Iya Ifakemi 

Iya Ifakemi is a successful entrepreneur, business consultant, public speaker, and teacher of African Traditional Religions (ATRs) including Isese. Well-equipped, highly adaptable and unafraid of change, she previously served in roles such as contract manager for the Seminole Tribe of Florida, in which she expounded upon the skills she currently uses to advise hundreds of businesses and business owners now and throughout the past 15 years as an acclaimed business-owner. Lovingly regarded as “Akose Queen” by her dedicated community of supporters, she distributes 100% natural and handmade akose, or spiritual medicine, including a variety of soaps, baths, and incense, all designed to cleanse, empower, and uplift one’s individual spiritual connection through her online marketplace, Ifakemi.com

 

Her advocacy for education and heart to spread healing throughout the African Diaspora shines in her Behind the Wall initiative; aimed at providing currently and recently-released incarcerated persons with the tools to heal themselves and root in a solid, positive spiritual practice, she imparts them with Isese and ancestral veneration practices and culture. Reaching beyond the Wall, she spearheads Egbe University, a platform offering classes on African cultures and traditions, with a specialization in teaching about ATRs. 

 

Her other ventures, La Chapo and Egbe Gardens, serve to rekindle human connectedness and harmony with nature– a connection that has been under-emphasized on a macro scale. La Chapo or LaChapo.com is a redirection of the real-life “El Chapo”, serving as the “shorty” or shortcut to nature, “flooding” the community with positivity, and (re)integrating the usage of 100% nature-based products. These ancient and traditional recipes had been gifted to her through hundreds of years and several generations of women in her family, blending herbs, barks, and roots to heal thyself inwardly and outwardly through luxury beauty products such as body butters with eczema-healing properties, and teas. Egbe Gardens encourages the community at-large to interact with and learn about the plants that grow in their surrounding areas, sparking discussions and a deeper embrace of the life that grows all around.