Fitness and nutrition are just components of overall health. Mental health is often overlooked in the equation.
But even those who do nurture their emotional and psychological wellness, can find it hard to achieve balance and harmony.
Laudia Yambala, creative artist and CEO, knows that the secret to overall wellness is staying grounded.
Sometimes, though, meditation and personal healing isn’t enough.
She created Yambala Designs to make it a little easier for people to stay present in their day-to-day lives.
The Democratic Republic of Congo native always had an affinity to spirituality and a passion for designing jewellery.
She believes that each person has purpose and that the human body is simply a tool.
Supporting mental wellness is crucial to ensure that the mind is in tip-top shape to drive the body to reach that higher purpose.
She lives by that philosophy no matter how challenging it can be at times.
Making jewellery was little more than a hobby that she used to bring in a bit more income, until she moved to New York City.
In the United States, Laudia juggled a full-time job and her personal life.
The fast-paced hustle and bustle of the city slowly started taking a toll on her mental fortitude.
As a person so attuned to her mind and wellness, she immediately thought of ideas to help and started purifying her jewellery.
Her pieces became spiritual anchors to support her throughout the day and she could feel the positive impact they had and was inspired to share it with others.
The trinkets transformed into a booming business when Laudia met her business partner. Together, they launched Yambala Designs.
Laudia carefully handcrafts the brand’s collections and cleanses each piece for different spiritual purposes. The one-of-a-kind jewellery either brings good fortune, guides stability, encourages wisdom, or much more.
Yambala Designs initially started as Laudia’s personal ambition to strengthen her wellness. Now, her brand helps people around the world find healing and peace while looking fabulous!
Read more on how important wellness is and how spirituality motivated Laudia to help others in her exclusive interview with GLAMOUR SA below!
GLAMOUR: What sparked the initial inspiration to launch your own jewelry line?
Laudia Yambala (LY): Making jewellery used to be my side hustle. I always had a full-time job, until I decided to move to New York.
It was the combination of the “New York grind” and meeting my business partner that sparked the initial inspiration to launch my own jewellery line.
Having a business in the big apple was a great training ground to develop some business savvy skills.
Glamour: What has been the biggest influence on your spirituality?
LY: The biggest influence on my spirituality is my relationship with God, my love for nature and understanding the spiritual laws that govern us.
My perspective on life is that we move things from the unseen world into the seen world.
Glamour: Have you always connected to spirituality?
LY: Yes, I have always connected to spirituality. Especially once I turned 18, I embarked on a more conscious spiritual journey, which continues to be fruitful, mind shifting and uncomfortable at times.
My belief is that we are born to share our gift with the world and live our best life.
Glamour: Do you feel like spirituality has impacted your wellness? If so, in what ways?
LY: My Spirituality has impacted my wellness because everything I do revolves around spirituality and creativity.
I believe that we are spiritual beings in a physical body. Take care of your body so the physical vessel can support the soul to fulfill its purpose.
Glamour: How do you incorporate spirituality into your lifestyle and, in particular, your health? How do you translate that into your jewellery and why is it so important to spread spiritual healing and cleansing?
LY: I incorporate spirituality into my lifestyle and health through my day-to-day routines. It involves prayer, meditation, quiet time in nature, being creative, learning and having fun.
I surround myself with good people, loving family members and creative geniuses. I eat very healthy, I pay close attention to what my body does and doesn’t like and I have been a pescatarian for the past 8 years.
Using crystals with healing properties and hand wrapping them into jewelry is how I translate my spirituality through Yambala Designs. I love fashion and spirituality.
Through my jewellery I get to provide healing and flyness. I want people to look good, feel good and have great energy! It is very important to spread healing and cleansing because people want freedom; mental, emotional or financial.
This takes the right mindset because your habits determine your life. Many of us are healing and cleansing right now.
We are releasing old bad habits, which no longer serve us, developing and maintaining good ones for the purpose of self-manifestation.
As the spiritual laws indicate, we are all connected. If the average human is mentally, emotionally and spiritually free, the world can be a much better place.
Glamour: When you’re creating your handmade jewellery designs, what does that process look like? What’s the key to making each piece? What’s your favourite part of the process?
LY: In my creative process I first start by hand picking every gemstone.
Then I cleanse and purify the crystals with sage, blessing them with good intentions. I make everything by hand. It’s very therapeutic and I can spend several hours making jewellery.
I also look forward to the end result, what the ring or necklace will look like. My jewellery is my labour of love. The key to making each piece is the uniqueness of the stone and the hand wrap design. Every crystal is Unique.
The one you get is the only one like it in the world. Every time I wrap a stone it looks different. No two hand wraps are the same. You get a unique stone and a unique wrap every single time.
My favourite part of the process is hand picking the crystals. It always makes me feel like a kid in a candy store! I love seeing the look on people’s faces when they wear my Jewellery.
The smile and how they connect with the energy of the stone let’s me know that I’m doing the right thing. I also love hearing about my customer’s experience with my jewellery.
They share incredible stories from career upgrades, to finding love, feeling good energy and having a lot of good things happen to them. This is confirmation that there is power in spreading good intentions and healing.
Glamour: Creating beautiful and intricate handmade jewellery isn’t easy. Did you struggle with anything when you first founded Yambala Designs? How did you overcome those challenges?
LY: When I first founded Yambala Designs in New York City, my challenges were things like commuting with the Jewellery throughout the city.
Figuring out where to source materials and learning about the needs of my audience, the variety of people the city had to offer. I overcame these challenges with the help of my business partner and by being persistent.
I learned a lot through that process and it helped me develop a new perspective and strategy to my business.
Glamour: How has your life changed since launching Yambala Designs? What is the biggest goal you have for Yambala Designs?
YL: My life has changed drastically and for the better since launching Yambala Designs. I get to do what I love full time and live creatively.
I am constantly learning and I have more peace and joy in my life. Having a business has taught me that if you want to increase your compensation, increase the value of your contribution.
This is the law of compensation. The biggest goal I have for Yambala designs is to have several stores throughout the world and dominate the jewelry business.
Glamour: Do you have a mantra that’s helped you accomplish so many of your goals? How do you stay grounded and focused?
LY: Yes, my mantra is Shine your light bright! To accomplish our goals I believe that planning combined with persistent action and focus produces results.
My mantra also reminds me that we are creative beings. What we think, do and say creates our reality. I stay grounded and focused through prayer, meditation, knowing the truth of who I am, spreading love, listening to informative and inspiring audios, trusting my intuition, planning, working smart and enjoying life.
