Ashley Duverneau-Manley shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Good morning Ashley, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? What are you chasing, and what would happen if you stopped?
I am chasing a dream a HUGE crazy dream to grow something from nothing, hire staff, and eventually be able to build a co-op in Haiti where we can hire farmers to grow ingredients we could source directly. With this dream I would be helping so many people with not only employment but opportunities to chase their own dreams. I want to be able to fund scholarship programs for young and coming business owners or formulators! I want Krem au Krem to be able to provide soap for more than just our one partnership with Soaring Unlimited Haiti, but with multiple countries.
If I stopped, I would be back at a 9-5 working for someone else and hoping to still have time for my dreams once I get home. There’s nothing wrong with option B it just doesn’t fulfill my purpose, it doesn’t fulfill my desire to do more and heal others through plant based alternatives. If I stopped it would hurt my spirit for a bit, but I would be okay in time. I think the part that would hurt the most for me is never knowing how far I could of grown the brand if I stopped today, I would feel like there would be a void in my heart of “man I wonder what it would look like today if I didn’t stop then” I think that itself is the hardest thing to live with knowing I didn’t give it my everything before completely giving up.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
We are a beauty company that specializes in handcrafted products for sensitive skin, Krèm au Krèm was crafted as a response to frustration with green-washing in the beauty industry and its very real mental, physical and financial impact. I, Ashley Duverneau-Manley, suffered from severe dry skin & eczema all my life and found myself frustrated by the number of ineffective products in the market, that were thick in texture and lacked the fun and inviting scents. This essential left me with dry skin, empty pockets and less-than-stellar product experience.
With a background in biology and product manufacturing, I realized after a chance encounter that I had everything within her to create a product that’s effective and would leave me feeling confident about my skin health. My original intent did not include selling, however word started to spread about my handmade body butter and the rest is history.
A nod to my Haitian heritage, Krém au Krém is Kreyol pun on the idiom “best of the best”, which symbolizes what we believe in – high performing products that are made from the planet’s finest resources. All bodies are beautiful in their uniqueness and we seek to enhance what exists and provide those with sensitive skin a safe multi-sensory beauty experience one jar at a time.
Currently, I am a full time entrepreneur for krem and am loving every minute of it! I have so many plans for the future including Essence Fest, Invest Fest and much more. Be sure to follow allow the journey by following us social media!
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
When I was younger I used to truly believe I was going to become a medical doctor, practice medicine with Doctors Without Borders traveling the world and saving lives. A life long dream, that I honestly believed was for me until I completed my masters program at 24 years old! I think I wanted to be a doctor because of the accolades and to prove to myself and my family that I was the first generation to get all other degrees one could pay for, but once I shadowed a few surgeons in different fields of specialty, I noticed they still do not have full autonomy of their actions, choices based on outside factors such as health insurance, hierarchy in work places, limitations due to policy etc it just felt like a long route to the work place. Then I realized I really wanted to be my own boss and to help heal people with my hands no matter the form, and I have found my very own lane in that passion with skin and hair care for sensitive skin types like myself.
I believe that I am still in my line with my life’s purpose, it is just in a way different format that I had outlined for years. Living in this truth in my 30s has been refreshing and freeing as I no longer have those personal pressures to reach that milestone in order to feel fulfilled. In adulthood I have realized I do not need a western degree to become a healer. I am a healer through my brands vision by providing people like myself with healthy alternatives to their routine that allows them to feel confident, beautiful and happy. As long as I am allowed to make lives better through plant based solutions I truly have full autonomy over my brands ingredients, outreach, and clientele.
There is no longer any pressure to complete school by a certain age and start practicing, or long hours in residency in some city I probably wouldn’t want to live…long story short, God’s plan is always better than even your 20+ year one from youth and I can not wait to see what else He has up His sleeve for me and Krem au Krem.
What fear has held you back the most in your life?
The fear of failure is the only thing that has EVER held me back in life. I always have imposter syndrome playing in the back ground telling me “What if…?” But what if I succeed? that is the story I try to play in my head now, I am not letting the fear of doubt win.
