Happy New Year to you all

I wanted to take a brief pause from our usual newsletter rhythm to share a little about myself.

My name is Baiyinah, and I am the founder of Mystics and Sages. I am originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, though my life has carried me through Chicago, New York, and Jakarta, Indonesia—each place leaving its own imprint on who I am becoming.

Astrologically, I am a Pisces sun, Capricorn moon, and Scorpio rising—deeply sensitive, quietly driven, and creatively attuned. I hold an undergraduate degree in Business Management from Chatham University and have completed graduate-level coursework at the California Institute of Integral Studies, where I studied women’s spirituality. These worlds—structure and intuition, strategy and spirit—have long moved together in my life.

I have been drawn to craft for as long as I can remember. Through travel to eleven countries, I have had the privilege of connecting with diverse communities and ancestral traditions. This brand was born from a deeply rooted love—not only for Tuareg objects of adornment, but for the culture, history, and enduring wisdom of the Tuareg and the Amazigh (Berber) peoples of North and West Africa.

This New Year arrives at a pivotal moment in my journey. The foundation has been laid. As I recently concluded my participation in the Nest Artisan Sustainability Accelerator, a clearer vision emerged of what this brand is becoming. Mystics is my baby—nurtured with care, patience, and devotion—and I am excited for what will unfold in the year ahead.

I move forward with humility and deep gratitude. The opportunities I have been granted are not lost on me. This path has been shaped by community—by kind words, encouragement, purchases, belief, and acceptance into programs and accelerators. If not for those who lifted me as I climbed, this business may have remained only a dream.

I am grateful that you are here. Please continue to walk alongside me into this new year as I share more of myself and this beautiful creation I have been tending for the past few years. At times, I sit in awe that a vision once held only in my mind’s eye is slowly—surely—taking form.

Thank you for witnessing the journey.

Wishing you an abundant, inspired, and deeply productive New Year.

With Graditude,

 
Baiyinah

Founder, Mystics & Sages