After Suffering From PMDD For Years, This Woman Founded A FemCare Brand To Help Others Embrace The Power Of Self-Care

To look at Danika Berry’s storied career, you would never guess she’s lived most of her life in chronic pain.

What began as a dream to be an on-air personality, Berry was ushered into television production instead which led to producing shows for ABC, USA and OWN among other networks. From there, she was handpicked by Matthew Knowles to play pivotal role in PR for Music World Entertainment, the management company for Destiny’s Child. Through his guidance and the watchful eye of Yvette Noel-Schure, Berry built an impenetrable reputation among celebs, and leveraged that respect into a communications consulting firm nearly 20 years ago that boasts a client roster including Tami Roman, Quad Webb-Lunceford, T.I. and Rasheeda Frost among others.

While reaching incredible career highs, her health took a toll.

“I have two good weeks out of the month,” she told ESSENCE. “The other two are pure hell. I have two good weeks. That’s it.”

After having her children right before the age of 40, she was diagnosed with PMDD,  a very severe form of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) which causes a range of extreme emotions every month during the week or two before your period. Although it affects about 1 in 12 people who menstruate, the condition is still largely misunderstood.

“It’s an extremely debilitating illness that a lot of people don’t talk about enough,” Berry told ESSENCE. “So that’s why I created a self-care kit for women because I found other ways to come back to my good place.”

That self-care kit is a part of a booming beauty Berry founded in 2017, Glam Body. The hero product is an ethically sourced coffee scrub that has since expanded to a full body care range that helps, in Berry’s words, “reset energy.”

This is a core aspect of Glam Body’s brand ethos, largely due to Berry’s personal experience with how stress plays a role in her physical condition.

“My job absolutely exacerbated my PMDD,” she shared. “Although I love what I do and am grateful for all my success, I had to find a way to offset the strain. I know there are so many women who feel the same.”

Berry plans to continue Glam Body’s success with an expansion into retail and have garnered the support of beauty moguls like Mahisha Dillinger (founder of Curls) and Jenell Stephens (founder of Camille Rose Naturals).

“Despite the challenges, I’ve just been so blessed throughout my life and I really pour that into my products. I want anyone who uses them to feel that. I really do.”