Creator Spotlight: Karina Karunwi is helping people redefine their relationship with their bodies with Ere Wellness
Ere Wellness is a community committed to changing the way people discuss their mental health and body image in Nigeria and beyond. They host body image workshops in schools and offices centred on holistic well-being, caring for our minds, our perspectives of our bodies and our relationships with food/exercise.
In this week’s creator spotlight feature, we speak to the founder, Karina Karunwi as she shares the personal experience that led to the creation of Ere Wellness and what we should look out for from the brand this year.
T: What is the meaning of ‘Ere’ (Pronounced err-re)?
K: Ere is a play on three different things. My mum is from Bayelsa, from Nembe precisely, and in the language, Ere means femininity or womenfolk. Also, my mum’s name is Erem, and my grandmother’s name was Erefagha, so I took Ere from both their names, and it happened to mean femininity or womenfolk in Nembe.
T: Oh, that’s interesting.
K: Yeah, it’s a fun coincidence.
T: I’ve read about the brand online, but I’d like you to tell us why you decided to create Ere Wellness?
K: At the root of it, Ere was born from my own personal experiences. Growing up in Nigeria as a teenager, I schooled here, and I had an eating disorder. I didn’t know it was a disorder back then, but I can tell that it was an eating disorder in hindsight. I had bulimia. Over the years, I’ve really struggled with my body, whether it’s over-exercising to be super-duper skinny or struggling with bulimia or gaining weight. The actual lead situation that directed me to Ere was when I moved back to Nigeria in 2018, I had gained a lot of weight, and I was really uncomfortable, insecure and self-conscious. People would, of course, always comment, so I began talking about it on social media, and there was a lot of discussion and conversations happening, so that kicked off. Down the line, I shot my shot with SheLeadsAfrica to host the first workshop, and the response was really positive. People were happy to have a space to discuss body image. That’s how Ere was born.
T: First of all, well done! Women are constantly inundated with comments about their bodies, so Ere Wellness is really a timely community for us to be a part of.
K: Thank you.
T: Let’s talk about the body image conversation cards. I think it’s a very interesting product. What was your thought process around it?
K: We began hosting workshops around the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020. We had done a couple of schools and offices — KPMG, Bridgehouse College, Grange, so things were picking up. And then COVID hit, and you know, businesses everywhere were confused on what to do. At the time, I was doing online workshops with Mobil. Still, I really wanted to get the word out beyond a cute social media post, so I thought about what tool I could develop and put in people’s hands to have these discussions in their own time and where they are comfortable because it’s a very sensitive topic. It’s not something everyone wants to talk about on Instagram. The idea came in 2020, and I didn’t execute until 2021 because I was thinking, ‘I have no idea how to start this’. Slowly but surely, with asking questions and gaining advice, I was able to put the questions together, develop the design, print and launch the cards in four editions: Self, Family, Friends and Couples.
T: That is very impressive, and you did an excellent job on that. I want us to talk about the workshops that you host. How do you get schools and organizations to agree to them? As you mentioned, it’s a very sensitive topic, so how do you convince them to partner with you to host these workshops?
K: The first school I did was Bridgehouse. Something I have been doing for the past few years is when somebody asks me how I’m doing, I honestly answer and say ‘Oh, I’m working on this’ or ‘I’m excited about this’, ‘I’m stressed about this’. So it came up in conversation, and someone I spoke to knew the person in charge at Bridgehouse. So they linked me to her, and I pitched to her. What has helped me get them to understand is explaining the issue, which they agree with because they know their girls, they have in-house counsellors who try to deal with these issues. So it was me coming and telling them that I have experienced these issues firsthand and I can connect with the girls on a personal level. After I got Bridgehouse, it was easier to get Grange because they could call to find out how the previous workshop went. That was how I was able to get a couple of schools onboard.
T: Can you share a success story from any of these workshops?
K: We have a few activities that we do during the workshop, and one of them is we ask the girls to write beautiful things about each other. So we give them a sheet of paper with their names at the top to go round, and people would write lovely things about them, after which they would come to the front and read them out. During that session, girls get quite emotional reading what people have written about them. After the session, we take feedback, and you hear things like “I really hated my nose, but I realize now that there’s beauty in it’ or “People don’t see my pimples or my stretch marks the way I see them’ or People don’t see me as a fat person alone’. The feedback that we get is very validating and reassuring.
T: Ere Wellness is a body image and mental health workshop, and I know you deal with food, body image and more. How do you decide what kinds of workshops to host? How do you determine this week is for food or next week is on mental health to ensure balance?
K: That’s a good question. We make sure we are listening to what people need. So with the different schools and organizations that we partner with, I always ask them what they have noticed as a regular complaint. So, for example, with offices during the lockdown, people were not sleeping well, people were overworked and overstretched, so the focus was mental health and anxiety. We focused on food during our session with Dew Wellness because they are a wellness organization. So it’s really just listening to the needs of people. We have a base strategy for the workshops, but we tailor it to people’s needs, so it’s an intimate and personal experience.
T: What should we look out for from Ere Wellness this year? More products, a book maybe?
K: We definitely have more products coming out this year. I can give a sneak peek. For the body image cards, we have a kids edition coming out and a mother-daughter edition. In terms of aspirations, the list is endless. Of course, I’d love a book and a journal. I have no limits, and I am a big dreamer. In terms of events, we have a few more partnerships coming soon. We have a few guest features on podcasts. I’m looking forward to tapping into more communities.
T: How did you find out about Tix?
K: The first time I heard about Tix was at Eat Drink Festival if I’m not mistaken. Other events would come up, and I would use it to purchase tickets, and it was just so seamless and seemed like a simple, straightforward platform. So when we were thinking about our events, I was just like, yes, Tix as the ticketing platform. Nothing else came to mind.
T: How has your experience been so far?
K: The experience has been great. We had an event that we had to postpone, unfortunately, and the support response from Tix was so quick. I was told refunds would be done in 7–12 working days, but the day I cancelled was when my guests got their refunds, and I was very happy about that.
T: What is your favourite feature?
K: I am a very visual person, so I like that I can include a poster on the event page. I also like that I can create a custom link. I really like that. That is very cool. I am really happy with Tix, and I can’t wait to host more events on the platform.
T: Thank you so much for speaking with me, Karina. We wish you all the best, and we are always rooting for you at Tix.
You can shop Ere Wellness Body Image Conversation Cards here and buy tickets to their upcoming workshop — Our Bodies, Our Homes: an intimate evening of open conversation about our body image and mental health.
