In this episode of the Beats & Balance Podcast, Tinora sits down with Chantelle (aka Mar8gold)—a queer artist, healer, and founder of Black.Bird.Rising, a sanctuary space centered on the healing and creative flourishing of Black, queer, and trans communities.

Chantelle shares their journey from a religious upbringing and religious trauma toward building a deeper relationship with spirit, ancestors, and creative expression. The conversation explores plant medicine, psychedelics, grief, identity, and the role of art and community in healing.

Together, they reflect on what it means to live authentically, challenge capitalist definitions of success, and create spaces where marginalized communities can rest, heal, and transform.

About the Guest

Chantelle (Mar8gold) (they/them) is a Black Afro-Caribbean/Latine queer artist, contemplative, and care worker. They are a certified movement chaplain, liberation Reiki practitioner, racial justice and equity practitioner, and QTPOC psychedelic journey facilitator.

They are the founder of Black.Bird.Rising, a healing and artist sanctuary centering the flourishing of Black/POC and Queer/LGBTQIA2S+ communities. Chantelle also serves on the steering committee of the Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project (BLMP) and works with the Philadelphia Abortion Liberation Fund.

Connect with Black.Bird.Rising

www.blackbirdrisinghealing.com

5838 Germantown Ave, Suite 100

Instagram: @black.bird_rising

In this episode of the Beats & Balance Podcast, host Tinora sits down with artist and illustrator Hannah Marc, founder of Draw Me Close Illustrations, for a thoughtful conversation about creativity, ancestry, and the role of art in healing and survival.

Born in Uganda and raised in Europe, Hannah grew up navigating multiple cultural worlds. Carrying the middle name Nyangoma — “carrier of the drum”, her artistic practice reflects a deep connection to ancestry, memory, and the rhythms that shape identity across continents.

Now based in the south of France, Hannah shares how her life experiences — including migration, motherhood, and living between cultures — have shaped her creative practice. Together, Tinora and Hannah explore how art can function as a spiritual practice, a healing tool, and a way to stay grounded during times of grief and uncertainty.

Hannah also reflects on the importance of rest in the creative process, the influence of African and African American cultural traditions on her work, and the future of art in an AI-driven world. The conversation closes with a look at her upcoming project exploring color meditation as a pathway to presence, healing, and creative connection.

This episode is an invitation to slow down, listen deeply, and reconnect with creativity as a living practice.

About the Guest

Hannah Marc is an artist, illustrator, and designer behind Draw Me Close Illustrations.

Born in Uganda in 1988 and raised in Europe, Hannah grew up between cultures and creative languages. Her work explores the space between absence and presence, using color, texture, and material as collaborators in storytelling.

Her artistic practice spans traditional painting, digital illustration, teaching, and a return to oil painting, where color becomes a tactile and spiritual dialogue. Now based in the south of France, Hannah lives and works as a single mother while creating art that listens, holds, and remembers the drum—even when it plays softly.

Her work explores identity, memory, cultural duality, grief, and the healing power of creativity.

Follow Hannah

Instagram @drawmeclose_illustrations

Portfolio https://drawmeclose.my.canva.site/portfolio-dmc

Shop Prints & Products https://drawmeclose-illustrations.printify.me

Follow & Support the Podcast

Subscribe to Beats & Balance for conversations at the intersection of art, healing, spirituality, and culture.

Linktr.ee/beatsnbalance

In this episode of the Beats & Balance Podcast, Tinora sits down with Jessica Sinclair — communication strategist, educator, entrepreneur, and CEO of Sinclair Master of Ceremonies Inc. — to talk about the power of authentic self-expression, strategic networking, and prioritizing wellness while building a fulfilling career.

Jessica shares her journey from entertainment and healthcare into community building and professional development, revealing the mindset shift that moved her from stability to passion-driven impact. With her signature program Network Like You Mean It, she has empowered students, professionals, parents, and entrepreneurs to articulate their value with confidence and clarity.

This conversation explores how communication, resilience, and intentional self-care can unlock doors personally and professionally.

About Our Guest

Jessica is an author, award-winning host, and certified MWBE business owner who energizes corporate, nonprofit, and community events with empathy, strategy, and presence. Her elevator pitch coaching has helped individuals secure funding, land opportunities, and confidently advocate for themselves in high-stakes spaces.

Connect with Jessica:

• www.itsjessicasinclair.com
• Instagram: @ItsJessicaSinclair
• Network Like You Mean It Course: https://tinyurl.com/jessica-sinclair-course

Upcoming Events:

Network Like You Mean It – Online Course 18 self-paced videos covering:

• Speak with Confidence
• Connect with Purpose
• Lead with Authenticity
• Grow with Resilience

Flutterflies Women’s Expo Thursday, March 5 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM Brentwood Public Library Meet local women entrepreneurs and organizations. Open to all – FREE.

