Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristina Adam.
Hi Kristina, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I like to call myself a child of the world – growing up in West Africa as the daughter of German expats, my life has taken quite a lot of twists and turns. The first 15 years of my life entailed a journey of moving all along the West African coast, making me a third-culture kid who feels at home everywhere and nowhere. A journey that would also later lead me to California, where I first lived during an internship in my early 20s.
It was here that the inspiration for my business, Aether, really began. A few years after moving to California and working as a designer at the heart of Mercedes-Benz in Silicon Valley, I felt the need to shift into a more feminine way of living while recovering from burnout and subsequent hormonal imbalances. I found comfort and nourishment within the slow movements of yoga, which led me down a long, adventurous path of spiritual awakening. I created my own practice, in which I could slow down and come back home to myself, and it dawned on me then that we all need these practices to counterbalance the lifestyles we lead.
I later went on to set the foundation for Aether as a wellness brand when I moved to New York with the intention of opening a wellness studio. Tying together my roots in luxury experiences from my time working at Mercedes-Benz and an inherited love for spiritual practices through my upbringing as the daughter of a yoga teacher, I created a vision for an aesthetic, highly curated approach to feminine well-being and healing. And though Aether has taken on many different shapes and forms since then, this vision has largely remained the same.
The first iteration of Aether Studio ended up opening in Los Angeles during the pandemic – a dreamy, ethereal space to nourish and heal through individual treatments. A space that I loved with all my heart and that inspired much of what the brand is today: encompassing in-person treatments, an online membership, workshops, and circles, as well as global and local wellness retreats. After giving birth to my daughter, I said goodbye to the first studio and am delighted to have just opened up our second physical space in the serene Pacific Palisades.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The journey has absolutely had detours and roadblocks along the way. Some that seemed insurmountable in the moment and took an incredible amount of strength and surrendering to overcome – like moving to New York to open a physical space just a few months before the pandemic started. As a business owner, there are many moments like these where you ask yourself, ‘What am I even doing?’. In the end, I have found that it all comes down to how much you believe and trust in your vision. Aether to me is not just a brand and business; it is a calling – a part of my purpose here in this lifetime, and that is what keeps me moving forward.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Aether is a well-being brand for women to awaken the feminine within. Based on this ethos, we specialize in curated treatments, rituals, and wellness retreats for feminine alignment in body and lifestyle.
Our new studio in Pacific Palisades is a thoughtfully designed space seeping with natural light and warm textures. Within the fast-paced nature of our world, we provide a space for women to slow down and rediscover the roots of their feminine wisdom. All of the treatments and experiences we curate here allow for the care, nurture, and unwinding needed to come home to yourself.
I’ve always loved how what we do so beautifully reflects the meaning of the brand name – as the quintessential element, ‘aether’ (in its original Greek spelling) is the space that allows everything else to exist. It was considered to be the pure essence that filled the universe and in which Gods and Goddesses live and breathe. To me, it represents a sacred void – similar to the pause between breaths and the stillness that follows all actions. In this way, Aether is an invitation to pair back the noise of the world, create physical and mental space, and invite a true connection to the present moment.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
It has been wonderful to see an increased interest in holistic healing practices in recent years. I’d love to see this continue to empower women to take their health and well-being into their own hands. I’ve also noticed a shift into more health and medical offerings based on the natural cycles and rhythms of women, which are inherently so different from those of men. It is inspiring to see more women-led solutions become available, and I expect that to increase in the future.
A personal wish I have is the expansion of dedicated offerings for mothers, providing support through postpartum in the prevention of postpartum depression and psychosis. With increased awareness, these topics will hopefully become less taboo to talk about, and we can create a collective, holistic support system akin to the village we would have had around us in previous times.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.aetherhealing.com
- Instagram: @aetherhealing
Image Credits
Photography by Jessica Alexander and Grey and Elle (Personal photo by Grey and Elle, all additional images by Jessica Alexander)
