Deandra Riley starts another morning making new skin care products in her Mount Vernon workshop, a hobby that started all thanks to one of her family members.

"This all started because of my mom," she explained. "She came to me asking if I wanted to start a business, and that she would fund it...At first, I originally wanted to do candles because that's what my mom loved. Since she was funding [the business], I wanted to make sure that it was something that she would be proud of and love."

It wasn't until her research on candles began that she was introduced to a completely different product, one that would help another important family member.

"In my studies of candles, I stumbled upon handmade soaps," Riley said. "I realized that I would be able to help my son, who had eczema at the time... He had it from birth. It was pretty bad. His skin used to peel; it would be dry, inflamed, and all the steroids just [weren't] helping. So, I was making the oils and the body butters before. That's something that I always did for him, but learning about the soaps was a game-changer."

After perfecting her recipes, Riley officially launched Decota Naturals at a local pop-up in October 2020, where she instantly became a hit.

"That's the day that I launched, and I practically sold out of everything I had that day," she said. "I was over the moon. I didn't think that I would've had the support that I did...So, once that happened, I was like, 'OK, I can do this.'"

More than five years later, Decota Naturals has only expanded - making Riley proud of how far she and her products have come.

"Customers love to say that our products are skin food," she said. "They love how it makes their skin feel. I get a lot of feedback that their eczema has cleared up; their inflammations have cleared with scars that they've had for years [after] nothing had worked. The oils or even the soaps have helped."

That includes her son, who continues to use her products to this day.

"He actually loves the body cream," Riley said. "One of his favorites is the black raspberry vanilla body cream. He still loves it to this day, and he gets upset when it runs out. He'll be like, 'Mommy, you [have] to get some more creams from Dakota Naturals.' I'm like, 'You're acting like it's an actual store... Mommy has to make you some more.'"

While her body care products are her top-sellers, Riley also uses Decota Naturals to sell sweatshirts that promote mental health and well-being — a topic very personal to her since January 2023.

"There was a time during this process where burnout happened, and I ended up in the hospital for several days," she said. "They thought I had a stroke. Burnout is real. You [have to] take care of yourself. I put the business ahead of me, and that caused me to end up in the hospital. So, after that, I wanted to motivate not just myself, but [also] my peers and other people. So, I came out with a line of sweatshirts."

One of those sweatshirts says, "You can't take care of others without taking care of yourself. Self-care isn't selfish." It's a motto Riley now lives by to help not only herself, but also her loved ones.

"If I stop, Decota Naturals ceases to exist," she explained. "My kids...I'm doing this for them. I want to make them proud, and I've got to take care of myself in order to do that."

All of Riley's products can be purchased on Decota Naturals' website and at local pop-up markets throughout the Hudson Valley.