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Personal Standards with Darian Symoné Harvin · Deeply Well with Devi Brown

0:05
Speaker 1: Welcome to Deeply Well.
0:06
Speaker 2: This show is a soft place to land on your journey,
0:10
Speaker 2: a space where we explore what it truly means to
0:13
Speaker 2: live well from the inside out, not perfectly, but honestly,
0:19
Speaker 2: with all the complexity, the paradox, the beauty, and the
0:23
Speaker 2: wonder of being human. Because in a world that is
0:27
Speaker 2: constantly pulling at us, this is the space to come
0:31
Speaker 2: back to yourself, to your body, your truth, to the
0:35
Speaker 2: practices that genuinely sustain you, the ones that work when
0:40
Speaker 2: life is actually happening. This show is for the seekers,
0:45
Speaker 2: the creatives, the sensitive ones, for everyone doing the quiet,
0:50
Speaker 2: courageous work of becoming whole. This is Deeply Well. Welcome
0:58
Speaker 2: back to Deeply Well. I'm Debbie Browne. Today's special guest
1:03
Speaker 2: is Darian Simone Harvin, a multimedia storyteller, writer, host, and
1:09
Speaker 2: creative strategist whose work sits at the intersection of beauty, culture, art,
1:16
Speaker 2: and identity. Throughout her career, Darian has brought a distinct
1:20
Speaker 2: cultural lens to storytelling, with work appearing in the New
1:23
Speaker 2: York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Essence, Allure, and The Cut.
1:28
Speaker 2: She is the founder of Studio Simone, a platform bringing
1:32
Speaker 2: together digital storytelling and real-life community, and is the author
1:36
Speaker 2: of Black Icons in Herstory. Today, she is the host
1:41
Speaker 2: of Full Coverage, where she sits down with the artists
1:44
Speaker 2: and creatives behind some of beauty's most compelling looks to
1:49
Speaker 2: explore not only how they create, but why. At the
1:53
Speaker 2: heart of Darian's work is a curiosity about what beauty, creativity, politics,
1:59
Speaker 2: and pop culture can reveal about who we are and
2:02
Speaker 2: the world that we live in. I am so excited
2:06
Speaker 2: to welcome Darian Simone Harvin to Deeply Well. Yay!
2:11
Speaker 1: I love that. Thank you so much. Oh my gosh.
2:14
Speaker 2: It's so crazy having you on the show. I feel
2:17
Speaker 2: like I've had this chance to like watched you in
2:21
Speaker 2: so many different stages. Um, and I'm sure vice versa,
2:24
Speaker 2: but I, we know each other a while.
2:28
Speaker 1: We actually have, I mean, we met through like our
2:32
Speaker 1: good mutual friend and I had, am I allowed to
2:36
Speaker 1: like anything like my podcast at that time? And I,
2:39
Speaker 1: I mean, that was how we connected. I remember literally
2:42
Speaker 1: reaching out to you, you know, like something so nice
2:45
Speaker 1: and intentional that you did. I don't even think you
2:47
Speaker 1: remember doing this, but like, I think you recorded it
2:51
Speaker 1: at the radio station, like at the station. And then
2:53
Speaker 1: you sent me the track after. And I thought that
2:57
Speaker 1: was like so thoughtful because I had like beautiful sound.
3:02
Speaker 1: And for someone like me who was just coming up
3:04
Speaker 1: and really scrappy and doing it, it was like probably
3:07
Speaker 1: something really easy on your end, but it meant so
3:09
Speaker 1: much to me. Oh, thank you.
3:13
Speaker 2: You know what? Yeah.
3:14
Speaker 1: Like, yeah, I love.
3:19
Speaker 2: Something about audio is like very, very important to me
3:22
Speaker 2: in a very like hyper fixated way, but like the
3:25
Speaker 2: vocal quality of things, but you completely jogged my memory.
3:29
Speaker 2: I remember I was on air living in Houston at
3:32
Speaker 2: the time and I had, I think a midday show
3:35
Speaker 2: and we recorded it while I was in the studio.
3:37
Speaker 1: Yeah.
3:39
Speaker 2: I just, yeah, I have like, I remember your New
3:41
Speaker 2: York era. I think that's when I met you really,
3:45
Speaker 2: really early in a long time ago. And here we are.
3:49
Speaker 1: Here we are.
3:50
Speaker 2: Wow.
3:50
Speaker 1: What a journey too. Yeah.
3:52
Speaker 2: What a journey. You know, I'm so interested, Darian, because
3:55
Speaker 2: I think, you know, I know you personally, but I
3:59
Speaker 2: also love following you. And what I've noticed is, you know, this,
4:05
Speaker 2: anything that you explore, there is always this much deeper,
4:10
Speaker 2: more nuanced tie and understanding to identity, but especially through beauty.
4:18
Speaker 2: And I'm a beauty girl. And so some of the
4:20
Speaker 2: things that I see, like, you know, you do sometimes
4:23
Speaker 2: these deep investigations about very particular things, like certain hairstyles,
4:27
Speaker 2: certain techniques. I remember some things I was watching of
4:31
Speaker 2: yours was like, you were deep inside of, you know,
4:35
Speaker 2: this beauty hair care store, but telling the stories that
4:39
Speaker 2: are moving throughout it. And How have you come to
4:42
Speaker 2: your work and what does it represent for you?
4:44
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that so much of what I am
4:48
Speaker 1: trying to do is like hone on on details or
4:51
Speaker 1: like find things about people, places, things that you have
4:55
Speaker 1: not heard yet or maybe are like very under the
4:59
Speaker 1: radar or just not commonly known. I'm always looking for
5:02
Speaker 1: the little story, the behind the scenes, like the thing
5:06
Speaker 1: you may not even know or whatever come to the surface,
5:10
Speaker 1: sometimes in an article, just because, I don't know, like
5:15
Speaker 1: media is so bite-sized these days. But also there's such
5:19
Speaker 1: space to be like very particular and specific. And so-
5:24
Speaker 1: really getting into beauty was really when I became a writer.
5:28
Speaker 1: Like people who have, are seeing me like maybe within,
5:33
Speaker 1: like since 2017 or so was really when I started
5:36
Speaker 1: to write about beauty. But as you know, before then
5:39
Speaker 1: I was working more traditionally within media on the news side,
5:45
Speaker 1: in newsrooms. I was a social media editor. I was
5:49
Speaker 1: curating very like behind the scenes, mobile apps, switching home
5:55
Speaker 1: pages and things like that. But I have always been
6:00
Speaker 1: someone who knew that if you wanted to be in media,
6:03
Speaker 1: you need to be a switchblade. You need to be
6:06
Speaker 1: someone really comfortable in front of the camera. And you
6:09
Speaker 1: need these days to know how to strategically post on
6:13
Speaker 1: Instagram or the platform or whatever that may mean. But
6:17
Speaker 1: I think that because I developed so much burnout from
6:21
Speaker 1: that world, I needed a way to still find my
6:28
Speaker 1: center within storytelling and using my voice. And I think
6:33
Speaker 1: that is really what has changed. I didn't go into
6:37
Speaker 1: beauty thinking like, wow, this is going to be, you know,
6:41
Speaker 1: like I want to focus on beauty now. I want
6:42
Speaker 1: to communicate this. Like all of this really just developed
6:46
Speaker 1: and came to be as I was digging into my instincts.
6:50
Speaker 1: I'd written one article about beauty. And then from there,
6:54
Speaker 1: I recognized as I started to learn more about beauty media,
6:57
Speaker 1: it's really just there to serve the brands, founders, and
7:00
Speaker 1: people who want to receive visibility and press for what
7:05
Speaker 1: they work on. And for me, that was very foreign.
