Thrive Like a Mother Podcast
I'm Ebony and I'm a mama to 3 beautiful souls. I'm learning how navigate my trauma healing while building the life I never dreamed was possible. I'm a survivor of childhood abuse and for the longest time, I believed that if anyone knew my story, I wouldn't be worthy of love. Many years later and now I know that it far from the truth.
On the Thrive Like a Mother podcast, I'll share the resources and tools I use on the daily to cultivate a healthy mindset break the wheel of survival. Here we're about honesty and transparency. Because at the root of it all, my purpose in creating this podcast is so that you know you are never alone in your journey.
There may be laughter, there may be tears and we'll do it all by linking arms and learning to thrive together.
Thrive Like a Mother Podcast
Positioned To Pause, Ready To Rise
If your calendar is full but your cup is empty, this conversation will meet you right where you are.
We sit down with licensed therapist, executive wellness coach, and mindfulness instructor Samantha Edu to explore why the bravest move isn’t another push. Your next brave step is the pause that lets you breathe, listen, and move with intention. From her powerful “fan line” story to the creation of her “Positioned To Pause” retreat, Samantha shows how community care, compassion, and worthiness can turn stretching into strength.
We unpack her signature ROOT framework; Reflect, Open, Overcome, Thrive. Her framework weaves mindfulness, journaling, visualization, and movement into everyday life. Samantha shares how doing “one brave thing” each week rewired her voice, led to a self-created leadership role, and built partnerships rooted in purpose rather than perfection.
We talk about the hidden cost of hustle, the guilt many moms carry when they rest, and how five guilt-free minutes can begin a larger shift from survival mode to sustainable growth.
We get personal in this episode:
- redefining bravery on your own terms
- unlearning self-censorship
- choosing to include yourself in the life you’ve built for others
We explore motherhood as a mirror, workplace community as a lifeline, and wellness as making room for your whole self. Get ready to swap scarcity for overflow and urgency for alignment.
Connect with Samantha at:
TikTok: @samanthaedu
Podcast: Brown Heart Wellness Podcast
YouTube: BrownHeartTV
Thank you so much for listening in! If this episode spoke to you, it would mean the world to me if you left a review or shared it with a friend. And don’t forget to tag me so I can personally thank you for helping me spread the word.
Follow and chat with me on Instagram:
Podcast account - @thrivelikeamother.podcast
Personal account - @thrive.empowered
Sending you light and love always!
Hey love, I'm Ebony and welcome to Thrive Like a Mother. On this podcast, we're scared for our truth, but that fear is what leaves us to truly live. You're in the right place and you feel like you're stuck in survival mode and you're ready to step into who you would truly need to be. I'll share resources and tools that I use daily to help you in your journey toward your mindset and to break the wheel of survival. The journey may not be easy, but you won't have to face it alone. I'm a mama of three healing day by day from past trauma, and I'm on a mission to build a life I've always dreamed of, but never thought was possible. So, love, if you're ready to believe in what's possible, let's link arms and thrive together. All right, y'all. Welcome to another episode of the Thrive Like a Mother Podcast. And as you see, I have a very special guest with us here today. I'm so excited. Okay, so our guest today is Samantha Edu. And y'all, she is a licensed therapist. She's an executive wellness coach and she is a mindfulness instructor. And she's also the host of the Brown Heart Wellness podcast where she talks about bravery, rest, and self-leadership. And through her practice, Brown Heart Wellness, she helps women and leaders find clarity, courage, and compassion. Because thriving starts with taking care of your whole self, right? That is a little bit, that is a piece, everything. And y'all, today's episode, we're talking about slowing down with intention, how to heal in community and how to take that next brave step. Yes. Even when it feels hard. Yes. My goodness. Welcome, welcome.
SPEAKER_01:Yes. Thank you for having me. I'm so excited. Me too.
SPEAKER_00:Y'all, do you see the let's give it up for the setup? I know. Yes. I love it. I love it. But I love always starting with asking our guests what season they're in. So Samita, what season are we in right now?
