Meet Ebun Ekunwe | Retired Medical Doctor

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

Hi Ebun, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
The fear of cancer. I graduated as a medical doctor some fifty years ago when the diagnosis of cancer was the equivalent of a death sentence. With time, several studies indicated that cancers were associated with chemicals – the more chemicals you were exposed to, the greater your chances of developing certain cancers.

That was good news. It meant we could control cancer if we could control how many chemicals we exposed ourselves to in food, water, and beauty products.

After I retired, I decided to do something about that last part. Why can we not have beauty products that were safe and healthy? Enter Shea Butter, a natural product known for its moisturizing and emollient properties.

If we could harness those qualities to make all-natural products that work for beauty and wellness, we would have removed one of the risk factors for cancers.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
In this creative journey, steps have been rather bumpy, unlike in my previous medical profession. And that is not surprising.

In this new creative journey, I had to learn almost everything from scratch. All I started with was that shea butter was great for the hair and skin. We also had Debbie’s formula. All the others had to be researched and trailed, leading to a lot of resource losses at the start.

But I was determined to not fail, particularly since the primary objective of Lovelier Shea Butter was to give people a 100% vegan option for their beauty and wellness routines. Constantly keeping that primary goal in focus is helping us to succeed.

What sets our brand apart is that it is 100% vegan and all-natural. We have resisted the temptation of employing oil blends (which are less expensive but not vegan) and have absorbed the extra cost to keep our products affordable. That way, more and more people will be able to access them and reduce their cancer risks.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Each time I had guests, especially from outside the country, we would visit the Dallas Museum of Arts. Dallas has a bunch of interesting places clustered downtown, fortunate since there is hardly any parking.

The Chase tower has a well-known keyhole in its design that is open to the public and which allows visitors to view the entire downtown. There is a magnificent Symphony hall that I usually take my visitors to view as well. We would visit the Perot museum of science also. Occasionally, we would include the Dallas zoo

The Farmers Branch Park is an interesting place to visit and it is filled with historical information.

As for eating out, we do that sparingly, not for cost-consciousness but to try and avoid the chemical additives in foods cooked outside of my kitchen where I know exactly what went into it.

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?
Definitely. Debbie, a family member agreed to share her shea butter formula. She had been using that formula on her hair for as long as she has been an adult. Her hair is so beautiful that we knew instantly that we had a winner. One of our products Deb Premium is named after her. It is a fragrance-free whipped shea butter product that is best suited for hair care production.

And then, there were our very first customers, especially of our wellness products which worked wonders on their pain. We had not realized that pain was so pervasive until we started marketing Lovelier Shea and found that repeat customers always included Relax in their orders. Based on their needs, we have since produced RelaxMaxx, the extra-strength arthritis relief lotion that caters to those whose joint pain is accompanied by issues.

That enthusiasm was a great encouragement, especially in the beginning. There is Mrs. O who personally stood up in a gathering to describe how effective the pain relief product was. That in-person endorsement got us our very first Lovelier Shea Distributor and that helped to propel us forward.

Finally, we got an order for customized wedding party favors before we were thinking of that ourselves. That was a real encouragement but we are unable to mention names for privacy concerns.

Website: www.loveliershea.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/loveliershea/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VeganAllNaturalBeauty

Other: Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/your/shops/LovelierSheaButter/tools/listings/view:table