Meet Tracey Kennedy | Founder of California Country Organics Body Care

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tracey Kennedy and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tracey, what role has risk played in your life or career?
The downside of taking a risk is the uncertainty. You never know whether you are going to reach the moon or fall flat on your butt without a hand to help you back up. Does that mean you shouldn’t take the risk? Heck NO! Here’s why:

Four and a half years ago, I was a homeschooling, stay-at-home mom. My life consisted of cooking, cleaning, taking care of my husband, and working to raise some of the brightest fun-spirited children anyone could ever meet. My husband afforded me zero access to, what was supposed to be, “Our” finances. Like, so many women, I was a slave to my home; Living in the South on top of that! Depression became a stronger friend of mine. I began applying the philosophy I developed working in fine dining for years, towards body care to give me something to focus on that felt like it was mine and mine only.

I needed a hobby. I needed to cut back on my families carbon footprint. I needed to save money. I needed to help every day hair and skin issues my family had. Did I mention I needed a hobby? Ya’ll. I NEEDED a hobby. I started doing research to create all kinds of body and haircare products. Making and creating built a confidence inside of me I couldn’t obtain being beholden to socially constructed roles for women in the home. It allowed me so much confidence I offered to take a small risk and send a friend some items I created. One shout out about how pleased she was with the results, sent an influx of people telling me, “Shut up and take my MONEY! What else do you sell?”

But, I wasn’t selling anything. I was simply a mom and wife. No one took no for an answer. They paid in advance for products I was making as a hobby to avoid falling deeper into depression with my circumstances. It gave me a down payment on my future. The faith of others forced me to believe in myself and take a major risk of turning my hobby into a viable company. I slept roughly 2-4 hours per night. I made product and filled orders, while my family rested and during the day I pushed through being Super Mom! I was exhausted, but that risk altered my life forever! Every jar I filled, I learned how to love me more than ever. I started feeling I was worth something. I began creating a foundation for a business. I was growing into being a boss.

Unfortunately, I was losing my marriage in the process. The more value I held in me, the larger the distance between my husband and I grew. I started to question the risk turning what I created into more than just a company, but a brand. I developed the company slogan of, “Love Yourself Organically” because that’s what I was doing! For the first time in my life, I was loving me; all of me. My husband made things harder to say the least. My success somehow was an attack on his manhood. Finding joy outside of our home somehow made him feel he was less than. I couldn’t understand why my new found passion for life hindered him. I couldn’t understand why he couldn’t be supportive of his wife growing and building something that would help our family.

I took the biggest risk ever and chose my career and aspirations and more, and left my marriage. I rented a house in a low income neighborhood because it was all I could afford, but I felt free to be Tracey. The release of negative energy my marriage suffocated me with for over ten years had me breathing. Other women caught up in their circumstances called me an inspiration. Publications reached out to me because they wanted me to share my story. I did speaking engagements, traveled around the country vending at markets to put my company in front of the masses. I enrolled and completed incubator programs. I won pitch competitions. I did TV and radio interviews.

I, not only, became a viable brand, I became a viable Black woman.

I took risks and in turn I found success.

Two years after choosing me, I am able to stand with my head held high. I am now a homeowner, the founder of California Country Organics Body Care; a sustainable line of organic, raw, unrefined hair and body care products that will make your heart sing to the high heavens. I am one of the stores offered in the just released project innovatively created in a partnership with Facebook and The Atlantic called, “Your Own Virtual Main Street”. It is a 3D inactive shopping experience based upon your interests. I transparently see a bright future for myself that I created on my own. I am now a whole woman that my children are proud to call mom.

Love Yourself Organically and take risks. Especially, the hard ones. Life is always going to throw you curve balls. It’s how you see that ball coming at you, and hitting it just the right way to knock it out of the park that determines you winning the game.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
California Country Organics is a sustainable line of everyday hygiene products made with family in mind. Growing up in sunny Los Angeles, CA., now living in the Heart of the Dixie in Birmingham, AL., I wanted to combine my whimsical beach bum roots with my new country living when I developed this line. Made with raw, organic, unrefined and all natural ingredients, CC Organics sets itself apart from the rest with quality, and integrity! All products from haircare to your pinky toe are based in using high quality butters, oils, and essential oils. If I can’t justify and ingredient, you won’t find it in my products! When I started this company I applied years of classical culinary experience in fine dining, and told myself, “If I could make a recipe to heal someone from the inside, sure I could make a recipe to heal someone from the outside”!

That’s exactly what I did! I created I fine dining experience for hair, skin, and teeth!

Letting go of my dreams of becoming a world traveled chef to become a stay at home mom for years, was not an easy decision. I told myself I would go back to work after my son was two years old. It didn’t happen. My husband took a job 2,000 miles away from the only home I knew to create a new life for us. A home, cars, and having my daughter pushed me further and further away from my career goals. However, the ancestors provided a new way of accomplishing culinary dreams through body care! I never realized a shout out from a Facebook mom would set me on a course of becoming the boss lady I am today!

Sometimes, life doesn’t give us what we expect. It sends twists and turns and hurdles that seem impossible to jump over. However, when we get real with the core of who we are and learn to love ourselves in the most authentic way, we can redefine how we see our futures. We learn to see ourselves past our circumstances and we build and grow! That’s what I want the masses to know about my brand; live and thrive past your circumstances. Love Yourself Organically and be more than what society says you are supposed to be!

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.
Oh Geez! My bestie is a nature woman who loves to eat just as much as I do! With that said, I would plan a days sliding down the massive boulders of Turkey Creek into the gentle rapids that flow, hiking through Talladega National Forest, camping at Horse Pens 40, learning a little Alabama history spending our final nights together on the thousands of forested acres in Northern Alabama, owned by the Fosters Family. We would spend nights dining at Automatic Seafood in downtown Birmingham, Drinks at The Collins Bar, sipping wine on the rooftop patio of Roots and Revelry, enjoying live music in the caverns surrounding Rattlesnake Saloon, and food truck hoping! I may even convince her to stay an extra day to drive down to Mobile to hang out at the beach and gorge on some of the best soul food that could ever feed a soul at, Mary’s!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to send a special shoutout to my dear friends, and family for their continued support. I am ever so grateful to Facebook because without the socially media platform, I would still be unhappily married wondering what my life is supposed to be. Special thank you to Black Girl Ventures for choosing me to compete in one of the many pitch competitions you host. Thank you to Elijah Davis with Urban Impact, Birmingham. You saw the best in my and I’m so humbled by the work you do to help grow Black owned businesses. Special shoutout to that person in my life that stood by me at in my weakest moments. You gave me a chance to flourish, while finding me

Website: https://calibamaorganics.com

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

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CalibamaCCO

Image Credits
Andi Rice Photography