Listen now and subscribe to Beats & Balance for more conversations that elevate your voice and your vision.

For more visit us at www.beatsandbalancellc.com

In this episode of the Beats & Balance Podcast, Tinora sits down with Emmé de la Sol (Emmé White) — artist, spirit-worker, and self-proclaimed Hoochie Priestess from Red Hook, Brooklyn.

A fifth-generation Black American, Emmé’s work is deeply rooted in African-American culture, ancestral reverence, and intuitive healing. Through divination, well-woman offerings, workshops, and spiritual counsel, she supports people in uncovering the root causes of physical and energetic stress — guiding them back to themselves with love, honesty, and cultural grounding.

In this conversation, we explore:

• The story and significance behind her name
• How ancestry shapes her healing practice
• The intersection of spirituality and religion
• Reclaiming sensuality and sacredness through the “Hoochie Priestess”
• Creativity as a spiritual practice
• The importance of community in collective healing

Beyond her spiritual work, Emmé is also a poet, visual artist, singer-songwriter, actress, baker, and writer + editor of MINKA Brooklyn’s newsletter. She holds a Master’s degree in Public Service Management & Urban Policy and has additional training in yoga instruction, culturally inclusive birthwork + postpartum care, and early childhood education. She has several projects launching in the next few months, be sure to follow her on IG @emmedelasol

This episode is layered, grounded, and expansive — a reminder that healing can be embodied, creative, ancestral, and joyful all at once.

Listen now on all podcast platforms or watch the full episode on YouTube.

If this conversation resonates, be sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share with someone who needs it.

In today’s episode of the Beats and Balance Podcast, host Tinora Locke- Terrefe sits down with Lyssa Bastet — a queer mother, poet, spiritualist, and community organizer — for a deeply moving conversation about mental health, generational trauma, and the power of emotional vulnerability.

Lyssa shares her journey growing up in Atlantic City, navigating homelessness, institutionalization, and mental health challenges, and how those lived experiences shaped her path toward healing and spiritual practice. Together, they explore the realities of surviving social service systems, the long shadow of generational trauma, and what it takes to interrupt cycles of harm for ourselves and future generations.

This episode is a powerful reflection on storytelling as medicine, vulnerability as strength, and healing as a communal act — not a solitary one. Lyssa speaks candidly about motherhood, spirituality, and the responsibility of creating safer, more honest spaces for marginalized people to exist fully and authentically.

About the guest:

Lyssa Bastet is a queer mother, poet, spiritualist, and active community member. She uses her lived experience with homelessness, mental illness, and systemic barriers to create spaces where others can draw power from vulnerability. Through spoken word, tarot readings, and community organizing, Lyssa works toward a world where marginalized beings can be their complete selves.

Support Lyssa’s work and follow her journey: linktr.ee/LyssaBastet

If this conversation resonates, consider supporting Lyssa on Patreon and subscribing to her YouTube channel to help sustain her healing-centered work.

More from Beats & Balance: linktr.ee/beatsnbalance

In this episode of the Beats & Balance Podcast, Tinora sits with iiiYansaje T. Muse — Priestess of Oya, spiritual counselor, artist, and creator of 222.9 The Mothership Internet Radio — for a conversation rooted in divine alignment, ancestral wisdom, and the healing power of sound.

iiiYansaje shares her creative journey and how listening for spiritual instruction has shaped her work across music, media, and ritual. She reflects on the inception of 222.9, a radio station born from the intention to preserve ancestral knowledge through sound and storytelling, and how music acts as both a spiritual archive and a tool for personal and collective growth.

Together, they explore:

• Creating from divine alignment rather than urgency
• Music as medicine, memory, and ancestral language
• Navigating burnout while staying spiritually grounded
• Gratitude and ancestral rituals as daily practice
• Maintaining high vibrations in the midst of chaos
• The role of joy, community, and pleasure in sustainable creativity

This conversation is a reminder that sound can be a compass, creativity can be ceremony, and staying in alignment is an act of resistance and devotion.

Learn more & connect with iiiYansaje T. Muse:

• https://www.pensight.com/x/iiiyansasorbit2229
• https://www.poeticallymused.org

Connect with Beats & Balance

• https://www.beatsandbalancellc.com
• linktr.ee/beatsnbalance

Sound is one of the oldest healing technologies we have — in this episode of the Beats & Balance Podcast, we explore how sound, vibration, and frequency intersect with science, spirituality, and community care.

Host Tinora Locke- Terrefe sits down with LaShekia Chatman, a medical anthropologist, educator, and host of the Love Genus Podcast, for a deep and grounded conversation about sound healing as both a personal and collective practice. Drawing from lived experience with chronic illness and her academic background in anthropology and public health, LaShekia unpacks how sound works on the nervous system, how it supports emotional regulation, and why it plays such a powerful role in communal healing spaces.

