Meet Renee K. Smith | Founder of Akika Flower Essences & Apothecary, Flower Essence & Reiki Practitioner, Earth Steward

We had the good fortune of connecting with Renee K. Smith and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Renee K., maybe we can start at the very start – the idea – how did you come up with the idea for your business?
I began taking flower essences when my daughter was four months old. As a kinesthetic learner, I noticed that my entire left side was going numb. I sought assistance through acupuncture to begin moving the energy around and assist with managing my stress as a new mother. My acupuncturist told me to try flower essences. And it worked. This subtle medicine was able to allow me the opportunity to create new habits around my role as a mother as well as helped me with uncovering deep seated emotions that had taken residence in my body. After my experience with flower essences, I decided to begin studying flower essences and became a flower essence practitioner. Akika Flower Essences and Apothecary was born out of my love of flower essences but also the acknowledgement of the vast amount of knowledge that the Earth and plants hold.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I came to flower essences after the birth of my daughter eight years ago. During my postpartum period as a new mom I began to experience numbing on my left side and sought acupuncture treatment to relieve the pain as I had treatments throughout my pregnancy to assist with sciatic nerve pain. My acupuncturist, shout out to Oceans & Rivers Acupuncture and Wellness, treated me for the pain and suggested I consider taking flower essences as through the treatment it was revealed that I was feeling overwhelmed in my new role as a mother and it was causing my body to shut down. After taking the flower essences, I decided to learn more and began studying the flowers and the science of flower essences. Once I completed my certification, I began seeing clients mainly people in the community that needed assistance as well as youth and children and began to build my business. Akika Flower Essences was born offering flower essence consultations and essence formulas in the form of flower essence, crystal and essential oil sprays. As the business grew, I became more involved in plant intelligence, beginning to look at herbology and the healing aspects of all the parts of a plant from root to tip. Akika Flower Essences expanded to Akika Flower Essences & Apothecary which uses the science of plant intelligence to activate one’s process to healing and cultivate transformation. Akika has been up and running for three years and I am always amazed by the feedback received when someone uses a product or attends a workshop or has a reiki session. The feedback is always positive and with the pandemic we were able to go national, actually, international through virtual sessions.

Being a small business owner there is always so much to do. Furthermore, many times your creations and creative processes may be a head of the time. Meaning, you are inspired to do something or create a product that folks haven’t yet learned about and so sometimes you may doubt if you are creating the right items. But one of the things that I have learned is that when the ideas and products come to you, it comes because someone needs it. Very much how plants operate, every plant has a purpose and many times plants will show up when you need them most. So the biggest lesson for me has been to keep going, be flexible, be humble and keep learning!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I love nature so in NY I love to visit Brooklyn Bridge Park and Prospect Park especially in the summer where you can see the flowers in bloom and sit by the lake or river to take in some sun. Local restaurants in downtown Brooklyn and in Park Slope are great places to eat with an array of Mexican, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, etc. In NY in the summer there are many opportunities to see and experience live music which is always amazing.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
This work for me is an ancestral calling. So I shout out my ancestors and acknowledge my lineage in all that I do. This work is made possible by the work that has been done and it is the hope that the work that I do will pave the way for those who come after me. I am Renee Esubola Ayelaagbe Ifagbaye Egbesina Kimberly Smith. I am the daughter of Maureen Smith, Dr. Richard Smith and Steven Tyson, the grand daughter of Violet Chevalier, Jacob Chevalier, Brodel Octavia Anderson, Cecil Smith. I am the great granddaughter of Lucille Tyson, Eddie Tyson, Hilda Benoît, And Edwin Benoît. I am the descendant of indigenous African Mayan people of Central America and those who I can’t name but honor their presence in my life.

Website: www.akikafloweressences.com

Instagram: @akikafloweressences @reneekimberlysmith

Linkedin: Renee K. Smith

Facebook: @Akika Flower Essences

Image Credits
Maria Hackett Kwayera Archer, Soulful Joy Retreat