1:30

Hey y'all , Welcome back to the Prolific Hood

1:32

podcast . I'm your girl , Leah

1:34

Cheyenne , and I'm super excited today to

1:36

be joined by a special guest

1:38

, Brittany Demestine

1:41

. Hi , Brittany .

1:43

Hey , thanks for having me . Oh

1:45

, my God , I'm so excited .

1:46

I'm so excited to have you and

1:48

I'm going to let you jump into

1:51

telling us a little bit more about you

1:53

, but before that I want to just share

1:55

with our audience how

1:57

I met you , how I know of you so

2:00

really quickly and I've spoken about this

2:02

retreat on the pod before but

2:05

last year Brittany

2:09

, through her company , her group

2:11

, the Soul Seekers Club , hosted a really powerful

2:13

weekend in the Poconos . That was really special

2:16

. My

2:22

sister , tasia , and I went and it was just

2:24

very cozy and heartwarming . It

2:28

was an opportunity to get to know some other folks that we hadn't met before . It was

2:30

an opportunity to go a little bit deeper within ourselves because there was a

2:32

sacred mushroom ceremony with

2:34

sacred cacao and mushroom . Brittany

2:38

teamed up with Black Girls Hike to

2:40

do a really awesome hike , which

2:42

was really cool and it

2:44

was just a really lovely experience

2:47

. There was so much love and

2:49

care that went into that retreat . That

2:51

has stuck with me and I've

2:53

shared about it on the podcast before . But I'm

2:55

so excited to have Brittany here to talk

2:57

more about the Soul Seekers Club

2:59

and the work that she does . But before

3:02

we jump into that , brittany

3:04

, I want to give you an opportunity to introduce

3:07

yourself to the people , so please

3:09

tell us who you are .

3:12

Thank you so much . Oh , my goodness . Well

3:14

, hi everyone . My name is Brittany Demestine

3:17

. I'm the founder of the Soul Seekers

3:19

Club . I'm a conscious creative

3:21

, a wellness practitioner and

3:23

a liver of life , and I mean

3:27

the Soul Seekers Club the Soul Seekers

3:29

Club because I consider myself a professional

3:31

soul seeker , so I

3:33

wanted to embody that in something

3:36

that I can cultivate for the collective , for

3:39

like-minded people . I've

3:41

been a wellness practitioner for a couple of years now

3:43

. My journey

3:46

came from I

3:48

have a background in medicine . So

3:50

my original path of

3:53

career I was always aiming

3:55

for like school and just

3:57

what my parents had in

4:00

mind for me growing up and after

4:02

I graduated from college I tried to apply

4:05

to a physician assistant program

4:07

and I didn't get in and I thought that was

4:09

my chance to really think about

4:11

like okay , do I want to do this again

4:14

? A chance to really think about

4:16

like okay , do I want to do this again ? Take the test to get into grad school , be in grad school for

4:18

years , just off of something that I'm not even sure that

4:20

I love .

4:21

And .

4:21

I knew in my heart for years that I always

4:23

wanted to be a creative . I just didn't know what

4:25

. Coming from Caribbean background parents

4:28

, it's like we've

4:32

had some convictions , I

4:37

know , facts . You can't

4:39

do what . You have to be doctor , you have

4:41

to be lawyer , you have to be nothing

4:44

. So I

4:47

had taken the opportunity . I chose

4:50

myself is what I always

4:52

say after I graduated

4:54

, and I took that year off to just figure out

4:57

what do I want to do . And

4:59

I deviated into holistic

5:01

medicine , wellness practices , spirituality

5:04

. I started solo traveling . That

5:06

just opened the door for so many things

5:08

and literally my life has been a

5:10

domino effect since that day

5:13

, just constant evolution

5:15

after evolution . I

5:17

feel like I found my

5:20

hobbies , my interests after

5:22

the age of 24 and

5:25

life really started for me and I

5:28

finally felt what it

5:30

is that I want to do on

5:32

this earth and how I want to serve . So

5:34

, yeah , and ever since then

5:36

, I've just been exploring entrepreneurship

5:39

, exploring breaking

5:42

out of my mold with , like , different experiences

5:46

and creating experiences for myself and other people

5:48

. So with that , to this day

5:50

, it's cultivated into me

5:52

being a life coach , me being a

5:54

Reiki practitioner and

5:57

a creative , a content creator at

5:59

my core and , yeah , just

6:01

a professional soul

6:03

seeker at heart . So I

6:06

love that .

6:07

Yeah , I love that . So

6:10

so many things to unpack with

6:12

that . I love the statement

6:14

like I chose me , I chose myself

6:16

. So many people don't

6:19

do that and they go

6:22

through life always wondering what could

6:24

it have looked like had I bet on myself

6:26

and had I chosen myself ? So I think that's really

6:28

beautiful and I'm like

6:31

this will come up in

6:33

other interviews interviews but I'm noticing how many

6:35

like just dope , incredible

6:38

creative black women started off

6:40

trying to pursue medicine , either

6:43

because , yeah , like

6:45

, either because maybe parents

6:48

wanted them to do that , or

6:50

they thought that was the way to go and quickly

6:52

learn , like actually actually .

6:54

I need to be over here doing this .

6:56

I'm like that's so interesting

6:59

to me , but

7:01

yeah , I just so much . So many things

7:03

are beautiful about what you said and I've

7:06

been able to witness some

7:08

of your creativity and experience some

7:10

of your magic , like through the retreat , through our

7:13

conversation now , and I'm just

7:15

excited to share more about you and your work

7:17

with our audience so okay

7:20

, before we get into the nitty gritty and all the cool stuff

7:22

, real quick . So

7:24

you relocated last year

7:27

.

7:29

I'm a born and raised New Yorker that has moved

7:31

to Los Angeles . Yep . Wonder Race , new Yorker that has moved to Los Angeles Yep

7:34

.

7:34

Yes , all the way from one coast to

7:36

another . So

7:41

how has that been ? In short , like , do

7:43

you feel like you found your place

7:47

? Like , do you feel like you found your place for now

7:49

? Do you feel like this is like what about it ? Like tell me more . Yeah

7:51

, yeah , it's been definitely a topic . Do you feel like this is like like what about it

7:53

? Like tell me more . Yeah .

