Money·3 min read

Skimm'd from the Couch: Naomi Hirabayashi and Marah Lidey

January 6, 2021

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Naomi Hirabayashi and Marah Lidey are the co-founders and co-CEOs of the self-care start-up, Shine. And while starting a business from scratch and working in self-care may sound like an oxymoron (hello, fundraising and 24/7 hustle), Marah and Naomi told us they’ve been able to find balance and take time for themselves. Their secret? Finding strength in their partnership.  

On Why They Founded Shine

Marah: I think we found that we bonded over so many things about our backgrounds but one of the biggest things was that the things that we struggled with weren't being talked about in the mainstream view of wellness.

Whether [it was] our bodies, our skin color, our past traumas, our financial access. The idea of wellness and even this emerging concept of self-care felt like it just wasn't for us. It felt very inaccessible, expensive, not representative and inclusive.

On Their Self-Care Tips 

Naomi: Be where your feet are. I think a lot of stress and anxiety comes from trying to predict the future, which we cannot do, or change the past, which we cannot do. You cannot be present 100% of the time. It's just not possible. But I think that mantra a couple times throughout the day will help you just take in where you are [and] what you can control in that moment. And talking to yourself in a way that is hopefully a little bit more compassionate. 

Marah: I would say just make time for yourself…. I promise you, if it's a minute, if it's two minutes, it will fundamentally change your outlook and your ability to cope and to be resilient if you can just make a few minutes for your own...self-care ritual.

On Their Partnership

Marah: The two really important things we did for one another was, first and foremost, help each other to feel less alone. Those are the most powerful words in the English language, "You are not alone."

And then the second thing we did for each other was we gave each other an example to look to. Like, "Here are some solutions. Here's what I've done." Almost like coaching each other. And we often heard from our community, "I wish I had that." So many people don't have a person to text, right?

They don't necessarily have a best friend or a parent they're really close to, or someone to reach out to when they're just struggling with the day-to-day, and maybe being hard on themselves. And so we knew we had an opportunity to take this beautiful support that we'd offered each other and to help so many more people by just solving the access gap.

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