7:08
Speaker 1: That was a very foreign idea to me. I don't,
7:11
Speaker 1: and I actually still do not resonate with that. I
7:15
Speaker 1: love makeup. I love artistry. I really like creativity, but
7:18
Speaker 1: I also felt that there was not enough like cultural
7:22
Speaker 1: reporting with tension within the beauty space. And that definitely
7:28
Speaker 1: is happening. That has been happening, but I wanted to
7:30
Speaker 1: see more of it. And I think that because I
7:33
Speaker 1: had this like newsy lens. And then also I was just,
7:37
Speaker 1: and still am, just a girl in the culture. Like
7:40
Speaker 1: going to music, going to selection concerts. HOK. You know,
7:45
Speaker 1: just like talking to people outside of my realm of knowledge,
7:49
Speaker 1: not just being in media. Yeah. That's how you get
7:52
Speaker 1: a story.
7:53
Speaker 2: Yeah.
7:54
Speaker 1: You know what I mean? Yeah. It was really always
7:57
Speaker 1: that for me. And now it's just evolved into something
8:00
Speaker 1: really beautiful where at first, you know, I was more
8:06
Speaker 1: speaking traditionally to maybe some trends or conversations that would
8:11
Speaker 1: bubble up before them. But then it really became about
8:15
Speaker 1: talking and being in conversation with people who like had
8:18
Speaker 1: beautiful souls and were on their journey and people who
8:23
Speaker 1: maybe had something really traumatic happen in their lives or
8:27
Speaker 1: just some big change to the point where they had
8:30
Speaker 1: to make a decision. Am I going to sit within
8:33
Speaker 1: this and let this thing that happened to me become
8:36
Speaker 1: my identity? Or is this my path of growth or
8:40
Speaker 1: to explore something new or to push past? And I
8:43
Speaker 1: became really interested in speaking to people like that. And
8:47
Speaker 1: to me, that's within beauty reporting. Yeah. You kind of
8:52
Speaker 1: have to, like, as you know, it's shaping your own
8:56
Speaker 1: definition for me of what beauty is. And I don't
9:00
Speaker 1: think that I've always been comfortable doing that, actually. I
9:04
Speaker 1: think that I'm someone who maybe comes off as, like,
9:09
Speaker 1: very outspoken, very articulate in the sense of what I
9:15
Speaker 1: want to do. talk about and what I think, but
9:18
Speaker 1: when it comes to career and professional, I can actually
9:21
Speaker 1: be a little quieter and not always speaking up for myself.
9:26
Speaker 1: And so I think that as I've learned to do that,
9:30
Speaker 1: it's obviously really helped me, but, um, but it's something
9:33
Speaker 1: that like, I, I still, I still move through. Right. Yeah. Yeah.
9:37
Speaker 2: So, you know, so interesting. I have a hundred places
9:40
Speaker 2: I want to go with this right now. So I'm
9:41
Speaker 2: trying to pace myself. No, it was so good.
9:43
Speaker 1: It was so good.
9:44
Speaker 2: Um, I think somewhere I want to start because something
9:48
Speaker 2: I find really interesting about kind of a small handful
9:52
Speaker 2: of people, myself in some ways included, definitely you, is
9:56
Speaker 2: like you.
9:58
Speaker 1: Are you are. young.
10:01
Speaker 2: Like you are still like young, cutting edge, all the things, right?
10:05
Speaker 1: I agree with you.
10:06
Speaker 2: Yes.
10:07
Speaker 1: No, I agree with you. Thank you. You're welcome. Yes.
10:10
Speaker 1: Thank you.
10:10
Speaker 2: But also you started really early, right? So when we
10:15
Speaker 2: think about.
10:18
Speaker 2: Acumen, when we think about kind of the amount of
10:23
Speaker 2: the veteran nature of being in industry and media industry
10:28
Speaker 2: as it's changed more than it's ever changed in the
10:31
Speaker 2: last hundred years, it's really interesting, right? Because you're playing
10:36
Speaker 2: by a lot of different rules. And I found myself
10:38
Speaker 2: in that way. I was trained old school, old school ideals, beliefs,
10:44
Speaker 2: very traditionally trained within this space. And then the world
10:50
Speaker 2: kind of rapidly changed. And so from that vantage point,
10:55
Speaker 2: with the work that you do, with your style of journalism,
10:58
Speaker 2: with the stories that you tell, what's that experience like holding,
11:06
Speaker 2: having a pillar in all the different sides?
11:11
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's such an interesting question because I think that's
11:15
Speaker 1: almost like what I was trying to get to in
11:16
Speaker 1: the last thought that I had around journalism, voice, the
11:21
Speaker 1: idea of objectivity and what that really means. The craft
11:26
Speaker 1: of journalism in terms of just facts, perspective, getting things right,
11:33
Speaker 1: quoting people correctly, putting people's voices in words within the
11:37
Speaker 1: context that they meant them. while also being able to
11:43
Speaker 1: bring another perspective that doesn't feel adversarial, but just feels different.
11:48
Speaker 1: And so now I think I've come to this point where,
11:52
Speaker 1: especially as a black woman who's actually reporting on and
11:55
Speaker 1: speaking to other black women, my personal rule of thumb
12:00
Speaker 1: now when it comes to like my voice and my
12:02
Speaker 1: perspective is that I don't ever like to tell anyone
12:06
Speaker 1: what they should be doing or how they should be thinking, period.
12:10
Speaker 1: That to me does not feel like my job because
12:13
Speaker 1: the more that I do this work, the more stories
12:16
Speaker 1: I hear and the more we all function under different circumstances.
12:21
Speaker 1: And especially when you're in beauty, I always say that
12:24
Speaker 1: beauty is an industry where women... are able to create
12:31
Speaker 1: financial stability for themselves. It's this industry that I feel
12:35
Speaker 1: like women can do that in all sorts of industries,
12:38
Speaker 1: but for women who come from different, from all different
12:41
Speaker 1: socioeconomic backgrounds, beauty is a way into more financial stability
12:46
Speaker 1: for yourself. Whether you start to go to cosmetology school,
12:50
Speaker 1: but you have been doing nails or hair since you
12:53
Speaker 1: were 15 years old, right? Or whether you have like
12:57
Speaker 1: decided to open up a salon. you know, in the
13:00
Speaker 1: 1960s and in the 1970s, beauty salons were used as
13:04
Speaker 1: places to organize where politicians met, where, you know, women
13:09
Speaker 1: like we had spaces that we paid for that went
13:12
Speaker 1: into other conversations that happened like within their own communities
13:17
Speaker 1: and beyond. And so I just use that as an
13:19
Speaker 1: example to say, like, When I think about how I'm
13:24
Speaker 1: thinking about reporting, I'm recognizing that it is really my
13:28
Speaker 1: job to paint the details in a beautiful human way
13:35
Speaker 1: and to bring in some voices that really come from
13:38
Speaker 1: an expertise. While also maybe some women who are not
13:42
Speaker 1: within the beauty industry, but this is their experience. And
13:45
Speaker 1: so I think that because I really, I think that
13:48
Speaker 1: beauty in media actually and on social media, people are
13:52
Speaker 1: always trying to tell you what to do. People are
13:54
Speaker 1: always trying to tell you how to think. I'm not
13:56
Speaker 1: super into that. I am into giving you a perspective
14:00
Speaker 1: that is like rooted within the practice of journalism and
14:04
Speaker 1: And the questions I ask and the things I go
14:07
Speaker 1: back and ask, or even from my mistakes, honestly. And
14:10
Speaker 1: how do you learn from those? And so I think
14:13
Speaker 1: I carry both with understanding like that there's an empathy
14:16
Speaker 1: that you should move through, recognizing that not everyone is
14:20
Speaker 1: having my experience. We all don't have the same algorithm.
14:24
Speaker 1: We all have not grown up in the same way.
14:27
Speaker 1: And that's like the beauty of life. And I want to,
14:32
Speaker 1: you know, and I want to match that with like,
14:34
Speaker 1: What was said? What did happen? What are you not
14:37
Speaker 1: thinking about? And I want to bring like fresh perspective
14:41
Speaker 1: to whatever that is. Yeah. Yeah. That's what it is
14:47
Speaker 1: for me. I... I just have such a soft spot
14:51
Speaker 1: for it because I did come from this news world
14:55
Speaker 1: where I was often one of the very few Black
14:57
Speaker 1: girls in the newsroom. And also, I was crushing it.