7:55

Yeah , it's been definitely a topic

7:57

In terms of

7:59

like it being my place

8:02

. I think , going over there

8:04

and I'll give you the back story but going over there

8:06

I realized that I don't think I have

8:08

a place Like

8:11

, for example , born

8:13

and raised in New York and only living here

8:15

for my entire life , I never went away for college , never

8:18

, you know nothing Just

8:22

stayed on the block , journey on the block for the last

8:24

couple of years , 20

8:26

years

8:28

. So I've

8:32

realized that

8:34

after finally like leaving and being

8:36

somewhere else , I actually like

8:38

have a desire , ironically

8:40

, to become a nomad . Now

8:42

, in a sense , I

8:44

started out of the only thing that I've

8:46

known , just kind of opened my eyes a little bit more , even

8:48

though I've traveled and I've been to

8:50

so many places for certain periods of time

8:53

. But yeah , and that's

8:55

always been a thing with me . But

8:58

back to like the reason . So

9:00

I moved for work . So

9:03

, aside from being a creative entrepreneur , I

9:06

still have , you know , some

9:08

nine to five jobs from

9:10

time to time and

9:12

I decided to work with a wellness

9:15

company , an herbal wellness

9:17

company about a year and a half ago

9:19

here in New York , a brick

9:21

and mortar in Brooklyn , and

9:23

they decided to open up an LA location

9:26

and I was already

9:28

going to Burning man . If you know , burning

9:30

man it's amazing , they

9:33

call it a rave , but it's really this like camping

9:36

festival experience in the desert

9:38

in Nevada . I had already

9:40

, like purchased a ticket , no notion

9:42

of moving to anywhere , you know

9:44

, I was just going and then coming back and

9:47

I had mentioned it to the company . I was like , hey

9:49

, I know you guys have been sending people over

9:52

to help with the opening of the

9:54

new location . I'm going to be on the West Coast

9:56

, do you need help ? And they're like , actually we

9:58

need a manager to help set

10:00

up the store and relocate . I was like I'll

10:02

do it , you

10:05

know , like I want something fresh , something new . So I took the opportunity

10:07

when I tell you , I had one month

10:10

to prepare to

10:12

let go of my apartment in

10:14

Brooklyn , to pack everything

10:17

, move to storage

10:19

, aka my parents' house , and then

10:21

head on over and just

10:23

kind of get settled . So with that

10:26

, my journey into LA

10:28

was not the most comfortable . It

10:30

was definitely rushed compared

10:33

to someone that . It

10:40

was definitely rushed like , compared to someone that may have taken

10:42

a job opportunity and had like months to prepare before . Mine

10:49

was so rushed . And then the store , the grand opening

10:51

was so popular and the store itself is very

10:53

successful , so it's been nonstop busy , busy , non-stop

10:57

busy , busy . Um , so it was definitely a lot . I always , when people

10:59

ask me that , I always say , like the the job has

11:01

had such an impact on me that it's affected , like the way that I can really

11:03

dive into a new city and

11:05

explore LA for what it is wow

11:08

, wow , oh

11:10

, that's like .

11:11

that's like . That's like rapid

11:14

rapid fire , like rapid

11:17

, rapid , everything . That's

11:21

so interesting . Thank you for sharing

11:23

that , though , and I actually

11:25

love your correction at the start

11:27

of that about how , like

11:29

, not necessarily feeling like it's your place and adapting

11:32

more of like a nomadic lifestyle

11:34

of mentality , I think I

11:36

mean I saw , I saw a quote a long time

11:38

ago . Um , I'm

11:40

going to butcher this , but basically

11:43

it was saying like human beings , we

11:45

have legs . If we were meant to stay in one place , we

11:47

would have roots like as

11:49

if we were a tree you know

11:51

, and , um , I

11:54

saw that and I was like you know , I

11:57

think that's true , like that's how I look at travel

11:59

, cause I love to travel , um

12:02

, but I haven't particularly

12:04

I haven't necessarily moved

12:06

like in adulthood , like relocated

12:09

to a new place . I've moved in childhood

12:11

that was not in my control , that

12:13

was not my decision , those

12:16

were not places I stayed long term

12:18

. I've been in New York the longest

12:20

, but I've always had a desire

12:22

to go somewhere else and I don't

12:24

know exactly where yet . But

12:26

even though it was

12:29

rapid fire , it's still inspiring to hear more about

12:31

how you did relocate and move . And

12:33

, yeah , I think it's . Even

12:36

though it's been like hectic , I think it's still inspiring and

12:38

cool and I hope you will get , you know

12:40

, a chance to really dive into the city and

12:42

see more about

12:45

it and experience more of it . That's not just centered

12:47

around like this particular transition

12:49

, you know .

12:50

Exactly , yeah . And

12:52

to your point like not knowing

12:54

where you want to go , I didn't know where I wanted

12:57

to go either , but I ended up realizing

12:59

. I had realized

13:01

when I got to LA that

13:03

everything that I was asking for

13:05

earlier that year in my journal as

13:08

I was script

13:11

even like realize it , you

13:13

know , I had asked this

13:15

same job . I was at I think the

13:18

position that I was in . It was still

13:20

at an immediate level and

13:22

I was like no , I really want to

13:24

be in leadership . I really want

13:26

a job that can I

13:28

can be in leadership , I can be a creative

13:30

and I can be potentially remote

13:33

so that I can travel or just have or

13:35

travel for work in some capacity

13:37

. And I was like I can't see that

13:39

here , so I'm just going to manifest it outside

13:41

of this current job and that's what I was

13:43

scripting , that's what I was writing . And

13:46

then here I get . At least like 75%

13:48

of the manifestation came true because here

13:50

I am in a new city , I'm living

13:53

somewhere else , I'm technically

13:55

traveling , I feel like I'm traveling

13:57

in LA or the

13:59

West Coast , just exploring

14:01

bordering cities and

14:03

states , and I'm in

14:05

leadership and I am exercising

14:07

my creativity . So all

14:10

that to say if you don't know exactly

14:12

where you want to go ? I think it's more so about

14:15

setting the intention of what you want to experience

14:18

and how .

14:18

Yes .

14:19

And then Universal provides you those opportunities

14:22

, just like I got mine out of nowhere

14:24

.

