Meet Alicia Blair: Singer & Co-Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Alicia Blair and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Alicia, every day, we hear about how much execution matters, but we think ideas matter as well. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
If you had asked me to leave my career in January, I would have said no. I was okay with staying with the company I worked with for 10 more years in order to retire with benefits. However, if I’m completely honest with myself, while my career afforded me many opportunities, it also held me back quite a bit. Being active in my church, community and music groups was severely impacted by my job. I accepted that these things would just be affected and over time I learned how to work around work. Little did I know how much life would change this year.

In late May my job announced that cuts were coming due to Covid19. Immediately panic and anxiety set in as I thought about having to apply for new jobs. My friends suggested that I should sell the products I’d made for family/friends. A light bulb went off. That same day, a close friend shared ideas that she wasn’t able to bring to life because of work but it tied in to my ideas so we decided to work together. That day HerSol Beauty was born and three months later we formally launched the business online.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
HerSol Beauty’s goal is to help our Sol Mates look and feel great from our soul with our handcrafted and fully customizable products. Making my own home and beauty products became extremely important to me years ago. I was driven by the need to combat cancer, carcinogens and other environmental issues by knowing what I’m using internally and externally. I also needed to learn how to take care of my hair after doing the big chop in 2012. This excited the hands-on, creative side of me as I was able to play around with different recipes. I take pleasure and pride in researching each ingredient that goes into my products.

I am most excited about our custom body butter option called Made For Me. We added this feature specifically for those who have allergy or sensitivity issues. We know how important skin care is and feel that no one should have to settle or feel limited when it comes to taking care of yourself. We offer free consultations for those who need assistance in creating their perfect body butter. HerSol Beauty endeavors to provide excellent customer service, high quality products and a shopping experience that will keep you coming back. We look forward to collaborating with other small businesses to fulfill the needs of our community.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Coming from the east coast, Washington, DC to be exact, I still cannot get enough of the scenery here. A drive near the Botanical Garden would be in order. If the weather is nice enough, hiking up “A Mountain” would follow. Because shopping is life, we’d head to AZ Mills to catch some deals and Garcia’s for food. Over the week we would visit the other outlets and Tempe Marketplace. For food we would visit Sugar Jam, Mingo’s, D Taco Pit, Trapp Haus BBQ and Ocho Rios Jerk Spot. A walk through downtown and the Westgate Entertainment district would be perfect places to people watch.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I wouldn’t be who and where I am without God, my mother, sister, close family and friends. They push me to keep going and give me inspiration and ideas.

Website: www.HerSolBeauty.com
Instagram: Instagram.com/HerSol_Beauty
Facebook: facebook.com/HerSolBeauty

Image Credits
Kebron Wegayehu