SPEAKER_01:Yes. Okay. So the season that I'm in right now is literally like, I call it the bravest season. Um, and it's probably not the season where I've been the bravest or going through the hardest of things in my life, but it is one where I've been the most intentionally brave. Um, and I think that this season is one where I'm being stretched, beautifully stretched, um, in order to be able to be a vessel. Like, and and when I think of a vessel, I'm thinking of like being able to be poured into so that what I'm pouring out is love, compassion, joy, fullness, honesty, and overflow rather than pouring out of something that's empty. I'm allowing myself to be poured into as well.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, I love that. Yes. Because I feel like I'm in a very similar season, you know, for a while. I was doing the Thrive Like a Mother podcast, and I was just doing it, you know, by myself. Have a business coach or anything. I was kind of like in between business coaches and realizing, you know what, I need community. I need someone to pour into just like I pour into y'all every single week. Um, because we can't do we can't do it alone. We can't. We cannot do it alone alone. Not for long. No, no, no, no. We can't. Okay. So we're talking about a season of being stretched, right? I know that can sometimes feel a little uncomfortable. How do you keep up with doing the brave things, still taking the steps, even when the stretching feels uncomfortable?
SPEAKER_01:It is uncomfortable. And sometimes I don't keep up. Like, I won't say that it's all the time where I feel like I'm just, you know, keeping up with all the things. I'm not. And I think another part of being brave is knowing when it's like, okay, your next brave step is to pause. Your next brave step is to just take a beat, pause, see how far you've come, look at where you're trying to go, you know, sit down somewhere and get real quiet. Open your heart so you can hear what you're supposed to be doing, just to check in to make sure I haven't gone too far off the path of where I'm supposed to be. Um, and that's bravery. And it's really hard because I'm one of those people. Um, I was watching this, these episodes about the great lock-in.
unknown:Yes.
SPEAKER_01:And I was like, I mean, I'm trying to be locked out this year. I'm trying out the next week's retreat.
SPEAKER_00:I'm really trying to be locked out. I feel that I do this every year, y'all. I will, I feel like my bird months are my moments of just reflection and saying, okay, where are we going in the new year? What have we done in this year? Let's celebrate that for a moment because it's been, this year has gone gone by really fast as well. It's just flown.
SPEAKER_01:Yes. And we've been doing the brave things. And I think like it's important to be able to say, my gosh, I have been stretched, stretched, stretched, stretched. And rest for me is a part of the stretching. That's some, there's things I had to unlearn in order for me to say, wow, you get to rest too. And so this last part of the year, I want to, I want to be stretched in the resting.
SPEAKER_00:I'm right there with you. I'm right there with you. Okay, so let's talk a little bit about retreat, y'all. It's sold out. Don't try to, don't try to get tickets. It's sold out. So if you did not get your ticket, join the wait list still. And we'll talk about that later. But this message, right? Position to pause. This is a message that right now, even as we're talking, is resonating, right? This is just, of course, the year has been the year. Yeah. But this is where we are transitioning into. Can you talk about like what really inspired you to create this retreat? Why now? And like what this space is gonna mean for you.
SPEAKER_01:Oh my gosh, yes. So I went to a conference a couple months ago uh during the summer, and in the so in at the conference, they were giving away these fans when everybody was like, Where them fans at? Yes, and they were giving away fans at everywhere you went. I probably have five fans. And so I went to get one of those fans.
SPEAKER_00:Yes.
