She Received Meghan Markle’s As Ever Box — and Sent Something Back: ‘One Lifestyle Homemaker to Another’

Akilah Releford Gould shares her honest thoughts on the Duchess of Sussex’s jam and why the two women are ‘kindred spirits at heart’

Meghan Markle’s first batch of products for As ever sold out online in 45 minutes, but some —including Kris Jenner, Serena Williams and Zoe Saldaña — were lucky enough to receive a full box of coveted products in the mail. However, one decided to send something back to the Duchess of Sussex.

Akilah Releford Gould tells PEOPLE that the Duchess of Sussex’s products came as a “pleasant surprise.” After the As ever page reached out to the entrepreneur for her address, she “forgot it was coming and didn’t think twice about what it could be.” But when the package arrived, “I immediately went home, ended the work day to open it.”

Her unboxing video was viewed over 340,000 times on TikTok, but it also included an unexpected twist: putting together a reciprocal basket full of goodies to send back to Meghan from her family’s farm in Acton, California — Bloom Ranch — along with wine from her Lucky Girl Rosé brand.

“I was picking flavor profiles and ingredients that I think she would like based on recipes she has posted in the past,” Akilah says.

Releford Gould hasn’t heard a response from Meghan — who she says is a “kindred spirit at heart” since they’re “both Leos from L.A.” — but she is fine with that.

“As long as she’s enjoying everything, it was truly just a gesture of thank you for sending — one lifestyle homemaker to another,” she says.

Releford Gould, whose family’s farm is the largest Black-owned farm in southern California, has seen a positive response from followers who found her through the Duchess of Sussex connection.

“I think a lot of people were discovering me for the first time were excited because it’s like, ‘Okay, now there are more people who look like me who are doing the same things that I enjoy doing.’ ”

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Although they haven’t connected yet, Releford Gould said she would love to tell Meghan that she admires this new chapter in her life.

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“She’s been able to take something that is really authentic to her — even with her lifestyle blog, The Tig — and kind of transform it into a new era,” the entrepreneur says. “I would love to pick her brain.”

As for Meghan’s products, Releford Gould says she “truly loved everything.”

“I made crepes last weekend with my daughter and put the jam inside, it was great,” she shares, adding, “I love the packaging. Definitely my aesthetic too — very light, whimsical, clean. I thought it was beautiful.”

And while not everyone was able to order Meghan’s famous flower sprinkles before they sold out, Releford Gould’s new lifestyle brand launching on April 25 — featuring products that are inspired by the winery and ranch — offers an equally fun alternative: garden confetti.

Described as a “celebration of nature — on your plate,” the blend of organic rose petals, marigold, calendula, violas, lavender and seasonal garden greens grown at Bloom Ranch adds a special touch to desserts, cocktails or salads.

“I love that the greens add this pop of brightness to the flower sprinkles,” she says.

The Duchess of Sussex spoke more about her flower sprinkles at the TIME100 Summit in New York City on Wednesday, April 23, saying they “create a little bit of magic that we are all craving in our everyday.”

“They’re tiny little flower petals that are dried. I started putting them on salads, I started putting them on scrambled eggs, it didn’t actually matter, on a yoghurt parfait,” Meghan said. “The level of charm that you find people have when they see these tiny little dried petals is something I can’t wrap my head around, but I appreciate that there is a love for the detail and the small level of delight that can be added.”

“So, take flower sprinkles really as an analogy and think about what you can do in your everyday life that can have a little splash of magic on unexpected moments,” she added.

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