00:00Hello, hello, and welcome to another episode of Shop Essence Live. I am your host, Noni Donovan,
00:05and I am so excited about this week's entrepreneurs. As I always say, we got the best of the best.
00:15We got promo codes. We have discounts. We have products that are made for us, by us.
00:20And when I tell you I needed to get out of the ugly pajama crew, I'm just like,
00:26admittedly, sweatshirt and sweatpants, t-shirt, whatever. But we're going to elevate ourselves
00:35today, okay? And Melissa, who is creative director and founder of Melda Moda, is going to show us her
00:44incredible sleepwear line. Melissa, come on in. Hi, thank you so much for having me.
00:50First of all, I have been parading around in this, like, this is actual, like, a daytime. Y'all
00:57don't judge me if you see me out in these streets, but we wear it because it is just so fashionable
01:02and fly. But before we show it off, tell us a little bit about yourself, your journey, and how
01:08you came up with this amazing line. Yeah, I worked in tech, HR in tech, for many, many years. And
01:18when we were all locked down in quarantine, I realized that I was feeling, I miss getting
01:25dressed up to go into the office every day. And I couldn't find, like, I wanted comfortable,
01:33but cute clothes to wear in my house. And that's where the idea for these slumber suits came.
01:38I didn't find any prints that reflected me as, like, a Black Caribbean American woman. And so that's
01:46where it first came about. But when it became more than an idea and a mission is when I took a career
01:52break due to burnout. And I started thinking, what could I have done to prevent that? And one of the
01:59things I thought was, let's get back to that pajama idea. If I had something really nice to put on,
02:05maybe that could have been a signal for me to start winding down at night. You know, once the pajamas go on,
02:11the work notifications go off. And so that's how the idea came about.
02:16First of all, y'all have to get into this intentionality about our work-life balance,
02:23about how we are making sure that we are taking care of our boundaries here. I love when the
02:30pajamas come on, notifications come off, and then you give yourself time to wind out. I love that.
02:38So maybe I shouldn't be walking around in my pajamas all dressed.
02:42And that's why I try not to wear them when I'm doing work-related things.
02:48Yes.
02:49I've had many people tell me they wear them out. And like I said, we call them slumber suits. So,
02:54you know, it's a step up from a pajama.
02:59Slumber suits. Okay.
03:00You're getting dressed for a date with your dreams. Yeah.
03:06First of all, you have all the things, Melissa. I am so inspired. So, before we get into
03:11everything that's available in your line, you also have a promo code for the Shabbat Society.
03:17Yes, I do. Cheers.
03:18The promo code is Essence Live, and we are offering 20% off of all of our slumber suits,
03:25our relaxed wraps, and our short slumber suits. So, please take advantage. Essence Live, 20% off.
03:34Oh, so good. Okay. So, Caribbean American, tell us where you are from, where are your people from?
03:39Yeah, my parents are from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, as is our namesake, Melda. And one
03:46of the things, my mom would make a drink called Sorrow every holiday period. And so, that's where
03:54that print is inspired from. And there's another one, the Relax Wrap that you have is also inspired
04:00by Sorrow. So, I worked with some Black women artists to create these prints to reflect that.
04:06That's what I'm missing. I need a good Sorrow.
04:09That is so good. I'll give you so much Christmas.
04:11So, what is the first thing you want to highlight for the people?
04:16Let's highlight that slumber suit that you're wearing right now. That is called our Bissep
04:21slumber suit. And I have one here with me, too. You can see a little close-up. And this
04:28one is made from viscose. It has a really silky satin feel. And then, yeah, we did a little
04:36contrasting with the cuffs. And this is our deepest colorway. We just thought,
04:41as the weather is changing, the leaves change. And so, the colors in our slumber suit should
04:47change, too.
04:49I'm trying my best.
04:51I love it. I love it.
04:52First of all, I wish, like, if I can just describe the luxury that I am wrapped in right now.
05:01It is just so luxurious. And yes, I absolutely love this print. It's just such a beautiful
05:08color. Look at the pocket. And the details.
05:11Details, y'all. All right. Let me keep flying up. There's a promo code for you guys if you're
05:18shopping. Once again, everything we have right now, we're in October. Y'all don't wait until
05:26December 23rd to start shopping. I do that sometimes. It is a nightmare. Start to save
05:33things, even if you're saving this. Like, oh, this would be good for that auntie. I don't
05:37know what to get. This is luxury, y'all.
05:40Everybody can take advantage of this. You know, we want to start. Black women, we're so used
05:45to overworking and doing everything for everyone. Give someone the gift of rest.
05:52Give someone the gift of a date with their dreams. Or getting dressed. You know, how she said
05:57it. It's much better. But so good. What's the next thing you want to highlight for us?
