Diamond Edwards, Founder of Her Candy Shop, Is on A Mission to Provide Military Women With All-Natural Feminine Care Options

Diamond Edwards, known to friends as Dime, is the founder of Her Candy Shop (HCS), an intimate care brand that caters to women of all ages.

Diamond is a former Army officer on a mission to bring cruelty-free and holistic feminine care to women who haven’t been as lucky with traditional care. Her passion for feminine care started pre-Covid, while she was overseas on deployment. During her time stationed in Kuwait, Iraq, and Jordan, Diamond realized that the stores on military bases “in theater” had shortcomings in regards to female care products.

Diamond mapped out her business plan for Her Candy Shop during a 20-plus-hour flight to one of her three deployments. We asked her about her time in the service, the inspiration for Her Candy Store, and her particular focus on getting her products into stores on military bases.

Grit Daily: I understand that you got the idea for what has become Her Candy Shop while you were still in the military deployed in the Middle East. Please tell us your origin story.

Diamond Edwards: Her Candy Shop was birthed due to personal issues I have experienced using the traditional feminine care brands I was raised on. In El Paso, TX , 2019 I was preparing to head overseas for the third time . This time was no different from the previous two times. I contacted soldiers who had recently returned home, inquiring about whether or not natural feminine care options had made their way onto the shelves down range yet. Everyone responded with the same answer, “no, there’s still only regular options.” Automatically, I knew I had to stockpile nine months’ worth of feminine care products. Two days before wheels up, I was able to leave base to go to a local Target and get natural products from the brand that I had switched to few years prior.

As I was consolidating everything I purchased, to stuff in my overpacked duffle bags, a thought crossed my mind – “How many other females have done this?” That one question was stuck with me! Some of my great leaders taught me “Instead of complaining , come up with a solution.” Which lead me to Her Candy Shop. I knew I needed to provide a solution to the problem of not having natural feminine care products overseas readily available for other service women. On my 20+ hour flight, as everyone slept, I stayed awake brainstorming, coming up with products for issues we women commonly have. After months of research, I finally launched my business from overseas. The rest is history.

Grit Daily: How long have you been in the military? Was it difficult to transition into life as a business owner?

Diamond Edwards: To date, I have been in the military for 11 years and 11 months. My contract ends January 2023, which will be a total of 12 years of service. Being that I’m a Army National Guardsmen (part time) and not Army Active Duty, I live my life as a civilian. Such status requires you to still maintain a civilian job as well. The transition took place 2.5 years ago, when I returned from Iraq in June 2020. I have not worked a civilian job since returning home and transitioned solely into full time entrepreneurship, aside my part time military obligations that I have always fulfilled. Honestly, the transition was fairly easy. I was born for this.

Grit Daily: A particular goal you have for Her Candy Store is make your products available to women in the military. How difficult is it for women in the military to obtain feminine hygiene products? Aren’t there stores of some sort on most military bases?

Diamond Edwards: Getting HCS products into retail is a major goal of mine, however, my primary focus is to partner with AAFES (Army & Air Force Exchange Service). All military branches have their own “store”. In the army, we refer to our store as AAFES. Women in the military who are stateside have access to products that are of better quality, as well as a variety of options, even if they have to leave post to visit a local store. The issue lies down range, overseas. Serving on three deployments, I never saw all-natural feminine hygiene products available on the shelves, which means the women have to stockpile months’ worth of products before going, or purchase online and wait three-plus weeks, depending on where you are located, for your products to arrive.