This realization led her to think critically about why that was, and what she could do about it. And thus, Balanced Black Girl was born, created by Les as a safe space for women of color to have candid conversations about wellness, self-care, and self-love. But there was something missing—I wasn’t fulfilled just doing fitness. The first time a woman said she appreciated how visible I was in the wellness space of women of color, I was like, “You’re right, wellness doesn’t feel that diverse. Somebody should do something about that.” Finally, by the fall of 2018, I was like, “Oh—that someone is me,” and I started Balanced Black Girl. When I really started to think critically about that, I realized it’s because wellness isn’t marketed toward us. I only know about it because it’s my work, but for other black women, these messages aren’t reaching them because they’re not intended to include them. Wellness has become an industry that’s profitable in ways it wasn’t before. Businesses need to make money, but it’s created this exclusivity where wellness and access to this information is seen as a luxury for a lot of people. I have a Balanced Black Girl book club, and we had a meetup here in Seattle where a group of 15 of us came together to talk about the book—and we ended up just talking about life. It was the most beautiful thing because by the end of it, everyone was connecting and hanging out and swapping info. I got home and had people shooting me emails saying, “Les, that was so much fun. When’s the next one?” So, that connection in real life is something my audience really wants, and I’m excited to do more of that. Interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
