00:00Hello, hello, and welcome to another episode of Shop Essence Live. I am your host, Noni Donovan,
00:05and this is where we bring you two new Black-owned brands to shop with us. And I am so excited to get
00:12into this episode. We know that when we are setting up our homes, we want to make it truly
00:18our own. We want to bring in our heritage. We want to bring in our personality. And when I tell you
00:26this next brand has got us covered with some really thoughtful designs for our home and our
00:32heart, please welcome Alicia Bello to the show. She is founder and creator of Anka J Republic.
00:42Alicia, did I say that okay? You did. Hi, Stephanie. Thanks so much for having me.
00:47Oh my gosh. I'm so excited to have you on and to allow you to have the space to show up these
00:54incredible designs that you have for our home. Before we get into our show and tell,
00:58can you tell us about how you came up with Anka J, this incredible brand?
01:03Sure. So the idea from Anka J really came from my own journey of self-discovery.
01:08I grew up here in Maryland in a majority Black county, Prince George's County, Maryland.
01:12And when I was about 13, my parents sent me back to their home country of Nigeria to attend a boarding
01:17school. And I was there for about three years. And while I was in Nigeria, I was really intrigued by
01:22this whole culture around tailors. Nigeria, we're like really big party people. We have outfits made
01:28for every occasion, weddings, funerals, birthdays, just because. And so I really want to apply that
01:35concept of like, you know, really unique, small batch, handmade products to the home decor space,
01:40because I am a homebody. I am a quintessential introvert. I rarely go out, but I love to be at
01:45home with my tea and a good book. And so I want to kind of apply that same concept to the home decor space.
01:50I love, love, love it. And then what is your background? Are you a designer or how did you
01:58come to hone in on the specific designs that you chose?
02:02That is a great question. So I am very self-taught. My degrees are in political science and law,
02:07so nothing that has to do with design, but I've always had an eye for it and just really just had a natural
02:12talent and player. So, yeah, everything is self-taught.
02:14I love that. And it's just like, you're literally turning your passions into a business, which a lot
02:22of people figure like, oh, you must've gone to a design school or this or that. And you just using
02:29your heritage and what you grew up with and what you know, what's around you, what you love and
02:32turning it into a brand, which is so dope. Okay. We're getting into show and tell. And oddly enough,
02:39I got your product that you sent me, this beautiful apron back in December, and I thought it was a
02:45Christmas gift. I'm over here just rocking it and cooking with it. Unbeknownst to me,
02:51it was for Shop Essence Live from you. So I am going to just kind of stand up and show off if you
02:56can just talk a little bit about this beautiful design here.
03:00I love that. So I actually designed this apron for one of my best friends from, oh, I love it.
03:06It looks so good on you. One of my best friends from grad school. She is from Ghana, but also grew
03:11up in Liberia and she loves to cook. And you can imagine just me being a stressed out grad student,
03:17having a roommate who like cooked all the time was like, just like bomb for my soul. So she kept
03:21asking me to make her an apron. So I made this in honor of her. So this is like a dark blue print
03:27with Ankara, which is African print accents, but the robe is actually reversible. So the other side
03:32is also very usable. Both sides have like these really deep pockets. You can wear it either way.
03:38So it's meant to be both fashionable and functional. So, yeah.
03:43I love anything. Like, look how far this could go, you guys. And it's so cute.
03:49I love it. Fashion and function. I put my phone in here. I'm just like, I love it. I love,
03:59love, love it. And this is not all that you have. Can you talk about the other products
04:03that are available?
04:05Sure, absolutely. So my first product, which might be a little bit hard to show on screen,
04:10was actually these satin pillowcases, which I really love. It's the same concept of like,
04:14you know, the African print on the side with a satin pillowcase to kind of protect
04:18your hair and your skin for all my natural girlies. What I love the most is like it has
04:22this hidden zipper. If you can kind of see it, it kind of goes underneath the flap. So unlike
04:26your bonnet, it's going to stay put. It's not running away. It's kind of there and secure. So
04:30yeah. And to that, we have a bunch of other soft goods. We have, you know, throw pillows,
04:35bed runners. We have candles, body oils, an array of like home goods and home essentials.
04:40I love that. And then I can really squeeze up any basic thing that you have,
04:48or just a little bit of personality. You know, if you have like a basic bed spread and adding that
04:54print and that bed runner to it, it just takes it to a whole new level.
04:59Love, love, love it.
05:00That's exactly the idea. You know, you want to have a little bit of culture in every space. So
05:04that's, that's the plan.
05:05Little bit of culture in every space. And you guys can see, we have the ticker at the bottom.
05:10You can go straight to her website, take a look at all the products that are available and purchase
05:16right then and there. You are treating the essays to a discount code. Can you let them know
05:21about the discount code and how long they have to use it?
05:24Yes, I am. So for everyone who shuffled us over the next two weeks, we have a code,
05:28it's ESSENCE in all caps, and you will get 25% off until March 31st. So please come check us out.
05:34Listen, 25% off. That's always a small discount, y'all. 25% off. You have two weeks. So if you're
05:41watching this on March 30th, get to going to oncaj.co and make a purchase. That is so amazing.
05:48Thank you so much for treating us to that. Before I let you go, this is in partnership with the New
05:54Voices family. I'd love for you to talk about what it's been like being a part of that community.
05:59Absolutely. So it's really been a transformative experience, I would say, because the community is
06:05truly unmatched. You know, there's no gatekeeping. Everyone shares from their heart just so generously
06:10and being able to watch the more experienced founders and learn from their mistakes and their
06:14trials. It's really just been like a really great experience. There's just been so much support from
06:18all of our mentors, including Art, Marie, Maria, Arianne. It's just been so awesome. So it's been a really
06:23great program for me, just truly transformational. If you guys are watching at home and you are an
06:33entrepreneur or you want to be an entrepreneur, go to newvoicesfamily.com. There is a ton of
06:39information available to you guys. You heard Alicia, like there's a great community there. No
06:45gatekeeping. You can learn, learn a ton. And I know being an entrepreneur sometimes you feel like
06:51you're like on a lonely planet by yourself and you have to figure out things by yourself. You
06:55absolutely do not. So take a chance on yourself, go to newvoicesfamily, join the community. I could
07:01be talking to you in a few months. You never know. It has happened. Okay. Multiple times. Alicia,
07:08thank you so, so much. I'm going to remind everyone there's a discount code of 25% off. If you go to
07:14her website and type in essence in all caps, this is her website here at the bottom. Make sure that
07:21you guys go and check out all of her incredible products and spruce up the home. You guys spruce
07:27up the home, add in culture in every space, which I absolutely love that you said that. Alicia, thank
07:33you so much for joining us and everybody at home. Thank you so much for watching and tune in for more
07:39shop essence live in partnership with the new voices family. See you guys later.
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