true,honest intentions, not for how
they look, what they eat, whatthey do in their personal
private life, just love them forwho they are.
I'm hoping that in every way,shape or form, I can keep
pushing that message along with,the message from EverBella too.
Ashley (47:56):
I hope that anybody listening to this can really
like absorb that into themselvesand take that energy into 2024
so that we are really workingtowards that peace..
Mekisha (48:08):
Yes, yes, and we can all do it if we just stop
looking at things that arenegative and, paying attention
to things that are hurtful.
And instead, really try to feelgrounded and resonating with who
they are.
Take the time to really get toknow who you are, what are your
values, what are your morals,what are your likes, dislikes,
(48:30):
and so forth, and let it shine.
Because when you do that...
I guarantee you like attractslike and you will find the
people that resonate just likewhat you are resonating with and
you kind of create your own kindof community and then it starts
to spill out to other peoplebecause other people will see,
Hey, you're doing your thing andyou're doing it the way you want
(48:51):
to.
I guess I can do it too.
And then they'll start doing it.
So it's like a ripple effect,but it all starts with just one
person, 1 percent every day, oneaction every day.
To just feel grounded and acceptthemselves and love themselves.
And we can change the world andwe can change everything that's
happening around us.
If we just stop paying attentionto the negative and really focus
(49:11):
on that positive.
Ashley (49:13):
I couldn't agree more.
It's a beautiful mindset.
And I do think that the morepositive that you put out and
that how you've managed tocreate this, authentic safe
space that I do really believethat like attracts like and that
Everbella will have this rippleeffect and that you will have
created this ripple effect forpeople.
So I really appreciate the factthat you're sharing your story
(49:36):
and that your products did cometo fruitation.
And I really appreciate youhaving this conversation with me
today.
Mekisha (49:43):
Thank you so much, Ashley.
This was one of my favoriteconversations with anyone and it
allowed me to have that samesafe space to express myself and
I cannot wait for other peopleto hear it and feel inspired and
I love what you do and I lovethat your own journey is to
(50:03):
bring these stories and bringthese people, whoever they are,
and whatever their walks of lifeare out to light so that other
people can hear it and beinspired to.
Ashley (50:13):
Oh, thank you so much.
If anybody was wanting topurchase Everbella products,
where are they available?
Mekisha (50:20):
So we are in a few pharmacies, but they're more in
Ontario.
So if they're in Mississauga orBrampton, they'll find those
products there.
Nonetheless, we do ship.
Internationally, worldwide,Canada, everywhere on our
website.
So everbella.
ca and we also do, directshipping.
They can do pickup, but if theyare in certain areas, they can
(50:41):
definitely pick them up atpharmacies or through certain
naturopaths, but alwaysaccessible on our website, no
matter where you are.
Ashley (50:48):
Can you let people know on social media where they can
find you?
Mekisha (50:53):
Everbella.
Just that one word, EverBella,they'll find us on there.
We're on tikTok, YouTube,facebook, Instagram.
We're pretty much everywhere..
That's so great.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for joining ustoday for this episode of the
(51:13):
filled up cup podcast.
Don't forget to hit subscribeand leave a review.
If you like what you hear, youcan also connect with us at
filledupcup.Com.
Thanks again for tuning in andwe'll catch you in the next
episode.
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