SPEAKER_01:And when I got there, there was like hundreds of people trying to get the fans. And before I knew it, I wound up in the throng of people that couldn't move, couldn't go left, couldn't go right, couldn't. And you see, I made shorts. And so I could not, and before I knew it, I was being moved around without me doing it, you know, because people were moving and pushing people and stuff. And then I the security people came down and I looked up. I just closed my eyes. I was doing my breathing because I could feel myself like starting to get anxious about it. And when I opened my eyes, I was in the front of the line. And the uh security guard was yelling, yelling, yelling. He's literally right here, get out of the line, yeah. And I was like, I have nowhere to go, I have nowhere to go. And I didn't, I had to like pause. And when I opened my eyes again, I realized he's right here, but it's nothing behind him. I can literally step to the right and I'm in the open, you know, behind the um thing where everybody was, and I could breathe. And and so I did that. It was hard. I I ended up having a panic attack in there, but um, my friends called me and while it while I was in there because I couldn't get out because all people, but I had air and stuff. And so they were like, I see you. I know you can't see me, but I can see you. And I was on the phone. I was like, Okay, okay, and I see you, I can see you, I know you're in there. Okay, they're gonna let you out. And so this other lady sitting beside me, she came by herself to the conference and she was like, It's okay, can I give you a hug? I say, Yeah, you know, I love a hug. And so we started talking, and everything started coming down. So later I was praying about that, and I was like, Okay, Lord, why did you put me in that position? Because I'm about to go home. That situation, like I'm about to go home. And I remember I wrote in my journal, you are being positioned. I wanted you to see what it's like for you to just be positioned, recognize you have been positioned to be at the front of the line. You need to pause and see what to do next. Trust that your community is around you, they are holding you, they're there for you, and you're okay. And from that point on, I was like, I knew that this retreat was about to be positioned to pause.
SPEAKER_00:That is so powerful. You can't do it, I do it. I got my ticket. So I am very excited just to be in this room. Like, there's this, there's this thing about being in certain rooms that God wants you to be in. There is just something so powerful about it.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, and I'm so thankful. It's been a such a moment of being stretched, a moment of knowing that I'm being, you know, I've been positioned for this moment and still having to do the work to talk, you know, through myself, through the narratives that have been created. Like, am I worthy of this opportunity that these women have entrusted me with? You know, and then I have to talk through that and just knowing that you've been positioned to be here. You've been positioned, reminding myself over again and just I'm excited to get in the room. I'm like, I'm just I'm ready to get in the room. Um, but the retreat is gonna be really a reflection of how I do therapy and coaching. Yeah. I include mindfulness, meditation, journaling, visualizations, and movement. And so we'll walk through the root framework, which is reflecting. Um, and then we're gonna be open and using our mindful movement to open us up to new opportunities. Then we're gonna overcome the things that we've, you know, that have held us back. And then we're gonna thrive. We're gonna celebrate. Yes. And in the middle of that, we're gonna have some charcuterie and some chatting.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, that's another way. Y'all know I have just recently been obsessed. It's now a weekly thing. I'm making me a little charcuterie bop. I love it. I have to have that at least once, at least once a week. Good name. Okay, so let's talk about the hardship of pausing, right? Because I know there are a lot of moms who listen to this. And sometimes it's hard for us to do that without guilt. Why, why do you think there's that wall or resistance? And how can like our listeners start to kind of break through that wall?
SPEAKER_01:The pause. Yeah, yeah. The wall. I think just giving yourself permission, permission to do small things. And it sounds like, I don't want to say it sounds ridiculous for us to say, you know, give yourself permission to be away for five minutes. Because it sounds ridiculous, but it's so real. Right? And I say five minutes, like five minutes guilt-free, like five minutes of like just enjoying your meal.
SPEAKER_00:With that big boy, somebody coming up, can I get a bite? Or I need this, I need that.
SPEAKER_01:Yes. Finding time to like really explore you, I think is not something that we were taught. It's definitely not something that um we maybe saw growing up. I did not. Yeah. Um definitely I come from a lone line of superwomen and things that they were, they were and are super women, but they definitely were not restors and are not, still are not um resters. So I would tell women now to change the narrative for what you've seen and also create space for those coming behind you. I want my daughters to know rest. I want them to know hard work, and they do because they see us hard working hard, but I want them to know rest. I want them to know rest like they know their best friend. I want it to feel like such a comforting space for them that rest becomes a non-negotiable. It's like I don't even know a life where I wasn't resting. What are you talking about? Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, I'm a hard worker, but I take my time.
SPEAKER_01:I know what rest is. Yeah, because I feel like um they will see things we've never seen by doing that. You know, there are things that held us back because we were striving so often. And that striving is what held us back because we weren't able to play. Yeah. We weren't able to be creative and all those things that you get to do when you're resting.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, that is so true. Okay, one lesson, one lesson that came out of creating this retreat that surprised you. But I was not, I was not expecting this.
