We were lucky to catch up with Bonita Oliver recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Bonita , thanks for joining us today. Looking back, what’s an important lesson you learned at a prior job?
One of the most important lessons I’ve carried into business ownership is the necessity of trusting one’s own intuition. In a world where logic is prioritized, it is easy to underestimate the power of ‘knowing’, not the kind of knowing that has words attached, but the embodied knowing that is part of our primal inheritance.
When we are invited to create, take risks, or problem-solve, intuition is our greatest gift from the primordial continuum. It is the lived wisdom within our genetic imprints, allowing us to recognize what is necessary exactly when it is necessary.
I’ve always worked with this ‘knowing’ to maintain a state of flow, but its practical value became undeniable in 2022. I was part of a large scale project where the majority were vociferous about moving the organization’s assets in a specific direction. On paper, the logic seemed sound to them, but I felt a distinct, wordless friction. I stood as the outlier against the move. Because our governance required unanimous decision making, we were unable to proceed with the plan.
By 2024, the landscape had shifted, and it became clear that the original plan would have resulted in a massive financial loss. My intuition wasn’t a guess; it was a deep embodied recognition of a risk that logic hadn’t caught yet. Now, as a business owner, I treat that inner compass/intuition as my most reliable data point.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am a multidisciplinary performance artist, producer, and educator who operates at the intersection of technology, ritual, and digital ethics. My journey into this discipline began not with a business plan, but with the human voice. As a vocalist and visual artist, I spent years investigating the impact of sound and somatic exploration. My background in practices like Deep Listening and Circle Singing taught me that the most profound ‘data’ we possess is embodied.
In 2020, when we were all forced to pivot, I transitioned into the broader creative industry by applying what I have learned as an artist to modern dilemmas. My work evolved from the stage to the digital landscape as I began to ask: How do we maintain sovereignty in an era of data mining and now biometric surveillance? This led me to research sustainable technology, (for example projects like Algorand and Tezos blockchain) to create art that acts as a historical archive rather than a tool for extraction. I co founded Black Meta Fest and Disruptor DAO both in 2022 with several others who shared an interest in nascent technology and providing access to marginalized communities.
Through my brand and creative practice, I provide a bridge between the tactile and the digital. My services and works include:
Blockchain Education-Creative Consulting- Helping others navigate the ethics of ‘blockchain without sacrificing environmental or human values , tools for the collective and the importance of data sovereignty
Virtual Astrology Readings: Helping others to learn about the ancient tools which provide an opportunity for self reflection
Large Scale Interdisciplinary Rituals and Installations: Holding space for people to heal and re set their nervous systems in immersive environments of collective care
Ancestral healing Workshops and Leadership Workshops for Empowerment: Teaching youth and organizations about collective structures and flow, about listening through somatic techniques and translating genealogical data and social practice into physical form as a way to set new trajectories.
In my work, I solve the problem of disconnection- from self and from others. In a world that treats our data as a commodity, I help my clients and audiences reclaim their narratives, transforming cold information back into lived, ritualized wisdom.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
We all have stories from 2020- the collective pivot that forced us to find a new flow amid massive global change. But for me, the true crucible of my resilience came from a much more personal and earlier loss:- the passing of my partner, who was the anchor of my life.
In the wake of that loss, the world as I knew it collapsed. I went from being someone holding down a ‘job’ for mere survival to someone who felt a visceral, urgent compulsion to live a life of purpose. When you witness the fragility of life so closely, you stop taking anything for granted. You lose the luxury of ‘going through the motions.’
That experience became the foundation of my business and my creative practice. Resilience, I learned, isn’t just about bouncing back to where you were; it’s about a sovereign rebirth. It’s the decision to take the ‘grief and transform it into a deep focus on what actually matters.
It informed my work with ritual, voice, and the collective archive. I realized that our presence-our aliveness-is the most valuable thing we have. Now, when I face shifts in the industry or challenges in a project, I don’t just look at the logic of the problem. I look at it through the universal lens of that hard won wisdom: Is this work worthy of the time we have? Does it honor the primal inheritance of being alive?
If I am thriving today, it is because I stopped playing a script and started building a space for the things that remain when everything else is stripped away. That loss taught me that resilience isn’t just endurance- t’s the courage to say a yes to life’s ebbs and flows and tidal waves- even when the anchor is gone.
We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.
For years, before I became a professional artist, I made art of all kinds as a daily practice. We are often told to ‘get a real job’ because art is viewed as a luxury for the rich- and historically, that has often been the case. But here is the catch- our very lives are art. What I was doing in those early years wasn’t a ‘side hustle’ in the corporate sense; it was the slow, steady cultivation of my own ancestral gifts.
For me, personal trauma was the catalyst that forced me to step into the truth of who I am. It gave me a fearlessness I might never have otherwise embodied. However, scaling that truth into a full time career didn’t happen overnight. It was a series of conscious, steps toward a more honest life.
Key Milestones in the Scale Up:
The Transition from ‘Job’ to ‘Practice’: The first major milestone was internal. I stopped viewing my creative work as something I did after my ‘real job’ and began treating my ‘real job’ as the entity that was simply funding my true vocation. This mental pivot changed how I negotiated my time and energy.
The Power of Recognition: Moving into professional spaces like the Kitchen, Lower Manhattan Community Council and Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone were critical structural milestones for me demanding my output at a high level. These weren’t just accolades; they were the moments where the ‘outside world’ finally mirrored the professional identity I had already claimed for myself.
The Shift to Data Sovereignty: A massive scaling moment occurred when I integrated my interest in technology and ritual. This allowed me to turn my creative works into a viable, self-sovereign business model that aligned with my ethics.
The 2022 Pivot: As I mentioned previously, standing as an ‘outlier’ during a high-stakes organizational moment was a milestone of leadership. It proved that my intuition was a professional asset that could protect and grow a business, not just a personal feeling.
Today, my ‘side-hustle’ IS my life. It has scaled from a private daily practice into a multidisciplinary brand that encompasses large-scale installations, education, and consulting. I didn’t just start a business- I paved a path, one conscious step at a time, until the path and my life became the same thing
Contact Info:
- Website: https://bonitaoliver.com
- Instagram: @frenchleave62317
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bonita-oliver-2348043b
- Other: Voxels virtual world: https://www.voxels.com/spaces/f862cd58-5d0b-4e7d-b591-fcbda1735d05/play?coords=N@8E,31S
Seeking Truth Gallery Space: https://www.spatial.io/s/Seeking-Truth-63d47ab2e489143dcbf3ca4e?share=7731674128817626932
Image Credits
Mike Scott Jones – Photographer
I have rights and permissions to use the images shared