Life is a journey filled with unexpected detours, but if you play your cards right they can often lead to beautiful destinations.

It’s not about how many times you have fallen but instead how many times you’ve found the courage to get back up.

Meet Ashail Davis, a 24-year-old, soon-to-be University of the West Indies graduate and ‘SH-E-O’ of the Sivad Naturals haircare brand.

Hailing from the bread basket parish of St. Elizabeth and a product of the Hampton School for girls, Davis has acted as the owner and operator of her business since its inception in January 2020.

Not your average entrepreneur, Davis, like many of her peers, once envisioned a career path entirely different from her own.

“Nobody in my immediate family is even an entrepreneur so I would have never guessed that I would have been here…” said Davis.

In fact, as life were to have it, by age 24, she was to have been well on her way to becoming a medical doctor, having studied medicine in China.

This dream however did not come to fruition. Despite being accepted to pursue medicine at a Chinese university, Davis expressed that financial difficulties made this dream out of reach.

Left with no other alternative, she set her sights on a goal that appeared more attainable. That is, starting a business of her own, for which a major in marketing could prove beneficial.

With no idea as to exactly where her business dreams would take her, Davis commenced her research in 2018, with a plan to learn everything there was to know about running a business.

“I had the idea to start my business from around 2018, so from that time until I started in 2020 I’ve just been like writing down ideas (and) doing a whole bunch of research and trying to build up the courage to actually make stuff and get over the fear of nobody buying it,” stated Davis.

After almost two years of business research and a passion for creating home-made natural hair products, perfect for all hair types, Sivad Naturals, an ode to her name, was born.

A year since the launch of her hair care brand, Davis admits that she has much to be grateful for.

“Since starting the brand I have literally gotten so much support, that I really wish I would’ve started earlier because I use to worry that nobody naa go buy me tings, but the support has been amazing…”, said Davis.

Though she admits that running a business while still being a student was never an easy task, it is not a decision she regrets.

She said: “My only regret has been allowing fear to deter me from starting my business sooner”.

When asked where she saw the Sivad Naturals brand going within the next five years, her answer was simple: more growth and expansion.

“In five years I would hope to have a whole bunch of hair products, I would hope to have started my body and skincare stuff…and basically just have my business coming out with all the different areas of products that I want to come out with…(as well as) in five years time I see it being my full-time job,” Davis explained.

Sivad Naturals is available for purchase across select stores island-wide, as listed in above images, as well as online at sivadnaturals.com