14:25

Yeah , yeah , I love that , I

14:29

love that . But the truth is there's a lot of power

14:31

in like writing and a

14:34

version of the written word that's

14:36

not like literal scripture

14:39

, like religious text , but like you

14:41

writing and creating your own word

14:44

, and I think that there's a lot of power in that . You're

14:46

reminding me I need to get back to writing down my intentions

14:48

. I speak a lot what I want , I visualize

14:51

a lot what I want , but I always write it down

14:53

and I need to get back to doing that . It's

14:56

tough .

14:57

I don't think I like journaling

14:59

as much as I like everybody else

15:01

. It's easy for some people

15:04

I think for me . I know

15:06

I have to get out of my head about no

15:10

one else is going to read it , so I'm

15:12

like it's for you

15:14

.

15:14

yeah , just throw down

15:16

whatever you want to throw down , but yeah yeah

15:19

, and sometimes it's not

15:21

always easy to free write and

15:23

sometimes it helps to have prompts

15:26

and that's one of the reasons why , like I created

15:28

a journal , like during the pandemic

15:30

, I created a journal for other people to use , to like

15:32

help prompt some

15:34

of those just things that we know inside , that

15:36

we don't always speak or write to

15:39

just get it out . So I think

15:41

that's powerful . We can go on and on about this

15:43

, but we need to get to the nitty gritty . I

15:49

love this . So the

15:51

Soul Seekers Club . So you

15:54

shared a little bit more about

15:56

just why

15:59

you wanted to start it , like what it meant

16:01

to you . But I would love

16:03

like the real deep , like origin

16:06

story . Like I know , you

16:08

consider yourself a soul

16:10

seeker . That's what led you to the name

16:12

and the work and wanting to inspire

16:14

that in other people . But what was the origin

16:17

story ? How did you

16:19

wake up one day and know

16:21

this is the business I want to form

16:23

and this is how I want to help other people and

16:25

serve other people ? What's that background

16:29

?

16:29

Okay . So I think it comes in pieces . For

16:31

sure , I've been an entrepreneur

16:33

for a minute I

16:36

be trying to discredit myself and I have

16:38

to remind myself . I'm like , no , you've been

16:40

doing this , like you really been doing this

16:43

, right . And I

16:45

want to say , my first

16:48

business outside of like

16:50

, when I chose myself and I started

16:52

to realize what I want to

16:54

do , I started making

16:56

my own skincare products . That

16:59

business was called Essence of Brit and

17:01

I handmade products , face

17:03

masks , body scrubs , yoni

17:05

Steams , like all these herbal blends Okay

17:08

, yoni Steams , yoni Steams

17:10

. And then

17:12

I got into juicing , so

17:19

that , like defined my holistic wellness aspect and I started making , like detox

17:21

juice , cleanses for people , and that was called

17:23

juice by Brit . And then

17:25

what else did I do ? Um

17:28

, I can't remember there was

17:30

something in between that time period , but I

17:33

just like , gradually started

17:35

to create um more

17:39

streams of creativity

17:41

for myself to be able to provide

17:43

services for people . So , as

17:46

a content creator , I started creating for

17:48

people and helping them , like um

17:51

creative directing , edit

17:53

their videos , put them together , you

17:55

know , providing that for them . And

17:58

once I started to tap more into

18:00

my spirituality , I also

18:02

started to host , like classes

18:05

and womb circles and

18:07

just offering meditation

18:09

one on one . So my overall

18:12

goal was to always have

18:14

some kind of space , either

18:17

physical or more

18:19

primarily physical , where I like . Combine

18:22

all those things into one and how can I

18:24

help create um

18:26

a space of self-development

18:28

for folks and

18:31

give them like an overall experience

18:33

um ? and on top of that

18:36

, with my traveling , I've

18:38

always wanted to host a retreat , so

18:40

and I'm just like throwing it into pieces because it's making sense literally . The origin

18:42

is that always wanted to host a retreat . So and I'm just like throwing it into pieces because it's making sense Literally the

18:44

origin is that I wanted to make

18:46

that , I wanted to combine all

18:48

those things together and

18:51

serve particularly

18:53

Black women and people of color , and

18:56

that like is changing as I'm seeing

18:58

like who is who needs me over

19:00

time . And I remember

19:03

when I I've only visited

19:05

LA once before I moved , so

19:08

around 2022

19:10

, I believe in December , I

19:13

went to go visit a friend and it was on

19:15

the plane ride or just like

19:18

. A couple of days prior I was just getting downloads

19:20

about what the soul seekers club

19:22

would look like . And

19:25

yeah , like branding

19:27

wise , uh , color scheme

19:30

, like what is it about ? And

19:33

yeah , and then I just kind of rolled with

19:35

it and ever since then it felt like I had

19:37

the seed planted for what that's going to

19:39

look like . And I definitely have

19:41

to give a lot of props to all of the business

19:44

coaches that I've had over the years , um

19:46

, especially the one that I'm working

19:49

with now , like they've all helped brand

19:52

, helped me brand this into what

19:54

it's supposed to look like , um

19:56

, and so

19:58

, yeah , that's for the most

20:00

part , it's been , it's been a journey of just

20:03

like serving the

20:58

collective . You know , how can I

21:01

, how can I

21:03

put all of my gifts and talents into one

21:05

offer that helps to bring

21:07

people together but helps to pour

21:09

into them , so they can kind

21:12

of be like me . Oh wait , hold on , that's exactly

21:14

what it is . I was like , wait , why am I running into circles

21:16

? Kind of be like me . Oh wait , hold on . That's exactly what it is .

21:17

I was like wait why am I running into ?

21:19

circles , but you know , spirit be just having you spit things out . I knew that

21:21

a lot of people were always so

21:24

inspired by what

21:26

I do online , like , oh

21:32

, you create content so well . I love how you

21:34

just get up and go . I would

21:36

always get that feedback and I'm like

21:38

you can do it too , like that's . That's

21:40

literally always been at my core

21:42

. I just always want to show people , like , how

21:45

can you get there ? Um , and

21:47

primarily , how you get there

21:49

is with self-work , self-development

21:52

, um , creating a sound

21:54

healing vessel for

21:56

yourself to be able to like

21:59

tap into your authenticity and

22:02

tap into your creativity . So

22:04

I think Soul Seekers Club is like a mirror

22:06

of myself , wanting

22:09

to like help others

22:11

unlock themselves and to

22:14

like get to the space of

22:16

the journey that I went through , understanding

22:19

what I really , where I really wanted to be , chose

22:21

myself and made those actionable

22:24

steps to be able to create

22:26

the life that I actually want to live .

