As Told To is a recurring segment on xoNecole where real women are given a platform to tell their stories in first-person narrative as told to a writer.
This is the story of Chantel Robertson, CEO and founder of Upful Blends, a plant-based wellness brand, as told to xoNecole.
Surviving Early Traumas
I experienced six different diseases from the ages of 12 to 24, and I went through severe depression. In fact, when I was 12, I was on antidepressants. [Then it was] tumors, fibroids, auto-immune disease, heart disease, mental illness, hormonal imbalance—all these different things. One day, as I was in the hospital, on bed rest and on different medications, I felt that this couldn't be the only way [to heal]. Although it wasn't communicated with me through my parents or through my family, I knew that consuming medications or consistently getting surgeries just wasn't it.
What I feel contributed to the numerous health issues is based on my lineage and the traumas that my family has experienced. My mother and grandmother experienced such deep trauma, and I believe that [had an effect] from when I was born.
I also feel that I wasn't meant to consume a bunch of processed foods, but when you're younger, you're eating the hotdogs, hamburgers, baked mac and cheese, the fried chicken—all the things. I remember, as a child, I would still be full of life, happy and joyful. I would even put on performances for the kids on the block, but once I moved to another state with my family at 12, I just became very angry. From there, I was put on medications, and then things continued to come up as far as the illnesses.
Image courtesy of Upful Blends
Trekking Through The Amazon
I took a life-changing trip out to Honduras, first, into the rainforest, and I fasted on just plant medicine, different herbs, and alkaline water. I was able to propel my healing experience. From then, I began to connect with different people in my close circle and some who I'd bump into on the street, and they had connections to shamans and chiefs in the Brazilian Amazon, specifically with the Yawanawa tribe. I felt this deep desire and call to go to the Amazon and learn from the elders there about plant medicine and healing.
I'm a master manifester, so it just made sense that I got later connected with those people. When cultivating and building a relationship with them, they invited me out to the Amazon and that's when everything truly began. I've been to the Amazon three times so far, and I'd paused for a bit due to the pandemic. It's still somewhere I consistently visit, connect with, and continue to learn from.
The Amazon is its own sanctuary and it's beautiful. We don't truly know the density within society until we step away from that mentality of the 'go, go, go.' When out there, I always feel like it's a different planet.
The vibration, the energy from the earth—I felt things immediately begin to recalibrate. I was able to be in deep states of peace and clarity. I felt my connection to spirit was more clear and potent. There wasn't so much noise.
The people of tribes out there hold such a pure heart and clear wisdom of how they choose to live their life. They've cultivated wisdom on plant medicine—not from a book or going to a school for herbalism, but just off of centuries and lineages of men and women who have experienced these herbs firsthand. They know the plants' power of how they serve the body physically but also how they serve energetically, spiritually, and mentally.
Each time I visit, I stay for about two weeks, and throughout that process, I'd not only learn about plant medicine but hike, explore nature, and [learn more about the culture.]
Image by Xavier Bryan
Building A Brand
I began connecting with and building a community online based on what I learned on my trips. I just knew this healing process wasn't just for me. People began reaching out to me asking, 'Where can I get this herb?' or 'How can I learn how to fast?' As more people began reaching out, I said, let me just do this [brand.] I would create tonics at my house and driving around Florida dropping off orders. I'd just experienced healing, still in the moment recording the process, did not have a job [due to the absences related to chronic illnesses].
I had $20 to start, and it was either use that for food or to buy some herbs, where I could create different tonics and sell them. I was able to grow that $20 to $2 million. It was all from the transparency and intimacy with my community, and I love speaking and connecting with people. That is what breathes life into my brand.
What was huge in the jump from $20 to millions was recording my process. I recorded almost every moment of my life, from blending the herbs to creating the tonics to recording everything I was doing to activate healing within me. I was still adamant about fasting and consuming my herbs consistently. Outside of that, it was about bringing people onto my team who aligned with the vision and the culture that I wanted to instill within my team. And with those who were aligned energetically and spiritually with the brand, it supported us to work together as a team for the goal.
Within a year and a half from starting, I had a team of about two to three people, and with them, we created a huge impact based on our vision.
