What inspired you to start Equaa?
I was inspired by the strong businesswomen in my family - watching my mother's entrepreneurial spirit and knowing my grandmother in Jamaica ran five businesses. I've always been drawn to sailing my own ship.
I created Volta Radiance as a piece of investment skincare when I was working on clients' facial acupuncture - it was meant to be a take-home treatment that would extend the benefits of their sessions. My clients raved about the oil, and it became an informal hobby really, until a pivotal moment.
I was in Cornwall giving therapies on a yoga retreat at Tresillian House when a new friend tried it as a gift from me. He'd worked all over the world with excellent refined taste and an eye for quality. He told me he'd like to give a sample to a close friend of his who happens to be well known.
Although there were no guarantees, I knew that this conversation - taking place in this beautiful Cornish manor house built in 1846, just before my great-great-grandfather left Ghana, a house that would have been standing when he arrived in Cornwall - was the universe giving me a sign I couldn't ignore. I don't believe in coincidence. My son was studying for his A-levels and soon to be going off to uni. I was a single mother and always had been. Somehow the message was clear: it was time to fly.
As a Black woman, I approached formulation differently - what I call the "Melanin Mile™." Like an inversion in yoga (brilliant for seeing things from a new angle!), I flipped the traditional approach. I started with the most complex skin needs, which happen to be experienced more frequently by people with darker skin tones, then ensured the formulation worked beautifully across the spectrum to lighter tones. Sometimes to see things the right way up, we need to look from a different angle.
The name EQUAA itself is a reclaiming of my ancestral heritage. When my great-great-grandfather Amenouvô Equagoo stepped into a surf boat off Denu Beach in Ghana in 1879, he carried the name Equagoo.
When a crew member named Cockle went missing, my ancestor was given that surname so the ship's captain could dock back in the UK with the correct crew count. He became John Equagoo Cockle - refusing to let go of his ancestral identity.
By transforming EQUAGOO into EQUAA, I'm honouring that legacy and sailing my own ship, just as he did. Water is important to me - it's the giver and holder of life. Both my mum and my ancestor travelled across water to be here. It's the ultimate connector, and Volta Radiance honours that flow.
What is your mission with Equaa?
My mission is to spread the love that this product was made with - through feel, fragrance, and radiance. I want to help people choose clean skincare that cares for them and the planet at the same time.
Our strapline is "Be Yourself, Love Yourself, Show Yourself" - and I know this can take time. As women, there are many faces and guises we wear. My intention is that every woman and man knows that finding their true authentic self will give them the ability to have a life well lived, and to let that radiate from their eyes and from their skin. Life will become easier, the soul will be healthier, and the skin will radiate from within.
It's taken me years to come to this more centred, more certain place myself. As a natural giver and person who likes to serve, it's been quite a journey finding the balance between service and self-sacrifice and weaving a path in between. Learning the power of No and the sweetness of Yes. Learning to enter into true enquiry to work out which one it needs to be. Learning how to love, and now learning how to let go.
The practices I have - yoga, qigong, meditation - are my life rafts. But I also remind myself to actually get on them, because I spent years practising them but sometimes relying too much on the grit and the mill to get me through. Rather than donning my Can-Do-Trousers-of-Purpose every day, I love the rare days when I wear my Skirt-of-Being!
This mission extends beyond Volta Radiance. EQUAA Wellness is coming alongside EQUAA Beauty - the first product draws on my years as an acupuncturist and wellness practitioner, something for body, mind, and spirit. EQUAA is my way of connecting outwards, further than my immediate circles. A flow from me to you.
Which women inspire you?
I'm inspired by women who lead with love and authenticity - women who span miles of smiles and love. Clarissa Pinkola Estés and her work on women reclaiming their wild, authentic selves resonates deeply with me - that journey back to who we truly are beneath all the roles and expectations. Octavia Raheem's teachings on pause and rest remind me that self-care is sacred. Candice Brathwaite's honest storytelling about Black motherhood and breaking down barriers in spaces where we haven't always been seen inspires me deeply.
Anna Ashby inspires me tremendously - she brought me to Yoga Matters, and her ability and grace in giving and teaching restorative practice is so beautiful.
I also love women who make me laugh - Gina Yashere and Celeste Barber remind me that authenticity often comes with a brilliant sense of humour about ourselves and life. Laughter is such an important part of self-love! I'm also inspired by my clients who walk in with the most complex issues and a real desire for change - I deeply admire people with the desire to evolve. And the practitioners I partner with inspire me too - women who create spaces where people feel safe to shed their guises and simply be themselves.
What gets you energised and keeps you recharged?
Staying recharged as a founder requires real intention. I have a lot of self-talk - the kind that keeps me grounded and moving forward. I use my product every day, not just because I believe in it, but because that ritual reminds me why I started. I read or find the light in a conversation every day. I walk and most of all, I trust. Even in my most nervous times - and it is nerve-racking being a founder - I trust that the universe has got me. It understands my intention and is doing its work while I walk the line of my life.
When Yoga Matters offered to stock Volta Radiance, it was emotional for me. Yoga is my first love, and I often ask life to keep me on the path of yoga. For Yoga Matters to offer me this chance was such a beautiful alignment and warm validation - it felt like the universe saying "yes, you're exactly where you're meant to be." It was my first partnership, and now I have three.
Those moments when someone truly connects with Volta Radiance energise me completely - when they experience that feel, that fragrance, that radiance, and it helps them connect with their authentic self. Whether it's during a treatment or their evening ritual, knowing the product is part of someone's journey to being, loving, and showing themselves keeps me going.
I recharge through genuine connection - with practitioners, customers, and anyone who believes that it's time we all shine in our true light.
Always…
Always believe in yourself and lead with love - for yourself and for others.
Never…
Never dim your light to make others comfortable - let yourself radiate from within.
