our origin

before there was black self wellth,

before there was a name for any of it,

there was a quiet practice.

i did not know i was building one.

i only knew there were things i could not afford to forget.

my family.

the places i come from.

the love that raised me.

the love that still surrounded us,

even in seasons that asked us to remember only hardship.

so i began carrying scent.

not because i believed scent could change who i was,

but because it helped me remember who i already was.

it helped me remember

that i came from love.

that i experienced love.

that i was capable of giving love.

even when the world around me seemed to tell a different story.

within months,

that quiet practice needed a name.

i called it ithiaely.

not because i had set out to build a business,

but because i needed a way to hold on to my family,

to the love that surrounded us,

and to what i refused to forget.

what began as a practice of remembering also became part of how we survived.

the name ithiaely was created during one season of our family's life.

it carries my name,

my husband's,

and the children who were living that chapter with us.

it was never meant to define the boundaries of my family.

it simply became the name that held us in that moment.

through me,

it has always carried the love i have for all of my children,

all of my family,

and the life that made me who i am.

looking back,

i understand that black self wellth was never built after survival.

it was built inside survival.

not to glorify survival,

but to make sure survival was never the only thing we remembered.

today,

that same practice continues.

we scent what matters

so we can carry it with us.

peace be with you.