I still remember the first time I stumbled into UpMarket and saw these unique necklaces made with fabric. They felt so island to me. So familiar. So rooted. The aesthetic felt like home before I even knew the name behind it. That was my first encounter with Shari Winchester and she became the very first local non-food entrepreneur I ever featured on TTChatterbox.

I’ve followed her journey ever since, watching her creativity unfold through fashion, design, Carnival and culture. To witness her now step into this quieter, more inward chapter of her work feels deeply full circle. Rooted is not just a new product. It is a reflection of growth, honesty and self-awareness. I am incredibly proud to share this new facet of Shari’s journey, one that reminds us all that caring for ourselves is just as important as everything we create for others.

There comes a moment when the noise gets too loud and the body quietly insists on being heard. For Shari Winchester, that moment arrived not in chaos but in stillness. Somewhere between showing up for clients, creating relentlessly and being everything to everyone, she realised something was missing. “I just found myself lost in all the things that I am to everyone around me and feeling an emptiness that I needed to solve,” she says. “I was terribly burnt out and realised that I just don’t take proper care of ME.”

Shari is a creator in the truest sense of the word. Known for her vibrant visual language and thoughtful design sensibility, she is the founder of Neonness, a creative studio rooted in storytelling and expression. She is also the designer behind SHOPSHARI and a costume designer for The Lost Tribe, where colour, movement and culture collide on the road every Carnival. Her work has always lived at the intersection of art, identity and emotion. She has spent years helping brands and audiences connect outwardly, using creativity to tell stories that feel alive, while creating a brand of her own. 

But creativity, especially when fuelled by purpose and passion, can quietly become exhausting when it is always directed outward. In a culture that celebrates resilience, productivity and constant motion, self-care often becomes an afterthought, something postponed until there is time. For many women, that time never quite arrives. The result is burnout that creeps in slowly, masked by competence and strength.

That is where Rooted begins.

Rooted is not a reaction to a trend but a response to a reality. It recognises that self-care is not just about rest days or occasional moments of escape, but about intentional reflection. About checking in with yourself before the body forces you to stop. Journaling, at its core, creates space. It allows thoughts to be placed somewhere safe rather than carried endlessly. It offers clarity when the mind feels crowded and grounding when life feels overwhelming.

For Shari, journaling became a way to reconnect with herself after years of prioritising everyone else. It offered a pause. A place to acknowledge exhaustion without judgement. A way to understand what she was feeling instead of pushing through it. Rooted grew from that practice, shaped by the understanding that many women want to slow down but do not always know how, or feel intimidated by blank pages that offer no guidance.

Rooted is a guided self-care journal designed to support reflection gently and consistently. It does not demand daily discipline or perfection. Instead, it meets women where they are. Some days that may look like writing a few honest lines. Other days it may simply be opening the journal and sitting with a prompt. That flexibility is intentional. Self-care is not linear and Rooted respects that.

Every element of the journal reflects this philosophy. Its intimate size encourages closeness rather than obligation. The ribbon bookmark quietly acknowledges that reflection is ongoing, that you will leave and return. The prompts are thoughtful and open-ended, inviting awareness rather than solutions. The design feels warm and grounding, a visual reminder that care can be soft and still powerful.

What Rooted does especially well is position journaling not as a productivity tool, but as a wellbeing practice. In a Caribbean context where strength is often measured by endurance, Rooted offers a different narrative. It reminds women that tending to their inner world is not indulgent. It is essential. Journaling becomes a way to listen to yourself before burnout speaks louder, to honour your emotions instead of minimising them, and to create space for rest without guilt.

Rooted also reflects Shari’s broader creative journey. Just as her fashion and costume work celebrate movement, culture and identity, this journal honours emotional truth. It is an extension of the same care she has always poured into her work, now directed inward and shared with others who need it too.

For Shari, the launch of Rooted is not just about introducing a product. It is about offering a tool that supports wellbeing in a real and accessible way. It is an invitation to pause, to reflect and to reconnect with yourself intentionally. Rooted is a reminder that self-care does not have to be loud or complicated. Sometimes it is as simple, and as powerful, as putting pen to paper and choosing to take care of yourself.