Obsidian Mindset Podcast

“[Give] yourself freedom to be human.” Joe speaks to Brandon about what wellness means to him. Brandon gets vulnerable and discusses growing up in a Caribbean household and how that impacted his mindset regarding wellness. He also speaks about depression and how he manages that. Lastly, Brandon speaks about generational health and what he plans to pass down (and up) to his family and community.

“No matter where you are, you are always there.” Joe speaks to Kayla about the evolution of her definition and understanding of wellness. Kayla discusses her diagnosis with ADHD and how that impacts her wellness. Lastly, Kayla speaks about her discovery of being an extrovert and how that impacts her and the people around her.

Kayla's Bio:
Kayla is someone with multiple passions in life, her career in product management, a drive to see as much of the world as possible, and a lifelong love of gaming that has lead to Twitch streaming in her spare time. She continually strives to find harmony and balance between each of these disparate passions and when she's lucky can combine traveling, friends, and gaming into one.

“Budget your energy the same way you budget your money.” Joe speaks to Alex about her physical wellness journey and how she went from being “allergic to the gym” (No, literally!) to running a half marathon, participating in a Spartan Race, and becoming a Certified Personal Trainer. (Cue 'It Wasn't Me' by Shaggy). Alex also explains what wellness means to her as a Black Woman and how issues like the complexity of childbirth affect how she approaches her wellness.

Alex's Bio:

Tiff Alexandra is on a mission to help individuals get and stay in the best shape of their lives for their entire life. She is a NASM Certified Personal Trainer who believes that getting fit is only half the battle. Her motto is that the journey to health and wellness is paved with awareness, dedication and consistency. The goal is not just to get fit but to stay fit. Tiff Alexandra created Stayffit Studio in order to help everyday people become everyday athletes.

"Take care of your instrument." Joe chats with Phakiso and discusses how wellness evolved from a young age for her. Phakiso discusses her earlier years as a track student-athlete and how that shaped her wellness journey. She then discusses her “Slum Village Years” and what that taught her and how she was able to learn to focus on her mental wellness that was rooted in the body, rooted in art, and rooted in sexuality.

Phakiso's Bio

Phakiso “Kiki” Collins is a producer/movement artist/curator and has provided creative vision, leadership, and content to some of the country’s top production companies and networks in the span of her 17-year career in production, currently Executive Producer at MTV Entertainment Studios.Homegrown in Greensboro, NC and a proud Alumna of Howard University's School of Communications, this now Brooklyn resident has shot, directed, field and post-produced on multiple projects within Bravo, BET, OWN, FYI, TVOne, MSNBC,Revolt, MTV, and Vh1 recently took a turn to scripted tv/film. Phakiso has centered much of her work in unscripted television on expanding the narrative from which we see and advocating for stories that humanize, entertain and uplift. A multi-talented leader, Phakiso has earned a reputation for her stellar work as a storyteller and innovative manager who creates passion, rigor, cohesive flow, and joy within the sets and teams she oversees. As an independent artist and trained dancer, she's created and curated several dance-video films and live performances allowing her to share work at American Dance Festival, Connecticut College, Howard University along with traveling to Senegal and Ghana.

Phakiso is the founder of Breakin' Out!, now co-produced with her sister, Shani Collins (of SNIC Eternalworksdance), which is a movement/ healing initiative that is workshop and performance-based. What started as boisterous, crying, “Oh no they didn’t!” living room “parties” for women of color to come together and break the silence around their sexuality has become a series of multi-media productions and performances aiming to liberate, heal, and empower women and young girls in their bodies. She is also the creator of Live Life Juicy, a radical self-care movement with a vision to liberate, heal, and create next level possibilities in the communities of both content creators and Black people.

Aiming to create wellness in the midst of a chaotic tv journey she's been driven to explore and train in yoga, reiki, meditation, transformational coaching, erotic empowerment, dance, and most recently herbalism. Her vision is to use all her tools, media, and movement to empower people and herself to liberation and to live OUTRAGEOUSLY in their fullest expression.