15:01
Speaker 1: I was freaking crushing it. I made great friends. I
15:04
Speaker 1: also had incredible women managers as well. I think that's
15:09
Speaker 1: one of the few reasons why I'm still here because
15:12
Speaker 1: I think that it's very hard and rare, especially as
15:17
Speaker 1: a woman, to find other women in positions of power
15:21
Speaker 1: who are your direct managers and they're there to support
15:26
Speaker 1: you and they're there to advocate for you over the company,
15:30
Speaker 1: which are two different things. And so I say that
15:34
Speaker 1: to say that, like, not to say that women are
15:36
Speaker 1: always vindictive within the workplace, but more to say that, like,
15:40
Speaker 1: I recognize that I've had this unique experience and I...
15:47
Speaker 1: want to honor that in it. And it also, it
15:53
Speaker 1: also impacts the way that I move in the way
15:56
Speaker 1: that I treat other people. Yeah. Period. You know? Yeah.
16:00
Speaker 2: I love, and that's so important to say out loud.
16:02
Speaker 2: It's so interesting. Like just all of our varied experiences
16:07
Speaker 2: within whatever industries we're in. Right. And like what we
16:10
Speaker 2: feel fortified us, what allowed our creativity to flourish and
16:14
Speaker 2: also like what really stagnated us.
16:16
Speaker 1: Right.
16:17
Speaker 2: I think something I've really been loving and seeing in
16:20
Speaker 2: the generation after me is that there is a different
16:25
Speaker 2: level of expectation for the experience that people are allowed
16:31
Speaker 2: to have. There are certain requirements that you are allowed
16:35
Speaker 2: to have in these spaces as you grow in your
16:37
Speaker 2: career and become yourself. And I always noticed for myself,
16:41
Speaker 2: I didn't have any mentors at all. like any, like none,
16:45
Speaker 2: you know? And so that has been something that's important
16:49
Speaker 2: to me, which is share knowledge, share wisdom freely, share
16:53
Speaker 2: opportunity freely, share, you know, I think what people don't
16:58
Speaker 2: always understand, especially in the media industry is like, you
17:03
Speaker 2: are allowed to have professional standards. For sure.
17:07
Speaker 1: And you should.
17:08
Speaker 2: And you should. And you should. My God.
17:12
Speaker 1: You should.
17:13
Speaker 2: Like, stop giving away all of your power.
17:18
Speaker 1: Yeah.
17:18
Speaker 2: You know, whoever needed to hear that, whoever is. Like,
17:22
Speaker 2: stop giving away your power. You matter. And your work
17:25
Speaker 2: is more important than just trying to fit into a
17:28
Speaker 2: box for quote unquote visibility.
17:30
Speaker 1: Right. Right. I, um, oh my gosh, what was the
17:33
Speaker 1: thing you just said that I, that I wanted to, um,
17:35
Speaker 1: that I wanted to piggyback off of? It was around, oh, I.
17:41
Speaker 1: it really resonates around creating your own standard because it
17:45
Speaker 1: comes from, you know, the ups and downs and the
17:48
Speaker 1: mistakes that you make. But as you do, you almost
17:52
Speaker 1: have to create your own syllabus. You have to create
17:54
Speaker 1: your own stamp, just as the New York times and
17:57
Speaker 1: the LA times, like they have, if you look on
17:59
Speaker 1: their websites, like these standards that they say that they,
18:02
Speaker 1: live by and it impacts the kind of work that
18:05
Speaker 1: they do in their process. And I think that it's
18:08
Speaker 1: really important for you to know your yeses and your nos,
18:12
Speaker 1: your standards. And some of it is actually more intuitive
18:16
Speaker 1: or sometimes it's a feeling and recognizing like, if I
18:19
Speaker 1: feel uncomfortable in this situation, what does that mean? Or
18:23
Speaker 1: this person said this over email and I need clarity
18:27
Speaker 1: on that to make a decision. For me, it's like
18:31
Speaker 1: when it comes to, especially in this world where, you know,
18:35
Speaker 1: it's journalism, publicity, it can get very enmeshed in between
18:40
Speaker 1: just based off of what people are looking for. And
18:42
Speaker 1: that's another thing, right? Is like, I respect that. There
18:44
Speaker 1: are all different kinds of journalists and writers out there.
18:47
Speaker 1: But there are just, I don't really send questions. I'll
18:53
Speaker 1: send talking points. But I really believe that I really
19:00
Speaker 1: believe that if you are someone stepping in front of
19:03
Speaker 1: a mic, at least for someone like myself, or if
19:06
Speaker 1: you are a pop star, I hope that you are
19:11
Speaker 1: media trained enough to understand the world that you're coming into.
19:14
Speaker 1: That's your team's job so that we can have a
19:17
Speaker 1: conversation so that you can be your most authentic self.
19:20
Speaker 1: I'm not talking to you about anything. I'm not looking
19:24
Speaker 1: to jab at people. I'm really just... looking to talk
19:27
Speaker 1: to you about your experience and so to me it's
19:30
Speaker 1: like you should be able to talk about that yeah
19:33
Speaker 1: but that's just me you know me being me in
19:35
Speaker 1: my brain.
19:36
Speaker 2: Yeah no i still agree with you to me sending
19:38
Speaker 2: questions is crazy like it's just why i don't even
19:42
Speaker 2: want to know them if i'm being interviewed i'm like
19:44
Speaker 2: i don't yeah i'll see what comes out but yeah
19:47
Speaker 2: that idea there are certain like lanes of work that
19:50
Speaker 2: I do where it's like, you have to get approval
19:52
Speaker 2: on questions and I'm just like, cool, cool. I'm going
19:57
Speaker 2: to ask more than this once we're in it.
20:00
Speaker 1: And actually like even you bringing that up is like
20:04
Speaker 1: this push and pull. I think that I've really examined
20:07
Speaker 1: around sometimes I'm like, am I just having an ego
20:10
Speaker 1: right now? Am I, am I being too authoritative? Am
20:14
Speaker 1: I trying to step or am I stepping into my,
20:17
Speaker 1: my power in just protecting the work?
20:20
Speaker 2: Yeah. Protecting the work. But, and, and I do understand
20:24
Speaker 2: because to a certain point, our culture is just off
20:27
Speaker 2: the rails with looking for virality or looking for, you know, these,
20:33
Speaker 2: these clip moments of things. And so it's like, you know,
20:36
Speaker 2: there's always the, the gotcha aspect with some people, the
20:39
Speaker 2: headline culture, the, so I get that part. But I
20:42
Speaker 2: think when we are in certain spaces, like the ones
20:44
Speaker 2: you cultivate, it's also important to surrender a little and
20:48
Speaker 2: see what can arise, right? Like see how God moves
20:51
Speaker 2: through your words in real time. And you give, you're
20:55
Speaker 2: able to give more for the greater good of whoever
20:59
Speaker 2: is consuming it. So I love, you know, you've done
21:14
Speaker 2: a lot of very high profile mainstream work in this
21:19
Speaker 2: work that you do. And then you have like the
21:21
Speaker 2: nuanced things that you go after. Right. So I'm so curious,
21:24
Speaker 2: like in when you think about some more of the
21:27
Speaker 2: mainstream ways that you've been able to bring your work
21:30
Speaker 2: to life, what stands out.
21:31
Speaker 1: To you as a few of your favorites? Yeah. I
21:35
Speaker 1: was thinking about this on the way here. I actually
21:38
Speaker 1: really loved the profile I did on Tracee Ellis Ross
21:42
Speaker 1: for the New York Times. That is a really good
21:45
Speaker 1: example of a story that just came into something much bigger.
