PORTRAIT OF A LADY (SOMETIMES A MEN) AND EVERYTHING I LOVE TO RECOMMEND
Dear Sarah, please introduce yourself in 5 sentences
Hey, my name is Sarah. I am the founder of NAYA. NAYA is female-founder run business. And we love to combine the best of nature, ancient wisdom and modern innovative science to deliver premium products that transform one skin at a time. In my spare time I love to cook, try new things and travel. I have a little houseplant addiction, about 100 houseplants, that influence my work with NAYA.
And here are 10 short questions:
What is your favorite word and why?
I love the word ‘Wanderlust’, although it was created from two German words, it is more commonly used in English language. Germans would rather say ‘Fernweh’ – the strong desire to travel. It’s a word that gives a strong feeling when you say it, and I love words that can easily sum up a complicated feeling or thought.
Welches Erlebnis hat Dich in den letzten 3 Monaten am meisten berührt?
The last three months were exhausting for me because I had to work a lot on my mental health. This year was not easy with many ups and downs – of course you learned a lot – but it left wounds. Which led to a burnout. So I’ve slowed down the last few months. I am still not 100%, but I am more aware of my mental health.
What’s your “engine”?
Many have a story about why they launched their brand. For us, the reason was not because I absolutely had skin problems and couldn’t find anything in the market. I wanted to launch this NAYA for a purpose that was and continues to be bigger than my own personal needs.
Our main goal at NAYA has been and continues to be to establish a business model with philanthropy built into our DNA and to reconnect our consumers with Mother Nature through the products we develop and bring to market. Our mission is to create awareness of the Amazon and the importance of its protection, through the indigenous communities living there and their wisdom. By harvesting products from the region with indigenous ingredients, indigenous communities can have a stable income and be proud of their culture and land. This awareness and shift in demand means that transparency is now critical. We strive to be a company that provides information on where our products / active ingredients come from and why we favour certain active ingredients over others. This means that every step in the supply chain is known and traceable. Consumers are increasingly trying to be responsible citizens of the world and they expect the same from companies. Consumers have so much power to change the world by being aware of how and where you invest your money and what you buy.
How do you keep yourself in balance?
Feeling good in your own skin is most important to me. So my wellbeing regime is a big part of my self-care and my ability to de-stress. It’s about getting my sleep, feeling hydrated and eating nutritiously. Exercising regularly is also relaxing for me because it actually allows me to release endorphins naturally and relieve myself of stress. Feeling good from the “inside out” and providing my body and soul with what they need allows me to manage the stress that comes with launching a start-up. Self-care means taking care of myself on different levels: physical, emotional and spiritual. And that is also the daily engine that helps me to keep going.
What immediately throws you off balance?
When I am “hangry”. Hangry is a clever portmanteau of hungry and angry, and an adjective that describes being irritable due to hunger. Thus, I am always someone who has a snack and water on me to avoid this stage. For the sanity of myself and my fellow human beings 🙂
Fovorite book?
I love a good crime novel. That is my go-to genre.
Favorite movie?
Avatar is one of my favourite films. With Avatar, technology was taken to the next level. A new form of motion capture technology was being developed that mapped the facial features and movements of the actors on set and transferred those movements to the animation, which were entirely computer generated.
Not only was Avatar technologically advanced, but the content of the film also dealt with a variety of relevant issues.
From the relationships between different races and a call for revolution to the destruction of natural habitats due to greed. ‘
Avatar shows the true nature of how people treat the land. Avatar also openly criticises how colonialism has affected everything and everyone and destroyed a way of life that should have been preserved.
I am a great film enthusiast and I am always up for a nice movie night. Sign me up!
Favorite Song?
At the moment I love the latest song by Elton John and Dua Lipa- Cold Heart PNAU Remix. It’s a happy song and put a spring in my step.
Favorite place?
At home. In my jungle, surrounded by 100 houseplants. If I did, I would probably live in a tree house – in the jungle of course.
If you could change something in our society/world from now on what would you change and why?
That we all see ourselves as human beings and learn to treat each other with respect again and with our environment. It is all interconnected and every decision has a knock-on effect.