I was raised as a people pleaser in the best way possible, meaning I was raised to be polite and nice not knowing when to say “no” even when I should. Now that I am grown I have learned that that is not healthy nor is it sustainable. So to grow from that, I have learned to truly know myself and place myself in environments with like minded people, who respect my boundaries and support my growth. With those changes I have had less anxiety, learned to manage feelings in high stress situations, and plan with realistic goals in order to succeed.
I used to be so scared to ask for help, but now I am a asker. I have hired an intern to help with social media because that was causing me unnecessary stress, I have hired content creators to create engagement around products, and I have hired a staffing agency for my SEO and backlink ads in the past year to help optimize the brands performance. I can not operate in fear of failure any longer as I have zero safety net since being a full time entrepreneur in January 2025 after termination from my once cushy government job. Losing my last job truly jump started my drive to just do it even if I have doubts, but to use discernment in order to move wisely. Overall the last 7 months have been not only scary, but very rewarding as I have grown the brand 3x in profits, growth, and much more! Fear will never stop me from living my fullest life possible, in Jesus name.
So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What’s a cultural value you protect at all costs?
Being Haitian-American the cultural value that I value to protect at all costs is the importance of nature. Nature is a huge part of our culture from just having a beautiful botanical garden in your yard, to growing your own fruits and veggies, to healing from the herbs of the earth, spending time in the sun and nature, all of these elements are key to having a grounded, humble lifestyle. It instills a sense of codependency between life and nature which in turn creates respect for nature, a lack of abuse of nature, and a love of nature.
Growing up in the states obviously causes some separation from the motherlands culture, but my parents incorporated the natural lifestyle as much as they could by using herbal tonics and teas to heal illnesses and wounds, growing fruits and vegetables in the garden, and passing down recipes for us to use and practice. We always spent a lot of time outdoors whether it was playing sports or just on the deck eating dinner, we always love a beautiful sunny day.
I think with my conscious reflection of the difference in the Haitian appreciation for nature, versus the western mindset allows me to truly grasp the value that my family has instilled in me, and I will be sure to do the same with my future family. This value is seen ever present in my business, as it is our mission to provide clean plant-based skin care, not animal based, not chemical based, not sales based, but plant-based skin care for all. I truly believe that God provided us with all we need to heal ourselves here on Earth, we just need to learn and use her wisely.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: What do you understand deeply that most people don’t?
I believe that most people do not understand that there should be intent behind their actions, and that their words can be impactful. I feel like since I am a 90’s baby I remember a time when everyone seemed to care about what they said in the media, in public or just out loud, but with the age of the internet and everyone having access to viral moments of fame, it just feels like no one is genuine with their intentions before they speak publicly. Now what you say in private, in emotion, etc is different, but when it comes to sharing an opinion, everyone thinks that the first thing that comes to mind should be shared? No, please let’s bring back critical thinking, disputes, intellectual debates, thought provoking dialogue. What happened to the smart people being the ones on the microphones, now everyone is more interested in who is funny, trendy, has the largest following etc. its all a popularity contest and it’s like we are all 20-60 year olds reliving high school in public…so weird and cringy.
I fear that most people prefer this mindless expression of opinions without facts, research, or any data, it will all be who has the most to agree with them, which is always a sign of a failing society. Democracy was not designed to become a popularity contest, but it seems to have turned into something so very shallow that I fear it’s fragility may be compromised. Not trying to get political, but I knew the outcome of this election was more than just a Red and Blue contest, it’s a reflection of the social course America has moved towards since the 2000s. We prefer a reality star, failed business owner, now convicted felon to decide our future for the next 4+ years to a current VP, judge, and previous state attorney…. that’s what the people want because it’s what our culture has designed us to think is acceptable. I just pray people would really wake up and think for themselves, read for themselves, and not be spoon fed propaganda. One day we will wake up in an alternate reality where we live life like scripted reality shows.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kremaukrem.com
- Instagram: @kremaukrem
- Linkedin: @kremaukrem
- Twitter: @kremaukrem
- Facebook: @kremaukrem
- Youtube: Kremaukrem
Image Credits
Bryanna Goode