"Don’t embrace the title of failure. It was an experience and now you know what NOT to do." Joe discusses with Mwangi all things physical wellness. They go deep into nutrition, like his 3 general rules of “If I am Hungry or am I Thirsty?” Mwangi also speaks to the history of the term “Clean Your Plate”and its related to trauma. Lastly, he lays out some tips and tools from his book, “First Addition, Then Subtraction: Discovering Your Baseline for the Healthiest Version of You”


Mwangi’s Bio

Mwangi Eric Kwesi is a lifetime health advocate.  In penning his first book on holistic health, he has taken his more than 35 years of experience as a personal trainer, nutritionist, instructor, and researcher and created a program to improve one’s health and guide one along the path to creating a personalized daily health maintenance plan.

Mwangi firmly believes that the role of nutrition in daily health maintenance is horribly underutilized.  To that end Mwangi has spent the last 25 years researching, experimenting with, and designing whole food nutrition regimens to replace any need for or dependence upon pharmaceutical products for health.  YOUR HEALTH IS YOUR WEALTH is Mwangi’s core belief and clarion call.  

Everything that Mwangi teaches, HE LIVES.  Every aspect of health covered in his book and program – meditation, intake of water, food and nutrition, stress maintenance and elimination, exercise and fitness, endorphin production, EQ, why diets don’t work– is a part of Mwangi’s daily health regimen and he joyously shares his experiences and acquired knowledge with all who desire a fundamental and transformative change in their life and health.

"What do you do for play?" Joe discusses with Angel why this is an important part of wellness and what she does for "play." Angel dives into her pursuit of consciousness, her journey with retreats, and learning to be intimate with her own identities. Angel, lastly, speaks about hey path to Buddhism and liberation and how that led to chanting for 24 hours straight.

Angel's Bio:

Angel (she/they) is an Organizational Psychologist, millennial Buddhist, start-up advisor, and non-profit board member based in New York City and Los Angeles. At work, she helps leaders deepen their sense of awareness, develop emotional intelligence, and hold space for psychologically safe spaces for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Angel sees the awakening of all beings begins with herself and she is committed to this mission for as long as it takes. Kindness, compassion, and wisdom make up her compass. Discipline, quietude, and reflection are her anchors. Angel is here to witness the range of joys and sorrows in this lifetime. You can also find her on Clubhouse (@angelhu) and Instagram (@buddha.bagel) talking about mindfulness, intimacy, kindness, and all things healing and esoteric. You can also check out her guided meditations from the Insight Timer app.

"Two bills that will always be paid: Spotify and Therapy.” Joe speaks to one of his great friends and Obsidian's March Community Member of the Month, Apryl. Apryl gets vulnerable about her wellness journey and discusses how she creates boundaries as a highly sensitive Black woman.

Apryl's Bio:

Apryl Gordy is a constructive deconstructor, where she imagines everything as a question. She uses her love for analyzing and breaking down processes to find innovative solutions that are disruptive, but never compromise integrity. Beyond her day-to-day role, she’s a self-proclaimed inclusioneer where she believes everyone should be allowed to be exactly who they are (no racists allowed), where her personal motto is and always has been "You have to let people be people." She is passionate about the existence of Black people, the excellence, the love and the liberation. Believing our mental health and fortitude is what will take the next generation of Black children into our most enlightening and positive era yet.
Apryl is the global lead of the RBG (Red. Black. Green) affinity group for Huge Inc employees identifying with the African diaspora. In her role as lead, she facilitates cultural discussions for her home region in North America every month around race, inclusion, and allyship. Over the past 20 months, she’s led 25 conversations with over 60 engaged attendees consistently in attendance. With RBG, she’s also led panel discussions through an event called The Black Effect, a community-building conversation on race, the experience of Black talent in predominantly white corporate spaces, and the impact Black people have on culture. Nearly, 1000 people in total have attended the three events. Under her guidance, RBG led a cross-office Black Business Challenge encouraging employees to spend their money with Black-owned businesses. The initiative raised more than $35,352.70 for Black businesses in North America in 2019 and 150K in 2021 while banding with 4 other agencies.

Joe will discuss a shift in priorities and purpose as well as talk about what's next for Obsidian Mindset Podcast!

Joe discusses spiritual wellness, how that shows up in life and how we can redefine that to be more than just religion. He also discussed his 11 day voyage to Antarctica and how he found meaning and purpose on the trip.

Joe has an Intellectual Wellness AMA (Ask My Anything) and chat about books, traveling and dating.