Reclaim Your Brand: How Jessica Rich Transformed Amazon Dependency into a Women’s Wellness Marketplace
Relying on a single platform can feel like treading a tightrope—one misstep and your entire business can wobble. In e-commerce, Amazon is often the platform of choice. Today’s founder story showcases how one entrepreneur transformed fragility into opportunity by creating a mission-driven destination for women’s wellness products, extending beyond her own label.
Name: Jessica Rich
Company: Bona Dea Naturals
Location: Raleigh, NC
Website: https://bonadeanaturals.com/
“When I launched my e-commerce business in March 2016, I was a one-woman operation with a vision: to create health and beauty products for women using my own formulations—products that prioritize natural ingredients and holistic wellness. What I didn’t anticipate was how quickly my success would hinge on a single platform: Amazon.
In the early years, Amazon felt like a golden ticket. My products gained traction fast, orders poured in, and the numbers validated my passion. But over time, I learned how fragile that success could be. Without warning or clear explanation, Amazon would remove listings—products I had poured months of research and development into—leaving me scrambling to navigate vague policies and opaque support channels. Each takedown meant thousands in lost revenue and weeks, sometimes months, of uncertainty. And as the only employee of my company, I bore the full weight of those disruptions alone.
That experience was a turning point. I realized I hadn’t built a brand—I’d built an Amazon storefront. I knew I had to reclaim control.
I began to pivot. Drawing on my deep knowledge of the market and a growing awareness of the gaps in women-focused wellness products, I envisioned a curated e-commerce space that went beyond my own brand. I wanted to create a marketplace—a trusted destination where women could find the very best from other like-minded, women-owned businesses.
My goal was to champion products that are ethically sourced, naturally formulated, and often rooted in non-traditional healing methods.
Two years into this shift, my online store is growing steadily. My marketplace now features a thoughtfully selected catalog that continues to expand, and customer engagement is deeper and more meaningful. While Amazon sales still account for the majority of my revenue, I’m steadily reducing my dependency and building something more sustainable: a brand that reflects my values and empowers a broader community.
Every decision I make—whether it’s sourcing a new product, writing a blog post, or answering a customer email—is still made by me. But I’m no longer just running a business. I’m cultivating a mission-driven platform that supports women’s wellness, sustainability, and entrepreneurship. And that, to me, is the most meaningful success of all.”
Jessica’s journey shares a vital lesson for any entrepreneur: build a brand, not just a storefront. When you diversify your channels, champion your values, and extend your vision to uplift others, you transform fragility into resilience—and dependency into community empowerment. Protect your mission by owning every piece of your business, and watch how that authenticity drives sustainable growth.