21:50
Speaker 1: I had pitched doing a story on Tracee Ellis Ross's Instagram, actually,
21:56
Speaker 1: because I loved how she was sharing. I loved how
21:59
Speaker 1: unabashed she was. I loved that, actually, to me, it
22:03
Speaker 1: was very beauty forward. It was self-care forward. It was
22:06
Speaker 1: just the way that she shares um, has always just
22:10
Speaker 1: to me been very like wild woman. This is who
22:12
Speaker 1: I am. And I wanted to talk about that because
22:16
Speaker 1: it was resonating with people. That's another thing too, is like,
22:19
Speaker 1: I'm looking for what resonates with people. So I reached
22:23
Speaker 1: out to her team. I got the green light from
22:24
Speaker 1: the New York times. I reached out to her team
22:26
Speaker 1: and they said, actually, she's coming out with a haircare line.
22:29
Speaker 1: I had no clue. I had no idea. And yeah,
22:33
Speaker 1: she was coming out with pattern. And so it, actually
22:36
Speaker 1: became like such the perfect story. And then I was
22:40
Speaker 1: able to actually go to the ABC lot. This is
22:43
Speaker 1: when Black-ish was, was still on air in that capacity
22:47
Speaker 1: and was able just to, again, like you can add
22:50
Speaker 1: color to the pieces as well when you're in the
22:52
Speaker 1: room with someone. And then that story ended up not
22:56
Speaker 1: only just like being print, but being the cover of
22:59
Speaker 1: the special insert of like the beauty and wellness of
23:02
Speaker 1: Like special insert that they did within the paper. And
23:06
Speaker 1: so I think to me, that's a really amazing story
23:09
Speaker 1: around how kismet things can be that you cannot always manufacture.
23:20
Speaker 1: You can't always do that. And that has truly been
23:24
Speaker 1: my career and the beauty for me of my work
23:27
Speaker 1: and the humility that I will feel behind it because
23:33
Speaker 1: I might move with a little bit of an instinct
23:36
Speaker 1: and then a little bit.
23:38
Speaker 2: Of an instinct.
23:41
Speaker 1: And then I'll say the second one that I'll name
23:44
Speaker 1: really quickly was that I did a story that was
23:47
Speaker 1: around college students who did hair in school, whether you
23:51
Speaker 1: did braids or you were a barber, to help support
23:54
Speaker 1: yourself within school. And that to me was like a
23:58
Speaker 1: very real piece.
24:00
Speaker 2: How interesting.
24:01
Speaker 1: Because it's the economics of it. You know, not everyone
24:08
Speaker 1: gets the financial aid that they need. Some people are
24:10
Speaker 1: paying for school out of pocket. Some people are living
24:12
Speaker 1: on and off campus. Like everyone has a different situation
24:15
Speaker 1: as a college student. And as I was speaking earlier
24:19
Speaker 1: about like how beauty can be a means of financial stability,
24:23
Speaker 1: that to me was a really great way to highlight
24:26
Speaker 1: and feature that. And so I love both of those pieces.
24:29
Speaker 1: You know, there's one is like for me about the people.
24:33
Speaker 1: It's like the girl you don't know, but should know.
24:35
Speaker 1: And then the other is about like the woman who
24:37
Speaker 1: you do know. I love that.
24:41
Speaker 2: Now tell me a couple of what would be considered
24:44
Speaker 2: for you just like your heartbeat pieces, no matter where
24:47
Speaker 2: it went, but ones that you felt like you really
24:50
Speaker 2: threw yourself into.
24:52
Speaker 1: I would have to say the profile I wrote on
24:57
Speaker 1: London for the LA Times. Really, because that to me,
25:03
Speaker 1: I don't even think I've really told her this, but
25:04
Speaker 1: it was such a light bulb moment for me. that
25:08
Speaker 1: what I was pursuing and aiming to do within beauty
25:13
Speaker 1: was really about people who were beautiful souls and on
25:16
Speaker 1: their path and had so much to give and so
25:19
Speaker 1: much light to give. And Lauren was someone who I
25:22
Speaker 1: had always actually wanted to interview in some way, you know,
25:27
Speaker 1: like always, always, always. And so to me, that was
25:29
Speaker 1: something that I really appreciated because it was how I
25:33
Speaker 1: got to know her. And I remember we had, our
25:37
Speaker 1: first interview, but it was quite short. And then she
25:40
Speaker 1: texted me after and was like, I think we should
25:43
Speaker 1: have another conversation. And I was like, yes, I really agree.
25:46
Speaker 1: And again, it's like speaking with someone who has that
25:49
Speaker 1: sort of knowing and intuition and also has so much to,
25:52
Speaker 1: to share. Right. That it, um, it just, the, like
25:57
Speaker 1: writing the story was an experience in and of itself.
26:01
Speaker 1: And I, um, Like for me, that's just the kind
26:04
Speaker 1: of story that also people were looking for, but didn't
26:09
Speaker 1: know that they were. And I really enjoyed that element
26:13
Speaker 1: of people wanting to hear from her, but it had
26:17
Speaker 1: to be the right time, the right place, the right
26:19
Speaker 1: environment and under the right circumstances. And so to carry
26:23
Speaker 1: that and to really care for that, you know, like
26:26
Speaker 1: just being behind the scenes, like I really care about how,
26:31
Speaker 1: this conversation and how her words are framed, like it
26:33
Speaker 1: has to be right. You know, it has to be
26:36
Speaker 1: right that I, to me, that piece is like a
26:40
Speaker 1: heart and soul piece for me.
26:43
Speaker 2: I love her so much.
26:44
Speaker 1: I love her so much. I'm like, when is she
26:45
Speaker 1: coming on this podcast? I know this season, it's happening.
26:48
Speaker 1: It is.
26:49
Speaker 2: God, I love her so much. And yeah, what you're
26:51
Speaker 2: speaking to being able to tie in that deeper kind
26:55
Speaker 2: of layer of spiritual understanding and connection and resonance in
27:00
Speaker 2: the work.
27:01
Speaker 1: And I think it's also ran in tandem with my
27:04
Speaker 1: own journey, you know, of just how I have grown,
27:08
Speaker 1: how I have integrated God back into my life, you know,
27:14
Speaker 1: and that being a journey in and of itself, And
27:18
Speaker 1: then when we think about the journalism piece, I actually
27:21
Speaker 1: started to lean in more to like, this is my
27:24
Speaker 1: experience of like what I'm going through. And I think
27:27
Speaker 1: that when I look at a piece that I that
27:30
Speaker 1: I wrote on Lauren, it's like. in a small way
27:33
Speaker 1: like a reflection of me and my growth because I
27:36
Speaker 1: was at least able to see a little bit of
27:38
Speaker 1: where I was going and it's just also evolved the
27:43
Speaker 1: way that I look at beauty and even the ways
27:47
Speaker 1: that like of us being in conversation and me hearing
27:50
Speaker 1: you talk about beauty and opening up my brain to
27:53
Speaker 1: the other ways that people are viewing it beyond the
27:56
Speaker 1: beauty product, beyond the face cream, beyond the retinol. I
27:59
Speaker 1: love all that stuff. Don't get me wrong. I love
28:03
Speaker 1: sitting in the chair for glam. I love skincare. But
28:05
Speaker 1: there's something about the inside of it all, that inner
28:10
Speaker 1: beauty that comes out with the beauty that people see
28:14
Speaker 1: physically that is so real.
28:15
Speaker 2: Oh, my God. When that congruence is present.
28:18
Speaker 1: That's really good. That's really the money shot right there. Yes. Yes.
28:23
Speaker 2: And, you know, beauty is a pathway to healing.
28:25
Speaker 1: Beauty is a pathway to.
28:28
Speaker 2: Self-realization as well as the self-expression that we understand it as.
28:34
Speaker 2: Talk to me about your relationship with the divine. Yes.
28:40
Speaker 1: I'm going to go back a little bit because actually
28:42
Speaker 1: I'm really hoping that someone will find something within this story.
28:45
Speaker 1: I didn't grow up as a church kid, but I
28:48
Speaker 1: was in the church. Hmm. growing up, you know, my family,
28:51
Speaker 1: we would go to church here and there. I would
28:53
Speaker 1: go with my grandmother, but it was actually during the
28:56
Speaker 1: time that my parents were separated and getting a divorce
29:00
Speaker 1: and that I really needed refuge that I went to
29:04
Speaker 1: youth group with a friend of mine at a non-denominational church.