22:30

Oh my gosh , you said so much . You

22:34

said so much , I did Wait

22:36

a minute . Let me get to the minute , let me get

22:38

to the let me get to the you know yeah

22:41

, but I I think it's

22:43

beautiful that , like in

22:47

your own self-discovery journey

22:49

and finding , enjoying these different

22:51

places and areas and

22:53

things that you like , and recognizing

22:57

that it sparks a light

22:59

in other people Like you've been able to craft

23:01

and shape such a beautiful and inspiring

23:04

business . And I

23:06

think that not

23:08

, I think that part of it is a quote that I'm also

23:10

going to butcher but the

23:12

idea is that sometimes , when you see people out

23:15

here doing their own thing

23:17

and just shining it often inspires

23:19

other people to do the same , and there's

23:22

a saying that we can only

23:24

see in others what we recognize

23:26

in ourselves , whether that's good or bad

23:30

witness

23:32

like your work and your content

23:34

. You don't even know like what

23:36

a spark you might be igniting

23:38

in other people like I . I

23:41

still think about this . You did a real

23:43

like recapping your 2023 , like

23:46

your highs and your lows , and it was so

23:48

beautifully done , like

23:50

even just taking snips

23:53

and clips of these moments in

23:55

time and thinking through

23:57

what you wanted to say and communicate

23:59

by stringing , like those videos

24:01

and clips together . It was such a beautiful reel , like

24:04

I think I watched it like three times in a row . I

24:06

think I got a little moist in the eye

24:08

. I was like so beautiful , this is so

24:10

inspiring . But

24:24

I'm just like , even whether that was the intention or not like even in you producing that you

24:26

don't always realize what an impact it's having on other people and I think

24:28

that's so just cool and transformative and like just by

24:30

being your authentic self , like you're

24:33

already doing the work or you're already being

24:35

a vessel for the work , um

24:37

, so yeah

24:39

that's

24:41

so .

24:42

Yeah , right , that that was good . That was

24:44

good . What'd you ? What'd you do ? Yeah

24:51

yeah , exactly

24:53

exactly what it is , and and when

24:55

I think about it and thank you so much

24:57

. Like that is my favorite reel too and

25:00

honestly , that was like , yeah

25:02

, I put a lot of heart and soul into it

25:04

because of the the

25:07

tremendous , like abrupt move

25:10

and all that came after it . Like I got

25:12

into a car accident when I got yeah

25:15

into LA I've been without

25:17

a car for like six months in LA

25:19

which ? is just crazy and just figuring

25:22

all that out , and it actually caused

25:24

me to take a hiatus

25:26

from social media , not so much

25:28

because I mean yes and no

25:30

. I had a lot of people tell me like

25:32

give yourself time and give yourself grace

25:34

. You just moved to a new city Like you don't have to

25:36

show up on social

25:39

media and do it all and act like everything's okay

25:41

and I'm like , yeah , but like I have

25:43

so many people that I don't want to leave

25:45

hanging and you know I just so hard

25:48

on myself and I

25:50

took that minute away . So that

25:52

real was really like okay

25:54

, I've been quiet but here's

25:56

like everything , but it was more

25:58

so for me to really like

26:01

the progression and the beauty

26:03

of my progression . So exactly

26:05

what you mentioned like being your authentic

26:08

self , online or anywhere , just

26:11

doing it for you , you know , at the end of

26:14

the day , is going

26:16

to give that that tremendous impact

26:18

, because it's it's , it's

26:21

coming from that space of authenticity

26:23

.

26:23

Like give yourself space to

26:26

just live and gain more experience and you know , navigate

26:28

life and enjoy life and

26:30

then come back to it Like

26:44

we all need those breaks and it sounded like it was really important for you

26:46

and when you did come back , you

26:49

came back bigger and better . So

26:51

I , yeah , I think that's

26:53

really great . So you've already

26:56

touched on some aspects about

26:58

how your gifts are showing up

27:00

in the work that you do , from Reiki

27:02

, healing to curating spaces

27:05

for all people people of

27:07

color , Black women , everyone who

27:10

needs your work or who's drawn to your work

27:12

, to

27:19

your work . I'm curious about how you've seen other gifts or additional

27:21

gifts like maybe not all spiritual , but even just recognizing some of your like core hard skills

27:23

and your talents how that's shown up and really supported

27:26

you in your entrepreneurial journey

27:28

.

27:29

That's a great question . Yeah

27:32

, I would say , kind

27:35

of how you were commenting

27:38

on that reel that I made , I

27:40

think I developed a really great gift

27:42

of , I

27:45

guess , within filmmaking

27:47

, or just understanding how

27:49

to make content

27:52

that you can feel I don't know what

27:55

that word is , or like how

27:57

to describe it exactly but instead

27:59

of just like putting things together even though

28:01

, yes , like you know , create for yourself

28:04

and let that just let the platforms

28:06

be your um , your

28:08

stage , essentially , but

28:10

I do like to send a message

28:13

intentionally by creating

28:15

content that you can feel , and I

28:17

find that it's a beautiful

28:20

collaboration between editing

28:22

and cutting the video , just right , finding

28:25

the song that goes

28:27

with the emotion that you're trying to emote

28:29

and trying to have the people download , um

28:32

download when they're watching and

28:35

yeah and just like yeah

28:38

. So whatever skill that

28:40

is , I can definitely say that I've

28:42

I've grown into um

28:44

, now I get it . Now I

28:46

see why people always like you're kind of

28:49

so amazing , but I'm like I'm not doing those

28:51

crazy video edits

28:53

like the influencers

28:56

that are doing um , um

28:59

the holograms or like and

29:03

I'm like I wish I could do that , like that's cool

29:05

, or I appreciate when I see that

29:07

, but it's

29:09

just not .

29:11

It's not my , um , my

29:13

it's not your authentic self-expression

29:15

, like that's not your bag or

29:17

your thing , like exactly at

29:20

least right now , like who knows , I could change

29:22

.