I wasn't fixated on the money. I was just aligning with what the mission was and I was very clear about who I was serving and supporting. I'd tune into that each day and as long as I was operating from that space of play, faith, love, and intention, it was easy.
Featured image courtesy of Upful Blends
RELATED
During the Los Angeles tour stop, which spanned three dates on May 21, May 23, with the finale on May 24, xoNecole had the opportunity to test out the glosses included in this soft launch, as SZA revealed in a statement that "this is just the start of other lip products, including plans to launch stains, liners, and creams all inspired by SZA's “infamous layered lip combinations.”
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So, what is included in the first Not Beauty launch?
The current Not Beauty products available are lip glosses that come in three shades: In the Flesh, Strawberry Jelly, and Quartz.
During my visit to the first LA Not Beauty pop-up activation, I not only had the chance to purchase all three glosses but also took a peek inside the blow-up log tent. Inside, fans got to experience SZA’s love for nature and her fascination with bugs, which are prominently featured in her performances for this tour. At one point, she even had human preying mantis prancing across the stage y'all.
There were blow-up photos of the beauty that is SZA for fans (myself included) to take photos, but in wooden-like tree trunks were a deeper dive into some of the ingredients featured in her products and their benefits.
For example, the glosses feature Hi-Shine Lip Jelly and Shea Butter as key ingredients and some of the listed benefits included are:
- Shea Butter - “A powerhouse ingredient, offering both functional and nourishing benefits.”
- Hi-Shine Lip Jelly (featured in the In the Flesh shade) - “Formula glides on with perfect adhesion to the lips without stickiness).
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What are in the products?
Featured in an orange package, with images of a bug and flower on the side, the back of the box reads: “It’s NOT BEAUTY, it just works. Developed by Solána “SZA” Rowe.
As someone who never leaves home without a good lip gloss, I loved how compact the wood panel packaging is. Perfect to slip into my purse, or in the case of the show at SoFi Stadium, into my pocket when I’m not carrying a bag.
Because I’m a sucker for a good black and brown lip liner and clear gloss combo, I decided to wear the Quartz flavor on night one of the Grand National Tour LA stop, and it did not disappoint. I’ll admit, it’s light weight feel made me nervous because it felt like there was nothing on my lips. However, when I checked my lips in my compact mirror several times throughout the night, I was shocked to find that my gloss was still intact. I only reapplied once out of the habit of looking cute and applying my gloss, but not necessity.
Here are some of the ingredients featured, but not limited to, in the Quartz flavor.
- Polyisoubutene
- Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea)Butter
- Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil
- Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Oil
- Tocopherol
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Lip prep
I’m a simple girl who loves to stay true to her roots. So ahead of the show, I stopped by a local Inglewood Beauty Supply store and grabbed a Black and Brown shade lip pencil for just under $2 a piece.
Shading the outline of my lips with the black pencil first, I used the brown to lightly fill the inside of my lips before applying my Quartz Not Beauty shade gloss.
How to apply
There’s truly no right or wrong way to apply lip gloss (in my opinion), with this being a brush applicator sort of product, I simply untwisted the top and swiped the gloss around my top and bottom lip generously.
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Results
Again, my Not Beauty Quartz product stayed on my lips from the start of the show, which began with a fire DJ set from LA’s very own, Mustard, to the conclusion when Kendrick and SZA reunited on stage to send us home to their duet, “luther,” featured on the rapper's GNX album.
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xoMAN started as an Instagram Live series and is now a full-cast production, with Walker as the host. Initially, she was skeptical about joining as the new host of xoMan. Not because she doesn’t have the chops to thrive in the role, but because coming in on something that wasn’t her original idea initially seemed daunting for the media personality.
However, since she loves a challenge, the CockTales: Dirty Discussionspodcast host embraced the task with an open heart and mind.
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“I was like, this is a cool concept, so I’m so glad that they decided to turn it into a podcast,” Walker tells xoNecole. “It’s been interesting to take somebody else’s idea and try to turn it into a thing, put it together, and bring it to fruition. I am anxious, nervous, and all things, but above all, I’m excited.”
When xoNecole's managing editor Sheriden Garrett approached Walker to take on the position, it felt like fate. She had previously attempted to get Garrett on her CockTales platform about six or seven years ago due to her expertise in the love and relationship space.
