The Be Well Beautiful People Podcast

Kimberly Brazwell is a Washington DC transplant and native of Columbus, OH, and is the CEO and founder of KiMISTRY, which specializes in the unique intersection of trauma, justice and holistic wellness. Through writings, paintings, blogs, vlogs, social media content, and community conversation forums, Brazwell creates safer spaces to use story-sharing as a healing approach. She is also a contribut...

Kiaundra Jackson is a trusted Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist that gets results. She has been seen on OWN’s TV show, Love Goals and has been featured in Oprah’s Magazine, Essence, Women’s Health Magazine, FOX, CBS and Forbes as one of the ‘Next 1000.’ She is an award-winning speaker, best-selling author, TV Personality and a noted expert on healthy relationships and mental health where her...

For over 16 years, Sonja Herbert has served as a social worker and established a deep professional commitment to fitness training, devoting herself to teaching classical Pilates and integrating it with her clients' fitness and athletic goals. Sonja is currently working on an MSW through Fordham University and has plans to intentionally meld two of her career loves together to create a studio for b...

Zee Clarke, Harvard MBA, went from leading teams at Fortune 500 companies and startups in Silicon Valley to teaching mindfulness and breathwork to people of color. After experiencing a number of race related challenges, from racial profiling and harassment by the police to microaggressions in the workplace, she realized that mindfulness and breathwork were much more powerful outside of the yoga st...

Sabia Wade (she/they), is a Black, Queer, CEO, Investor, Educator, Full Spectrum Doula, and expander of Black Luxury. Sabia is the founder of Birthing Advocacy Doula Trainings, an accessible and inclusive training program for community care workers, and For the Village, a non-profit providing doulas at no or low-cost to low-income and marginalized communities in San Diego. Her newest business, Loa...

Lyvonne Briggs, MDiv, ThM, an Emmy Award winner, and body- and sex-positive womanist preacher and speaker, is the host of Sensual Faith Podcast, the author of Sensual Faith: The Art of Coming Home to Your Body (Convergent/Penguin Random House out March '23), and co-host of Sanctified, a faith-based, Spotify-exclusive podcast on Jemele Hill’s Unbothered Network. Lyvonne is also a spiritual life coa...

Jenny Block’s work has appeared in a number of high-profile publications from The New York Times to Huffington Post, and is the author of four books, including Be That Unicorn: Find your Magic. Live your Truth. Share your Shine. She has been featured regularly on HuffPo Live and in their videos and multimedia projects. Jenny has also appeared on a variety of television and radio programs, includin...

Rafaella Smith-Fiallo (she/ella) is a licensed clinical social worker, sexual liberation activist, and therapist specializing in relationship, sex, and trauma therapy. She owns Healing Exchange LLC, a therapy private practice, and co-founded Afrosexology, a sex-positive, pleasure-based sexuality education business. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets like HuffPost, Teen Vogue, Vib...

In 2022, award winning producer, author and media executive Michelle D. Hord released her debut memoir "The Other Side of Yet" on Atria Books.  Michelle’s story of resilience is the subject of the intensely personal testimony, which she shares in hopes that others can also find courage and strength on the other side of their own personal "yets."  She has been featured in O Magazine, on The Tamron...

Michelle Cassandra Johnson is an activist, social justice warrior, author, anti-racism consultant and trainer, intuitive healer, and yoga teacher and practitioner. She has led dismantling racism work in many settings, along with practice as a clinical social worker during the same period. Michelle’s work centers on healing from individual and collective trauma, coming back into wholeness and align...

Dr. Gail Parker is a psychologist, yoga therapist educator, a lifelong practitioner of yoga and the current president of the Black Yoga Teachers Alliance (BYTA). She is well known for her pioneering efforts to blend psychology, yoga, and meditation as effective self-care strategies that can enhance emotional balance, and contribute to overall health and well-being. She is a faculty member in the K...

Dr. Charmeka Newton is a fully licensed psychologist and Clinical Assistant Professor and Director of the School Counseling Program in the College of Human Education & Human Development at the University of North Dakota. Dr. Newton is also the owner of Legacy Mental Health Services, PLLC. She has over 10 years of experience in clinical, academic, and community settings, including teaching experien...

