Adam Dailey – Shayla Herndon-Edmunds
The Heartfelt Healer of Winston-Salem: Shayla Herndon-Edmunds
It was a while before Shayla Herndon-Edmunds finally took her own advice. While working as Director of Inclusivity at Wake Forest University, she had been telling people for years that they owe it to themselves to follow their passions. This is how Oh My Goodness! Herbal Bar began.
Herndon-Edmunds is the founder and sole operator of Oh My Goodness! (OMG) Herbal Bar in Winston-Salem, NC, while still working as the Director of Inclusivity at Wake Forest University.
Oh My Goodness specializes in herbal remedies and aromatherapy products that are intended to provide natural and worry-free methods to support health and well-being.
The entrepreneurial process began for Herndon-Edmunds organically. Since her oldest son was a baby, she has been making herbal remedies to treat his eczema and to give to friends and family.
Herndon-Edmunds eventually gained enough experience in the field of herbal remedies and aromatherapy that she felt comfortable taking the first step to turn her passion into a business. In 2015, she opened up Oh My Goodness! Herbal Bar, selling her products via Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
Oh My Goodness! Herbal Bar has been more than a simple online boutique since its inception. Herndon-Edmunds says she has always had a “secret mission” from the outset to teach people about different ways to invest in their health.
“It’s important to help people explore other ways and means of being healthy,” she says, “whether that involves exposing people in communities of color to concepts like acupuncture and alternative medicine, and just being engaged more in your health in general.”
Herndon-Edmunds is charismatic, funny and warm. Wake Forest senior Ann Nguyen describes her as “Super calm and humble, especially considering how much she has on her plate all the time.” From Herndon-Edmunds’ perspective, these achievements are thanks to one core principle that she has employed throughout her life: “I’ve always known that if I just kept helping people, things would work out.”
Nguyen describes Herndon-Edmunds’ compassion and work ethic as “infectious”, while sophomore Julie Aaron says that she is “really happy about what Ms. Herndon-Edmunds is doing, and that providing such well-made products that also benefit our local community will make you feel happy about spending money on yourself.”
Herndon-Edmunds takes motivation from many sources, among them being the joy and confidence that her products can bring to her customers and members of the Winston-Salem community alike. “I consider myself to be a healer, and I’m seeing that a lot of people are gravitating towards my business as a way to do fundraising.”
While Oh My Goodness is a for-profit business, Herndon-Edmunds sees no reason why the success of her online boutique can’t benefit others as well.
Herndon-Edmunds is currently working with a local non-profit to create a special candle to be sold at vendors throughout Winston-Salem to raise funds for the local disadvantaged community. “OMG has also been a vehicle I can use to partner with these wonderful organizations that are making an impact out in the world – whether it’s local or sending proceeds to the Standing Rock Protests in South Dakota.”
Herndon-Edmunds believes she is “reinvesting in our community”. Oh My Goodness is an extension of both the Winston Salem and global collective, and a vessel through which she can empower others on her own terms.
The work involved with splitting time between her job at Wake Forest, Oh My Goodness and being a mother to three children is immense. However Herndon-Edmunds sees the work that she does at Oh My Goodness as being therapeutic.
“I am an introvert by nature” says Herndon-Edmunds. The seminars that she conducts while at Wake Forest and the responsibilities of being a mother are not only physically draining but take a toll on her mentally.
The work that she does at Oh My Goodness helps to provide a release from daily life. She enjoys the process of making her products, and she is proud of her craft and the benefit that her customers receive from Oh My Goodness.
Herndon-Edmunds frequently does her work on a case-by-case basis, creating new products for customers with specific requests and individual needs. “People understand what I’m trying to do, and when you are able to make a proactive effort to improve people’s circumstances they recognize that and respond.”
This has also helped stimulate Oh My Goodness’ product line, producing several new goods such as the post-natal belly butter and hydrating sugar scrub, which through customer request were successful enough to be made available to the general public.
Being a female entrepreneur has its own host of unique difficulties, but Herndon-Edmunds says that sexism has strangely worked to her advantage thus far. “Women are often seen as being much more kind and nurturing than men”, she says, “and that is the principle that my business revolves around, so when people associate me with my products it makes them feel more at ease.”
While it remains unclear to Herndon-Edmonds how this social dynamic will impact her business as it continues to expand, she is unfazed.
“I’ve learned the importance of understanding and articulating your story”, said Herndon-Edmunds. “Staying true to my principles has helped OMG expand into the business that it is today, so I know that if I stay proactive, constantly learning and stay kind, it’ll be okay.”
Leave a Reply