Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexzandra Denis.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I was born in Canarsie, Brooklyn to West Indian parents from St.Vincent and Haiti. I never intended to be an entrepreneur and as a matter of fact, I was adamantly against it. I had a ten years career in Fashion doing product development, working for brands such as Perry Ellis, Jones of New York and Calvin Klein PVH. It was my belief at the time that I would retire from that career but then I realized I wanted my entire future to not just depend on corporate decision makers. I wanted to be able to blaze my own path and to create. I had all this creative energy bubbling up inside of me and it feels great getting it out.
I was raised by my mom and she was big on all-natural hair and skin care. She never allowed chemicals in our beauty products and taught me how to be confident in my own skin. I remember trying store-bought skincare products because I wanted to be like my friends and thinking this is not as good as my mom’s concoctions.
At the time the luxury market was limited when it came to affordable and all-natural products so I created Avalah in 2018. The main focus was to provide customers a spa-like experience along with the peace of mind to know the natural materials are taken from the Earth. I wanted to use shea butter, castor oil, almond oil, black soap and vitamin E oil to create products that work. I wanted my brand to be set apart by having scents that were unisex, packaging that made people feel special and impeccable customer service.
The brand has taken on a mind of its own since 2018, when I started with four products and thought Avalah was just going to be beauty products you can use to turn your bathroom into a spa. My customers kept asking me for solutions to their issues and as they requested products, I kept building on my product line. We have bath salt, sugar scrub, hair oil, beard oil, shower steamers and CBD body oil. I feel like all of a sudden Avalah morphed into this lifestyle brand and is going beyond even what I had planned for it. Avalah is growing beyond my wildest dreams, to date we have ongoing retail partnerships, worked with some amazing subscription boxes, been featured in magazines, are now sold at both JFK and Laguardia Airports and sell to the four-star hotel The William Vale. Who knows what’s next?
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road has never been smooth and I would describe it as more of a roller coaster. The great thing about Avalah is how much it has taught me about resilience, teamwork, vision and endless possibilities. Every year is a new struggle but when you overcome them, you have new wins. The biggest struggle that has been consistent is “You don’t know what you don’t know”. I knew nothing about starting a new business but I had vision and with that the legalities of starting a business were very real. I had to learn from scratch how to create a website, how to incorporate a company, learn about corporate taxes and how to trademark. People will ask you what do you need help with? Sometimes you don’t know the answer because you don’t even know where to start and there is no straight path in entrepreneurship.
The bigger struggles are creating your own lane, not following the influence of other brands and continuing to think outside of the box. How to stand apart in an industry full of big and small players? It requires constant innovation, creativity and endless nights of no sleep. But I am always up to a challenge.
One struggle I have is balance and remembering that I am more than just my brand, there is Avalah and Alexzandra Denis. I am responsible for Avalah but I need to live life for me. In 2022 I learned how to be a better CEO by becoming a cohort with the Goldman Sachs 10K Small Business program so I could run a business efficiently, graduated in December 2022. I joined Luminary so that I can expand my network. I also was able to receive an amazing Chase Bank mentor who forced me to think of ways to be bankable not just creative. I spent a year learning how to be a better boss. This year I am taking to learn how to be a better me including travel, reading, attending events, showing up for people I love and doing things I really care about.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I specialize in product development and fostering relationships. I thought about what I wanted Avalah to look, feel and smell like and went to work bringing that vision to life. The entire brand is based on the customer’s experience. The four products I started with were body butter, body wash, bath salt and candles. My customers were the ones saying “We need sugar scrub cause I don’t have a bathtub”, “What products do you have for beards?” and “Love your body butter but in the summer time do you have something lighter?”. I used my knowledge of natural products, marketing and my consumer to continue to build the product line.
I am so proud of what I have built for my community. If you asked me six years ago what I would be doing in 2023, I would not even be close. Avalah has only been in operation for five years and we have already accomplished so much. The brand is set apart from others because it grows on its own. I have never forced the product line or direction of the brand. For a beauty brand that has a staff of two people max on any given month, we have been in over five international publications, over three tv news appearances, over 500 pop-ups, sponsored over 35 events, donated products to over 60 organizations, we have products sold in four countries, our products are sold in two airports and one luxury hotel. I never look at what other brands are doing, I always try to create for the customer and think outside the box.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
What matters most to me is the impact I leave in my community and with my brand. There is a quote by Maya Angelou and she says “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” I want to always leave a positive impression of my brand and of me. It’s not easy and there are definitely days where I want to curl up and not talk to anyone but that’s ok. Better to recharge than to pass on bad energy. I love sitting around friends, family or customers and they have a story about how we met or something funny we did together, those are the moments that remain in people’s hearts. I never want to be the entrepreneur with an attitude or that made a customer feel bad for asking a question. How you come across to the World matters. You smiling can make someone who is having a crappy day feel better or at the very least not make them feel worst. I try my hardest never to look at the World in my own little silo but to remember we are all individuals living based on our own experiences, cultures, upbringings, religions and beliefs. There are few things that bring people from across the World together like food, music, laughter, pain…….. and of course, skincare.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.avalah.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/avalahbeauty/saved/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/avalahbeauty
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avalahbeauty/?viewAsMember=true
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/AvalahBeauty
