Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Dominique Brown . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Dominique, appreciate you joining us today. We’re complete cheeseballs and so we love asking folks to share the most heartwarming moment from their career – do you have a touching moment you can share with us?

On my journey of grieving the loss of my mother, my best friend, and closest confidant, I was navigating mainstream therapeutic and mindfulness spaces that felt very white-and western-centric. They did not address my particular needs and experiences. Out of that process, I thankfully encountered spaces and healing practitioners that centered Black women’s wellbeing and wholeness.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m an educator at heart. All of my work comes back to teaching and building into others. I develop curriculums rooted in anti-oppression frameworks, facilitate critical dialogues, and create spaces centering women of color. I’ve earned a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from Miami University. Right now, you can find me at Design Impact (DI) as the Director of Participatory Research + Community Wellbeing. As a holistic educator focused on promoting the wellbeing of women in the African diaspora, I specialize in cultivating womanist healing practices for and with Black women. I’m trained in somatic movement, meditation, and contemplative practices. I collaborate with practitioners who focus on yoga, creative/art healing practices, Black folk healing, etc. as a means of alleviating racialized trauma.
I’m also a published academic, writer, traveler, on brand-Sagittarius, wannabe big girl dancer, and enthusiastic supporter of those on the front lines of movement organizing.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

There are so many, it is is hard to know where to start. However, the lesson that I will share, is simply the hard fought lesson of learning to trust my intuition. As a Black woman, especially in a bigger body, we are acculturated and conditioned to believe our wisdom and knowledge isn’t enough. Many of us experience imposter syndrome, internalized oppression, and so on. Even after earning a doctorate, I still question if what I know is “good enough”. There are just so many messages coming our way that we are not enough. It is my ongoing personal work to remember to trust my inner wisdom, academic training, lived experience, and ancestral knowledge.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

I’m ultimately a life long learner who is always committed to learning and growing. This could become a very long list and might also seem like left field suggestions. But, I’m not a traditional “wellness” practitioner and many of the resources out there don’t specifically speak to my experiences. I’ve had to find alternative resources. My top 3 suggestions are:

1. Emergent Strategy by adrianne maree brown
This is a resource I return to over and over again. It is useful in my work as a facilitator and practitioner. There are so many beautiful gems to be found for folks seeking to create new ways of moving through the world and work.

2. The Artists Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron
Often times we approach creative work by thinking we can just extract it out of our bodies. However, this book offers very practical tools for living a productive creative life that is actually worth living.

3. Sisters of the Yam by bell hooks
bell hooks work provides the foundation for my own practice and thinking. She was one of the great public thinkers of our time and her death has sparked a renewed appreciation for her powerful insights into the world around us. When bell hooks does “self-help” it just hits different. This is a must read, especially for Black women seeking self-reflection and renewal.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://dominiquemariebrown.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joy_goddess_projects/?hl=en
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dominiquembrown/
• Other: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/3618063-dominique-marie-brown

Image Credits
33 West Studios https://www.33weststudios.com/about