Today we’d like to introduce you to Laura McCann.
Thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, how did you get started?
I’ve been an entrepreneur for over 30 years. My first business was started in the fashion industry in my late 20s in New York City. I was trained as a designer but had incredible opportunities early in my career to travel, which allowed me to learn everything from trend research to manufacturing. Let’s say I had a big career and success early, setting me up for more self-discovery. I started my family in my late twenties and believed I could do “it all.” I was living to my full potential, which I trained myself to do through many self-inquiry methods, self-help, and an openness to learning. But along the way, stress got to me and impacted my relationships and my health. I had developed strong patterns and beliefs about my self-worth that didn’t serve me and made my “beautiful” life less satisfying. It was time to seek again.
As I was seeking new modalities for healing, I became open to energy work and found this was helping more than the typical medical approach. It was time for the detox, mind, body spirit. Along the way I was introduced to aromatherapy through a chance encounter with a healer who had developed a beautiful line of products.
Back then I was consulting and mentoring female entrepreneurs. I got involved full time in when I saw a possibility to create a new kind of fragrance brand. One that was healing and breathable. Adoratherapy was created.
The word “adoratherapy” is derived from the Latin words “adora” (to adore) and “therapia” (healing). We loved the play on the word aromatherapy and our slogan adore yourself! hit home: At Adoratherapy, we believe that each essential oil has unique properties that create greater well-being. Our scents expertly combine these oils to create the highest vibrational match to your chakras, unlocking your potential for the greatest healing. When you are healing you transform your life.
A few years into the business, my co-founder and I went our separate ways. I stayed on hoping to realize the brand’s full potential.
In the beginning, we sold wholesale to other retailers. At our peak, we had opened over 500 retail doors. We were finding our market fit, and there was a lot of pivoting to lock into a successful distribution model. My partner left around this time. I struggled to do it all and there were many challenges from no capital to doing it all myself. Then Covid hit. It was a disaster that turned into an opportunity. A complete brand reinvention took place when our focus went online to survive. It required a mastery of digital marketing and e-commerce as well as deep pockets, which translated into my learning how to run a DTC business. With time on my hands, as the world around us shut down, I dug in and am proud to say I was able to rebuild the brand, everything from our website to our social media channels to breathe life back into the opportunity.
A year into the pandemic, I dreamed of seeing us opening a retail store, something I always wanted to do; the dream led me to reach out to the Grove Arcade, a beautiful historic building with shops in downtown Asheville, after seeing they had availability. We were on our last legs but I committed to a 2-year lease. My mom helped me with the first two months rent. She always believed in me. Little did we know this would be the key to unlocking our brand’s potential.
The store has been incredibly successful and rewarding. We’ve mastered our trade!
-We introduced aura readings, a truly magical experience, to our offerings. Auratherapy uses diagnostic software that focuses on visualizing your aura and chakras to show your emotional and physical healing opportunities. An Auratherapy session can help you understand various physical and emotional issues, such as stress, depression, fatigue, and anxiety, and how they affect our body, mind, and spirit.
– We updated our packaging and introduced new categories such as body care and candles. When people get an aura reading and see their low chakras they can shop by chakra and take ownership of their healing journey.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, has it been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The struggles are many; entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart. It requires a peeling back of the layers of self and reveals all the places that still need healing.
Courage is one of my strong suits, and because I had invested so much time and capital, I was determined not to quit. The question I asked myself when times were tough was always “can you walk away? How would it feel?” I always heard “No, you must try do this or that next”. So I continued to move forward, and over time “my truth” revealed itself: I became crystal clear about my “why.” Now I can be focused on my “how.”
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Adoratheraphy?
If you can visit us in Asheville, schedule an aura reading session.
Auratherapy is a unique approach to aura reading. We combine aromatherapy in our healing techniques to open and align the chakras.
Our goal is to help our guests reclaim their inner healing journey. You can start with an aura reading and chakra balancing session or you can self diagnose and shop online.
We have made selecting the chakra to focus on quite easy with our chakra quiz. We also have great blogs about chakras and auras to educate our guests.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
It took me a while but ultimately I learned adoring ourselves is the hack we all need. It’s not impossible to love ourselves. You just have to wake up every day and do it. It helps to remember to breathe!
Pricing:
- $55 aura readings
- $18-$50 for products
Contact Info:
- Website: https://adoratherapy.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adoratherapy/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ADORAtherapy/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/5303461/admin/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/adoratherapy
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOrGg2A9-X2UfEL1yK0cUFA
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@adoratherapy
