ARIEL ANI-ANGUAY | EMPOWERING ECONOMIC STABILITY
Ariel Ani-Anguay was working up to 12-hour shifts as a Physical Therapist at a clinic in Wai‘anae. Spending long, physically demanding days as a massage therapist was originally how she began to pursue her passion for helping people heal. She learned about INPEACE’s business development program, gave it some thought and with an idea in mind, she became a participant. Driven by her desire to help people heal without using chemically-based products, she started taking steps and then a leap towards her own financial freedom when she became her own boss as a blossoming entrepreneur. Ariel created her own organic, eco-friendly skincare and launched her own business, Leira Organics. She felt empowered as a homegrown start-up and left her full-time job at the clinic to strike out on her own. It didn’t take long before her next-level goals to expand were developed and met. She reached out and connected with others like farmers who grew the ingredients she needed for making her products, established her own website for customers to book massage services and purchase products, and was eventually approached at a farmer’s market by a store manager who offered to carry her products, all which have opened doors for future opportunities to expand her reach inward and outward of her community.
She believes success means having the freedom to do what one wants, and she is motivated to keep that momentum.
Since participating with INPEACE’s Ho‘oulu Waiwai program, she now seeks out other programs that offer learning opportunities to grow not just her own business, but those that will benefit her life and the betterment of community.