SPEAKER_01:Man, so I did a content daily other day, and so she asked me this question. I was like, ooh, man. One lesson that came out of this that I had to just like was the same thing. I think I mentioned it a little bit earlier was worthiness. Worthiness. I had to keep coming back to myself and putting myself in the process, in the dream. Like this is something I've always wanted to do. And I was having a conversation with my bestie, and she was like, girl, if you keep on, I'm gonna I'm gonna smack you. And I was like, I know. And I was um I was so excited about the process, so excited about how beautiful it's gonna be, like the atmosphere it's gonna be. And I and she was like, But you're leaving yourself out.
SPEAKER_00:You're leaving yourself yourself in.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. And I wasn't seeing myself in the dream because seeing me in it means I must see that I'm worthy of being it. And so one of the biggest lessons has that has come from this is an ongoing practice of unlearning what work feels like. Look like I don't have to be overly productive. No, I just have to show up and be myself. I'm enough. I'm enough. All that I have ever created and done was just me showing up and be myself, and it's always been enough. And but to me, there's something on the inside that's just something that came from, you know, growing up and always striving that feels like, okay, there's more you should be doing. It's more you should be doing to prepare. It's not over till it's over, you know.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, yes, I feel that. Especially the especially in our culture, we have to give the not 100%, 110, 20 until it's like, okay, yes.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, done enough. So I honestly wish when I do this again, and I do plan to do it again. My hope is that the next iteration, and for anybody planning to do big things like this for yourself, is that there is rest in the process. We don't yeah, we're not rest during the process. Like, okay, when this is all over, I booked a hotel, we're going to the spa. But in the middle, I'm locked in a thousand percent. Yeah, dragging myself through the finish line. Like, no, there should be rest in the process. So we give it from our overflow, creating from our overflow. That that should just be an ongoing part of the process. It gotta be. Like, uh, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So, so Mantha, you talk a lot about bravery and growth, but you also remind us that before we start to take the brave steps, we have to start with compassion, right? Yes. So I love just that balance that you bring to it. That is not all about just take the step. You have to come to it with, you know, giving yourself some grace. So, with any brave step, any big change, can you unpack like what it looks like to bring compassion into that brave step for yourself? Yes.
SPEAKER_01:A lot of times when we get ready to start a brave step, or we're gonna go do some, make some big change, you know, start a weight loss journey or a meal prep journey or any, you know, some time management thing, it's usually coming out of a place of love or not enough or not doing something correctly. And that's why I'm going to do go do this thing. And if you were coming from a place of compassion and grace, you might think, well, actually, I need to start this thing because I'm coming out of a place of overflow. I have so my my children are, you know, involved in so many great things. I have so many great things going on. There's so much overflow that I need to prepare myself rather than, oh, I'm not doing a great job of making sure we eat. I'm not doing a great job of like feeling like, you know, me eating healthy meals, I'm eating snacks all day. I gotta help, I gotta help me get my wheel together, please. And that feels so scarce. And what would happen if we just recognize the overflow seasons we're in? And that overflow is why we need these processes. It's not lack, it's not scarcity. We're not doing something wrong. We have just been placed in beautiful seasons of overflow that really do require us to make some changes that will help us to be sustained and scale to the next season.
SPEAKER_00:Yes. Oh, I love that perspective. Yeah. Because y'all, a lot of my clients, they come to me and like, oh my gosh, I've been eating like this, and you know, they're beating themselves up. I'm like, let's not start there. Yes. This is an opportunity for growth. You know how you have started in this step for a reason.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, yes. And when you think about your brave thing, like I tell people all the time, they say, Oh, I don't know when the last time, you know, I did something brave. And you probably didn't been doing brave things all the time. I know on the podcast I was sharing um when I was younger and I uh I gotten terminated from job and I was in at defects and looking for a job, seven months pregnant. It was crazy, really. That, anyways, we won't go all into that, but it was really crazy what they require you to do for a little coin. But I had somebody who said, Wow, what are you doing? I was in a defects program, and this woman walked up to me and she said, What are you doing? You're not supposed to be here. Because you had to turn in these writing assignments. And I wrote the assignment, I turned it into her, she read it. What are you doing? Oh my goodness. You're not supposed to be here. Yeah. And that that wait. It's like the light, wait. But you're right. You're right. It's like I'm supposed to be doing something else. And I it just didn't dawn on me that during that whole time, I was being brave. I just didn't feel like being, I didn't feel like I was being brave. I felt like a statistic. I was what, 19, 20? I had a child, I was getting ready to have my second child. I didn't feel like I was being brave. I feel like I was surviving the best that I could. Yeah. And when you start thinking of those things as, wait a minute, you've been brave for a long time. What I'm asking you to do is just be intentional about it.
