Body Care Brand Kiyani Is Miranda Mullett's Ode to Her Navajo Culture and Our Planet

Miranda Mullett has a deep love of soap berries — so much so that she has centered her Kiyani body wash around the ingredient. For those who haven't yet experienced the magic of the soap berry (also known as a soap nut), the small fruit contains saponin, which is a natural detergent that creates a lathering effect.

"I've been obsessed with soap berries since I first discovered them over 10 years ago," the 36-year-old tells Hunker. "It was the most magical experience to go picking for them because they are a Southern Chinese native plant. It's a nostalgic thing. To see it suds up is the most amazing thing. It's always been something very special to me."

Mullett grew up with her grandparents on the Navajo Nation in Wide Ruins, Arizona. There, she experienced another type of saponin. "[In Navajo culture], there is something called a kinaaldá, which is a coming-of-age ceremony you have after your first menstruation," she explains. "Part of the process is washing your hair with yucca root, which has a natural saponin like soap berries. That's the first time I encountered a natural saponin, digging for this yucca root with my grandma, putting it in water, and seeing it lather as a 14-year-old."

After briefly leaving Arizona to attend high school in Farmington, New Mexico, the founder returned to the state to attend college at Northern Arizona University. Then, in 2009, the trajectory of her life changed when she decided to visit friends in China. "It was a time of openness, art, and culture [in China]," says Mullett. "It was an amazing time."

While in China, the creator ended up in a business incubator internship and fell in love with that world. This led her to start her own business focused on developing internships and study-abroad programs for U.S. universities in Asia. However, when COVID hit, this work came to a halt.

After moving to a home where she could have her own studio, Mullett began creating her own product, a 500-milliliter glass bottle of soap berry soap, under the business name "To Float or Fly." However, these bottles kept breaking in transport. Concerned with the wastefulness of this process, Mullett began to seek a solution, which came in the form of creating a concentrated formula that would not require as much packaging or water usage.

Around this time, the maker spoke with a friend about her brand, and they suggested aligning the business with what is important to Mullett: her Native American roots and respect for Earth. Since her Navajo clan is called Kinyaa'áanii, Mullett decided to go with a simplified version of the name: Kiyani.

Staying true to her values, Mullett aimed to make biodegradability a focus of her brand. At the time, she was also living without a sewer system and next to a wild bird reserve, so she was extra conscious of not polluting the water supply with her products.

Having officially founded Kiyani in 2021, Mullett spent countless hours trying to find the right formulation and factory to manufacture her products in China. This is primarily where her customer base is located, but the body soap is now being sold in the United States, and soon, a body oil and hand soap will join it.

As for the packaging, the soap concentrate comes in an aluminum bottle that can be recycled. A glass dispenser bottle is also provided, which is where customers mix the concentrate with water. This entire setup is housed in a paper box that can be composted.

Beyond the physical, Mullett intends to keep her Navajo culture as a key part of the brand. "It is really important because I want to have more positive representation of Navajos and Native Americans," she states. "I think sometimes there is a lot of negativity that happens. I just want to be a voice and face saying, 'There is positivity on the Navajo Nation, and we are doing things.'"

To keep up with Kiyani, you can follow them on Instagram and shop their products here.