About Orchid + Ash

Hey — I’m Kristina, the founder of Orchid + Ash, and my career path has been… nonlinear. I started out as a finance girl. I graduated from NYU with an econ degree and went straight into corporate finance, convinced that was the responsible move. It didn’t take long to realize spreadsheets were not, in fact, my soul’s calling. So in 2013, I did a hard pivot and opened a bakery. It was beautiful and chaotic and exhausting, yet it taught me everything I know about building something from the ground up. By 2018, my autoimmune symptoms were loud + my burnout was real. I sold the bakery craving something slower, smarter, and more sustainable; not just in business, but in life. The years that followed were messy in the best and worst ways. Healing. Searching. Digging deeper than I ever have. Learning how to listen to my body instead of pushing through it. Orchid + Ash was born in that season. What started as my own personal rituals became a brand rooted in one simple belief: what we put on our skin, breathe in, and surround ourselves with matters. That scent can be medicine. That beauty and wellness shouldn’t require compromise. That skincare should support your nervous system — not ask more from it. Every product is made to feel like a pause. A softening. A small return to yourself. Orchid + Ash is my love letter to every woman who’s ever pivoted, burned out, or reinvented herself...and ultimately decided there had to be another way. Welcome to the ritual.Read their story