We were lucky to catch up with Tiayrra Bradley recently and have shared our conversation below.

Tiayrra, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

In 2022 I started a non-profit Organization called Birth Dei, which is a holistic wellness and arts initiative focused on providing tools and resources in the health and mental wellness space to bring about restorative healing in black and brown communities in Philadelphia. This has been the most meaningful and full circle projects I have worked on to date because it allows me to fully express all that I was and all that I am becoming. In 2017 I began to experience chronic headaches that ultimately sent me on a journey of learning to understand and connect with my body. I started integrating more holistic healing methods into my life and each doctor I would visit told me I had a lot of stored emotional stress that was beginning to cause physical symptoms in my body. This sent me on a rabbit hole of figuring out how to manage stress in such a stressful culture we live in. Through my exploration I starting incorporating breathwork, sound healing, color therapy, complex trauma therapy, ice therapy, + other modalities into my routine that began to help me greatly. The more I integrated in these healing communities, mainly in Los Angeles, the more I noticed little to no black or brown people in these spaces. Rather than spend time focused on the problem and reasons why people of color were not included in these circles,I decided to spend more time finding a solution of how I could create these experiences for people that looked like me that are assessable and affordable and that’s how Birth Dei came to be. I feel like it is becoming a luxury (clean air, food, water, shelter) to be a human these days, and people’s basic human birthrights/needs are not being met. That is an injustice to me, so I want to use my influence and platform to advocate for those who otherwise would not be advocated and cared for in this way.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Tiayrra, but my artist alias is a brilliant dummy. Im a multi-hyphenate artist and founding director of A Brilliant Dummy Productions working at the intersections of visual arts and wellness to bring about restorative healing in marginalized communities of color. I have a passion for creating stories of impact and joy through spacial set design, photography, film and music production, and podcasting.

I currently produce a virtual music performance series called The Chitlin Circuit. The platform is inspired by a modern twist to a historic legacy of highlighting emerging black artists in Jazz, Hip-Hop, R&B + more genres. Our mission is two-fold; to amplify black voices in the music space that are empowering, encouraging, and engaging and also be an education resource for artists as they navigate the business side of their music careers.

I am also the Founding Director of a non-profit organization called Birth Dei, that curates holistic wellness spaces for black and brown communities in the City of Philadelphia, PA.

Through the work that I create no matter what media I am creating in I like to create safe healing spaces and share impactful stories, those are always my goals and the solutions I seek to bring to my world and the world around.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I actually went to school and got my degree in Math & Computer Science. I worked in programming for 5 years after school, while also learning to do web design as a side hobby. Eventually, I began taking on more web clients and in 2014 made the decision (after being fired from my last programming job) to pivot full time to pursuing the arts. It was scary because of the perceived lack of financial security I was walking into, but ultimately I knew I couldn’t stay in an industry/ career path for the next 20-30 years of my life that I really didn’t like. The first thing I did when making that pivot was putting myself in an environment with other visual artist. Doing that gave me the exposure to more art forms and also provided me with a Community I could learn from by witnessing their journeys. Best decision I’ve made so far in my life.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I love that I get the opportunity to show up as myself within my life’s work as an artist. I get to express whatever previous or current stage of my life I am in, in such a way as to bring healing and insight to the human experience. I love that.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.abrilliantdummy.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abrilliantdummy/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abrilliantdummy/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/abrilliantdummy
• Other: The Chitlin Circuit – https://www.instagram.com/thechitlincircuit_/ Birth Dei- https://www.instagram.com/birthdeico/