The Origin Story

Shantivánha started off as a concept while I was journaling during my “Dark Night of the Soul.” To be quite honest, I was on a mild dose of psilocybin on Christmas Eve of 2020 when I wrote down “Shantivánha - “Peace and Light Within Nirvana.” 

“Shanti” is a sanskrit term meaning “peace.” My name “Anh” means “Light” in Vietnamese. The root of this word is “Nirvana,” a transcendent state in which there is neither suffering, desire, nor sense of self. This is the highest state of enlightenment… and also my favorite rock band. 

I got out of an abusive relationship on December 10, 2020. The last six months of 2020 felt like an absolute blur and all I can remember is bits and pieces of the psychological and physical abuse because I blocked out so much of it to move on from that chapter of my life. I went back to my art to cope with what happened and bought supplies at Michael’s to paint and draw. I wandered into the bead aisle and bought crystal beads (I fell in love with crystals and researched them at the beginning of that year) and decorative beads. I didn’t do anything with the beads until March 2021. 

At the beginning of March, I made a couple bracelets for my two good friends Tamara Haddad and Bojana Vasiljevic the night before their posing seminar. I was attending to set up a booth for a supplement company I was working for. These bracelets were intended to be gifts, but the ladies has a different idea in mind and introduced Shantivánha as my bracelet company.

I had dabbled into the idea, but I was scared that I would be a starving artist. I was just going to do a side hustle for clothes with Shantivánha, but God had different plans for me with the way the events played out. 

Needless to say I ran with it that day and gave a speech about my company. An hour later, I was in my car and made the Instagram page for Shantivánha and messaged my brother Semeion Robinson to shoot the first commercial for my new bracelet company. 

The seminar occurred on a Saturday. The next day, I pulled an all-nighter and created my first pieces for the 1NE Collection which would ultimately launch on Easter Sunday. Needless to say, Shantivánha has been on a divine timeline. 

In May 2021, my family went through a traumatic experience. My uncle was burned alive in his backyard a few minutes away from my dad’s house. I had requested that day off from work to attend at Crystal Cathedral. Long story short, my job gave me a very hard time about this because I had just came back from a family trip to Florida for a week. This was the first trip I had taken with my family in over ten years and when presented with it by my dad, I decided to go forth with it. We were understaffed to the extreme at headquarters. Requesting the day off to go to a funeral resulted in me being hovered over during for orders and being watched over Instagram. I remember being on edge all day. I retreated to the tower at the front of Crystal Cathedral, sang “Amazing Grace,” and prayed. 

“God, please give me my freedom through prosperity. I promise to live the rest of my life according to your will and I will give back tenfold to your people. I am your vessel, God.” 

I strongly believe in the power of prayer, and it was through this moment that God gave me what I so chose to manifest.

All Glory to God and “Om, Shantivánha.” Thank you for helping me make my wildest dreams a reality. Now it is up to me to make sure you all go follow yours. 

XO, A

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