SPEAKER_00:Yes. Goodness. Okay. So how can moms start applying this idea? Whether it's they're in a space and they're trying to get things together, like, okay, what what exactly is my brave stuff? Right. Like you said, what is some ways that they can start organizing themselves, get, you know, getting ready.
SPEAKER_01:I always ask people, what does bravery mean to you? Like, that's my first question all the time. Let's start with defining it because we all also jump into things and we don't know, we haven't defined for ourselves. We've let someone else define for us what bravery means. And for a lot of black women, for sure, bravery means being strong, holding things down, taking care of all the people, um, you know, growing, being a leader, all of these things. And that's not always what we bravery, how bravery shows up. That's definitely not how bravery shows up for me. Yeah. Um, actually, doing all of those things are probably my most natural characteristics. Um but I would tell people to answer the question, what does bravery mean to me? And then you write that down, think on it, and think about like, wow, what examples of bravery have I ever had? And which ones did I like? Like, which ones do I want to keep in this season of my life? Yeah, because what the examples that I had before were striving. I need to find some different ones. So I'd start there with that would be the very first step. What does bravery mean to me? Write it down. Think about the examples that you've had in the past. If you don't have any, go find some.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, look for it. Look for it. Okay. So let's talk about your One Brave Theme Challenge, which I love. What does it mean to you? Why, why did you start it? And how can you at least get connected to doing that?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. So I started the One Brave Theme Challenge in 2023 with myself. Um, I started uh like I was like, okay, I work in, I've worked in corporate for a long time as a corporate leader. And I found myself like really zoned into internal work. I was doing a lot of internal work all over the place. I was like, wait, who am I outside of here? I woke away, I don't have an external presence. Um, and I I was so angsty about like using my voice outside of my job. And so I said, you need to do one brave thing a week. And my one brave thing started out with reaching out to one person a week on LinkedIn and asking for a coffee chat. Well, I love that. It was so awkward, so weird, so me. And I didn't try to like make it any way other than what it was. I didn't have an offer. I didn't have anything I was asking of them, nothing. It was just have a chat. Have a chat with people that I had been following. I really love their content. Um, I had engaged with their content and was like, I want to meet this person. And so I did that each week until I got comfortable just talking to people. And that went on for a while, and then I just said, okay, now what's because now I'm okay with doing that. What's my next brave thing? And I just kept building on that. And then I was like, wow. And I created the role that I'm in now, actually, for my job, and was like, we need some um diversity, equity, inclusion for our clinicians, our providers, and created this role, and that was something I've never done before. Presented it to leadership. You know, I had to go through all the hoops and challenges of doing all the things. And um, and I got into the role and still in it. And so being able to do that, I was like, I could do all kinds of brave things. Like I'm on to something. And but I one thing that I realized that made me want to introduce this, this was so long ago before I relaunched the private practice, Brownheart Wellness. But what made me want to introduce it to Brownheart Wellness was I noticed I was healing some things within myself, the more brave things I did. So it wasn't about the outcome of the thing, because some of the things I did. Y'all, I have applied to like all kinds of stuff. I applied to a TED talk. They was like, girlby. I've applied to conferences. I have, I just do stuff. So it's it's now, it's not about the outcome of the thing. Yeah, it's about the process of it. And so I unlearned, you know, using my voice, I unlearned this idea of self-censorship. So I just realized that I was healing myself by doing one brave thing at a time. So when I relaunched the private practice, I knew that would be foundational. It's like, how do I get people to heal themselves one brave thing at a time without being so clinical? I'm still a therapist. I'm a therapist at heart. Like that's what I'm doing. But it's wrapped in one brave thing at a time. Goodness.
