mariana raltcheva
Share with us a bit more about the story of Mariana …
I was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, and immigrated to Australia as a child with my family. The fall of communism in our country created a lot of uncertainty and this prompted my parents to look elsewhere in search of greater opportunities for my sister and I.
Growing up in Bulgaria was lovely. My grandparents cared for me a lot and we spent most of our time on their small farm. I have amazing memories from my early childhood; they were very self-sufficient and were always working on something exciting. When my parents found out that we had been accepted for migration to Adelaide in Australia, they decided to enroll me in school a year early so I could learn the basics before we left.
I think that immigrating at a young age has had a noticeable effect, one that causes me to consistently push myself beyond my comfort zone. Perhaps this could also be interpreted as escapism, as at my young age I wasn’t exactly sure where I “belonged”. Nowadays, when I’m in Australia I often feel Bulgarian, but when I’m in Bulgaria, I often feel Australian; I know that other immigrants can relate to this sentiment.
As a teenager in Year 9, I found an exchange program to France and asked my parents to let me apply. As a result, I spent six months in the French countryside, which was difficult but enjoyable. During university I completed one year of my studies in Bordeaux and loved it.
After graduating from a Marketing and International Studies degree, I moved to London where I worked at a large media agency with ‘luxury’ and ‘fashion’ accounts; namely, Rolex, Tudor and Diesel. I had some amazing female mentors in this role and ‘digital’ was still quite new so I was given many opportunities to excel quickly.
From there I moved to Amsterdam to work at Tommy Hilfiger’s head office as their Global Digital Marketing Manager. I was lucky to work with many young talented people that also became close friends in the process. I also worked on multiple exciting projects, including New York Fashion Week where I was asked to be the digital lead. It was the first time I'd been to New York, and even to a fashion show, so it's definitely a memory that has stayed with me.
I then moved back to Australia and worked in the Digital Marketing space. After a few years, I decided to take some time off due to a bit of burnout and a build-up of anxiety. This is where self-care, slowing down and mindfulness became a significant part of my life.
I understand your partner and yourself have just made the move to Europe - tell us a little more about this!? Sounds like a dream come true for many people!!
Yes, we pinch ourselves pretty much every morning! It was the last year my partner could get a visa to France so we decided to have a little adventure together.
After some initial travelling through the south of France, we decided to settle down in Montpellier and will stay here for the rest of the year. I’ll be working on APHA.LAB and freelancing a little, while also brushing up on my French and eating chocolate croissants.
I would love to know more about your initial discovery into natural deodorant?
When I was living in Europe I was using an aluminium-free deodorant without actually realising. Then when I moved back to Australia I picked up a normal, commercial deodorant, one that I had previously used, and noticed the difference on my skin. I also felt smellier and if I forgot to put it on before work I felt uncomfortable and embarrassed.
This sent me down a little rabbit hole as I researched deodorants, the effects of aluminium and other potentially harmful ingredients, as well as the importance of sweat as a natural function of our body (we wrote a little something about that on our website, if you’d like to read it). After a long road of research, I decided that natural deodorants were the best option for me.
When I made the switch to natural deodorant from the commercial kind, it probably took my body about a month to adjust. I noticed some body odour in the initial weeks, but I also read that this was normal – sort of like an adjustment period as your body develops new skin bacteria colonies. After this small period, my body adjusted and it worked really well. I was even able to go without any deodorant at all on some days, which was very cool.
Can you tell us a bit more about the name and how did you get started on APHA.LAB?
It was pretty soon after my switch to, and education on, natural deodorants that I got started on APHA.LAB. I was also focusing on mindfulness and learning ways to manage my anxiety.
A big part of this for me, involved making little moments special. For example, at the beginning of the day I would turn the simple process of washing my face and putting on moisturiser into a slower “self-care” ritual. I was trying to be present and aware, rather than just rush and not think.
But sometimes doing this isn’t always possible, sometimes we are just in a hurry. For me, it’s about making sure that the rushing doesn’t take over; I think it’s helpful to have little things that feel nice, look nice or smell nice as small reminders throughout our day. So I started APHA.LAB with the idea of creating a brand that could make you feel cared for, whether you’re moving fast or slow.
Can you tell us a little more about your collaboration with your perfumer? and the beautiful art work on the box?
I’ve been lucky enough to work with some awesome people.
