Sharon Williams Askia: In 2008, we met in a grocery store at the checkout line. We married two weeks later and we have been married 14 years. My name is Sharon Williams Askia.
Umaar Askia: My name is Umaar Askia.
Sharon Williams Askia: I am a business owner of Nappily Naturals and Naked.
Umaar Askia: I am co-owner of Nappily Naturals. We were in the area of South Los Angeles. We observed we didn't have access to adequate nutritional dense food.
Sharon Williams Askia: Then I said then we were going to have to be that change we wanted to see in the community, and so that's what we did. Everything about Nappily Naturals and Naked is a holistic approach for the whole body. Everything we make and use is made with food plants and herbs. It's all organic and natural. On the naked side, it is our zero waste store. You can bring your own containers to refill your plant-based hand soaps and your face soaps. Leer Park is just this hub, this mecca of black creatives and artisans, people who are on the same path. I see how we have benefited the community, how the community has benefited us.
Umaar Askia: We definitely are positioning ourselves to pretty much be a company where we can go into any community and develop the same formula.
Sharon Williams Askia: The most rewarding part of running this business is when the customers come back and let us know how we have impacted their health.
