When You Choose Yourself, Everything Changes ft. Brittnie Demosthene [REPLAY]

**This episode is a replay of Soul Searching with Brittnie Demosthene, Founder of The Soul Seekers Club | Ep. 27 with an updated intro.**

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Brittnie Demosthene, the inspirational Founder of The Soul Seekers Club, joins us to recount her powerful transformation from pursuing the medical field to the realms of holistic wellness and creativity. Our conversation is a tapestry of personal anecdotes, unforgettable experiences and deep reflection.

Join us for this enriching dialogue that promises to inspire and encourage you to pave your own path towards freedom and fulfillment.

Watch this episode on YouTube!

To learn more about Brittnie and The Soul Seekers Club, visit the links below:
Website: https://www.thesoulseekersclub.com/
Book with Brittnie: https://heal.me/brittniedemosthene
Soul Seeker's Instagram: thesoulseekersclub
Brittnie's Instagram: brittniedemosthene

Noteworthy Episode Mentions:
- Grae Wellness
- The Energy of Money: A Spiritual Guide to Financial and Personal Fulfillment
- Brittnie's 2023 Recap!

Related Episode:
- Wellness for Black Women ft. Aseanté Renee | Ep. 37

Chapters

• 0:00 Episode Introduction and Welcome
• 4:01 Meeting Brittany Demestine and Soul Seekers
• 10:41 Choosing Herself: Brittany's Career Journey
• 15:45 Relocation to LA and Life Changes
• 22:07 Soul Seekers Club Origin Story
• 32:51 Defining Success Through Personal Freedom
• 43:00 Future Plans and Where to Connect

Transcript

Aliya Cheyanne: 1:22

Hey friend, welcome back to the show. I'm so glad that you're here. We're wrapping up this little period of replays before we jump into new episodes, but for our last one, for right now, I wanted to revisit an episode that I'd done about a year ago with Brittany Demestine, who is the founder of the Soul Seekers Club, and that episode was called Soul Searching with Brittany Demestine. In this episode, we talk all about holistic wellness and creativity, and we also talk about paving your own path towards freedom and fulfillment. This is such a good episode. It's so rich in so many lessons and gems and I thought it'd be really powerful to revisit this episode once again, particularly during this time, because I just want Black women to be rested and well and supported and taken care of our minds, bodies and peace. So with that, let's jump into this replay. If you enjoy the conversation and you enjoy the episode, please be sure to leave a review for the show or send a text to the show, or you can always send a voice note as well on SpeakPipe. All of the links are always included in the episode description. All right, friend, let's get into this episode.

Aliya Cheyanne: 2:39

Hey y'all, welcome back to the Prolific Hood podcast. I'm your girl, leah Cheyenne, and I'm super excited today to be joined by a special guest, brittany Demerstein. Hi, brittany, hey, thanks for having me. I'm so excited, I'm so excited to have you and I'm going to let you jump into telling us a little bit more about you, but before that I want to just share with our audience how I met you, how I know of you so really quickly and I've spoken about this retreat on the pod before but last year Brittany, through her company, her group, the Soul Seekers Club, hosted a really powerful weekend in the Poconos.

Aliya Cheyanne: 3:17

That was really special. My sister, tasia, and I went and it was just very cozy and heartwarming. It was an opportunity to get to know some other folks that we hadn't met before. It was an opportunity to get to know some other folks that we hadn't met before. It was an opportunity to go a little bit deeper within ourselves, because there was a sacred mushroom ceremony with sacred cacao and mushroom. Brittany teamed up with Black Girls Hike to do a really awesome hike, which was really cool and it was just a really lovely experience. There was so much love and care that went into that retreat. That has stuck with me and I've shared about it on the podcast before, but I'm so excited to have Brittany here to talk more about the Soul Seekers Club and the work that she does. But before we jump into that, brittany, I want to give you an opportunity to introduce yourself to the people, so please tell us who you are.

Brittnie Demosthene: 4:05

Thank you so much, oh, my goodness. Well, hi everyone. My name is Brittany Demasin. I'm the founder of the Soul Seekers Club. I'm a conscious creative, a wellness practitioner and a liver of life, and I mean the Soul Seekers Club the Soul Seekers Club because I consider myself a professional soul seeker, so I wanted to embody that in something that I can cultivate for the collective, for like-minded people. I've been a wellness practitioner for a couple of years now.

Brittnie Demosthene: 4:33

My journey came from I have a background in medicine. So my original path of career I was always aiming for, like medical school and just you know what my parents had in mind for me growing up. And after I graduated from college, I tried to apply to a physician assistant program and I didn't get in and I thought that was my chance to really think about like okay, do I want to do this again? Take the test to get into grad school, be in grad school for years just off of something that I'm not even sure that I love. And I knew in my heart for years that I always wanted to be a creative. I just didn't know what. Coming from Caribbean background, parents it's like well, they always used to.

Aliya Cheyanne: 5:13

I've had some convictions. I know Facts.

