HER WISDOM - Tolani Moibi

Introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your business...
Hello lovely people, how are you? My name is Tolani and I’m the one-woman band behind Rukai Skincare. A range of plant based butters and cleansers, Rukai is ingredient-first skincare. Meaning we only choose the best, purposeful ingredients to support sensitive and eczema prone skin.

What inspired you to start this business journey?
Well, I like to say it's been a long time coming as I’m a fellow eczema warrior myself of over 30+
years. EW is a term used by the community to show solidarity for your journey. Being the only
person in my family to have eczema was so alienating and lonely, and though my family tried their
best to support me, it never quite felt like enough. Which is a heavy feeling to carry as a kid, and
then into adulthood. Eczema is a very misunderstood chronic skin condition that is actually caused
by an internal imbalance in the gut. Some people think it's just skin-level but they would be wrong.
There are 7 types of eczema, and only 1 really is caused by an allergy to the environment. So yes,
having eczema I’ve been through it all including topical steroid withdrawal which very nearly put me
in hospital from its use. My mum was a great support system during that time as I was bed bound
for weeks.

A few years back, I had an intense flare up brought on by stress. At my wits end, I turned back to
my GP who prescribed steroid creams. Having had a long journey to come off it - the term is
topical steroid withdrawal which has some nasty side effects, the thinning of skin being one - I
decided to go it alone. It was whilst out in Nigeria and seeing my aunties use shea butter and
natural oils that I had the idea to give it a go on my own skin. Voila - my skin started taking to it,
and after a while I started seeing the differences in my skin. Gone were the patches, the intense
dryness, the unbearable scratching. The symptoms just slowed down, and gradually went away.
So upon coming back to the UK, I brought some shea butter back with me and continued using it
on my skin. Friends and family started asking for some and it just went from there. It actually was
an event at Southbank that really changed everything - I had a stall with my butters and was totally
nervous at how we were going to do, if people would buy it, whether the product was good enough.
The usual jitters. But, we sold out. That day talking to other people with eczema, hearing their
stories, the stigmas and how relieved they were to find something that could work other than
steroid creams put belief into me that I was doing something. All I had to do was listen to what
people needed, use my own eczema story to guide me, and figure out the rest whilst staying in that
tempo. That was over a year ago, and now we have a website, instagram and loyal fans of the
product. I’m so grateful, and really just taking each day as it comes.

How do you typically start your work day?
If I said I had a set schedule, I would be lying, but I am getting better. Usually my morning starts
with a prayer of gratitude, journaling and then an exercise of some sort. I’m getting back into my
yoga and swear by Adrienne on Youtube - she is the bees knees. If not yoga, then I’ll take a walk
along the canal and come home, do cardio or weight workout, and have breakfast. All before I turn
on my phone. This means that I can tune into how I’m feeling before being overloaded by emails,
texts or the media world in general.

I do have set days for formulating and making the range. I make small batches to ensure
freshness, and that I’m putting my all into every order. Then some days it would be doing some
content creation or reading. I’m in the process of refining my craft by studying Organic skincare
formulation and herbalism. I’ve always had a love for all things herbal or plant powered, so it was a
natural graduation to increase my knowledge this way. I also recently found out my great-
grandfather was a herbalist, so it feels good to know I’m continuing the legacy.

What is the biggest lesson/s you’ve learnt so far?
Gosh! So many lessons have come my way over the last 8 months. One that has really stuck out
is: when you’re tired, it’s a call to rest not to quit. Being an entrepreneur, you wear so many hats
and feeling overwhelmed or run-down is sure to be part of it. I’ve learnt not to take my need to rest
as a sign of failure, but as an instruction that I’m probably taking on too much at once. For
someone like me who’s used to going on all cylinders, learning to prioritise and only do one task
has been a great way to reduce that overwhelm. It is still tough when you feel like your to-do list
just isn’t getting shorter, so I need to actively remind myself to be intentional with my time.

How do you manage hurdles or failure in your life as a business owner?
Now, that is a question. I used to go all around the houses and stress out to any and everyone who
would listen about my failures or hurdles. But in the same way I’ve learnt some emotionally
expensive lessons the last few months, I’ve come to understand that no matter how many people
you speak to, or books you read, your intuition is your best guide. I know it sounds a bit hoky poky,
but it’s really been working for me. I’m not going to lie, I still have a bit of a meltdown, but then I
take a few days out to pause, listen to my intuition and analyse. Only then I’ll go back in and be
able to understand where I may have made some bad choices or not being able to foresee evident
issues. At the end of the day, nothing can really prepare you. The only thing is to hope to fail fast,
and upwards.

What do you do to unwind from a busy day?
That’s easy - I just listen to what my body is calling for. As we’re in summer now, I’ll go for a walk
with my partner, or by myself. Or dance, or go out and rollerblade. I’ve really been getting into
some Detroit House, Persian and Brazillian funk. Great genres to make you dance and feel good.
On days when I’m feeling really stressed out, I may end up on social media but I don’t judge myself
too harshly.  I'll allow 30 minutes of mindless scrolling and then get up and exercise or cook
something from scratch. This always gets the creative juices going and helps to unwind my brain.

When was the last time you celebrated a business win?
This must have been when I was invited onto a huge London co-working members only platform as
a trusted beauty supplier. The opportunity came from a customer who loved our products, and
recommended us. This was a great feeling as it felt that we were being recognised in a business
capacity. My imposter syndrome tried to play it down but when we got our 1st order from it, I did a
little jig at how awesome it was to have the opportunity. There’s a great lesson: your mind doesn’t
know what's good or bad. But whatever you tell it, it will look for things to confirm that bias. It’s
hard, but deliberately choosing to kick my imposter syndrome to the curb anytime it appears and
openly say to myself ‘show me how it can only get better from here’, I’ve always felt lighter.

Tell us more about your latest project…
Well, it's funny that you ask. I’m trying to give Rukai a bit of a rebrand. In the early days, I had a
friend help with the branding to make it seem clean, and polished because that is what I saw other
brands doing on Instagram. But the more I interacted with my customers in person, and online, the
more I felt stifled by what I was pretending to be - I’m more rough and ready. Fun and playful. And
I didn’t feel the brand gave me that outlet. Rukai was essentially created to be all the things I
needed in the steroid-cream days of my eczema journey. So being able to speak in a fluid way,
and in all the ways colourful that I am has become even more important. So yeah, a rebrand that
allows that TOV to sing that loudly. It’s a mammoth task: designing packaging through to a
website, that's why I’m putting my customers in the driver's seat and asking for their contribution
along the way. They’re helping to choose our new font using a poll on Instagram Stories as we
speak.

Our ‘Pamper & Treat’ range makes great gifts to others or yourself, so ahead of the winter months,
I’m working on reformulating the product - cinnamon, clementine and vanilla, anyone?
Our ‘Soothe & Protect’ range just flies out, so I’m looking to expand that with a new body wash and
lip balm. Also, more ways to offer value to our customers. They’ve entrusted us to be part of their
skincare journey - for someone with sensitive or eczema skin, that’s a lot because you don’t know
what will cause your skin to flare, or that of your loved ones. So, whenever people receive a
package from us, I want them to truly feel confident that we understand the trust that’s been given.
We’re growing slowly, and it’s key to me that trust is at the helm of that.

Website: www.rukaiskincare.com

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

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