“I was like, wait, y’all listen to the show? And you want me to host a show where I’m only talking to men? And I’m listening to them and not giving them a hard time? I say that because sometimes I feel like, on my show, I may come off like I don’t even like men," she says.
"I love men, but it can be frustrating sometimes on that platform, social media, and other places when they continue to regurgitate the same rhetoric about what I like to call Twitter topics, like constantly talking about who’s paying as a man, as a woman. You should do this. You should do that…It’s been cool hearing the stories with the men we’ve spoken to so far at xoMAN, hearing these stories, and hearing them let their guards down.”
A Howard graduate, Walker almost didn’t enter the world of media after listening to advice from elders who said she would make a great lawyer because she loves to debate topics and sometimes argue (haha).
"It’s been cool hearing the stories with the men we’ve spoken to so far at xoMAN, hearing these stories, and hearing them let their guards down.”
After traveling to the nation’s capital to study political science, Walker soon discovered that her only motivation for becoming an attorney was the potential income and witnessing how boss women like Erika Alexander’s Maxine Shaw character on Living Single would look in their suits as career women.
“I realized that this was for real,” she says, studying law at Howard. “This is a lot of work, and when you think about what you do, I was like, this is not a performance, and I just wanted to talk. I wasn’t trying to defend anyone.”
A visit to a fair showcasing the different organizations on Howard’s campus, combined with her affinity for celebrity gossip and entertainment news, ultimately led Walker to explore a radio career. Soon, she auditioned for a show and landed the gig. By the spring semester, she was on the radio, ultimately leading her to switch her major to journalism with a concentration in broadcast news.
Soon after earning her degree in the field, Walker decided she didn’t want to do anything related to hard news. Instead, she became involved in lifestyle content. She used her friends' love of hearing her stories to motivate her to get into podcasting.
The rest is, as they say, history.
“Before podcasts became what they are, I was in a living room with a microphone before ultimately moving to a studio and refining the show. I loved it and knew people were listening because I monitored the analytics and everything," she explains.
"When we decided to do a live show, the show sold out in two weeks, and I was so nervous. I was like, 'Are we ready? Are we gonna be able to sell out this venue?' We didn’t have any sponsorship. We were still independent and had to front the money for everything.”
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“When they sold out in two weeks, not only did I price my tickets too low, but I thought, wow, we’ve got something. I was like, people spent money to hear me and my co-host talking about our shitty love lives. This is wild, all from an idea in my head. It made me feel like I was on the right path and encouraged me to stop doubting myself. I have imposter syndrome," she reveals.
"Even to this day, I’m constantly biased. But it’s like, if not me, then who? And, like, why not me? If people can do it with way less and way more. I’ve been trying to encourage myself and other people to eliminate the doubt that we have in ourselves so we can do whatever it is we want to do. I love it. No matter how many sleepless nights I have, I will continue to have bags under my eyes until the end of time because I’m enjoying it.”
"I have imposter syndrome. Even to this day, I’m constantly biased. But it’s like, if not me, then who? And, like, why not me? If people can do it with way less and way more. I’ve been trying to encourage myself and other people to eliminate the doubt that we have in ourselves so we can do whatever it is we want to do."
In between garnering a strong social media presence for her work as a podcast host, lifestyle influencer, and beyond, Walker has managed to use her many gifts and talents, like cooking, and most importantly, giving a strong opinion about the things she does (or doesn’t) believe in to carve out a lane of her own.
As she embarks on this chapter as the host of xoMAN, where she has already spoken with actors Devale Ellis and Skyh Black and Dear Future Wifey podcast host Laterras R. Whitfield, Walker hopes that it encourages people, especially women, to look at their male counterparts from a different perspective.
“I hope that anyone listening can listen to the first few episodes, hear how different each man is, and learn to let down whatever preconceived notions you have about me or a specific man, whoever it is in your life," she says. "Just listen, talk to them, ask them how they feel, and listen with an open mind, without thinking that you already know what the answer is.”
“I just hope that people learn to, again, not put people in boxes and make the other person, whoever it is, men specifically for this show, but sit down and talk with an open mind and listen to understand, not to respond. Help someone feel safe.”
xoMAN officially launches on Tuesday, June. 17.
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