Today we’d like to introduce you to Aiyah Maraka.
Hi Aiyah , so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
When I founded Aiyah Crystals I was in one of the biggest transitions of my life. I had just left a spiritual organization I had been part of for twelve years, where I worked as the right hand of the leader. When that chapter ended it felt like the foundation of my entire world disappeared overnight. I was grieving, I felt stuck. Design felt far away. I was applying for jobs and nothing was landing.
Crystals had always been part of my life since I was 8 years old but during that period they became something much deeper. One day after a yoga class, when I felt especially heavy, I walked into a crystal shop in London and quietly asked for a sign. I picked up a piece of Lepidolite ,a soft shimmering purple stone and felt my whole body warm up. I started crying because for the first time in a long time I felt peace. I felt present. The meaning card underneath it read “You are exactly where you need to be” and that moment changed everything.
I went on to study crystal healing and spent countless hours in crystal shops, learning both the science and the energy behind each stone. I even helped crystal shops sell at markets which gave me my first taste of what it felt like to connect people with their stones.
Later, while visiting family in Texas, I came across bolo ties and became completely obsessed. The idea hit me immediately , what if I combined these bolo ties with crystals so people could build a real relationship with their stone and wear it daily as a reminder, a talisman, instead of carrying it loose the way I always had?
It started as a healing hobby. Then I moved to Mexico City where I met my friend Luca, who saw my pieces and encouraged me to turn them into a brand. I will always be grateful for that. Mexico City became my creative home and the place where Aiyah Crystals truly came to life.
And now coming back to the place I was born, Dallas Texas, after having lived all around the world, from the Middle East to Europe to the UK, I am so excited to take the brand to the next level!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No it hasn’t and I don’t think it ever will be. When you are building something that is real to you there will always be ups and downs. I’ve come to see the moments where it feels like you are falling as simply stepping up to a higher level. Growth is never linear and honestly if it were it wouldn’t feel as rewarding.
There was a time where I stepped away from the brand completely to work in a totally different sector. At the time it felt like a detour but looking back it was anything but. I took everything I learned in that season and brought it back with me when I relaunched Aiyah Crystals. It gave me a completely different perspective on the brand, on business and on myself.
I am also always learning about what my customers want, what works and what doesn’t. I have made some expensive mistakes along the way and I know there are more lessons ahead. Every single day I find myself looking up and saying “I have no idea what I’m doing, please guide me.” And somehow that honesty keeps me moving forward.
I truly believe energy is never wasted. Every experience, every detour, every mistake and every moment of doubt has found its way back into Aiyah in some form.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
What I do goes far beyond designing jewelry. Aiyah is a full healing practice expressed through what you wear.
Everything in life carries a vibrational frequency and crystals are no different. Because of my sensitive nature I am able to hand pick every single stone myself, which means I can feel the energy of each piece before it ever becomes part of the collection. I only purchase from small family run businesses so I can trace where each stone comes from and understand the full journey it has taken before reaching me. Nothing is machine cut. Nothing is mass produced. None of my stones contain plastic. That is a conscious choice rooted in both ethics and energy.
Every stone goes through a four element cleansing ritual before it leaves my hands. I place each stone in soil to connect it to the grounding energy of the earth. I cleanse it in water to connect it to the loving and healing energy of that element. I play music so the stone can match and absorb the vibrational frequency of sound. And I cleanse it with incense to connect it to the element of fire. By the time a piece reaches the wearer it has been fully prepared to offer its highest healing properties.
Every piece also comes with a prayer card so the wearer knows exactly what intention their stone carries and how to work with it.
Beyond the hand crafted jewelry I also offer Cosmic Bodywork sessions, a deeply personal experience where I combine an astrology reading with a customized healing meditation created specifically around what I see in your chart. No two sessions are ever the same.
What sets Aiyah apart is simple. I am not selling jewelry. I am offering a tool to help people come back to themselves. The crystal is the art and I am the framer.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
I feel so proud to have been born in a city with so much southern charm and western magic. There is an energy here that is hard to explain until you feel it, a warmth and a boldness that shows up in everything from the culture to the people to the landscape. Dallas has always felt like a place where big things are possible and coming back has only confirmed that feeling. Seeing how much this city has grown and continues to grow makes me even more proud to call it home.
What I like least about the city? What the weather does to my hair! I know they say the higher the hair the closer to God but geez… anyone got humidity tips?
Pricing:
- 89
- 125
- 141
- 350
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.aiyah.co
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiyah___/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@aiyahcrystals
