We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Briya Brown. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Briya below.

Alright, Briya thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s been one of the most interesting investments you’ve made – and did you win or lose? (Note, these responses are only intended as entertainment and shouldn’t be construed as investment advice)

The best investment I’ve made and will continue to make is knowledge and education. Knowledge is power. Nothing makes me happier than serving and helping people progress and I believe that that is my calling and assignment in life. I want to make a meaningful impact. My aspirations have always been to serve vulnerable communities by combating health disparities in health and wellness, tackling racial disparities in the legal system, and educating these communities to enable intergenerational mobility. There isn’t much of a backstory as to why knowledge has been my best investment, more so just life experiences as a Black woman, being Black in America, and being part of a disadvantaged community. My passion for serving minority communities through health and wellness stems from seeing how those disparities played a role in my own family. My passion for tackling racial disparities in the legal system stems from growing up with my childhood best friend, Maria, an immigrant from Mexico, and watching her and her family live a completely different life compared to mine. My passion to educate and promote generational wealth has always been my goal, but it wasn’t until my study abroad trip to Curacao while in law school when I decided I wanted to make this sort of a social obligation of mine. During the trip, a colleague of mine shared how her and her husband were about to purchase a home together and she explained that her aunt gifted her a stock as a means for the down-payment on her home. I was stunned when she told us that. I could never expect something like that from my family because of the simple lack of knowledge and access. Unfortunately, that’s also the reality of most minority communities. It made me dig a little deeper into why that is the case and wanting to change that. Therefore, throughout my life, I have made many investments in knowledge and education. From college, to law school, to seminars and online courses, all of these things are why I’ve made it this far. For my family, I am the first to make it to this level. While that feels great, I don’t want to be the “one who made it” and I don’t want to be the only one. I want progression, financial freedom, all around health and wellness, and generational wealth to be a norm for minority communities. The things I have accomplished at the age of 28 are simply due to me pursuing knowledge. The things that I’ve learned during my pursuit of knowledge are so profound and life changing and I just want to be the catalyst for intergenerational mobility in black and brown communities. There is no power without knowledge.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My name is Briya Brown and I am 28 years old. I am an attorney, an author, and what I like to call a “Fitness Enthusiast”. I have always wanted to be an attorney since I was a little girl. Growing up with my best friend, Maria, an immigrant from Mexico, is where that passion stems from. As a little girl in middle school, I grew up along side Maria and watched how her and her family lived a very different live than the one I did. What was more impactful was the life that Maria had to live as a young child, which unfortunately is the reality for most immigrant children. I watched her take on adult responsibilities at such a young. I was too young to know how to help then, but as I got older, I later learned how I could help. I knew I wanted to go to law school to eventually become an immigration attorney to help immigrants navigate this very complex system. As I worked my way through law school, I realized I wanted to be an advocate for minority communities in all capacities. As an attorney, serving minority communities is and will always be my core value and goal.

I joined the health and wellness industry in 2017. As a Fitness Enthusiast, I am extremely passionate about fitness and health. The goal of my business is to advocate and push for healthy lifestyles as a way of life for minority communities, especially since access to healthcare tends to be limited in these communities. Certain diseases run rampant in our communities and are silent killers. The importance of health and fitness really ingrained itself in me when my grandmother passed away in 2019. She was in her early 70s but looked as if she were about 90 due to her diet, lack of physical activity, and lifestyle. So, instead of watching my family and others continue to make detrimental lifestyle choices, I decided to hold myself and everyone around me accountable for their lives. Everything we consume is either healing or hurting our bodies. Not to mention, the prevention is cheaper than the cure. Therefore, my business offers personal training services, group fitness classes, meal preparations, freshly pressed juices, fitness apparel and accessories, and health and wellness education.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I am currently in the process of publishing my second book, Surrender, and I have a chapter titled “Pivot”. I recently had to pivot just in life generally. I’ve always wanted to be a attorney my entire life and worked so hard to get it. If you are not aware, to become an attorney you must do three things: 1) graduate law school, 2) pass the state Bar exam, and 3) pass a character and fitness investigation. I graduated law school and passed my state Bar exam, but my character and fitness investigation unexpectedly took a year to conclude. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, I had a major roadblock in my journey that I did not see coming and nothing could have ever prepared me for it. Nonetheless, that year was the most painful and hardest year of my life. I was in the unknown for so long and wasn’t sure if my dream of being an attorney would come to fruition. It caused me to become very depressed and it affected everything. From my personal life, to my businesses, to school, to work, that stump in the road taught me the power of the pivot. I believe that part of the depression stemmed from the attachment I had with “being an attorney”. Yes, I’ve always wanted to be an attorney and yes, it is a major accomplishment. However, during that year I learned that I was focused on the wrong thing. My assignment and calling in life is to serve minority communities, not really to just be an attorney. It just so happens that being an attorney is a means that God has empowered me to serve minority communities. My focus was misplaced. Once I realized that, I pivoted. Instead of sitting around just waiting to know whether or not I’d become an attorney, I continued to invest in knowledge to educate and empower vulnerable communities and I began to focus on how I could continue to serve others in the many capacities that I do. I even picked up a new side hustle as a result of that newly found knowledge. I had to in a sense pretend as if I were not going to become an attorney and figure out how I would still accomplish my goals. I feel like this will always be a staple life lesson for me because it’s applicable to everything in life. Life comes at you fast and you have to be ready to pivot at all times.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

There are three books that have impacted my entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy, Rich Dad Poor Dad, The Alchemist, and Who Moved My Cheese. These books are phenomenal and life changing. I believe that growth is constant and we are always evolving and need to evolve and reading all types of self-help/personal growth books are very beneficial to entrepreneurs no matter what industry or field that you’re in. Other resources that have been impactful to my career and entrepreneurial endeavors are podcasts, seminars, and groups of like-minded individuals such as bible study groups, investor groups, etc. I am always looking to learn and gain knowledge as much as possible. Again, knowledge is power.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bodybybrifitness.com www.paintopowerbook.com
• Instagram: briyaaa
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briya-brown-330666140/