Who is Leah Iman?

Hey everyone,

It has been a long time since I wrote a blog post, and I’m excited to be back here; evolved and ready to share unabashedly! A lot of you were here in the beginning when I first launched "Leah's Plan B" following my diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis in 2012. Woah! Can you believe that was just about 8 years ago?! Time truly does fly, but as time flies, we are experiencing and evolving! So today, I introduce to you: Leah Iman!

Allow me to reintroduce myself! I am Leah Iman Aniefuna, and I am the founder of Leah Iman. I created this brand inspired by my own journey as a Black little girl who experienced horrific racism growing up in a majority white suburban area, and often feeling misunderstood and alone. Until middle school, I was the only Black person in a room full of white classmates and teachers.

My ongoing journey through Black womanhood has required continued resilience and resistance, after being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and Lupus and trying to maintain my image of self, both physically and mentally. I have struggled to be able to show my FULL self in any space, and have found this to be heavily exhausting and quite taxing on my mental health. Leah Iman is for all my Black sisters of all ages who have felt an exhaustion of simply having to show up as yourself in a space! It is a sanctuary to cultivate Black sisterhood, have honest and open conversations, and a place to purchase bold and affirming products that reflect who we are.

I am unabashedly Black, a woman, wife, aspiring mommy, auntie, daughter, sister, Multiple Sclerosis and Lupus fighter, vegan, PhD student, creative, bisexual, intellectual, critically radical, feminist, beautiful, resistant, liberated, spiritual, introverted, confident, assertive, outspoken, sensitive, loving, loyal, strong-willed, afrocentric, loc'd goddess, bubbly, caring, and charismatic. I am not perfect but we have the world to underscore the negative aspects of us, so here we will keep it positive and affirming!

To the beautiful Black women and girls who felt unwanted, and not valued…I was you, I am you! I love you, and your existence is not only wanted, but absolutely needed. This is a space for you to be a Black woman, a Black little girl, with no restrictions of the intersections you may live in. BE YOU; fully and entirely! The world can't exist without us being US! & when they learn to Love Everything About Her, they will truly realize the Impeccably Made African Natives we are!