Today we’d like to introduce you to Qahira ElAmin.
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?
The Sanctuary officially began in 2021. During the pandemic, as a mother and daughter team, (Hanan ElAmin and Qahira ElAmin, respectively,) we were using this less social time to learn about alternative healing modalities and tools; and explore their creative side. It all started with the desire to curate a box of crystals that corresponded with the seven major chakras and from this effort a store was born. For 2021 thru the end of 2022; The Sanctuary sold mostly crystals, incense, artisan-made jewelry crafted by Hanan ElAmin at various pop-up events and other wellness products aimed at the facilitation of balancing mind, body, and spirit. Starting in the end of 2022, The Sanctuary set up shop in Afro City Marketplace, a co-op like retail store featuring many small owned businesses, in the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Mall.
In 2023; The Sanctuary hosted a Self-Care and wellness Marketplace whose intent was to serve as a one-stop shop for wellness services and related products. The event featured a soundbath, Qi Gong, and a self-empowerment workshop; as well as practitioners providing wellness services such as massage, energy clearing, and wellness products including crystals, incense, jewelry, art, tea, waist beads, and more.
This event was paused in 2023 and resumed in 2025 as the I Love You People: Self-Care and Wellness Marketplace. There have already been two events in 2025 (July and September). And the next marketplace is tentatively scheduled for December 13, 2025
But in reality, the effort started way before 2021. Hanan ElAmin has always been an artist and wellness practitioner. Sewing since she was 13 years old—she is simply an artist at heart always creating the newest thing and exploring through sewing, jewelry making, gardening, etc. She sold African art many moons ago and in the 1990s became a massage therapist and later a Reiki master. One of her proudest accomplishments is, as a spring chicken in her early 60s receiving her BA in Psychology and Masters in Social Work from Howard University in Washington, DC. H.U….! She graduated after five of her children but beat her youngest across the stage
The predecessor of the I Love You People Self-Care and Wellness Marketplace is SummerSoulstice. SummerSoulstice is an effort that Hanan ElAmin executed with another daughter—Nia ElAmin. SummerSoulstice hosted events whose aim was to create a safe space for women to connect, renew and recharge individually and communally by offering informative and inspirational content, relatable speakers, and an undeniable sense of community. They hosted an incredible event in Los Angeles in 2019, a virtual gathering in 2020, and another amazing in-person event in Atlanta in 2021. The I Love You People Self-Care and Wellness Marketplace is now continuing the effort to promote wellness, and community that SummerSoulstice initiated.
Qahira ElAmin, the daughter in The Sanctuary duo studied History at UC, Berkeley, and International Affairs at Johns Hopkins. She has worked as an Analyst in the international affairs and trade arena for many years but has always explored alternative healing modalities and tools due to her upbringing and international travels. While her mother brings the artistic element, Qahira brings the interesting mix of organization and light-hearted party vibes which is why in addition to promoting wellness, the marketplace is also designed to be FUN!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
There have been many challenges along the way, but the journey has been worth it. Hanan and Qahira emphasized that when you truly care about something, you naturally invest a great deal of yourself. For them, curating these events is both rewarding and exhausting precisely because they care so deeply. They strive to create the kind of experiences they themselves would want to attend—events that nurture both participants and facilitators. Their care extends to the well-being of the practitioners, artisans, and attendees alike, with the goal that everyone leaves having received what they came for—and more.
Resources have been an ongoing challenge, as the I Love You People Self-Care & Wellness Marketplace is a passion project that has been offered either free or at very low cost. Hanan and Qahira have continued to self-fund the event because they believe in its purpose and want it to remain accessible to those who would truly benefit. They are confident that these challenges will resolve naturally: as the event reaches a wider audience of people who can benefit from its offerings, the resources needed to sustain and expand it will make themselves available.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
The Sanctuary is a passion project started by a mother-daughter duo, offering wellness products that assist in balancing the mind, body, and spirit. Their thoughtfully curated collection includes crystals, artisan jewelry, high-quality incense, and other intentional gift items.
The I LOVE YOU PEOPLE Self-Care & Wellness Marketplace is dedicated to community, wellness, and quite frankly positive vibrations—featuring sound baths, yoga, Qi Gong, reiki, massage, and other wellness practitioners, and handcrafted offerings like crystals, incense, jewelry, herbal products, candles, waist beads, natural skin and haircare to name a few. Designed to help guests reset mind, body, and spirit, the marketplace brings together wellness practitioners, artisans, movement and DJ-curated music for a day that restores energy and uplifts the soul. The I Love You People Self-Care and Wellness Marketplace hosted by the Sanctuary—mother and daughter team—Hanan and Qahira ElAmin is truly a family affair. While Hanan is the Artistic Director and Qahira is the Event Coordinator; the event is also supported by Kemet ElAmin who performs Operations Support, Ayesha ElAmin who flies in from Dallas to perform her duties as a Vendor Liaison and Nia ElAmin, the graphic designer.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
Hanan and Qahira feel genuinely called to do this work—it brings them deep fulfillment. They love connecting with others and offering something meaningful and useful. When attendees share how the events have positively impacted them, that’s all the energy needed to keep going. The name of their marketplace, I Love You People, says it all—they truly love the people, the community they’re building, and the opportunity to learn from the practitioners, artisans, and attendees who make each event what it is. For them, it’s a privilege to do this work, and they remain continually inspired by the positive energy being cultivated and harnessed—and by the ripple effect it continues to create.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thesanctuarywellness.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesanctuarywellness_/