29:09
Speaker 1: And I mean, God just lit themselves up within me.
29:14
Speaker 1: It was a kind of church that was like praise
29:16
Speaker 1: and worship was over when it was over. You know,
29:18
Speaker 1: I was In the front, dancing, praising God, like sweaty,
29:22
Speaker 1: like there was just no, there wasn't any kind of
29:26
Speaker 1: restraint or restriction, at least within the chapel of it all,
29:31
Speaker 1: the house of God of it all. And it was
29:35
Speaker 1: through that experience that really became double edged, right? There
29:41
Speaker 1: was this element of now looking back of the pressure
29:47
Speaker 1: I felt to be perfect all of the time was
29:51
Speaker 1: actually the thing that drew me away from it. Something
29:54
Speaker 1: that I'm actually still shedding and have continued to shed
30:00
Speaker 1: was like the very black and white of life. Like
30:03
Speaker 1: for me, I now recognize that that is not how
30:06
Speaker 1: life is, but growing up in that environment, that's how
30:10
Speaker 1: it felt. It was either you were in line with
30:13
Speaker 1: God or you listened to some rap music and you backslidden.
30:18
Speaker 1: Like it was just, it was just so extreme that
30:21
Speaker 1: anything that, that I did that was wrong in accordance
30:25
Speaker 1: to the, to this specific, this, that was wrong to
30:30
Speaker 1: this specific church was a sin and like something that
30:34
Speaker 1: you were supposed to feel really guilty about. And so
30:38
Speaker 1: that was like really what pulled me away from church
30:41
Speaker 1: because I felt that either I needed to be a
30:45
Speaker 1: warrior for Christ or I needed to get out. That
30:48
Speaker 1: was the line I had drawn in the sand for myself.
30:51
Speaker 1: And I have so much compassion for that girl because
30:54
Speaker 1: she was really just like confused and needed the sort
30:58
Speaker 1: of support and help that didn't also feel like I
31:02
Speaker 1: needed to be at church all of the time. And
31:05
Speaker 1: so I was really within the church world at that age.
31:12
Speaker 1: I was like going to Christian retreats and all the things, right?
31:15
Speaker 1: And I think now what I could tell you about
31:18
Speaker 1: that experience is that no matter where you are, God moves.
31:25
Speaker 1: You can be in a church that is corrupt or
31:29
Speaker 1: the pastor did this or the pastor did that. But
31:32
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, if you want to
31:35
Speaker 1: feel the presence of God, there is nothing that can
31:40
Speaker 1: stop God from doing that or for that to happen. Yeah.
31:43
Speaker 1: And I think that God is still God.
31:46
Speaker 2: Yeah.
31:46
Speaker 1: God is still God. And if it's something that you want,
31:50
Speaker 1: maybe it's not the fully healthiest environment for you at
31:55
Speaker 1: the time. But, and there are so many experiences now
32:00
Speaker 1: that I look back and I go, that wasn't healthy.
32:02
Speaker 1: Like that wasn't okay that that happened. But at the
32:05
Speaker 1: same time, this experience catapulted me into like a favor.
32:11
Speaker 1: I think that I've continued to have in my life.
32:14
Speaker 1: And then 2020 came in, I feel like a lot
32:16
Speaker 1: of people, you know, that was a very introspective moment
32:19
Speaker 1: for a lot of people. including myself. And so my
32:24
Speaker 1: prayer to God had always been up until that point, like, God,
32:28
Speaker 1: I would love to reconnect with you again. God, I
32:30
Speaker 1: would love to figure this out again. God, I miss you.
32:34
Speaker 1: I am not against this idea. I don't hate you.
32:38
Speaker 1: I'm not upset. I just don't know. And in 2020,
32:42
Speaker 1: and now I feel like I've created this alchemy in
32:45
Speaker 1: this space that is less tied to a specific religion.
32:51
Speaker 1: And I love that because I feel like such a
32:54
Speaker 1: global girl. I feel, I feel like the girl who's
32:56
Speaker 1: like supposed to just, you know, being a Sag, like
32:59
Speaker 1: being that scholar, that learner, that's kind of where I'm
33:03
Speaker 1: at now. And yeah, I'm just, I just feel blessed
33:08
Speaker 1: and grateful to be like a girl on her journey.
33:11
Speaker 1: You know what I mean? Yeah.
33:13
Speaker 2: Like it really is such, a blessing to be on
33:16
Speaker 2: a journey.
33:17
Speaker 1: It is.
33:18
Speaker 2: So many people, and especially women throughout history, there is
33:21
Speaker 2: not space for that. There is no quest, no journey,
33:25
Speaker 2: no pathway to a deeper layer of yourself. How important
33:30
Speaker 2: do you feel and how does it show up in
33:32
Speaker 2: your life, the self-work you do on yourself? How has
33:38
Speaker 2: that benefited your life and especially your work?
33:41
Speaker 1: Yeah. So I was thinking about this earlier, actually, because
33:45
Speaker 1: I used to feel really guilty about going in and
33:49
Speaker 1: out of my of my practices and what that looks like.
33:53
Speaker 1: I would go through these bouts of meditation and then
33:58
Speaker 1: it would fade away and then I would arrive back.
34:02
Speaker 1: And I think that what I have now learned is
34:05
Speaker 1: that it's most important for me to create a container
34:08
Speaker 1: of whether that's an hour or whatever it may be,
34:11
Speaker 1: in that if the prayer and the meditation does in
34:15
Speaker 1: fact look like a sitting, a calmness, like a true
34:20
Speaker 1: meditation as we know them, maybe I'm listening to something,
34:23
Speaker 1: maybe I'm not, or if it's that I need to
34:25
Speaker 1: move my body, I need to dance, I need to journal,
34:30
Speaker 1: I have more now given myself that freedom to recognize
34:34
Speaker 1: that I'm someone who needs to switch it up some
34:39
Speaker 1: for whatever reason. And I'm just always trying to leave
34:44
Speaker 1: space for me to arrive to wherever I'm supposed to be.
34:50
Speaker 1: And so that has become really important for me is
34:55
Speaker 1: I'm continuing to be someone who is working towards the
35:00
Speaker 1: discipline that you speak about in your book also, right?
35:04
Speaker 1: Something that I loved about reading your book was that
35:08
Speaker 1: you talk like you talk about with like such tough love,
35:13
Speaker 1: like you talk about the need for discipline and consistency
35:17
Speaker 1: in a way that I just think is so real.
35:20
Speaker 1: So I, yeah. And so I think that I hold that.
35:23
Speaker 1: And I also hold that some days like, like my
35:27
Speaker 1: meditation may not look the same every day. And then
35:31
Speaker 1: maybe one day I'll get into something where it is like,
35:34
Speaker 1: I am meditating for 45 hours. I would love to
35:38
Speaker 1: try that one day. Okay.
35:39
Speaker 2: Right?
35:40
Speaker 1: And then maybe later in the night, I am doing
35:42
Speaker 1: more of my ritual, my body work, my gua sha,
35:46
Speaker 1: my body gua sha, whatever it is. But I think,
35:50
Speaker 1: kind of to your greater question around my work, is
35:53
Speaker 1: that I think it comes out in my work in
35:55
Speaker 1: terms of not only what I decide to... Or actually.