06:02Let's talk about our relaxed wrap. And this is a hand-painted version of the Sorrow print.
06:10Wow.
06:11And this one is made from eco barrels. So it is a sustainably sourced viscose. We want to make
06:19sure that as we're building and growing the brand, we're being intentional about not harming
06:26the environment. So this one is sustainable for those of you who have an earth focus.
06:33And I have a lot of brides tell me they love this one. Pre-wedding photos, gifts to their
06:40bridal party. Yeah. And this is also great for if you're just relaxing around your house on,
06:47you know, an evening or the weekend.
06:49Luxury. Luxury, y'all. Okay. I love the color, the colorway with this one too. It's just
06:59vibrant and fun. We've got some pink, some purple, some greens in there. So yeah, for those of you
07:06who, when you want to put on your makeup or you're having your bridal party over,
07:12the relax wrap is the one for that.
07:17So good. Remember there's a promo code when you guys shop at Shop Essence Live. Everything goes
07:22straight to these incredible entrepreneurs, by the way, nothing coming to me, nothing coming
07:26to Essence. So when you support, you're supporting, scaling their businesses. So make sure you guys are
07:31going to the site and putting these in your cart. So I also have this beautiful short set sleep.
07:39Yes. The short slumber suit. So this one is called our utopia suit. And this one, I was just dreaming of
07:48a place where everything was happy. There was no sickness, no sadness. And we have the protective
07:56panther represented there. And then this beautiful, these beautiful flowers. So you have something pretty
08:03to look at. And this one is also in the, the visco. So feel silky, satiny. And for those of you, whether
08:13you're in a warm weather climate, or you have some holiday to the Caribbean plan, that's the suit for you.
08:22Oh my goodness. I love, I love, I love. So good. How do you, what's the process for coming up with
08:29these beautiful prints? Like you have such an incredible story behind it all. What's the process
08:36for actually nailing down all these elements? Yeah. So again, my life as a millennial, as a black
08:43woman, as Caribbean American, all of that influences the prints. And then I work with these incredible
08:51black women. One is a digital artist and one is a painter, a surface pattern designer. And so I'll tell
08:58them, this is what I'm looking for. I create the mood boards and then they go on ahead and bring it
09:04to, to life. And so we go through some iterations and yeah, it's just been good to also be able to
09:11give these women artists a canvas for their art. Oh, wow. So we're walking around in wearable art,
09:19a sleepwear, no big deal. And luxurious with silk. Why don't you shout them out here? I would love for
09:25them to get a shout out. We love black creatives. Joe Kaloot and Khalees Akua Textiles. They are some
09:34just really, really amazing artists behind these. You guys are killing it. You guys are absolutely
09:39killing it. This is so great. So incredible. I'm flying up the promo code again. So Melissa,
09:45you are also a member of the New Voices family. I'd love to hear from you what it's been like to be a
09:51part of the community. How has it helped you scale your business? Oh my gosh. Well, first,
09:55this amazing opportunity to be here with you and to connect with all of the Essence viewers.
10:02I grew up reading Essence. So this is a dream come true. I have to tell you, my mom, who was not
10:08impressed by anything, when I told her I was doing this, she squealed. So I made it.
10:14The next thing is the community. It's just been being able to connect with other women entrepreneurs
10:21who have been able to share their tips and their tricks for navigating this process, especially
10:29as someone who's making a career change. There's so much that I didn't know that I didn't know. And
10:35they have really, no one's going to help you out like another black woman.
10:40So they have really come through with advice and suggestions that have really helped me shape
10:49the direction of the brand. So that is just the biggest blessing of being part of the New Voices
10:55community. Oh, so, so good. Well, I'm so excited to see what else is coming from Mel DeModa. You guys
11:05make sure that you follow them on all of their socials. I have it on this listy card right here.
11:12We have some bonnets and sleep masks coming up, which will be great for stocking stuffers
11:18with the holidays coming. So they are going to be mulberry silk. And these are great for your,
11:25you know, your coworkers, friends, you want to give them a little, give them a little rest or a date
11:31with their dreams. Let me tell you something. A little gift packet with the suit and the,
11:38and the robe and then the sleep mask and the bonnet to match. Somebody is going to love you
11:44this holiday. So make sure you guys are visiting the site, put it in your cart, get it out of the
11:50way. Now you want to start striking those people, some of those people off your list, especially the
11:55ones that you, you got picky people to buy for. This is a good one. Okay. So make sure that you guys
12:00are exploring. Melissa, it's been so great to have you on the show. Thank you so, so much for being
12:08here. And I'm so excited to see what else is to come from Melda Moda. Thank you all very much.
12:16Yes. And thank you guys so much for tuning in. Once again, my name is Noni Donovan.
12:20We'll be back next week with two new black owned brands to shop. See you guys later. Bye.
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