Reclaiming the Space Within: Why CKK Goes Purple Is Becoming Seen & Safe

October has always carried a unique weight in my life.

For years, as the founder of Chocolate Kinks & Kurls, I dedicated this month to an initiative that came straight from my heart: CKK Goes Purple. It was my way of standing up, raising awareness, and signaling to other women that they were not alone.

That purpose hasn’t changed. But as I’ve grown, healed, and learned new ways to return to myself, the work has grown with me.

Today, I want to share why CKK Goes Purple is becoming Seen & Safe, housed under a reimagined She Is Seen Collective.

Escape Was the First Door

Many of you who have walked this journey with me know that I am a survivor of domestic violence.

I have shared the chapters of my story before. While I choose not to revisit the specific details of the violence that nearly cost me my life, the reality of that survival is intertwined into everything I build.

Escape was just the first door.

The true work, the monumental, quiet, everyday work, has been the journey of healing and learning what it takes to feel safe inside my own skin again.

Learning to Return to Myself

It has been many years since I walked away from that relationship. Yet my healing has remained an ongoing process. It hasn’t had a neat, tidy finish line.

For a long time, caring for myself meant years of traditional, trauma-informed talk therapy. It saved me in so many ways.

In more recent years, my path led me toward somatic and sensory therapies, practices that brought attention not just to my mind, but to my physical body.

Through these practices, I discovered the profound power of gentle self-touch that felt safe to me and intentional breathing. I began to recognize how much of my experience I still carried in my body, even after the immediate danger had passed.

Little by little, I began to reclaim my body as a sanctuary.

The Heart Behind What I Create

This deeply personal awakening inspired me to create Alchemized Tears Body Cream and the Grounding Space Clearing Body & Room Mist.

I didn’t just want to create beautiful products. I wanted to translate the sensory rituals that helped me return to myself into something tangible: moments of touch, scent, and pause.

These products are not a replacement for therapy or professional support. They are an invitation to make room for intentional care, in whatever way feels right for you.

For me, that care is part of the heartwork.

Why Seen & Safe, and Why Now

As this work evolved, I realized that the heartwork I started with CKK Goes Purple had outgrown its original home.

Raising awareness will always matter to me. But I wanted to make more room for what comes after survival: the ongoing work of reclaiming our peace, our space, and our relationship with ourselves.

That vision needed a new home.

Seen & Safe, housed under She Is Seen Collective, is the next chapter of that mission. It carries forward the heart of CKK Goes Purple while creating space for the deeper work I feel called to share.

Using My Voice, Even When It Shakes

Making the decision to transition this initiative wasn’t easy.

As I prepared to announce the change, a familiar, heavy anxiety crept back into my chest. It is the feeling that sometimes comes when I speak up, use my voice, or choose a path that may not be instantly liked or understood.

If I am being entirely honest, that fear of speaking up and being misunderstood existed long before I ended up in a violent relationship. Looking back, I can see how difficult it made trusting my own voice and acting on what I needed.

That does not make what happened my fault. But recognizing that fear has been part of learning how to honor myself now.

Even as those old nervous butterflies returned, I stood firm.

I knew this wasn’t simply a business pivot. It was an intentional, necessary step toward the next chapter of my heartwork.

An Invitation to Come With Me

To every one of you who supported, shared, and believed in CKK Goes Purple over the years: thank you.

Your support has been part of this story. My deepest hope is that you will understand the heart behind this evolution and join me at She Is Seen Collective.

This transition is an invitation to make room for more than survival. To reclaim our peace, our space, and our bodies, at our own pace and on our own terms.

We are just getting started.

With love and intention,
Juanita Henderson
Founder, She Is Seen Collective