36:02
Speaker 1: I would actually say that the biggest shift that has
36:06
Speaker 1: come from my own journey with the divine has been
36:11
Speaker 1: not wanting to obsess over other people and gawk at
36:14
Speaker 1: other people. And it's been such a shift in celebrity
36:18
Speaker 1: and of who's relevant and what that means. I have
36:22
Speaker 1: now really come to a point where, and I don't
36:25
Speaker 1: actually really think I was ever this kind of journalist
36:28
Speaker 1: that was covering gossip or covering relationships, but I think
36:33
Speaker 1: having an obsession over other people in that way that's
36:37
Speaker 1: not actually rooted in respect and reverence for who other
36:41
Speaker 1: people are is just not my vibe at all. And
36:44
Speaker 1: I think that... It has caused it caused me to
36:47
Speaker 1: spiral some because I was like, well, what am I
36:49
Speaker 1: supposed to be doing then? Who am I? What am
36:51
Speaker 1: I supposed to be talking about? Like, how do I
36:53
Speaker 1: create relevant work? But come to find out, I was
36:55
Speaker 1: already doing that. I was just looking at other people
36:59
Speaker 1: and what they were doing and getting both into into
37:02
Speaker 1: this space of like, well, I don't want to come
37:05
Speaker 1: across that way, which is actually its own like egotistical
37:07
Speaker 1: thing as well of like me judging other people and
37:10
Speaker 1: what they do. So like, let's be real about that.
37:13
Speaker 1: But also just be just thinking to myself, like I
37:15
Speaker 1: want to add something different and I want other people
37:18
Speaker 1: to be able to relate to what I'm talking to
37:21
Speaker 1: in a way that's either intriguing or experience based. And
37:25
Speaker 1: so I think it's that like not wanting to fixate
37:29
Speaker 1: on other people and their situations and what they got
37:31
Speaker 1: going on. And when I really don't know anything about them. Girl,
37:38
Speaker 1: so good.
37:40
Speaker 2: It's so real. Like, it's just, I think people don't
37:45
Speaker 2: naturally realize how much time they waste on that. In
37:51
Speaker 2: a way that doesn't get reinvested into your life. Like
37:54
Speaker 2: it doesn't actually turn into a benefit in any way.
37:59
Speaker 2: But the output of time and thought and process, like
38:02
Speaker 2: it's tremendous.
38:05
Speaker 1: And you don't always notice that you're doing it, especially
38:07
Speaker 1: when we're online as much as we are. That's why
38:10
Speaker 1: I really encourage people, even for myself, where I do
38:14
Speaker 1: creative strategy and it's a part of my job to
38:16
Speaker 1: be online. You would be very... You would be very,
38:21
Speaker 1: not you, but I guess whoever's talking. The greater you. Yeah,
38:25
Speaker 1: the greater us. I think that we would all be
38:27
Speaker 1: so surprised at actually how clear and attuned that we
38:32
Speaker 1: would become if you have like an app blocker app
38:36
Speaker 1: or like you think you need to be online all
38:39
Speaker 1: the time to know what's going on. But when you
38:42
Speaker 1: also like have this trust in the divine and also
38:45
Speaker 1: in your own intuition, like you will find what you
38:48
Speaker 1: need to find out. You will know what you need
38:50
Speaker 1: to know. And so I think that there is also
38:55
Speaker 1: this self-empowerment element of also how I move through media
39:00
Speaker 1: where I don't want to take other people's power, but
39:05
Speaker 1: I also want to sit within my power and I
39:09
Speaker 1: want to feel empowered and I want other people to
39:12
Speaker 1: feel empowered. Don't let your timeline, don't let your algo
39:16
Speaker 1: take away that self-respect. And I don't mean that in
39:22
Speaker 1: like the grandma self-respect way. I just mean like, who
39:26
Speaker 1: are you and what do you stand behind and what
39:27
Speaker 1: you got going on? That's like, that's how I feel
39:30
Speaker 1: about a lot of it. What can I make? What
39:33
Speaker 1: can I create? I want my story to be one
39:38
Speaker 1: that is around empowerment and how I was able to
39:44
Speaker 1: serve and contribute and how other people lifted me up too.
39:48
Speaker 2: Amen.
39:48
Speaker 1: That's what I really want my story to be about.
39:52
Speaker 2: I love that. Thank you for saying that. It's just
39:57
Speaker 2: beyond important. And I think it's such a permission for
40:00
Speaker 2: how people can explore their work and really do what
40:06
Speaker 2: they're here to do. Be who you're here to be.
40:09
Speaker 2: Do what you're here to do. Serve how you are
40:12
Speaker 2: designed to serve.
40:14
Speaker 1: And you will... recognize that and it will come to
40:18
Speaker 1: you in the moment that you need it to but
40:21
Speaker 1: you have to start to pull some things away and
40:25
Speaker 1: you have to trust that god is going to present
40:27
Speaker 1: you with the information that you need to know.
40:31
Speaker 2: That part that part god will always surprise me god
40:38
Speaker 2: show me.
40:38
Speaker 1: How good it can get show me how good it
40:39
Speaker 1: can get.
40:50
Speaker 2: You know, I think one other thing I want to
40:52
Speaker 2: ask you that I think is so just important to
40:56
Speaker 2: know for all of us that are creating, that are doing,
41:00
Speaker 2: that are refining, how do you nourish your creative process?
41:05
Speaker 2: And how do you date it? How do you court it?
41:07
Speaker 2: How do you nurture it?
41:09
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, I love this question because there are
41:12
Speaker 1: so many different ways you can go with it. I'm
41:16
Speaker 1: very much like a seasonal person. And I don't mean
41:21
Speaker 1: that in terms of obviously we have spring, winter, but
41:24
Speaker 1: I think also recognizing that I need some malleability week
41:29
Speaker 1: to week. I have had to strip away perfection, which
41:35
Speaker 1: I think is actually like a part of the creative
41:38
Speaker 1: work to really recognize and to come to terms with
41:41
Speaker 1: the fact that what you are able and capable of
41:45
Speaker 1: doing creative one week may not be the next next week.
41:49
Speaker 1: And I've had to learn how to not get myself
41:53
Speaker 1: down in that process. I've had to learn that that's not,
41:57
Speaker 1: that doesn't make me broken, but it does mean that
42:01
Speaker 1: I need to pull up my notes app and remember like,
42:05
Speaker 1: what are the things that make you tick in these
42:07
Speaker 1: moments where I'm feeling anxious? Is it that I need
42:10
Speaker 1: to go to the museum and see the exhibition that
42:13
Speaker 1: I've been wanting to see but haven't yet and is
42:15
Speaker 1: about to close tomorrow? Does it mean that I need
42:18
Speaker 1: to pick up a book that I haven't even started yet?
42:23
Speaker 1: Does it mean that I do need to meditate? Does
42:25
Speaker 1: it mean that I need some sunlight? Have I been
42:27
Speaker 1: outside yet? I think that my notes app and me
42:31
Speaker 1: just like literally having this list of things that I
42:36
Speaker 1: can do. Do I need to like phone a friend?
42:39
Speaker 1: Is there a friend I can pick up and call
42:40
Speaker 1: the phone? Like honestly all of these things are part
42:43
Speaker 1: of my creative process. I like to leave a lot
42:46
Speaker 1: of things out and about. I was going through my
42:49
Speaker 1: apartment today and I wouldn't say that I'm like dirty
42:52
Speaker 1: but I'm definitely like a messy girl because I just
42:54
Speaker 1: leave things. I'll be like oh my god that oh
42:56
Speaker 1: I gotta do that. I gotta do that. I gotta
42:58
Speaker 1: do that. I'll put this down here. I I'm always
43:05
Speaker 1: kind of picking up. But one of the reasons is
43:08
Speaker 1: also because I very visually need to see the things
43:14
Speaker 1: that I need to learn from. So a lot of
43:17
Speaker 1: it is being outside. I love to go dance. I
43:21
Speaker 1: love a party. I love a DJ. All of these
43:23
Speaker 1: things are a part of my creative process, like living
43:26
Speaker 1: life outside. meeting new people. I love to be inside
43:30
Speaker 1: and I love to be in my space, but I
43:32
Speaker 1: love meeting new people. I love making new friendships. I
43:36
Speaker 1: love just different seasons, even of friendship. I do. And
43:42
Speaker 1: so I think all of it really is the way
43:44
Speaker 1: that I have crafted my life is to have creative freedom,
43:50
Speaker 1: but in that comes like a deep responsibility that I'm
43:54
Speaker 1: still learning, you know? And so it's, yeah, it's the,
43:58
Speaker 1: it's the, it's the, it's like having the reminders of
44:00
Speaker 1: the tools that you have at your disposal versus doing
44:03
Speaker 1: the spiraling in the head. You know what I mean?
