Tsighe Retta is a nurse and the founder of Aida Natural Artisan Soap & Skin Care. Entrepreneurship empowers Tsighe to care for her family while supporting the household since leaving nursing’s demanding schedule.
Nurses wash their hands a lot. And all the handwashing took its toll on Tsighe Retta during her nursing career. Tsighe explains:
“It’s the alcohol, the sanitizer, the hand washing several times – every time I came back to my daughter she asked me what kind of job I do, because my skin was always ruined. That triggered me to use natural products and give them to friends and coworkers. People kept asking for more, but the time wasn’t there.”
Thus arose the idea for her business Aida Natural Artisan Soap & Skin Care.
Tsighe immigrated to the US from Ethiopia 20 years ago. She studied nursing at Montgomery College and worked at different nursing facilities in Maryland for well over a decade. Tsighe explored natural skin care products during her nursing career. She started making products and sharing them with family, friends, and coworkers – especially her fellow nurses with the same skin struggles. She imagined starting her own natural skin care line but didn’t have the time nor the resources to devote to starting a business.
Tsighe left nursing’s demanding schedule to care for her family shortly before COVID in 2019. “My family really needed my attention at that moment. I was forced to give them more time,” she remembers, “so I slowly took my hours down. That’s when I started seriously thinking about the sparkle of my idea.”
Today, Tsighe is the head of her household and takes care of her daughter Aida (for whom the business is named) and her father. Tsighe needed to continue to support her household financially and now had time to pursue her vision for a natural skin care line. She devoted her extra time to research and training to launch a business. The pandemic also increased awareness of handwashing and hygiene outside of nursing circles and more people were interested in natural skin care products.
Aida Natural Artisan Soap & Skin Care officially started in 2023. Tsighe sells natural, chemical-free, vegan skin care products at local events, markets, and on social media.
The business is a family affair. Tsighe and Aida produce the products together from home and Aida runs the business’s social media accounts. For Tsighe, it’s an opportunity to spend quality mother-daughter time together and teach her daughter about natural products and business.
The biggest challenge for Tsighe was getting off the ground. “It’s a whole lot of challenge, especially when you’re not originally from this country. It’s really hard to get all the resources and you don’t feel confident to go out and look for them.”
Tsighe learned about the Entrepreneur Training for Success (ETS) program while researching to start the business. She followed Empowered Women International (EWI), a program of the LEDC for two years before participating in Fall 2023. She wanted to participate sooner, but this was the first opportunity where scheduling and language offerings aligned. She felt ETS was the best way to get the resources and information to move forward.
How was her experience in the ETS program?
“It was awesome. It was beyond my expectations. The instructor was perfect. The mentor was overqualified for me. She dedicated so much time through phone calls and meetings. The class had good energetic vibes. I really took so much confidence away overall.”
Tsighe developed a complete business plan and the confidence to network and promote herself and the brand during the ETS program. Her work culminated in pitching her business at the live business pitch celebration at the end of January 2024.
Of course, Aida supported her mom throughout the process. Tsighe describes her daughter listening to her re-writing and practicing the business pitch over and over. It was Tsighe’s first time pitching her business and she learned to describe her business and vision in her own words. Tsighe and Aida also loved meeting the other entrepreneurs and hearing their pitches. Aida says about her mom’s pitch: “I felt proud. It was fun to be there and watch the people’s dreams.”
Entrepreneurship empowers Tsighe to have time to care for her teenage daughter and father while supporting the household. She gets to continue to help the community live a healthy lifestyle outside of the healthcare environment.
Now, after the ETS program, Tsighe is ready to pursue her entrepreneurial dreams. Her next steps after graduating are to develop her marketing strategy and build a website, as well as acquire a dedicated production space. This will allow her to increase production and reach larger distribution networks.
You can find Tsighe Retta and Aida Natural Artisan Soap & Skin Care on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok @aidahandmadesoap
Instagram: @aidahandmadesoap