Scent The Tone by Angel Risher

I always love when I see runners branching out into entrepreneurship, and when I came across Angel's brand Scent The Tone, I immediately knew that I had to support her.  Angel is Los Angeles based via Inglewood, she is an HR Professional by day, and runner and candle extraordinaire by night. Let's get to know Angel, aka 26.2Angel.

Kim: How long have you lived in the L.A. Area?

Angel: All of my life. I'm from South Central Los Angeles.

Kim: What was it like growing up in South Central? 

Angel: It wasn't common, it was a little different. In my family you have every span of person, every socioeconomic level, and so you just had to adapt in most cases. I had to adapt and chose which way I wanted to go. Right now I'm not in South Central, I'm actually in Inglewood, but my family is still in South Central.

I like Inglewood.  I chose this location because it's central to everything that I do. Our run club is in Inglewood and it's close to my job. It allows me to function better.  Inglewood is very diverse right now.  You can walk on any corner and see multiple races of people.  The majority is black, but it's very diverse. L.A. is very expensive; even the surrounding areas, and to be able to afford certain areas is not as accessible at the moment. So people are moving in who did not used to be here. 

Kim: What do you do profession wise?

Angel: People think that I don’t have a day job, but I do. I actually work in Human Resources.  I do a lot of stressful work, multitasking, dealing with a lot of people. And for me, I'm honestly an introvert, so my job really takes a lot out of me, energy wise.  I'm always having to deal with multiple types of people all day. So I like my job, but it could be a lot.

Kim: What do you do relieve some of that stress in your downtime when you're not working?

Angel: That's when the running and the candle making come into the category. Running is my time. I don't have to rely on anyone. It's just my solid time to myself, obviously with people, but it's personal to me on multiple levels. Then the candle making, that's a stress reliever. Like candle making is just very chill, it's fun, I like it; So those are the two things I rely on outside of work.

Kim: When did you get into what I like to call recreational long distance running?

Angel: I started running in 2015-2016, honestly because of mental health.  I was a little depressed and was going through some things and counseling wasn't necessarily fulfilling that void, so I just started to just run.  When I run I am able to process my thoughts a little bit better, get my mind clear.  Back then I didn't have any run clubs. I wasn't really on social media at all until late, so running was very personal in the beginning. I didn't run races. I didn't care about medals, it was just very personal.

Kim: How did you discover running? Did you hear about it from a friend? Or did you just decide to go out and start running one day? What was your path toward it?

Angel: With my job, we usually partner with a lot of nonprofits and with those, there's 5k’s that I would join every year; the local breast cancer walk. So I would just walk.  I would just go with my coworkers and we would just walk the 5k.  That was just once a year. And then eventually I was like, well, I want to start running, I don't want to walk. So I started walking and running by myself after work, and sometimes on Saturday mornings. That's kind of how I got into running. 

Kim: You mentioned that you're a part of a run crew. What crew?

Angel: I am part of Keep It Run Hundred. It's based in Inglewood and I've been with them for 5 years so far. 

Kim: How did you discover them? Was that your foray into running races?

Angel: Yes, obviously it kind of kick started the running chaos. Actually my friend, who I met in grad school, he brought me to a run on a Tuesday night. And I didn't know the founder, I didn't know Butta at all. I didn't know anyone at the run club besides my friend who brought me. Once I came on that Tuesday night, I never left . Within that first year I ran a marathon and a half marathon. I found something that I actually liked that was outside of my career. That's when I really was like, okay, I think I like this and I'm gonna keep on doing it, and I haven't stopped. 

Kim: What do you like about being a member of Keep It Run Hundred? I know we have many options for clubs and crews, particularly crews then there were, especially when I started. So what attracted you to this crew and has kept you there for five years now?

Angel: Well honestly, it was the people. I'm a naturally quiet person, so when I got there, I didn't really talk to a lot of people, but eventually, week after week, certain people started gravitating towards me and then we started getting to know each other. I think I'm kind of there now because of the relationships I've built. I value those relationships and it's something that we look forward to. I like coming to go see my friends on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We run, but t's more than just running at this point.

Kim: So what's up next for you? Do you have any upcoming races on your schedule?

Angel: Right now I'm training for my 10th marathon and that'll be LA Marathon in March. And then a week after that I'm running T.S.P. with Keep It Run Hundred. That's 340 miles from Santa Monica to Las Vegas.

Kim: Wow, so how many people are on your team for The Speed Project?