Brittnie Demosthene: 5:16

No, you can't what. You have to be doctor, you have to be lawyer, you have to be. So I had taken the opportunity I chose myself is what I always say after I graduated. And I took that year off to just figure out, like, what do I want to do? And I deviated into holistic medicine, wellness practices, spirituality. I started solo traveling.

Brittnie Demosthene: 5:41

That just opened the door for like so many things and literally my life has been a domino effect since that day, just constant evolution after evolution. I feel like I found like my hobbies, my interests after the age of like 24 and life really started for me and I finally like felt what it is that I want to do on this earth and how I want to serve. So, yeah, and ever since then, I've just been exploring entrepreneurship, exploring breaking out of my mold with, like different experiences and creating experiences for myself and other people. So with that, to this day, it's cultivated into me being a life coach, me being a Reiki practitioner and a creative, a content creator at my core and, yeah, just a professional soul seeker at heart.

Brittnie Demosthene: 6:29

So, I love that.

Aliya Cheyanne: 6:30

Yeah, I love that. So so many things to unpack with that. I love the statement like I chose me, I chose myself. So many people don't do that and they go through life always wondering what could it have looked like had I bet on myself and had I chosen myself? So I think that's really beautiful and I'm like this will come up in other interviews but I'm noticing how many like just dope, incredible creative black women started off trying to pursue medicine, either because, yeah, like either because maybe parents wanted them to do that, or they thought that was the way to go and quickly learn. Like actually I need to be over here doing this. I'm like that's so interesting to me. But yeah, I just so much. So many things are beautiful about what you said. I've been able to witness some of your creativity and experience some of your magic, like through the retreat, through our conversation now, and I'm just excited to share more about you and your work with our audience.

Aliya Cheyanne: 7:26

So okay, before we get into the nitty gritty and all the cool stuff, real quick. So you relocated last year.

Brittnie Demosthene: 7:32

I'm a born and raised New Yorker that has moved to Los Angeles. Yep, yes.

Aliya Cheyanne: 7:36

All the way from one coast to another. So how has that been? In short, like, do you feel like you found your place? Like, do you feel like you found your place? Like, do you feel like you found your place for now? Do you feel like this is like, like, what about it? Like, tell me more.

Brittnie Demosthene: 7:54

Yeah, yeah, it's been definitely a topic in terms of like it being my place. I think, going over there and I'll give you the backstory, but going over there I realized that I don't think I have a place Like, for example, born and raised in New York and only living here for my entire life, I never went away for college, never, you know nothing, just stayed on the block, journey on the block for last couple of years, 20 years. So I've realized that after finally leaving and being somewhere else, I actually have a desire, ironically, to become a nomad now, in a sense, out of the only thing that I've known, just kind of opened my eyes a little bit more, even though I've traveled and I've been to so many places for certain periods of time. But yeah, and that's always been a thing with me. But back to like the reason. So I moved for work.

Brittnie Demosthene: 8:48

So, aside from being a creative entrepreneur, I still have, you know, some nine to five jobs from time to time. And I decided to work with a wellness company an herbal wellness company about a year and a half ago here in New York Br and mortar in Brooklyn and they decided to open up an LA location. And I was already going to Burning man. If you know, burning man is amazing. They call it a rave, but it's really this like camping festival experience in the desert in Nevada, already like purchased a ticket, no notion of moving to anywhere. You know, I was just going and then coming back and I had mentioned it to the company, I was like, hey, I know you guys have been sending people over to help with the opening of the new location. I'm going to be on the West Coast, do you need help? And they're like actually we need a manager to help set up the store and relocate.

Brittnie Demosthene: 9:38

I was like I'll do it. You know like I want something fresh, something new. So I took the opportunity when I tell you I had one month to prepare to let go of my apartment in Brooklyn, to pack everything into storage, aka my parents' house, and then head on over and just kind of get settled. So with that, my journey into LA was not the most comfortable. It was definitely rushed compared to someone who may have taken a job opportunity and had months to prepare before a move. Mine was so rushed. And then the store the grand opening was so popular and the store itself is very successful, so it's been nonstop busy, busy.

Brittnie Demosthene: 10:21

So, it was definitely a lot when people, when people ask me that, I always say, like the job has had such an impact on me that it's affected the way that I can really dive into a new city and explore LA for what it is.

Aliya Cheyanne: 10:36

Wow, wow, oh. That's like rapid, rapid fire, like rapid everything. That's so interesting. Thank you for sharing that, though, and I actually love your correction at the start of that about how, like, not necessarily feeling like it's your place and adapting more of like a nomadic lifestyle and mentality, I think I mean, I saw a quote a long time ago. I'm going to butcher this, but basically it was saying like human beings, we have legs.

Aliya Cheyanne: 11:03

If we were meant to stay in one place, we would have roots like as if we were a tree you know, and I saw that and I was like you know, I think that's true, like that's how I look at travel, because I love to travel but I haven't necessarily moved like in adulthood, like relocated to a new place.

