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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Hello, hello, and welcome to another episode of Shop Essence Live. I am your host Noni
00:05Donovan, and this is where we bring you two new Black-owned brands to shop with us. And I am so
00:11excited to get into this episode. We know that when we are setting up our homes, we want to make
00:18it truly our own. We want to bring in our heritage. We want to bring in our personality. And when I
00:25tell you this next brand has got us covered with some really thoughtful designs for our home and
00:32our park, please welcome Alicia Bello to the show. She is founder and creator of Ankeje Republic.
00:42Alicia, did I say that okay? You did. Hi, Stephanie. Thanks so much for having me.
00:47Oh my gosh, I'm so excited to have you on and to allow you to have the space to show
00:53off these incredible designs that you have for our home. Before we get into our show and tell,
00:58can you tell us about how you came up with Ankeje, this incredible brand?
01:03Sure. So the idea from Ankeje really came from my own journey of self-discovery.
01:08I grew up here in Maryland in a majority Black county, Prince George's County, Maryland.
01:12And when I was about 13, my parents sent me back to their home country of Nigeria to attend a
01:17boarding school. And I was there for about three years. And while I was in Nigeria, I was really
01:21intrigued by this whole culture around tailors. Nigeria, we're like really big party people.
01:27We have outfits made for every occasion, weddings, funerals, birthdays, just because. And so I really
01:34wanted to apply that concept of like, you know, really unique, small batch, handmade products
01:39to the home decor space, because I am a homebody. I am a quintessential introvert. I rarely go out,
01:45but I love to be at home with my tea and a good book. And so I wanted to kind of apply that same
01:48concept to the home decor space. I love, love, love it. And then what is your background?
01:55Are you a designer or how did you come to hone in on the specific designs that you chose?
02:02That is a great question. So I am very self-taught. My degrees are in political science and law,
02:07so nothing at all to do with design, but I've always had an eye for it and just really just
02:11had a natural talent and flair. So yeah, everything is self-taught. I love that. And
02:17it's just like, you're literally turning your passions into a business, which a lot of people
02:23figure like, Oh, you must've gone to a design school or this or that. And you just using your
02:28heritage and what you grew up with and what you know, what's around you and what you love
02:32and turning it into a brand, which is so dope. Okay. We're getting into show and tell. And
02:38oddly enough, I got your product that you sent me this beautiful apron back in December. And I
02:44thought it was a Christmas gift. I'm over here just rocking it and cooking with it. Unbeknownst
02:49to me, it was for shoppers inside from you. So I am going to just kind of stand up and show off.
02:55If you can just talk a little bit about this beautiful design here.
03:01I love that. So I actually designed this apron for one of my best friends from,
03:05Oh, I love it. It looks so good on you. One of my best friends from grad school,
03:09she is from Ghana, but also grew up in Liberia and she loves to cook. And you can imagine just
03:15me being a stressed out grad student, having a roommate who like cooked all the time was like,
03:19just like balm for my soul. So she kept asking me to make her an apron. So I made this in honor of
03:23her. So this is like a, a dark blue print with Ankara, which is African print accents, but the
03:30robe is actually reversible. So the other side is also very usable. Both sides have like these
03:35really deep pockets. You can wear it either way. So it's meant to be both fashionable and functional.
03:40So yeah. I love how far this could go you guys. And it's so cute.
03:52I love it. Fashion and function. I put my phone in here. I'm just like, I love it.
03:59I love, love, love it. And this is not all that you have. Can you talk about the other products
04:03that are available? Absolutely. So my first product, which might be a little bit hard to
04:08show on screen was actually these satin pillowcases, which I really love. It's the same concept of like,
04:14you know, the African print on the side with the satin pillowcase to kind of protect your hair
04:18and your skin for all my natural girlies. What I love the most is like, it has this hidden zipper.
04:23If you can kind of see it, it kind of goes underneath the flap. So unlike your bonnet,
04:26it's going to stay put. It's not running away. It's kind of there and secure. So yeah. And since
04:31to that, we have a bunch of other soft goods. We have, you know, throw pillows, bed runners,
04:36we have candles, body oils, an array of like home goods and home essentials.
04:41I love that. And that can really spice up any basic thing that you have. Just a little bit
04:49of personality. You know, if you have like a basic bed spread and adding that print and that
04:54bed runner to it, it just takes it to a whole new level. That's exactly the idea. You know,
05:01you want to have a little bit of culture in every space. So that's, that's the plan,
05:05little bit of culture in every space. And you guys can see, we have the ticker at the bottom.
05:10You can go straight to her website, take a look at all the products that are available and purchase
05:16right then. And there you are treating the essays to a discount code. Can you let them know about
05:21the discount code and how long they have to use it? Yes, I am. So for everyone who shuffled us
05:26over the next two weeks, we have a code it's essence and all caps, and you will get 25%
05:31off until March 31st. So please come check us out. Listen, small discount, y'all 25% off,
05:39you have two weeks. So if you're watching this on March 30th, get to go and do that code and make
05:46a purchase. That is so amazing. Thank you so much for treating us to that. Before I let you go,
05:52this is in partnership with the new voices family. I'd love for you to talk about what
05:57it's been like being a part of that community. Absolutely. So it's really been a transformative
06:02experience, I would say, because the community is truly unmatched, you know, there's no gatekeeping,
06:07everyone shares from their heart just so generously, and being able to watch the more experienced
06:12founders and learn from their mistakes and their trials. It's really just been like a really great
06:16experience. There's just been so much support from all of our mentors, including Art, Marie,
06:20Maria, Ariana, it's just been so awesome. So it's been a really great program for me just truly
06:25transformational. If you guys are watching at home, and you are an entrepreneur, or you want to be an
06:35entrepreneur, go to newvoicesfamily.com. There is a ton of information available to you guys.
06:41You heard Alicia, like it's a great community there, no gatekeeping, you can learn, learn a ton.
06:48And I know being an entrepreneur, sometimes you feel like you're like,
06:51on a lonely planet by yourself, and you have to figure out things by yourself, you absolutely do
06:56not. So take a chance on yourself, go to new voices family, join the community, I could be
07:01talking to you in a few months, you never know it has happened, okay, multiple times. Alicia,
07:08thank you so, so much. I'm going to remind everyone, there's a discount code of 25% off
07:14if you go to her website, and type in ESSENCE in all caps. This is our website here at the bottom,
07:20make sure that you guys go and check out all of her incredible products and spruce up the home,
07:26you guys spruce up the home, add in culture in every space, which I absolutely love that you
07:31said that. Alicia, thank you so much for joining us. And everybody at home, thank you so much for
07:37watching and tune in for more shop essence live in partnership with the new voices family.
07:42See you guys later. So good. All right. So I am now Alicia gonna put you backstage. Thank you.