SPEAKER_00:So can you can you share a moment? I feel like I already know the answer to this. Can you share a moment where you took one brave start recently, even when you felt like, okay, I don't have it all figured out. But I feel, I feel like that's just you in a nutshell. Everything.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, every, everything is like, I don't even know. Um, my friend says, girl, you just be doing stuff for the vibes at this point.
SPEAKER_00:Say the same thing about me. They're like, what? You do this too? What don't you do? And I'm like, what try it? You never know.
SPEAKER_01:And that's my thing. It's like, you really never know what's gonna happen. I really think like the retreat, I keep going back to the retreat because it has literally been one brief thing after another. Doing the retreat itself is pushing through those thoughts, but like even reaching out to people who are sponsoring, you know, stuff for the goodie bags. I realized the other day that I'm working with black-owned small businesses. I didn't know any one of them before this retreat. Wow. Not one. It's beautiful. And um, and just being able to ask for help, like, hey, you know, how are you? And I think I met um the one of them before, and I was like, here's what I'm trying to do. Here's my heart behind it. And then I kept meeting one person after the other and having those conversations, knowing I've never had them before. Yeah. I was like, let's just see what happens. And it's been so just amazing how people are wanting to be a part of the Brownheart community. The mission. It's not even necessarily about the Brownhart community, it's just about wanting to see people be healed. It's just been such a fancy.
SPEAKER_00:Especially me watching it. Because girl, you know, I have the things in my event. I've been telling my business coach, you know what? Not this year, right? And that, and there's that fear thing in the bag. It's like, well, I've never done this before. I need to be more prepared before I do it. But watching you, you just, I'm just doing it. I'm gonna take the step. So we're gonna figure it out.
SPEAKER_01:We go. I literally, I have been figuring it out. It's just me, you know, I've never, I am a therapist. I'm a therapist coach, I do DIB specialist work as a leader. I'm taking all of my skills and I am transferring those skills into my gift. People think if I don't know how to do this thing, then oh well, it can't be done. You have skills you can transfer to fuel your gift. I don't know anything about marketing or any of that stuff. But what I do know how to do, I know how to plan, do strategic planning. I know how to do visioning, I know how to do all kinds of things that I've done. And that's like I've just been doing it. Yeah. It all works out. It really does. I would just encourage people to like the bet I don't want to say like this, but get over yourself. Mm-hmm and get over yourself and just do it. What's the worst that can happen? It don't work. Sometimes we get in our own way. In our own way. I have launched my group coaching program twice. You know how many people signed up each time? Zero. Yeah. And these are the things that people don't see, and I'm okay with that. I've been okay with it both times because I was not connected to the outcome. I was connected to the learnings. I took everything I learned from both launches to launch my retreat, and it was sold out.
SPEAKER_00:Things happen when they're supposed to happen. Exactly. Exactly. Goodness. Okay. So we talk about community and how that has been just always a part of your healing. What does that look like for you in motherhood and then in your work?
SPEAKER_01:Ooh, this is such a good question. I love in motherhood. So I have all my friends I don't have any ch any friends that don't um have children. So I've always had a group of mothers around me who could pour into me. And they've done so, so beautifully. Like all of my, I've been a mom since I was 19. And my best friend, she and I had our children around the same time. And so we grew up with in motherhood together. And so being able to just check in with each other has been absolutely beautiful. And she's in Louisiana, and my other bestie here, she has three daughters, like I have three daughters. And so just having people who will come pray with you over your kids and affirm you, or either say, listen, you that don't you do it. Yes.
SPEAKER_00:Keep it real.
SPEAKER_01:Yes. So all of my friends, my my other friends, she has, you know, they just all have kids and they have kids at different stages. And we're openly having conversations with about our kids, about ourselves, things we've had to learn as a parent. And that feel like that community has helped me to literally survive. Because woo.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Motherhood is the strength I didn't know that I would have. You know, even being, I think even in my my friend groups, I think I was the first one in like our friend groups to start having kids. And I was like, wow. You know, I never. I never knew. I'd say that a lot. I never knew that, you know, going through raising your kids would do certain things in you, start healing parts of you that you didn't even know. Listen. We're broken.
