Afya Ibomu

As an Author, Certified Holistic Health Counselor, Entrepreneur, Freelance Journalist and Crochet Artist, Afya Ibomu has built a dynamic reputation in the past 10 years by consistently delivering on her promise to educate, guide and inspire people to live a healthy, natural, and creative lifestyle.

Growing up

Growing up in a single-parent home in St. Paul, MN., Afya was born to overcome obstacles and do things her way. She was born with a crooked hip and wore a hip brace for the first 2 years of her life. Afya was very sickly, stricken with allergies, asthma, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and a host of other ailments. She was shuttled from doctor to doctor and placed on various medications.

At 15, her mother found an allergy specialist who told her the foods she was eating might be contributing to her health problems. This information and the hip hop song “beef” by KRS-ONE motivated her to stop taking her medications, become a vegetarian, and begin her journey to self-healing.

With concern for her community and environment Afya was involved with progressive groups such as The African Student Alliance, and The Uhuru Movement, as well as eco-friendly activities. After high school, Afya was accepted to Florida A&M University. She decided that with a civil engineering major she could work hands on helping the environment. But her actual intern experiences, coupled with funding her own tuition, changed her mind. While in Florida she also met her boyfriend (now husband) and after 2 ½ years, she quit school and moved to NYC to find her true passion.

Crocheting

Afya was inspired by her family at a young age. Her grandmother was an entrepreneur who had her own day care and seamstress business. Afya would watch her grandmother make elaborate outfits and would frequent fabric stores where she learned about choosing fabrics and patterns.

In NYC, Afya got her first retail job as a sales associate. Within the first year and a half, she worked her way up to head merchandiser of one of the busiest stores on 34th & Broadway in Manhattan NY. While working one day a lady at her job showed her how to crochet. She caught on quick and soon crocheting became her hobby. Her crocheting hobby grew into a custom making hat business called, Who the Cap Fits. Afya began selling her designs at international arts fairs around NYC and boutiques up and down the east coast. Her designs soon began to adorn artists, such as; Erykah Badu, Common, and dead prez. Her hats have also appeared on album covers; Mama’s Gun by Erykah Badu, music videos The Light video by Common, and magazines: Complex and Jet. In 2004, Afya received a publishing deal for her crochet pattern book from The Taunton Press. Her book, Get Your Crochet On! Hip Hats and Cool Caps, will be released Nov. 7th 2006.

Cooking

Afya’s love of food came from a rich heritage of Creole, Soulfood, and Midwest cooking. She would help her mother bake her annual holiday cookies, bars, and desserts. Living in Brooklyn, NY allowed Afya to be around some of the most progressive people in the natural health industry. She soon learned about being a vegan, taking herbs, fasting, and live food. Becoming a vegan, led Afya to start cooking again and she began to make her own recipes.

After working in retail for 3 years, Afya quit her head-merchandising job, took a cooking intensive course at the Natural Gourmet Cookery School and started her own catering business called Healthy Soil. She started making gourmet vegan desserts for health food stores around Brooklyn and at international fairs around NYC. Her apple pies became so popular that she was known as the “pie lady”.

Health Counseling

Yet another twist in Afya’s life would bring her to holistic healing. Afya’s mother was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Helping her mother to live a better quality of life through holistic health inspired her to go to the Institute for Integrative Nutrition to become a Certified Holistic Health Counselor. After graduation, She began health counseling, teaching vegan cooking classes, and writing for various magazines, such as; Know Your Health- Minneapolis, MN; Free Magazine –Brooklyn, NY; San Francisco Bayview Newspaper, San Francisco California.

In 2003, Afya was the personal nutritionist for Erykah Badu and her family on the Worldwide Underground Tour. That same year, she also produced, directed, and starred in a collaborative TV show for a local cable station in Brooklyn called Mind, Body and Soulfood.

In 2005, Afya, created a nutrition guide called Vegetarian Sources of Protein. Which is currently sold in health food stores around the country.

Fitness

Since her teen years, exercise has been a part of Afya’s life. In her early 20’s Afya began to practice martial arts. She took various forms such as, Wu Shu Kwan, Ile Ijala, Capoiera, and Jeet Kune Do (Bruce Lee’s style). In 2001,Afya was blessed with a child. Because of her natural lifestyle, she chose to have her child at home with a midwife. After 50 hours of natural labor she had a beautiful, healthy, baby boy. She also took yoga, tai chi, and African dance while pregnant with her son.

Now and the future

In, 2004, Afya moved to Atlanta with husband, stic man of dead prez, and their son Itwela.

Afya is currently the CEO of her holistic lifestyle company, Nattral Unlimited, LLC (www.NATTRAL.com). She is working on the 2nd installment of the book series Get Your Crochet On!, a vegan cookbook and she is a contributing writer to the monthly ezine, Free Your Soul: The Art of Living (www.fys.buttaflyunld.com). Afya continues to write articles, keep an active lifestyle and motivate her community.