In a professional writing career that spans more than twenty years, Marita Golden has distinguished herself as a novelist, essayist, teacher of writing and literary institution builder. She has written twenty books of nonfiction and fiction which includes Long Distance Life which was a best-seller and cited as a Best Book of the Year (by Washington Post critic Jonathan Yardley), A Woman’s Place, A...

Caroline Shola Arewa, the Energy Doctor is a highly respected figure in the fields of spirituality and wellness, recognized for her expertise in Energy work who has over three decades of international experience and awards. She’s a psychologist, international speaker, and author of five books. She also trains Spiritual Coaches and supports individuals to reclaim their energy, enhance their well-be...

Jevon Bolden is the founder and CEO of Embolden Media Group, a literary agency and publishing consulting firm focused on amplifying diverse Christian voices. In her eighteen years in publishing, Jevon has worked as senior acquisitions editor for adult nonfiction at Charisma House and as senior editor for children’s nonfiction at Scholastic. Launching out on her own in 2017, Jevon now shares the be...

Kristina "Steen" Lyles, vice president of equity and impact at the leading education non-profit DonorsChoose, not only incorporates a race equity-forward lens in supporting students and teachers across the country. In this episode we discuss the inclusion & equity imperative, especially for girls and women, and how philanthropy has the power to move the needle on the issues that matter most to us,...

Kristina "Steen" Lyles, vice president of equity and impact at the leading education non-profit DonorsChoose, not only incorporates a race equity-forward lens in supporting students and teachers across the country. In this episode we discuss the inclusion & equity imperative, especially for girls and women, and how philanthropy has the power to move the needle on the issues that matter most to us,...

Dr. Avis Jones-DeWeever, is an Award-Winning Author, International Speaker, Political  Commentator, and Race & Gender Empowerment Expert.  As a serial entrepreneur, Dr. Avis serves as the Founding President of the Washington DC Boutique Consulting Firm, Incite Unlimited, along with The Exceptional Leadership Institute and World Changers Media, LLC. Her distinct perspectives have been shared throug...

A native of Flint, but recent transplant to Maryland, Joyvina Evans, affectionately known as Dr. Joy is a self-care advocate, author, speaker, and higher education administrator. She is the Founder of Confidence Academy which strives to cultivate and inspire confidence, character, boldness, and courage, and Advocating for My Uterus, which provides women with the tools and resources they need to ma...

LaTosha Brown is a nationally recognized, award-winning thought leader, institution builder, Cultural Activist and Artist, and Connector. She is the Visionary, Founder and Co-Anchor of a regional network called the Southern Black Girls & Women’s Consortium which is a $100 million, 10-year initiative to invest in organizations that serve Black women and girls. She is also the Co-Founder of Black Vo...

Rafaella Smith-Fiallo (she/ella) is a licensed clinical social worker, sexual liberation activist, and therapist specializing in relationship, sex, and trauma therapy. She owns Healing Exchange LLC, a therapy private practice, and co-founded Afrosexology, a sex-positive, pleasure-based sexuality education business. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets like HuffPost, Teen Vogue, Vib...

Maite Z. Alday is a writer, artist, and non-profit professional. She's the founder of She’s Mighty Mighty which aims to create a safe space for uncomfortable conversations around taboo topics. In just two years, Maite has increased her reach astronomically, reaching more than 20,000 on Instagram alone - inspiring individuals from all walks of life to take meaningful action towards having a more in...

After four years of doing her PhD (Political Science, York University, Toronto), Jelena Vesić decided to walk away and dedicate herself full-time to teaching Ashtanga Yoga workshops and retreats in Toronto and around the world. She’s so deeply committed to the practice she’s made two trips to Mysore, India to study with her teacher, Sharath Jois. Jelena approaches yoga and her life with immense cu...

Tonya Melendez-Gonzales has come a long way from her humble beginnings reading Tarot cards in a suburban Chicago cafe to international fame as she was voted #3 Psychic in the World. Now based in the place she has ancestral roots, Puerto Vallarta, Tonya gets to share her intuitive gifts and spiritual insights as an Author, Healer, Speaker and Teacher. Tonya believes, “by allowing our natural gifts...

After a 40+ year career as an award-winning, innovative nonprofit leader, Dr. Geneva Williams reinvented herself as an author, international speaker, podcaster and title-holding advocate for women to live a fit, fine and vibrant life. Dr. Geneva went from her stellar career as a President/CEO, to becoming a widow after four decades of marriage while raising two millennials, to becoming the oldest...