29:22

But yeah , now I get it . I'm like oh , my simplicity

29:25

is what sells yes just so

29:28

definitely that . And I

29:30

want to say um understanding

29:34

, so aside , um understanding . So aside from me managing

29:36

this brick and mortar

29:38

, for the last couple of months , I've also

29:41

managed a wellness space

29:43

in Manhattan . Um

29:45

shout out to gray wellness , my forever

29:47

, forever fam , forever home . One

29:49

of the best black owned

29:51

wellness , massage , acupuncture

29:53

spaces , yoga , okay .

29:56

Say it again for the people gray wellness

29:58

.

30:01

Gray wellness , all right , fifth

30:03

in near union square , amazing

30:06

like and the community

30:08

is just fire and it helped me develop

30:11

like so much about myself as

30:13

a leader , as an entrepreneur , as

30:16

a creative and a spiritual healer

30:18

. But yeah

30:20

, so I helped to manage their operations

30:22

. I was their operations manager for a

30:25

year and some change and I found

30:27

how much just being in those spaces

30:29

like helped me understand what it really means to run

30:31

a business , so

30:34

kind of putting those gifts into like

30:36

I think I've coined the term

30:38

like creative what did ? I call

30:40

it Creative operation

30:43

coordinator , something

30:46

around that term my . Linkedin

30:48

. You know it's a

30:51

combination Like I really love

30:53

creating systems Like every . I

31:18

really love creating systems Like every . I think that's like my strong suit , um from working with other business owners and business coaches , just seeing , like when you're creating um structure

31:20

for your business , your website , your um uh , marketing and like making sure everything like leads to one thing , and creating

31:22

email campaigns , like there's so many systems behind that . And I'm not gonna lie , the more that I'm getting into

31:24

my business and understanding

31:26

what it's going to take to become successful

31:28

. These are the nitty gritty that I'm

31:30

just like , all right

31:33

, I'm not quite at the

31:35

point where I could like just hire someone

31:37

. I mean , I never

31:39

say never , but you're

31:42

always in the infancy phase of

31:44

your business where , like , you're the one that has to

31:46

do all these things .

31:47

Do everything .

31:48

Yeah . So yeah , I think I kind of lost track of the question

31:50

but I think understanding I kind of lost

31:52

track of the question but I think understanding

31:54

.

31:54

you answered yeah .

31:56

Great . The

32:05

, those aspects like really um have helped shape my business over time

32:08

. The more that I've learned from like trial and error , I can really like see

32:10

, like I've recently had a , an epiphany

32:12

of like oh my God , everything that I've done in

32:14

the past has just been preparing

32:16

me for that Like , just like the , the workshop

32:19

that I was going to host in

32:21

the next six days . Yeah

32:24

, and I had to

32:26

cancel it because I just made the executive

32:29

decision Like , okay , I

32:31

put so much into

32:33

it , like I rebranded , you'll see

32:35

. Like in a couple of days , put

32:38

so much into it . Like I rebranded , you'll see like in a couple of days , but

32:41

I've rebranded color scheme wise , logo wise and I'm

32:43

just finally getting like there's such

32:45

a difference between doing

32:47

something for the sake of doing it and doing it intentionally

32:50

, and there's a difference

32:52

between feeling like , okay

32:54

, you need more

32:56

money , you need extra income . So

32:58

I , but I know that I have a passion

33:01

and I want to follow my purpose

33:03

in creating whatever this

33:05

looks like as a business . So

33:07

, because I have this desire for

33:09

more money , I'm going to put so

33:11

much pressure on myself to make my passion

33:14

become successful . And

33:16

sometimes that drive behind that

33:18

isn't as it's

33:21

not as intentional or it's not as so

33:24

you do it with some kind of rush

33:27

where , like , everything needs to be perfect

33:29

because I needed to make

33:31

money , versus that's

33:34

where I used to be , versus now I'm

33:36

seeing how much like all

33:39

of that was just trial and error for

33:41

me to finally be in a space where I'm just like

33:43

, okay , no , I now truly understand

33:46

what it means to serve

33:48

and what it means to create , and

33:50

so I'm going to do this intentionally

33:52

without the notion

33:55

or the what's

33:58

the word Immediate gain ? Oh

34:04

goodness , it's killing me , it'll come . It'll

34:07

come , but when you want that immediate Like

34:10

the immediate reward , the gratification

34:13

Okay . Instant

34:16

gratification . So when you put instant gratification

34:18

to the side

34:20

and you can just focus on

34:22

creating for the sake of creating , not for

34:24

the sake of being , like , checked

34:27

off somebody's box Like yes , brittany's doing

34:30

well , or like you know . You

34:32

know , like for for

34:35

now , I'm losing my other word . Damn , what's

34:38

the other word ?

34:39

Um , it'll

34:41

come checking off boxes . It's

34:43

not , it's not just for , like that immediate

34:45

gratification and satisfaction

34:47

. It's like you're actually pouring your

34:49

intention and your purpose

34:52

into your work , Um , and you're

34:54

doing it to um and

34:57

ensure that you're producing something

34:59

to a quality that you appreciate

35:02

, to your own standard , and like putting

35:04

your work out into the world in a way that you can

35:06

be proud and can be satisfying , knowing

35:08

that in doing that work it'll

35:11

manifest the results that you want . It may not be

35:13

immediate , maybe down

35:15

the line , but it's coming .

35:17

you know , Bring it on

35:19

home , Miss Aliyah , but it's

35:22

coming , you know . Bring it on home .

