What happens when a near-death childbirth experience becomes the wake-up call that launches a six-figure wellness empire? In episode 279 of Joy Found Here, Cassandra Sonma Ukaobi, known as Cass UK, shares how an emergency C-section and postpartum depression pushed her to leave a stable NHS career and go all-in on Tolicious, her wellness brand. For Cass, the journey wasn't about waiting until things felt safe. It was about trusting that self-care isn't selfish, it's survival.
In This Episode, You Will Learn:
03:39 Cass Uk joins the conversation
04:54 Growing up in Nigeria with a midwife mother
05:30 Choosing nursing school in Dominica over medicine in Nigeria
08:28 The near-fatal childbirth that became her wake-up call
10:04 Building Tolicious: products, philosophy, and the Healing Chats podcast
15:04 Her own postpartum depression and the power of community
21:17 Writing \"The Tolicious Way\"
26:52 Family reactions, patriarchy, and generational expectations
29:21 From tea and shea butter to a full skincare line
33:53 Launching Blueprint Academy and the ancestral legacy behind her drive
Cassandra Sonma Ukaobi, known as Cass Uk, is a Nigerian-born, UK-based entrepreneur and former NHS nurse who founded Tolicious, an award-winning nurse-led wellness brand offering supplements, skincare, haircare, and workplace wellbeing programs. She bootstrapped the business to six-figure revenue in its first year while nursing full-time, later securing investment through the North East Accelerator Programme as the first Black female founder to do so, and the brand has since been named Best Female-Led Wellness Brand UK 2025. She also authored \"The Tolicious Way,\" hosts the podcast Healing Chats, and founded Blueprint Academy, coaching women moving from corporate careers into entrepreneurship.
In this episode, Cassandra Sonma Ukaobi shares the journey behind Tolicious, from growing up in Nigeria watching her midwife mother run a maternity clinic, through nursing training in Dominica and a career spanning London and the NHS. She opens up about the emergency C-section that nearly took her life and her son's, the wake-up call that pushed her to leave nursing and go all-in on her business. She speaks candidly about postpartum depression and community, and discusses writing her book, her plant-based skincare line tested at market pop-ups, and her mentoring work through Blueprint Academy. Throughout, she credits her nursing background for the skills that built her business, guided by her belief that self-care is not selfish but survival.
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Book: Cassandra Sonma Ukaobi “Class UK” - The Tolicious Way
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