Though refreshing, Tameka Huey Barkley’s Lavender Lemonade Beverage isn’t your typical seasonal drink of choice.
Lavender Lemonade Beverage came to fruition when Barkley, a licensed massage therapist and clinical counselor, was trying to find alternative remedies to help ease her own health issues.
Barkley was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a disorder that causes chronic fatigue and pain in the body. Barkley says she wasn’t sure of how to handle it and didn’t have a clear understanding of what it was, but she believes years of built-up stress and tension led to her diagnosis.
“There’s still not a lot of answers surrounding the diagnosis,” Barkley says. “But what I did know was throughout my childhood, I held a lot of anxiety in my body. I was always in a fight or flight state of mind.”
Barkley founded the Purple Elephant Herbal Commissary, her therapeutic massage service, in 2019. Purple Elephant Herbal Commissary’s mission focuses on holistic healing through self-care and creating wellness spaces while utilizing herbal remedies. Her practice also has a focus on aromatherapy — that’s where the lavender comes in.
Lavender has many health benefits, including reduction in pain and inflammation, improving sleep, improving hair growth, relieving digestive issues and calming the nervous system.
Beyond herself, Barkley wanted a treatment method that could be accessible for anyone with any condition. She had her sons in mind, who both have autism.
“While I was trying to figure out remedies that can help me, I was thinking about the two boys at the same time,” says Barkley. “And I thought If I can [use lavender] for your body, for your hair, and for your mind, can I find something that they could drink that would still give them that same thing?”
She began handing out free samples of lemonade at festivals and local farmer markets. Unexpectedly, her concoction of freshly picked dry lavender buds, raspberries, blueberries and strawberries caught the attention of others, giving her the idea to find a way to sell it in stores. She attended workshops at the ECDI Women’s Business Center of Northern Ohio, where she learned how to create a business pitch.
Gaining more traction with her product, she was able to meet with the Fairfax Market, which has a goal of working with more local businesses and felt that Barkley was the perfect fit.
“That was the key to Fairfax Market,” she says. “I’m from Cleveland, [I have a] good product, I’m a local business [and] my product fits it in with some of that market-style culture.”
Barkley’s collaboration with the Fairfax Market has unlocked new doors for her. Soon, her lavender insect repellent will be on the shelves at the market, and she hopes to add additional flavors to her product and use proceeds to create a community farm and garden, teaching young students how to plant lavender, offer free massages and give back to foundations helping children with autism.
“I’m changing so many things generationally,” she says. “I would want it to be where I can give back in some way, shape or form with the sales to those things that I know help people.”
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