From there, the conversation widens into the social determinants of health, the realities women of color face when navigating medical systems, and the necessity of self-advocacy in environments not designed to listen. LaShekia shares how she bridges science and spirituality without bypassing either, and why community storytelling, shared resonance, and agency are essential parts of healing.

Connect with LaShekia:

https://linktr.ee/LaShekiaC

Key Topics

• Sound healing & frequency • Chronic illness & embodiment • Medical anthropology • Science + spirituality • Health disparities • Self-advocacy • Community care & Collective healing

In this episode of the Beats & Balance Podcast, we sit down with Tyler Hurst, host of Master Plant Talk, as well as a plant medicine facilitator, yoga teacher, and wellness professional based in Phoenix, AZ.

Tyler shares his deeply personal healing journey after spending 17 years on psychiatric medications and how sound healing, plant medicine, microdosing, and yoga became essential tools in his recovery.

The conversation explores how music and frequency can regulate the nervous system, why integration is critical after healing experiences, and how to support others without losing yourself in the process. We also discuss the intersection of rave culture and healing spaces, the importance of engaging Indigenous practices with respect and accountability, and how setting clear boundaries helps prevent burnout in wellness work. This episode offers grounded insight into trauma recovery, embodied healing, and creating intentional spaces for transformation.

In this episode, we explore:

• Tyler’s journey through trauma and long-term psych medication use
• The healing power of sound, music, and frequency Plant medicine, microdosing, and emotional regulation
• Yoga as a tool for trauma release and nervous system support
• Rave culture as a space for community and healing
• Respectful engagement with Indigenous healing practices
• The importance of integration after healing experiences
• Maintaining boundaries in healing and wellness work

Guest Bio:

Tyler Hurst is a plant medicine facilitator, yoga teacher, and wellness professional living in Phoenix, AZ. After discovering the healing power of chakra-based tones, he began incorporating a wide range of instruments into his work, including healing house music, live drums, gongs, sound bowls, tuning forks, and voice modulation. He also hosts his podcast Master Plant Talk - link below.

Tyler teaches yoga by blending house and rave beats with pop music and healing tones to help people release trauma stored in the body. His work emphasizes intentional integration, safe containers for healing, and sustainable wellness practices.

Connect with Tyler:

Instagram: @microdoseyogaAZ | @tdhurst

YouTube: @masterplanttalk

Podcast: tdhur.st/MasterPlantTalk

More from Beats & Balance: beatsandbalancellc.com linktr.ee/beatsnbalance

In this episode of the Beats & Balance Podcast, host Tinora Locke-Terrefe sits down with Eyerene — a self-care, wellness, and energy practitioner, author of Writing So the Healing Can Begin, and the creator of Brown Girls Heal, a community-centered space dedicated to sisterhood, healing, and collective care for Black and Brown women.

Inspired by her own experiences navigating mental health at a young age, Eyerene shares her personal healing journey and the intention behind creating safe, affirming spaces where women can be seen, supported, and held. The conversation explores the importance of vulnerability, joy, and self-care as essential tools for healing, not luxuries.

We also discuss the creation of Brown Girls Link Up, Eyerene’s annual Brooklyn gathering designed to bring Black and Brown women together through workshops, wellness practices, and community connection, as well as her upcoming work centered on self-reflection and embodied healing.

This episode is a powerful reminder that healing happens in community — and that rest, softness, and joy are acts of resistance.

Learn more about Eyerene’s work: www.browngirlsheal.com

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In this episode of the Beats and Balance Podcast, Tinora Locke- Terrefe sits down with D1V1N1TY—a multi-talented singer/songwriter, emcee, and freestyle sensation from Newark, NJ.

Rooted in healing, creativity, and empowerment, D1V1N1TY opens up about her journey toward self-love, surrender, and living with purpose. She shares how community support shaped her path, why freestyling is a spiritual practice for her, and what it means to create from a place of authenticity. Guided by her mantra, “Always forward, forward always,” D1V1N1TY offers wisdom on embracing the present moment, trusting the unknown, and staying true to yourself through every evolution.

Whether you’re an artist, a healer, or someone navigating your own transformation, this conversation is filled with grounding insights, creative inspiration, and the reminder that healing is a continuous journey.

Topics we cover:

• Surrendering to life’s challenges
• Creative expression as healing
• Freestyling as a spiritual channel
• Community, support, and discernment
• Living for today
• Authenticity in artistry
• Self-love as a foundation

Follow D1V1N1TY and her show The Necessary Creative Talk Show:

https://linktr.ee/d1v1n1typodcast

More from Beats & Balance:

https://linktr.ee/beatsnbalance