35:23

Ms Aliyah , because my whole life has been about it . But

35:26

I think that's so powerful and

35:28

I think there are spiritual

35:30

gifts , there are your core gifts and

35:32

your hard skills , and all those things

35:35

go into creating the

35:37

life of your dreams and the business of your dreams

35:39

. And it's funny that you were

35:41

talking before about being

35:44

really good at identifying and building

35:46

systems , because so much of that is what it

35:48

takes to build a brand

35:50

and a business that can

35:53

really thrive and grow and serve

35:55

in the way that it's supposed to . And

35:57

in order to be that leader

35:59

and build it from the ground up

36:02

, you have to know how to do all

36:04

of the parts . But eventually you get to a place

36:06

where you can hire people

36:08

who are , like , smarter

36:10

and better at certain aspects of

36:12

it and can really help to grow your vision

36:14

. And I think it's so important to have

36:17

had the experience of working at

36:19

other places so you can see

36:21

what was done well , you can see

36:23

what you would do better in your

36:25

own business . But you have that

36:27

information and that experience

36:30

to help shape your own

36:32

vision for your own work too . And I think

36:34

about that a lot too in my

36:36

professional space , my entrepreneurial

36:39

space , what that looks like for me

36:41

taking the values and the lessons and things that I've

36:43

learned working elsewhere and applying it to

36:45

what I'm trying to build for myself . And doing

36:47

that with intention , and recognizing

36:50

that it's a long game , like

36:52

it's not going to be instant

36:54

. That would be amazing . I

36:57

would welcome it . If

37:34

it happens , that would be a miracle . Hello

37:37

universe , like , please do . But

37:39

recognizing that it's a long game . And

37:41

while you were talking , something

37:43

I was thinking about was I'm going

37:46

to forget the author's name , lord , have mercy , but I

37:49

was reading the Energy of Money , maybe

37:52

like a year ago ago

38:03

, and I mean there are a lot of lessons in that book , but the core thing that it always comes back

38:05

to is how can we use this physical plane

38:08

to manifest

38:10

things that are not tangible

38:12

? Like each of our souls and our

38:14

spirits have a calling

38:16

and a purpose and a thing we are meant

38:18

to do and accomplish in this world . Our

38:21

duty is to materialize it

38:23

. So whatever that thing is in

38:26

that spiritual plane like

38:28

calling in the energy of money looks

38:31

like materializing that spiritual thing

38:33

, and everyone's gift is different . It

38:35

could be the Soul Seekers Club . It could be a

38:37

communications platform , like a podcast

38:39

. It could be someone who's an

38:42

artist , who's out here doing transformational

38:44

paintings that are inspiring

38:47

people

38:49

and they're hanging in museums and homes . It

38:51

could be literally anything , but

38:53

our calling and our job is to materialize

38:56

that which is intangible

38:58

and that which is immaterial and

39:00

pulling that into the physical plane and

39:02

being rewarded with money

39:05

through our gift , and

39:08

I think that's for all of us to

39:10

find that thing and I think

39:13

something the book shares

39:15

. That's one of the easiest ways to find

39:17

that is to lean into what brings

39:20

you joy , what are you naturally

39:22

good at , what are you

39:24

naturally passionate

39:26

about ? And when you find

39:29

that thing and you lean into it

39:31

. That's one way of making the

39:33

intangible tangible . The

39:41

intangible tangible and I hear so much of that in what you shared about your work and inventing , like

39:43

creating your business . I keep hitting my mic oh , my God , I'm getting excited . But

39:47

so much of that is like what you

39:49

shared about how you've created the Soul Seekers

39:51

Club and how you continue to evolve

39:53

and grow it , and I

39:55

think that's really powerful and really beautiful , wow

39:58

.

39:59

Okay , no , you're not going

40:01

to have to share that author , because

40:04

what is the book called

40:06

again ?

40:07

The Energy of Money . I'm

40:09

going to get the author's name

40:11

. I'm blanking on her name right now , but

40:13

the book is called the Energy of Money

40:15

.

40:16

Amazing . That was a really

40:19

beautiful take . And , um

40:28

, I don't know if you listened to Abraham Hicks , but he talks about

40:30

that a lot , not verbatim , but I've heard her like say that in so many different

40:32

ways , like the fact that I love that . You said that that they , the energy

40:34

, the money , is just the reward for

40:36

you doing what you love instead of actually

40:39

chasing money . And while you were

40:41

saying all that , what came

40:43

to me was to mention how

40:45

much my business and the

40:48

way that I show up lately has transformed

40:51

so much because I started

40:53

putting spirituality at the forefront

40:55

of what I do also

40:58

like involving

41:00

my ancestors and my spirit guides

41:02

. Um , yeah , it's

41:04

been , it's been a game changer and

41:06

just like really being intentional about

41:09

um , everything , especially

41:11

with um , with business

41:13

. So , yeah , that definitely makes

41:16

a difference .

41:17

Yeah , I think so too

41:20

. I've been saying to myself to

41:23

my late

41:26

grandfather passed

41:28

over a year ago and

41:30

he had an entrepreneurial spirit

41:33

back in his day and I like

41:35

to think that I'm channeling that

41:37

energy in the flesh and

41:39

always asking for

41:42

guidance from him and other

41:44

people in my family and my lineage

41:46

who have passed on , who also

41:48

had those spirits and just

41:51

entrepreneurial spirits and just asking them am

41:54

I doing this right ? Share your

41:56

wisdom with me . Come through in my dreams

41:58

, like , give me signs . And

42:00

I feel like I've had little signs

42:03

here and there , little messages and dreams

42:05

, so I think they're showing up how they know best

42:07

. But I love that tapping into spirituality

42:09

is so important . Whatever one

42:11

believes in . You got all

42:14

kinds of belief systems out here , but , um

42:16

, yeah , I

42:18

think that's beautiful . So I

42:21

feel like you've talked , you've talked

42:23

about so many things and like hit on

42:25

so many things that I wanted to ask . But

42:27

I would love to know um

42:30

, we all define success

42:32

differently . It

42:35

looks different to each and every person

42:37

. But for you personally

42:39

, in this life and in this work

42:41

that you're doing , what does success

42:44

look like to you ? Or , if it's not a look

42:46

, what does it feel like to you

42:49

, in your body , what will

42:51

let you know that you've been

42:53

successful , that you've done the right thing

42:55

?