44:07
Speaker 1: I don't know how much you relate to that now,
44:08
Speaker 1: but it's like the spiral of feeling like you always
44:11
Speaker 1: need to kind of do something when you could actually
44:14
Speaker 1: just rest or you could pick up a book or
44:17
Speaker 1: you can make some tea, or you can go smoke
44:19
Speaker 1: a joint. Like, I don't know, whatever you feel like doing,
44:21
Speaker 1: you know?
44:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah. Oh, I remember the spiral. Yeah. She remembers.
44:28
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's so good. That's so good.
44:31
Speaker 2: So at the end of every episode, we like to
44:33
Speaker 2: ask each guest to provide soul work. So it's something
44:37
Speaker 2: to integrate everything that was kind of brought forward in
44:42
Speaker 2: the episode. It can be a practice, it can be
44:45
Speaker 2: a prompt, it can be an exercise or a quote,
44:49
Speaker 2: but what is your piece of soul work to leave
44:52
Speaker 2: with everyone?
44:53
Speaker 1: Yeah. It was the thing that I did this morning.
44:58
Speaker 1: I have learned Even when you don't have everything or
45:04
Speaker 1: maybe you're not in the circumstance that you want to
45:08
Speaker 1: be in, whether it's where you live or your apartment or,
45:12
Speaker 1: you know, I'm in a space right now where it's
45:15
Speaker 1: like I'm really ready for my home. I'm really exhausted
45:20
Speaker 1: from skipping across L.A. every year, two years, like trying
45:24
Speaker 1: to find something that works for me. I'm really sick
45:28
Speaker 1: of living in places where you know landlords or whoever
45:31
Speaker 1: are able to cut corners and I have learned even
45:36
Speaker 1: then that you can make spaces your own and so
45:41
Speaker 1: right now the sun is entering like from my laundry
45:46
Speaker 1: room closet area and so in the morning the first
45:49
Speaker 1: thing I do is just stand in front of the
45:53
Speaker 1: the barely there window and just lean back on on
45:57
Speaker 1: like my wall and I just go like this and
46:04
Speaker 1: I just allow myself to do that and then also
46:07
Speaker 1: what I like to do is if I'm outside and
46:09
Speaker 1: I get outside of my car or if I come
46:11
Speaker 1: outside of a cafe and I notice the sun is
46:13
Speaker 1: out the way I will stop in the middle of
46:16
Speaker 1: the sidewalk I do not care I do not care
46:19
Speaker 1: I will stop in the middle of the sidewalk and
46:21
Speaker 1: just cars zipping by or whoever is zipping by. And
46:24
Speaker 1: I'll just stand there in gratitude, looking up at the
46:28
Speaker 1: sun with my eyes closed, like feeling the warmth. That
46:31
Speaker 1: does a lot for me. That does a lot for
46:33
Speaker 1: me right now. Especially being in LA, you know, in
46:36
Speaker 1: the summertime.
46:38
Speaker 2: Girl, that is my medicine too. Just, and she had
46:42
Speaker 2: for those listening, both hands over her heart center, you know,
46:46
Speaker 2: taking in that sun and that feeling. And it's like, Yeah.
46:50
Speaker 2: Sometimes that is what we need more than anything else. Yeah.
46:53
Speaker 2: Like that can shift so much.
46:57
Speaker 1: It can really shift so much. And so again, that's
47:01
Speaker 1: like one of the things I keep in my notes
47:04
Speaker 1: I was talking about earlier, right? Is it's like on
47:06
Speaker 1: this journey where I have been depressed, where I have
47:13
Speaker 1: not felt the best about myself one of the things
47:16
Speaker 1: like I don't one of the things I love about
47:19
Speaker 1: you I really don't even know if you would agree
47:20
Speaker 1: with this but it's how I feel is that there
47:22
Speaker 1: have been moments where I feel like you have seen
47:26
Speaker 1: me in ways that I had not seen myself yet
47:30
Speaker 1: I felt like there have been ways that you see
47:32
Speaker 1: me that I was not seeing myself and I think
47:35
Speaker 1: that that can like impact the way that you're communicating
47:38
Speaker 1: with someone or how you think other people are viewing you.
47:42
Speaker 1: Like you could actually have like a decreased version of
47:47
Speaker 1: how you think other people are viewing you when actually
47:49
Speaker 1: people are thinking so highly of you. And so... God,
47:53
Speaker 1: that's so true. Yeah. And I... That awareness, realizing that.
48:00
Speaker 2: Right.
48:00
Speaker 1: And then also recognizing, like, look at the other people
48:04
Speaker 1: around you who who respect you. Look at the other
48:08
Speaker 1: people around you who have integrity, who are on their path,
48:11
Speaker 1: who are successful in their own right, you know, who
48:15
Speaker 1: are abundant in their own right. Right. look at how
48:19
Speaker 1: they're they they are viewing you and like rise to
48:23
Speaker 1: the occasion it's really it's really that where it's like
48:26
Speaker 1: what do you do with this information now that you
48:28
Speaker 1: have seen it it's like okay rise to the occasion
48:31
Speaker 1: because you trust this person right you trust the way
48:35
Speaker 1: then you would trust the way that they view you
48:37
Speaker 1: and how can you how can you use that knowledge
48:42
Speaker 1: as a jumping point to bolster your self-esteem and to
48:47
Speaker 1: further now see yourself the way that you truly are.
48:50
Speaker 2: Wow.
48:53
Speaker 1: It's really a crazy experience when you recognize that like
48:56
Speaker 1: some people see you more than you see yourself. And
49:01
Speaker 1: at first it almost seems impossible. Like how could that
49:07
Speaker 1: be possible? But I do think that it's possible if it,
49:11
Speaker 1: in relation to, And kind of relation to how you
49:15
Speaker 1: view yourself if you're not viewing yourself at the highest level.
49:20
Speaker 1: yeah in in in I guess when I say highest
49:23
Speaker 1: light maybe that's too ambiguous but at least within the
49:26
Speaker 1: way that God sees you fully yeah I think that's
49:29
Speaker 1: what I'm really aiming for is I I want people
49:33
Speaker 1: to know that I am like a girl on her
49:35
Speaker 1: path I'm a woman on her path you know and
49:38
Speaker 1: I really relate to other people in that same sense.
49:42
Speaker 1: And there are so many ebbs and flows and ups
49:44
Speaker 1: and downs and moments where I'm like, I cannot hear
49:47
Speaker 1: another astrology reading right now. Girl. I can't. I actually...
49:53
Speaker 1: It's too much. It's too much. It's too much. And
49:57
Speaker 1: it's like, honestly, in that, it's like, I feel things moving.
50:01
Speaker 1: I feel things shifting. I don't feel like I need
50:02
Speaker 1: to read everything all the time.
50:04
Speaker 2: Yeah.
50:05
Speaker 1: And... Now I'm at this place and I think it
50:08
Speaker 1: does have to do with like this confidence that I
50:11
Speaker 1: have built, this growth that I have built. And it
50:15
Speaker 1: comes down to recognizing the way that other people who
50:18
Speaker 1: do love you, who do see you, who do treat
50:23
Speaker 1: you the way that you want to be treated. Like, yeah,
50:25
Speaker 1: listen to those people and take notes of what they
50:28
Speaker 1: have to say about you and about the world. And
50:32
Speaker 1: don't forget it, you know. So good. I'm so glad.
50:40
Speaker 1: So good.
50:41
Speaker 2: So, so good.
50:42
Speaker 1: So real.
50:44
Speaker 2: That is such a great way because I think so many...
50:49
Speaker 2: So many human beings, you know, where you carry these
50:53
Speaker 2: narratives about yourself from childhood and beyond that were really
50:59
Speaker 2: just informed by people that didn't know you well. Right.
51:02
Speaker 2: And their projections. And then we can get caught up
51:04
Speaker 2: in making that narrative, you know, the kind of underlying
51:07
Speaker 2: bias we think people have against us that we don't
51:10
Speaker 2: even know.
