Welcome - Work In Progress
Hi traveler, welcome to OOOasis. I’m so glad you’re here! When I finally decided to launch this business last year after years of dreaming about it, I had a vision: Our flagship product, the better toiletry bag featured boldly on our website and ready to be shipped globally; a few cute informative blogs, and some beautiful professional pictures. The media was going crazy, we got an invite from SharkTank (Hi Barbara), we were sold out! Screeetch, back to reality, it turns out it isn’t that easy, and I could give you 101 reasons why this business - and I - aren’t quite ready, but you know what they say: perfect is the enemy of good! This endeavor is an ode to the work in progress, the art of trusting the process, and the art of the pivot.
But let’s start at the beginning, I’m Hari, I’m originally from Ethiopia. My obsession for travel started with my mom who worked in the airline industry from way before I was born to the moment she retired. In November 1988, the first flight of my life nearly coincided with my second birthday. On board Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 750 heading from Addis Ababa to Frankfurt, my mom prayed that the German doctors could help me with my seemingly incurable ear infections. You ask how I know the exact date and flight number? My mom wrote it on the back of the photograph she took of me on the plane. I inherited my habit of dating and cataloging everything from her… but more on that later. So, my mom takes me to the German baby ear doctor who recommends ear canal surgery and like any good Ethiopian lady that has just heard about (major) surgery on her baby, she crossed herself – besmeam - and took me straight back home and to church. There, the story goes, an orthodox priest prayed over me, anointed my ears with holy oil, and I’ve been healed ever since. I still keep holy oil among my toiletries… just in case 😊.
While my first international trip wasn’t quite the success, that wasn’t a sign of things to come. Because of my mom’s work, every summer we packed up all the Ethiopian goodies and visited our extended family (and yes NYC was my favorite even back then). Watching my family shop, pack and weigh luggage - you’d be surprised at how heavy Injera and Berbere is - I learned the art of packing, traveling efficiently, and making the most out of every trip. No surprise then that, years later, I ended up as a chief trip officer with a questionable amount of Google Maps pins. But after countless solo and girls trips, jam-packed itineraries, and budget-friendly stays, I started craving slower, more elevated experiences. And one thing I consistently struggled with? Finding a toiletry bag that could keep up — something versatile enough to hang or stand, with compartments, not too bulky, and cute enough to take anywhere. That’s how OOOasis was born: from a desire to bring thoughtfully designed travel accessories to busy women who crave elevated experiences— starting with a better toiletry bag.
After months of designing and going back and forth with the manufacturer, I got my first prototype at the beginning of this year. The exterior was beautiful but not quite what we needed on the inside. When the US government hit the world with tariffs, while the toiletry bag was stuck in prototype revision, it felt especially comical trying to understand what a 124% tariff would mean for this unlaunched business. A sane person might have thought this was a good point to pause, but like anyone possessed by a (good?) idea, I couldn’t. OOOasis had become more than a hobby or a business, it was a passion. A passion for creating moments of calm amidst the chaos of life. A passion for embracing life as it is, with kindness, a little humor and thoughtfully designed accessories.
While waiting for the second prototype I stayed up one night working on another idea I had been toying with. I contained my excitement until my husband and best friend - who are both very stylish, but very different - said “I would wear that”. That’s how the OOO humor collection was born: corporate jargon with a fun travel twist. Do you like to “catch flights, not typos” or “put a pin in it”? Then the OOO humor collection may be for you.
I read somewhere “When something goes wrong in your life, just yell ‘Plot Twist’ and move on.” I’m embracing that. Yes, we’re still revising the better toiletry bag, yes we’re still holding our breath on tariffs… “Plot Twist”. But in the meantime, we're embracing the work in progress. Welcome and I can’t wait to grow with you.