SPEAKER_01:Yes. It was somebody that was telling me that having children is like their whole job is to hold a mirror up to yourself. Oh, yeah. And maybe having three mirrors up to you with a girl behind it who act like their mama is like, oh my goodness, has definitely been my biggest learning experiences. And then having to learn how to be a human. I didn't learn it till later when my kids are, was one is about to be 23, 23, 20, and 16. And I didn't learn it till later, maybe five, six years ago, to be human with them. And I think it's still a journey where they trusted me enough to come and say, I feel like we don't know you as well as you think we do. And I'm like, wow. You know, I have hidden so much. I'm so open with them that I think I don't, but my vulnerabilities is what I've hidden. And so that is a big, big lesson that I've learned is like if I want them to be human with me, I gotta be human with them too.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Oh, that's big. Yeah. Me thinking with my seven-year-old gather conversations we're having now. I was like, should I be having, you know, yes. Yes, I should be having these conversations with you. Because I mean, you need to know it now.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, yes. And you want them to be open with you. And you know, there are come there's they they will not be. Yeah. But that'll be their journey and you'll work through it. But yeah, yeah. So that's what community looks like in parenthood. I forgot the other one you asked me. In your work, community in your please find some community. Look, I don't know. Please find some community in your work. Yeah. Yeah, don't be by yourself isolated. Do not be isolated in these workplaces and spaces because one, we work in our environment, is a very capitalistic type of system, and it is not meant for us to be thriving and well. And so the one way that we do get to thrive and be well is to be in community with others. Yeah. I've always had community every place that I've gone and been, and now I've been able to build community, but even if I build it, I still have my own, my own people where I can go to and just say, Whoo, this is how, and that's how I started Brownheart actually, was um one of my friends in my work community. We started sending each other brown hearts during work meetings just to encourage us. We would be in a meeting and some shade was happening, and she would send me a brown heart, or I was being harder myself in a conversation. She would send me a brown heart afterwards. That's what community looks like at the workplace. I know some people are like, I'm not going that place to go home. I'm not doing none of that. But also, if that's what you gotta do, do it.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Okay. So what does what does wellness mean to you right now beyond just doing the things or worrying about performance? Yes.
SPEAKER_01:Wellness means like making room for me in this beautiful life that I built for so many other people.
SPEAKER_00:Yes.
SPEAKER_01:Like I wanna be a part of it so bad.
SPEAKER_00:Yes.
SPEAKER_01:Like that's what wellness means to me. Um, for a long time, I don't think that I included myself in the life that I've created for my family or even at work or um in in many different spaces. I didn't include myself. And now wellness means making sure I am very much so included and centered if need be, and not feeling bad about it. Um because that's okay. Oof, goodness. Okay.
SPEAKER_00:So before we start to close, love, first of all, if y'all aren't following Samitia, please do. But I love her affirmations. So I would love if you could share one in the audience, just one that you're like holding on to.
SPEAKER_01:Yes. The one that I'm holding on to for dear life right now is um, I have been positioned to be right where I am. I deserve to be in this space. The space and time was created just for me to exist in my wholeness. That's the one I've been like on repeat.
SPEAKER_00:Yes. What the heck? Oh my gosh. Okay. So where can people connect with you and just stay in your world? Make sure they know when the next retreat is coming and they don't miss their ticket. Yes.
SPEAKER_01:Um, you can find me on IG at Brownheart Wellness, and I'm actually launching a new school community called Um the One Brave Thing Community. Um please feel free to join the One Brave Thing Community. And you can also go to my website at Samantha Edu.com and you'll find all the things and the wait list for the next retreat is open. Well, it's open, y'all.
SPEAKER_00:Go sign up immediately. Immediately. Well, Samantha, just thank you. Thank you for being here. Thank you for bringing us just warmth and letting us into your world, into what your season is right now. Yes. Um, and just sharing with our listeners just what bravery means to you, and then just how they can define their own bravery. Um, just I'm just honored.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, thank you. Thank you, thank you. I appreciate you so much. Bye bye, y'all. Bye.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you so much for listening, love. If anything in today's episode resonated with you, share it with your bestie or share it on social media and tag me so we can chat about it. As always, sending you light and love, and remember, you are worthy, you are enough, and you deserve to thrive.