51:11
Speaker 1: Yes.
51:12
Speaker 2: And then when you do get the opportunity to have
51:14
Speaker 2: someone in front of you that genuinely sees you, that
51:16
Speaker 2: can reflect back accurately, or is treating you with the
51:21
Speaker 2: deserved level of human respect and decency, it's like understanding
51:27
Speaker 2: that that is actually the norm. That is actually the truth,
51:32
Speaker 2: not the rare thing or the thing to be suspicious
51:35
Speaker 2: about or reject. That's the thing to study yourself and say,
51:40
Speaker 2: How do I let more of this in?
51:42
Speaker 1: I feel like I have really started to study that.
51:45
Speaker 1: And the more that I have started to study that,
51:48
Speaker 1: the more people or places or objects, I would say,
51:53
Speaker 1: or energy that has come into my life that has
51:56
Speaker 1: also allowed me to more freely give. Actually, the more
52:01
Speaker 1: that I receive I always say that there are different
52:07
Speaker 1: kinds of currencies. I think that there's money, financial currency.
52:11
Speaker 1: I also think there's cultural currency. And the more that
52:15
Speaker 1: you can tap into your currency, whatever that is, the
52:20
Speaker 1: more that... And I say this because I'm someone who...
52:25
Speaker 1: has this cultural currency. And I mean this in the
52:29
Speaker 1: sense of like, I have a voice and I have
52:31
Speaker 1: a gift and I'm in media for this reason, right?
52:35
Speaker 1: Is to share my knowledge and my own personal experiences
52:39
Speaker 1: can be a part of sharing that knowledge too. And candidly,
52:43
Speaker 1: it's like, I feel like I've really struggled with the
52:45
Speaker 1: finances of it all, the hard, cold cash. But the
52:50
Speaker 1: more that I have accepted resources in ways that like
52:55
Speaker 1: I used to view as taboo or that I thought
52:58
Speaker 1: like you know well I don't have the money for
53:00
Speaker 1: this but people are giving you things to edify your
53:03
Speaker 1: life and they're not asking you for anything in return
53:07
Speaker 1: whether it be an object or a compliment um I
53:12
Speaker 1: receive it with gratitude now when people are like Darian
53:17
Speaker 1: you look great or Darian I love your work or
53:20
Speaker 1: I'm eating alone you know dinner and the server is
53:23
Speaker 1: like wait are you darian like i follow studio simone
53:27
Speaker 1: i don't shy away from those moments i think you
53:31
Speaker 1: should let the let people see you and embrace that
53:36
Speaker 1: and accept that and don't shy away from that like
53:40
Speaker 1: being coy about it is not cute honestly Hell yeah.
53:47
Speaker 1: Hell yeah. Hell yeah. Being cute.
53:49
Speaker 2: Yeah.
53:49
Speaker 1: Like being cute is like saying thank you and showing
53:52
Speaker 1: deep appreciation for people and being like the light at
53:56
Speaker 1: the cafe or saying what's up to the guy who
53:59
Speaker 1: you always see at like the bar restaurant that you
54:02
Speaker 1: go to. Like you really do attract the kinds of
54:06
Speaker 1: people who are creative and are also on their journey.
54:09
Speaker 1: and have something to give in a way, in a
54:12
Speaker 1: currency that maybe like you don't fully have yet, but
54:15
Speaker 1: they do. And there's this exchange that happens. And that's,
54:19
Speaker 1: I think that's what I mean when I'm like, I
54:21
Speaker 1: love to meet people. When I go outside, there is
54:24
Speaker 1: not a day where I don't see someone who I
54:26
Speaker 1: don't know. God is always allowing me to still be
54:30
Speaker 1: in touch with people who are a part of my community.
54:35
Speaker 1: Like really, I, when I go places, I always know
54:37
Speaker 1: I'm going to see somebody. Whether it's I'm going to Erewhon. Yeah,
54:42
Speaker 1: I said it. Love me some Erewhon. Or I'm going to,
54:45
Speaker 1: I don't know, the post office or my cafe. Like
54:48
Speaker 1: I'm going to see someone. And to me, that is richness. Yeah.
54:52
Speaker 1: That's what I love about life. Yeah.
54:54
Speaker 2: Amen. And what I heard too, what you were saying,
54:58
Speaker 2: it's the power of authenticity.
55:00
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
55:01
Speaker 2: You know, when we perform, we miss the opportunity to
55:05
Speaker 2: be connected to the experiences and the people that are
55:08
Speaker 2: actually aligned for our path. And it's like, be who
55:12
Speaker 2: you really are so that your people can find you.
55:15
Speaker 1: Yes. And it feels so good to be in this
55:19
Speaker 1: place now and to see how it will continue to develop.
55:24
Speaker 1: And I think that's what keeps my excitement about life.
55:27
Speaker 1: I'm definitely someone who is excited about life. I want
55:30
Speaker 1: to know what's next. I'm not always sure, but what
55:35
Speaker 1: God has shown me so far is, has blown my mind.
55:40
Speaker 1: And I just want to, I want to keep going.
55:42
Speaker 1: And as you say, I want to see how good
55:43
Speaker 1: things can get.
55:44
Speaker 2: How good can it get God?
55:46
Speaker 1: Yeah.
55:46
Speaker 2: I love that. Ah, thank you so much for joining us.
55:50
Speaker 2: Thank you for having me.
55:51
Speaker 1: My friend. I'm so happy to have you on the show.
55:53
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for having me. Such, such an honor.
55:56
Speaker 1: And Fun. Yes. I just love to have fun. So
56:00
Speaker 1: thank you. Thank you for giving so many people a space,
56:03
Speaker 1: including myself, to talk about our stories. I think the
56:07
Speaker 1: last thing I will say, even if it doesn't need
56:10
Speaker 1: to make the edit, but I've been watching everyone who
56:15
Speaker 1: you've been bringing on to your podcast recently, and I'm like,
56:17
Speaker 1: I love that. It's women and people who you have
56:22
Speaker 1: a special place for in your heart. And they're not
56:25
Speaker 1: all directly within the spiritual world. But again, they are
56:31
Speaker 1: people on their path who have tapped into something.
56:33
Speaker 2: Yeah.
56:34
Speaker 1: And they know they're not just fully self-made.
56:36
Speaker 2: Yeah.
56:37
Speaker 1: You know?
56:38
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah.
56:41
Speaker 1: That part. That part. Thank you.
56:42
Speaker 2: Thank you for seeing me.
56:43
Speaker 1: Of course.
56:44
Speaker 2: Please connect to all of Darian's work in the show
56:46
Speaker 2: notes of this episode. You can link her everywhere. Follow
56:49
Speaker 2: Studio Simone. Follow Darian. Connect to the really powerful and
56:54
Speaker 2: special way that she blends all of her worlds and
56:58
Speaker 2: connects you on a deeper level to beauty and yourself.
57:02
Speaker 2: Thank you for listening. We'll be back next week. Namaste. Namaste.
57:10
Speaker 2: The content presented on Deeply Well serves solely for educational
57:14
Speaker 2: and informational purposes. It should not be considered a replacement
57:18
Speaker 2: for personalized medical or mental health guidance and does not
57:22
Speaker 2: constitute a provider-patient relationship. As always, it is advisable to
57:27
Speaker 2: consult with your healthcare provider or health team for any
57:31
Speaker 2: specific concerns or questions that you may have. Connect with
57:36
Speaker 2: me on social, at Debbie Brown. That's Twitter and Instagram.
57:40
Speaker 2: Or you can go to my website, debbiebrown.com. And if
57:43
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57:46
Speaker 2: please rate, review, and subscribe, and send this episode to
57:51
Speaker 2: a friend. Deeply Well is a production of iHeartRadio and
57:54
Speaker 2: the Black Effect Network. It's produced by Jacquees Thomas, Samantha Timmons,
57:59
Speaker 2: and me, Debbie Brown. The beautiful sound.
58:02
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58:03
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