By Naomi Parris

PANIC, fear and anxiety are all now common sentiments being experienced worldwide as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Acknowledging this fact, Shivana Persaud owner of the local skincare brand, Lure by Shiv, is bringing a calm to the storm with a four-week virtual yoga and meditation exercise.

The young entrepreneur told the Pepperpot Magazine, “It is extremely vital I think for persons to have self-care activities and to really nourish not only your body, but your mind and I think that it is more important now to give one’s self a [much needed] nourishment.”

Persaud noted that the happiness and energy-boosting event which begins today, July 12, will see a yoga and mediation session as well as some journalling which she hopes will strike a balance between one’s, mind, body and soul.

“It is a happiness-boosting activity, because persons are seeing the rise in deaths and the rise in cases worldwide is another issue and then you also have businesses suffering. People aren’t getting to go to their jobs, persons are losing their jobs and so you have a lot of chaos surrounding that even myself has dealt with anxiety during the pandemic and calming activities like yoga, talking a walk or a drive around the block helps to relieve some of the tension,” she stated.
She noted that the art of yoga can provide clarity and keep persons grounded, all while building up mental strength. Persaud added that it connects the body to the mind to relieve any tension and let go of any frustration.

“It really helps to bring calm; it is a really good way to start your day, especially during this time,” she stated.
Aside from Persaud’s newest venture into yoga, she owns a small business which sells self-care products made from 100 per cent Guyanese produce.
The 28-year-old mother told the Pepperpot Magazine that she is a lover of both agriculture and business and decided to merge the two to create a line of skin-care products, hence her brand and company, ‘Lure by Shiv.’

“It all stems from using local produce that we have right here in Guyana and from me being an economist, where I worked with farmers along the coastline and one of the things that I found was that we really lacked manufacturing and I wanted to find ways which we could use more of our raw materials,” she explained.
She noted that she wanted to create an appealing and alluring product that would be beneficial for Guyanese, however finding ways she could use the local resources of Guyana was a challenge.

Nevertheless, she started her business in 2018 using one main ingredient which was coconut, as she believes it is one of the most versatile products on the market. To date, she noted that while her brand is growing, coconut remains a staple in all of her products.

Like many entrepreneurs at the beginning of her business venture, Persaud disclosed that she had a hard time marketing her products, making it difficult for many to catch on. She noted that many of the larger-scale supermarkets would refuse to add her products to their shelves, while having the same product which is made abroad, which to her made no sense.

Despite her challenges, Persaud never gave up and is happy that many Guyanese are now supporting their own and going back to their roots, making use of their very own products made in Guyana.

She noted that she is hoping that the trends ‘support your own’ and ‘support small businesses’ continue as they help not only young entrepreneurs to make a name for themselves, but also magnify the many resources Guyana has and show how diversely Guyana’s agriculture can be used to produce a variety of products.