Ayesha Curry Wants You To Shop Small On Amazon This Holiday Season

With the holiday season swiftly approaching, it’s time to start shopping for gifts. For some, braving the crowded mall during Black Friday might be a long-standing tradition. If elbowing your way through hordes of shoppers isn’t quite your thing, however, you’re in luck: Amazon has poised itself to become one of the best holiday shopping destinations this year — just ask Ayesha Curry.

The entrepreneur, author, restauranteur, and mother of three is a small business owner whose very own Ayesha Curry Kitchenware collection is sold on the online retailer, so she knows that Amazon’s offerings go beyond big brand names. Between Black-owned small businesses, woman-founded artisan shops, and even local stores that might be from your area, more than half of all the products sold on Amazon’s platform come from small and medium-sized businesses. So if you’re looking to be a more conscious shopper while also benefitting from convenience, Amazon has got your back.

For Curry, shopping with small businesses on Amazon has proven to be both a convenient and impactful way to shop for holiday gifts for her whole family, and she’s teamed up with the e-retailer to highlight small companies and share her gift guide picks. Here, she chats with Bustle about her favorite artisans on Amazon, the benefits of shopping small, and how she’s making the most out of the holiday season this year.

How do you shop small businesses on Amazon?

There are over 500,000 small businesses just in the U.S. selling on Amazon, but that's growing by the day. It specifies under the company name if it’s a small business, and we also have these amazing small business gift guides that are coming out for the holidays to help you shop.

That's a really great tool. What are some of the perks that shoppers can look forward to when they buy from small businesses on Amazon?

There’s just this level of care, quality, and attention to detail that you'll get with everything that you order. Small businesses are babies in a sense — the people who created them are nurturing them from the ground up, and buyers become this part of the community that they're in.

What are some of your favorite small businesses that are sold on Amazon?

There's a Black-owned jewelry line called BYCHARI that does amazing statement pieces you can wear with anything. Everything is handmade in Los Angeles.

I'm also really into wellness and nurturing myself from the inside out right now, and I love this company called Livity. It’s a Black-owned, female-founded business that makes yoga mats and other tools for your practice.

Nona Lim is a small business from the AAPI community based locally in Oakland, and it makes these amazing bone broths, pad Thai kits, and ramen noodles. I am constantly purchasing these ramen noodles.

What are some of your favorite holiday traditions?

I host a lot of dinners. This year, I plan to decorate the house a little more than usual and do some baking. I can't even believe I said that — I love to cook, but I’m not the biggest baker, so I’m excited to try it out more.

What are your tips for making the holidays feel magical for your whole family?

My biggest tip would be quality over quantity. At the end of the day, the kids and the family aren't going to remember minor details like decorations. They're going to remember the time that was spent together and the conversations that were had.

Also, when it’s time to have people over, just make sure that you have your meals prepped. Do things ahead of time so that you can just pop the oven on, set it, and forget it — then it's ready.

What’s on your holiday wishlist?

Get me a face roller and some sort of acupuncture tuning fork and I'll be happy.

What are some of your favorite dishes or cocktails that you always look forward to making or serving this time of year?

I love doing any sort of cocktail that has warm baking spices in it, like cloves, cardamon, star anise, and cinnamon. Usually, I'll do a holiday punch with some rum and that's always a hit. I also love root vegetables during the holidays — beets and yams and parsnips. I put parsnips in everything, whether it's soup, stews... you name it. I love the texture and the little bit of sweetness that it gives to dishes. And on our Thanksgiving and holiday table, there will always be a crab mac and cheese with three kinds of cheese. That's wellness for the soul.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.