#FitGirlMagic: Milan Durham + The Cultured Kombucha
There is a very #FitWithFinesse-style adventure that comes with this month’s #FitGirlMagic profile. CaCera came across the brand, Cultured Kombucha on Instagram and was immediately drawn in to the page’s aesthetic and overall brand. With a slogan of, “Do It for the Culture,” and brew names like “Tropic Like It’s Hot",” how could she not be intrigued.?
After doing a little research, CaCera found out the brand was brewed out of D.C. Fast forward to her recent trip to D.C. and CaCera set out on a mission to find the beverages and bring some home. Truth is, Shawnie is the real kombucha connoisseur. So CaCera trekked through D.C..’s Gerogetown neighborhood, secured two bottles of the beverage and shipped them clear across the country for Shawnie to try them and give her stamp of approval. That is how we fell in love with Culture Kombucha and owner Milan Durham.
Milan is the force behind The Cultured Kombucha, a company brewing out of Washington D.C. With her sights set on tacking barriers to wellness and access to healthy products for the African American community, she is making waves in the wellness community. Get into this month’s interview to learn more about what kombucha is, why it is good for you, and the woman behind this brand that is truly “doing it for the culture.”
For our readers who may not know, give a little education on kombucha. What is it? What are the benefits? What should it taste like?
Kombucha is fermented tea! It is a living probiotic beverage that imparts good bacteria into your gut. Most things we consume feed the bad bacteria in our gut, leaving us imbalanced. Kombucha and many other probiotics feed the good bacteria to keep everything in check.
Kombucha can take on the flavor of what it is infused with, but it is a sparkling, slightly tangy beverage that should not be overly sweet.
Tell us a little more about you.
My background is in architecture. Design and the built environment have been a major part of my life and definitely integrate themselves into my health beverage brand, Cultured Kombucha. I’ve always believed in the power of design and felt I could craft and build a brand that could attract more people to the internal health space.
What was your motivation for starting Cultured Kombucha?
I started Cultured Kombucha because I was seeing amazing benefits from incorporating probiotics into my diet, but when I was talking to other black and brown people, they had no idea what kombucha was. Kombucha is the #1 fastest growing health beverage in the world, so for whole groups of people to have not heard of it seemed an injustice to me. So I created Cultured to help normalize this beverage in black communities.
What was your biggest entrepreneurship obstacle? What was your biggest success?
My biggest obstacle was learning the food & beverage space. Coming from the background of architecture I’d always been more familiar with digital, creative, and design. But actually manufacturing something with my hands was completely new.
My biggest success has been the support Cultured has received. It was just voted Best of D.C. and it was really encouraging to see that there may be a lot left for me to learn, but if you create something you really believe in, focus on your craft, and work really hard people will rally around you.
As a woman- and minority-owned business owner, what is one piece of advice you would share with someone who is either contemplating taking the big step into entrepreneurship?
One piece of advice I would share is something I have heard from many other black women entrepreneurs: do not feel bad for making money. We are constantly undervalued and overlooked. We make cents to the dollar of other demographic groups both as employees and entrepreneurs, and we’re constantly called to lower our prices or give things away for free. That has got to stop.
I don’t believe in gouging people with your prices. I settle on a fair rate that takes into account my costs and I stick to it. You do not have to barter. You do not have to give your hard work away for free. You are allowed to make money and see abundance in your life for your efforts.
We LOVE The Cultured Kombucha packaging and brew names. It is obvious that “doing it for the culture” is really ingrained in all you do. How did the design come about?
Culture was really at the heart of the idea, playing on the live cultures is probiotics as well as introducing more diverse cultures into this wellness space. The design was probably the easiest things for me to come up with, because of my background, but I wanted it to be clean, cool, and punchy.
What does “doing it for the culture” mean to you?
Doing it for the culture was always about leveraging cultural norms, standards, and signals to introduce people to something new. People who had been left out of a space, or weren’t feeling included or welcomed. I wanted Cultured Kombucha to be recognized by those who identify with black culture.
When did health and wellness become a priority for you? What motivates you to live a healthy lifestyle?
When I was in graduate school, health and wellness were at the absolute bottom of the totem pole for me, and it showed. I was overstressed, overworked, spending long hours in the studio eating meals out of the vending machine, it was pretty terrible. I had prehypertension for years and was in very poor shape.
Fast forward to getting a better handle on adulting, I began to see the link between what I consumed and how I felt, more than any other factor. I started paying meticulous attention to sensitivities I had not noticed over the years, and different foods that made my skin glow and my eczema calm down.
I see the biggest difference in my health based on my diet and nutrition.
What does health, balance and self-love truly mean to you?
For me health, balance, and self-love are tied to the things that make me feel fed and full. In the literal sense for health, but in a non-literal sense for the others. Building in time for activities that calm stress and anxiety in me: journaling, walking trails, and rest are big for me. Self-love comes in when you hold time, set boundaries, and don’t push those things aside.
What’s the next goal you are looking to crush?
Continuing to expand this business with thoughtful growth and strategic partnerships. I am also in soft launch for small business and women entrepreneur coaching and strategy, which has been incredibly rewarding and a huge asset for those who have sought those services. I look forward to growing Cultured Kombucha and Cultured Collective (the strategy and coaching arm) together.
Check out more on Milan, and grab you a few bottles, at https://www.theculturedkombucha.com/.