42:56

yeah , I believe success

42:59

feels like freedom . I'm

43:03

very passionate about personal

43:05

freedom . Yeah , with

43:07

the soul seekers club , it's , it's our

43:09

, it's our motto . And

43:11

yeah , I think success

43:13

for me , um , it

43:16

looks like being able to travel

43:18

wherever I want to go . Yes

43:20

, like

43:23

I literally think about it often

43:26

and I write the same things . Success

43:28

for me means I want to have

43:30

the financial

43:33

freedom to be able to

43:35

afford the things that are going to feed

43:37

my mind , spirit

43:40

and body . Yeah

43:42

, body . I want to be able to get all the best

43:44

wellness services . I want a massage

43:46

yes I want , yeah , the organic

43:49

food that's gonna help me feel I

43:51

want you know , like all those

43:53

things in it and the more that you realize

43:56

like been tapping into

43:58

the energy of luxury

44:00

and the energy of

44:04

quality things , like only

44:06

quality things . It's not so much about

44:08

, you know , oh , being bougie or just having the

44:10

best stuff for the sake of Like

44:13

. For example , I had being home

44:15

and staying with my

44:17

parents and my sister . I had being home and staying

44:19

with my parents and my sister . I'm the older

44:21

sister but I'm raving through my little sister's

44:23

closet because I'm just like you know what

44:25

I don't really like what I brought from LA

44:27

. So

44:30

what do you want in your closet ? She

44:32

had this one hoodie I think it's the

44:35

brand Essentials . Okay

45:09

, oh , yeah , that hoodie was so cozy . And I was like , oh , maybe

45:11

it's the the brand essentials . Okay , oh yeah , that hoodie was so cozy . And

45:13

I was like , oh , maybe it's just gonna be on mine

45:15

. No , no , no , that , yeah , whatever

45:17

the material is , was so comfortable . She's like , yeah

45:19

, like the hoodie , the hoodie alone

45:21

was like a hundred something dollars . And then she

45:24

also has like a sweatpants set which was

45:26

probably another hundred and

45:28

for some people like that's probably

45:30

not within their budget . But when I think

45:32

about it I was like , oh , after feeling

45:34

what that hoodie felt like , I felt so warm

45:37

, so comfortable . Once you

45:39

can feel what success looks

45:41

like or what comfort looks

45:43

like , you

45:45

won't bat an eye of like

45:47

paying for whatever it is that's going to give

45:50

you . Oh yeah , kind

45:52

of like um , I think it was

45:54

Steve Harvey had said , and other like

45:56

influencers had rinsed and repeated it Like

45:58

get yourself a first

46:01

class airline ticket

46:03

, get

46:07

it one time one

46:09

time . Get

46:17

it one time one time , and it will shift your mindset to saying

46:19

, oh , I'm never not fly first class again because this is cozy , this is comfortable

46:21

. And that was me . That was me when I went to tanzania

46:23

two years ago . Oh , yes

46:26

, no , no , no , no , take

46:28

the snap out of it . Oh , I'm sorry , but

46:34

I was with a group trip and

46:37

I saw all my other peers

46:39

like rolling into business rolling

46:41

into , and they were taking photos of their little

46:43

suite and I was all the way in the back and I

46:45

was just like this is like a 10

46:47

plus hour flight . Oh

46:50

yeah , damn , and for X amount extra

46:53

. I could have you know . So

46:55

I remember

46:57

how that felt

47:00

Like just knowing what , like

47:02

. Sometimes you have to put yourself into what success feels

47:05

like to be able to shift

47:07

your mindset to want more , but

47:09

backtracking , to

47:12

be able to shift your mindset to want more , but backtracking . That's what I would want . I want the

47:14

freedom to be able to get the things

47:17

that are going to make me comfortable but are also going

47:19

to elevate my mind , my body

47:21

and my soul in so many ways

47:23

, and that looks like all those

47:25

things . So yeah

47:27

, personal freedom of everything

47:30

at its core is what success looks like for me

47:32

. And I would say success

47:35

also for me

47:37

looks like being able to provide for others

47:39

, whether if it's my family , whether if it's

47:42

experiences . The

47:45

littlest thing was this weekend . I was able to come

47:47

home and hang out with my friends and

47:49

I got them all drinks and I was like , ooh , that felt

47:51

good . I want to be able to have

47:54

more money in my pocket to be able to do

47:56

nice things for people but also carry

47:58

the work that helped carry

48:01

me throughout time and

48:04

be able to support others and show

48:07

others how to do the same thing .

48:09

Yeah , I think that's so beautiful

48:11

and like we're aligned in so many ways

48:14

Because I'm

48:16

I'm like so much of what

48:19

would make people like and

48:22

I'm using the word comfortable , knowing that comfortable

48:24

can mean many different things , but so much

48:26

of what would make people comfortable

48:28

is just being able to live well

48:31

. Like we should all

48:33

have access to healthy , organic

48:35

food that is affordable

48:38

to purchase . Like we

48:40

should all be able to experience

48:42

massages , often

48:44

acupuncture , reiki , like all

48:47

of these things that support us we . I

48:49

was listening to an older episode

48:51

of Small Doses by Amanda

48:53

Seals , her podcast earlier , and she had a therapist

48:56

on there and she was like I want to reframe

48:58

the language from everyone needs therapy

49:01

to everyone deserves therapy . Like everyone

49:03

deserves to have

49:05

the ability to speak to an unbiased

49:08

person who's just showing up for

49:10

them . Like it's not a give and take

49:12

relationship , it's a give and give relationship because

49:14

they're there for you . Like everyone

49:16

deserves those things . So I

49:18

think that's so beautiful and I'm wanting

49:21

the same things for myself . Like I want to fly

49:23

first class one at least once

49:25

in my life , because and

49:29

I've said to myself I will

49:31

, I will one day . I said to myself , tasia

49:34

and I had gone to Seychelles

49:37

, I don't know , a couple years ago , a few

49:39

years ago , and it was when

49:41

the you know the flights it was during the

49:43

pandemic , so you know the flights were lower than

49:45

what they are right now , but it was such a long

49:47

flight . But it was during the time when the airlines

49:50

were still practicing like social distancing

49:52

so we had like whole rows

49:54

to ourselves but we were you know , we

49:56

still weren't in like first class

49:59

stretch out but it wasn't a first class experience . And I told

50:01

myself if I ever flew

50:03

that far and that long

50:05

again , I have

50:07

to build it into my budget for that experience

50:10

that I fought first class . It's not

50:12

. If I can't do

50:14

it , I'm not going Like it's

50:17

so long .

50:19

Yeah , it really is Like even

50:21

with a stop , oh , and you know what else

50:23

, girl , oh my God , when you fly

50:25

to that , when you fly to that part

50:28

of the world like when I went to tanzania , the south

50:30

was in qatar okay

50:32

, the airlines , like

50:34

when you , when you get

50:36

there and you actually pay for those

50:39

, those upgrades , and you get

50:41

actually like the lounges

50:43

at the airport , it's such

50:45

an experience , it really your

50:49

whole , oh everything . But

50:51

that's honestly kind of how it be

50:53

like you kind of have to build it in , like

50:55

you said , into your budget but , most importantly , build

50:57

it into your , your mindset , and say like

50:59

no this is this experience

51:02

that I want to have from beginning to end

51:04

yeah , absolutely

51:06

, and also just like recognizing

51:09

that it's .