Jocelyn is a perfumer based in Sydney who I work with for all things aromatic. I reached out to her because I didn’t want our scents to be generic, like a standard lavender or tea tree; I wanted something unique to APHA.LAB. Scent is extremely important to us and I think it’s a very effective way of taking us out of our heads and into the moment.
The process is a lot of fun too. I take inspiration from nature and then try to explain to Jocelyn what’s in my head by way of colours, feelings, plants etc. Incredibly, she has been able to translate it all and that’s how we landed on our two natural deodorant scents; Cactus & Clay and Grasslands.
I also work with a very experienced formulator / manufacturer, also based in Sydney, who is Estée Lauder alum and has 25 years in the game. There were a lot of trials and a lot of tinkering along the way, but the result was everything I could have hoped for. Easy to apply, perfect for sensitive skin, fresh and unique; I don’t think that there’s anything else like it out there. All of my branding was done by an extremely talented graphic designer, Cam Norris, who is also a good friend. Part of the brand identity that Cam created called for some distinct illustrations, so we reached out to our close friend and professional illustrator, Liz Chadwick. As with our scents, we took a lot of inspiration from nature and absolute love what Cam and Liz have been able to bring to life.
What informs and inspires what you are creating with APHA.LAB?
I like to start by contemplating how we can enhance the little moments in someone’s day. Thinking about our daily routines, the things we do automatically, the things we do consciously, and how we can lift these moments and turn them into something special.
Nature and landscape also provide a wealth of inspiration, so we enjoy taking trips and planning little missions when we’re feeling too much ‘in our own heads’.
Ultimately that is what we’re aiming to achieve. We want to take you out of your head and into the moment.
Do you have any tools or rituals which help to keep you grounded throughout your days?
I have quite a few. Yoga is definitely a favourite and I’m a huge advocate for therapy.
But I think the simplest thing for me has been to focus on the moment and disconnect from the clutter that can swirl around in my head. For example, when walking to work I like to take conscious note of the shape of buildings, the buds on a tree, the shadows cast along the footpath, things like that. There are a lot of simple beauties in our world, which I previously might have been too busy to appreciate.
I would love to touch on your journey into womanhood, do you have any defining moments you would be happy to share?
The most important part of womanhood for me, and the most inspiring, has been to connect with other women. I think it’s because we often have relatable stories from unique perspectives. Through connecting and having open discussions with a broad range of people, I have learnt a great deal about them, about myself and about being proudly feminist in general.
Some key notable people and items of influence have been;
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie; I have loved reading her books and I’m absolutely captivated by her talks.
Chimamanda has really helped me understand about the gender norms that are forced upon us from birth, and the ramifications of such restrictive definitions both individually and in collective society. I learnt that fighting for equality doesn’t mean losing my femininity. She puts it better than I could in this abridged quote.
“I’m trying to unlearn many of the lessons of gender that I internalized when I was growing up. But I sometimes still feel very vulnerable in the face of gender expectations... I have chosen to no longer be apologetic for my femaleness and my femininity. And I want to be respected in all of my femaleness because I deserve to be.”
“She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry”; This is a documentary surrounding the second wave feminists of the late 60s in the USA. I watched this film a few years ago and it felt surreal to see that we’re still fighting for the a lot of the same things that they were. It’s sometimes easy to feel like we’ve come a long way, but that in itself is a privilege that we have our former feminist sisters to thank. If we don’t maintain the momentum, the Donald Trumps of the world are going to continue to drag us back in time.
The Guilty Feminist: I’ve also learnt a lot from The Guilty Feminist podcast, in particular about being an all-knowing and perfect feminist. I think that the ladies on that show do an extremely impressive job of showing that mistakes can happen, but it’s how you deal and learn from them that really matters. This in turn has allowed me to be more compassionate and empathetic with myself and those around me.
If you had one message for other women, what would it be?
While there remains a significant amount of negative marketing that targets our insecurities, there has also been a lot of progress. I think that we’re currently in a transition period, and I’m seeing a lot more conscientious and empathetic advertising than ever before - but there’s still a long way to go. So my message would be to focus on affirming communication, and to try and avoid exploitative noise. This goes both ways, whether you’re on the receiving or sending end.
If we keep lifting each other up, we can all make it to the moon.
Connect with Marianna via www.aphalab.com and APHA.LAB
