We here at Mavens of Nyc are very excited to interview Ms. Akuete about her product Eugenia Shea and the journey till this date. My last call with her, she had mentioned that She had gotten an account with Anthropologie for amazing butter. Yes, that’s Anthropologie! We are excited as well.
Here is our conversation with Naa-Sakle.
MONYC: Hi Naa- Saakle, Thank you for joining us in this journey of Eugenia Shea
N-S.A: Hi Binnie! So pumped to be speaking with you, thanks for taking the time to interview me.
Of course, Let’s get right into it then ..
What is Eugenia Shea?
Eu’Genia Shea is the all-natural alternative to your favorite moisturizer. With just five ingredients, including at least 95% shea content, we’re sure to keep you moisturized all day.
That so cool. . How did you end up making this product? What is the background story?
Back in 2000, my mother returned to our native Ghana and rediscovered her love of shea butter. Across sub-Saharan Africa, the shea industry supports about 16 million women, but particularly in Ghana, because of geographical fragmentation, limited English, lack of technology, and high illiteracy rates, it is relatively easy to take advantage of them. Given my mother’s roots in Ghana and her time in the US, she thought she was well positioned to help bridge the gap between these rural shea nut pickers and global shea butter demand. She started a business, which she named after me, that helps strengthen existing cooperatives and build new ones, providing them with sustainable wages and organic training to produce shea butter. Over the course of her career, she became the President of the Global Shea Alliance, advising governments and NGOs about shea standards, but she also realized the gap between her mission and that of many of her customers. When you’re selling to distributors and brands, often times, they don’t care about the quality of the product or the integrity of the supply chain… so, we started our own brand, Eu’Genia Shea, to produce high-quality shea butter with a mission, direct to consumers and retailers.
There is a social purpose to this brand, we love when a brand gives back! Please explain the background and cause.
In addition to providing sustainable wages and topnotch benefits to economically underdeveloped areas in Ghana, we also donate 15% of our profits back to our workers in the form of an education fund.
What were you doing before you were working on this?
Before I started working with my mother, I was in generic finance for about five years – Lehman Brothers, to Barclays Capital, to business school, to JP Morgan – so a very different world!
Oh wow! Going from finance to a company is totally different worlds, do you miss that corporate life? How was the transition?
I love waking up with a mission everyday and I can’t imagine going back to the corporate world, but I do sometimes miss the security of a paycheck and seeing more than just my mom everyday.
Shea Butter has become quite popular over the years as a way to moisturize, Can you explain to us what exactly Shea is, the process and making of it is?
Shea butter is derived from the fruit of a shea tree that grows across sub-Saharan Africa. The traditional way of processing is a multistep method. For us, that includes sorting and washing our nuts twice, cracking for even roasting, grinding, kneading, and boiling to clarify before filtering twice and packaging.
What makes your product better than others that are out there? What is the difference?
The more shea butter, the better, but not all shea butter is created equal. Even our most complicated formula has just five ingredients including at least 95% shea content relative to generally under 10% for peers. In order to have the highest quality shea butter around, we also supervise all parts of the supply chain. From partnering with our hundreds of organically trained pickers, to processing the nuts into shea butter in house according to the methods my mother developed as President of the Global Shea Alliance, to packaging ourselves in Brooklyn, we’re always involved to make sure you get the best.
What makes you get up every day wanting to this over and over again?
It all boils down to my mom and the women. My mom built her business from scratch to provide a livelihood to hundreds of women with few alternatives. Not working hard everyday is a disservice to them and the dedication they’ve had for decades.
She is a fascinating example for you! I see where you get that drive from.. You are so personable in character, we admire that personality so much. Many companies and founders tend to be standoffish and prideful.. What’s your take on this?
Haha! My personality is definitely not universally loved, but thank you! Our brand is just a reflection of me – part Ghanaian and part American, hard working and fun (most of the time!)… For some people, putting on a show makes their job easier, maybe helping them separate work from life? But for me, there is so little separation between those worlds already that I would probably go crazy if I had to put on a corporate mask all the time.
If another woman was thinking of starting her own company what advice would you have for her?
Make sure your support system is intact! Some people can do it all themselves, but you probably don’t have to!
In the end, we love women like you take risks and make sh*t happen. All along try to be humble and supportive of other women. What is a quote that you live your life by??
Support as many women as possible as holistically as possible. This is a constant reminder of why I’m doing what I’m doing – to help uplift communities. And not just providing some kind of assistance to a ton of people, but really improving the lives of everyone we touch.
What is your take on failing and succeeding?
I love this new wave of companies that have a social mission built into their business model. Being part of that community makes me feel pretty successful already, but longer term, it goes back to the quote. As long as I can keep supporting the chain effectively, I will consider myself successful.
Thanks, Naa-Saakle. We have learned so much from you. You are truly amazing and Eugenia Shea is a pretty cool product! We want to personally thank you for sharing yours and Eugenia Shea’s story. We wish the best for you and hope that many success come along your way!
Please check her out on eugeniashea