51:11

It's not even a . I don't

51:13

even want to label it a bougie or like

51:15

a luxury thing Like we deserve

51:18

. If anyone deserves experiences

51:21

like this , it's black women

51:23

. It's indigenous women it's

51:26

women of color , it's everybody .

51:27

But , like .

51:28

if anyone really deserves it , it's

51:30

us Just

51:33

shifting my mindset around . That is important too

51:35

. We deserve it , we're worthy of

51:37

it . We've been boxed out of it for a long

51:39

time , historically .

51:46

Cheers to this year being our . What

51:49

are we making it this year or next year ? Our first

51:52

class ? Oh , you know what ? Hold on , I'm

51:54

going to claim me here right now because you were part

51:57

of my retreat and

51:59

I'm happy to have you as a founding soul seeker

52:02

. Oh , my gosh , for one

52:04

of my next retreats or

52:06

in my next retreats

52:08

, it will be fabricated

52:10

and doused in luxury

52:13

and you will have

52:15

that experience . It will be a mindset

52:17

shift from beginning to end and

52:20

I'll be able to throw a group

52:22

trip next year , 2025 , where

52:25

. I'm first class and we

52:27

are having a great experience and

52:30

it will be all around that

52:32

so .

52:32

I love that . Let me , let me start putting

52:35

money aside now so

52:38

it can be possible for me . Yeah

52:40

, but I , I claim that I receive

52:43

that and I want

52:45

to be there , so I'm gonna make sure I

52:47

keep an eye out for that , make sure I start budgeting

52:49

for that from now . But

52:53

, um , yeah , I'm claiming that

52:55

, like I , there

52:57

are a couple places that I have in mind that

52:59

I would love to see this

53:02

year . I like spoke about it

53:04

in a previous episode , but , like , I've had

53:06

two failed attempts to go to Morocco

53:08

and I really want to make it there

53:10

. Um , and a couple of other places , and

53:12

I've said to myself like these

53:16

might be the ones where I need to like budget

53:19

for first

53:21

. Yeah , so , um

53:23

, I'm , I'm manifesting

53:25

that for myself and yeah

53:28

, Luxury from here on out . Um

53:30

, yeah , yeah

53:32

, I love that . So I

53:35

don't know we've covered so much . I know we're coming up

53:37

on time , so I

53:40

just really quickly , I would love

53:42

for you to just let the

53:44

people know where to find you

53:46

. I know like you've shared a lot about the

53:48

evolution of the Soul Seekers Club and

53:50

what you're manifesting to create next

53:53

year and a lot of

53:55

exciting things that are coming up . So

53:57

if you want to share more about what the

53:59

next chapter for the Soul Seekers Club looks like

54:02

for you , you can . And then , of course

54:04

, let people know where to find you

54:07

your website , your social media , all the things

54:09

Of course , yeah

54:11

.

54:11

So next year I'm

54:13

actually speaking of retreats I'm

54:15

looking to partner again

54:18

with Black Girls , hike and just other

54:20

folks nearby

54:22

. I'm looking to establish

54:24

more community and building the Soul

54:27

Seekers Club in LA . I'm

54:30

not sure if it's going to be my forever landing

54:32

spot . It's funny because back

54:35

to New York just to visit for the week , I

54:37

thought , okay

54:40

, I have to do the workshop here because my network

54:42

is here . That's the only way I'll have people

54:44

sign up . But to my surprise

54:47

, I kind of had the epiphany that

54:50

I can put the

54:52

energy out there anywhere , whether

54:54

if I'm in New York or LA . So

54:57

I'm looking to branch for both

54:59

. My goal is to be bi-coastal . my goal

55:01

is to be worldwide and

55:13

mini retreats and long group trip retreats overseas at some point

55:15

later this year and next year , but primarily also just starting with one-on-one coaching

55:17

. So I'm really like scaling into what

55:20

my offer looks like and I

55:22

want to offer more creative , conscious coaching

55:24

. Create

55:26

other healers and creatives looking for

55:28

, like either need

55:31

a thought partner to help them , like , actualize

55:34

their ideas , or , if you actually need

55:36

, like , media assistance in

55:38

some capacity and

55:41

or life and spiritual coaching , because all

55:43

those things in my book go

55:45

hand in hand . So helping kind

55:47

of , you know , get to your goal , but also

55:50

clearing your path , your energetic

55:52

field , so that you can get to those spaces

55:54

. So coaching , workshops

55:57

, retreats , all those good

55:59

things and just more content

56:01

. Being more present online and online

56:04

you can find me , so you can find

56:06

the Soul Seekers Instagram

56:08

and actually just launched the website not too

56:10

long ago , so amazing . The soul

56:13

seekers club and then

56:15

my personal page , brittany Demestine

56:18

. Um , we I'm sure

56:20

you'll write it all out , cause it's my last

56:22

name and my first

56:24

name is not felt as traditional but

56:26

, um , you can find my personal page

56:28

and the soul seekers club on Instagram and

56:30

the Soul Seekers Club on Instagram and the website

56:33

as well .

56:34

Yes , and I will definitely make sure to

56:36

link all of that in the show notes so that the

56:38

folks can find you and just

56:41

thank you so much for taking the time

56:43

to share more of yourself , your

56:45

gift and your work with our

56:47

listeners and joining me on the podcast

56:49

. It's been really great and a beautiful conversation

56:52

and I appreciate it a lot , thank

56:54

you .

56:55

Thank you for having me and I'm so happy

56:57

to see you doing your thing . I'm

57:00

so happy to see this podcast thriving

57:02

, and thank you for having me as a guest , and I

57:04

hope to be able to work with you soon as well

57:07

. Yes , absolutely .

57:08

Thank you so much , brittany , and

57:11

thank you all for tuning into this episode

57:13

. Make sure that , if you like

57:15

what you heard , that you leave a rating , you leave

57:17

a review , share this episode with

57:20

a friend , if it inspired you

57:22

, if any part of the conversation gave

57:24

you some food for thought , and we'll catch

57:26

you in the next episode .