Wellness for Communities of Color
As quoted in CNN.com's article, "Does Goop Need Science When It Has Gwyneth Paltrow":
"My concern is that frequently, [summits] are so prohibitively priced that we create the misperception that in order to engage in wellness you have to spend a lot of money," said Joanne Heyman, former executive director of fashion designer Donna Karan's Urban Zen Foundation and adjunct professor of international and public affairs at Columbia University. "Thus creating a larger divide between those who have and those who do not."
Maintaining wellness is a critical component of our ability to meet life's challenges, to thrive, and to create lives that bring us fulfillment. The coronavirus pandemic, its impact on our physical and mental health and on our and daily lives, along with the ongoing protests for racial justice, are constant strains that undermine our sense of wellbeing. While the protests and the conversations they’ve engendered are critically important and long overdue, they are incredibly stressful, regardless of where you stand on the issues being raised.
That said, these events have catalyzed newly invigorated conversations around diversity and inclusion in all industries. Specifically, wellness has failed to create an environment that meets the needs of a racially and socio-economically diverse consumer base - and lacks platforms, where all voices are heard and included in the collective conversation that shapes its offerings.
This month I'm highlighting two wellness brands that offer a different perspective from the current mainstream industry, in hopes that by sharing more broadly we can move towards these perspectives becoming part of the mainstream.
Co-Founder: Danielle Jackson
I am a producer, social entrepreneur and marketer focused on empowering women through fashion and community. My career has primarily been in the fashion industry starting with Tina Knowles Productions and WWD. Since childhood, I’ve devoted time to peer-to-peer mentorship across different New York-based organizations.
Q: Why did you choose to work in the wellness industry?
In 2019, I decided that I wanted to broaden my scope of influence and see where that would take me. Early that year I landed on the Associate Council at Delivering Good and soon thereafter was connected with Wilma via an old boss with the hopes that I could join DRK Beauty as employee #1.Our introductory conversation (originally scheduled for 1 hour) lasted 4 hours in which we discovered so much in common with our journeys as well as how much more my partnership could mean to the business – how large of a void there was in community driven spaces that look to bridge brands with women of color! From that moment, Wilma and I have been working hand-in-hand honing our offerings to the DRK Beauty community while remaining nimble enough to react to current events and the voices of our members.
Q: What would you like to see from the wellness industry?
DRK Beauty is a digital ecosystem designed to celebrate, promote and support women of color in all of their diversity. We are also working to build a relationship bridge between brands and consumers of color by replacing outdated marketing practices with innovative relationship-building initiatives that take place within the heart of these communities on our platform.
Communities of color historically have had to keep their heads down and work to be the best to try to break even with their non-POC counterparts. In order to get there, the “distraction” of identifying underlying struggles often times takes a back seat. We have to be seen as strong and those that are not seen as strong can be perceived as “weak, crazy, unstable”. Coupled with a mental health and wellness industry that was not designed with us in mind, the cost associated with health care does not align with our median income - further placing us at a deficit.
The psychological assault that the black community is experiencing right now is an intense trauma which will surely have generational impact. No matter where you fall on the socio-economic scale as a person of color, this is an unmitigated crisis and a national emergency which, we all know, will not receive the high-level attention it deserves. DRK Beauty will do what we can to help our community now! To all of the companies, organizations, and brands who have committed to being supportive of black and brown communities, we implore them to take a stand to hold space for these underserved communities. Our DRK Beauty Healing initiative is here to help us to continue giving away free therapy to those who identify as women of color across the country via our gofundme.
Founder: Michelle Mitchum
Michelle Mitchum - a CHES Community Health Educator, MPH. and an Dr. AcOM candidate. She is also member of the Association of Drug-less Practitioners, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the American Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, and has over a decade of experience as a health and science educator and natural health practitioner. .
As a natural wellness advocate, expert and practitioner, she believes that both conventional medicine and traditional medicine, have an important place in wellness, and she encourages her clients to incorporate both in their healing process.
Q: Why did you choose to work in the wellness industry?
As I started to age, I began to consider non-clinical methods for health and wellness maintenance. My family used cultural medicines that we solely made of herbs, for treating many ailments from toothache to stop bleeding, so I grew up understanding the power of natural medicine.
Natural wellness is my passion so much, that I began to offer unsolicited wellness advice to EVERYONE including strangers.
I then decided to turn my passion into my career, because clearly- it is my life's work.
Q: What would you like to see change (or get better) in the wellness industry?
A broader acceptance and respect for traditional healing methods and modalities.