Aliya Cheyanne: 11:21

I've moved in childhood. That was not in my control, that was not my decision, those were not places I stayed long term. I've been in New York the longest, but I've always had a desire to go somewhere else and I don't know exactly where yet. But even though it was rapid fire, still inspiring to hear more about how you did relocate and move yeah, I think it's. Even though it was rapid fire, still inspiring to hear more about how you did relocate and move. Yeah, I think it's. Even though it's been like hectic, I think it's still inspiring and cool and I hope you will get a chance to really dive into the city and see more about it and experience more of it that's not just centered around like this particular transition, exactly yeah, and to your point, like not knowing where you want to go.

Brittnie Demosthene: 11:58

I didn't know where I wanted to go either, but I ended up realizing I had realized when I got to LA that everything that I was asking for earlier that year in my journal as I was script, I think the position that I was in it was still at an immediate level and I was like, no, I really want to be in leadership, I really want a job that I can be in leadership, I can be a creative and I can be potentially remote so that I can travel or just have or travel for work in some capacity.

Brittnie Demosthene: 13:10

And I was like I can't see that here, so I'm just going to manifest it outside of this current job and that's what I was scripting, that's what I was writing. And then here I get. At least like 75% of the manifestation came true because here I am in a city, I'm living somewhere else, I'm technically, you know, traveling, I feel like I'm a traveler in LA or in the West Coast just you know exploring bordering cities and states and I'm in leadership and I am exercising my creativity.

Brittnie Demosthene: 13:37

So all that to say, like if you don't know exactly where you want to go, I think it's more so about like setting the intention of what you want to experience and how. Then Universal provides you those opportunities, just like I got mine out of nowhere.

Aliya Cheyanne: 13:51

Yeah, I love that. I love that Like we talk so much about the power of the tongue, but the truth is there's a lot of power in writing and a version of the written word that's not literal scripture like religious texts, but you writing and creating your own word. I think that there's a lot of power in that. You're reminding me I need to get back to writing down my intentions. I speak a lot what I want, visualize a lot what I want, but I always write it down and I need to get back to doing that.

Brittnie Demosthene: 14:20

Yeah, I think I like journaling as much as I like everybody else. Like it's easy for some people, I think for me, I know I have to get out of my head about no one else is going to read it, you know. So I'm like it's for you.

Aliya Cheyanne: 14:35

Just throw down whatever you want to throw down, but yeah, yeah, and sometimes it's not always easy to free write and sometimes it helps to have prompts, and that's one of the reasons why I created a journal, like during the pandemic. I created a journal for other people to use, to like, help prompt some of those just things that we know inside that we don't always speak or write, to just get it out. So I think that's powerful. We can go on and on about this, but we need to get to the nitty gritty I love this.

Aliya Cheyanne: 15:03

So the Soul Seekers Club. So you shared a little bit more about just why you wanted to start it, like what it meant to you. But I would love like the real, deep, like origin story. Like I know you consider yourself a soul seeker. That's what led you to the name and the work and wanting to inspire that and other people. But what was the origin story? Like, how did you wake up one day and know, like this is the business I want to form and this is how I want to help other people and serve other people? What's that background?

Brittnie Demosthene: 15:35

Okay, so I think it comes in pieces. For sure, it's been a minute Like I've been an entrepreneur for a minute. I be trying to discredit myself and I have to remind myself. I'm like, no, you've been doing this, like you really been doing this, right. And I want to say, my first business outside of like, when I chose myself and I started to realize what I wanted to do, I started making my own skincare products. That business was called Essence of Brit and I handmade products, face masks, body scrubs, yoni steams, like all these herbal blends.

Brittnie Demosthene: 16:10

Okay, yoni steams, yoni steams and then I got into juicing so that, like I'm my holistic wellness aspect and I started making like detox juice cleanses for people and that was called juice by Brit. And then what else did I do? I can't remember there was something in between that time period, but I just like gradually started to create more streams of creativity for myself to be able to provide services for people.

Brittnie Demosthene: 16:37

So as a content creator, I started creating for people and helping them like creative, directing, edit their videos, put them together, you know, providing that for them. And once I started to tap more into my spirituality, I also started to host like classes and womb circles and just offering meditation one-on-one. So my overall like goal was to always have some kind of space, either physical or more primarily physical, where I can like combine all those things into one and how can I help create a space of self-development for folks and give them like an overall experience? And on top of that, with my traveling, I've always wanted to host a retreat. So and I'm just like throwing it into pieces because it's making sense Literally the origin is that I wanted to make that, I wanted to combine all those things together and serve particularly Black women and people of color, and that is changing as I'm seeing who needs me over time.

Brittnie Demosthene: 17:40

And I remember when I've only visited LA once before I moved, so around 20, I believe in December I went to go visit a friend and it was on the plane ride or just a couple of days prior I was just getting downloads about what the Soul Seekers Club would look like and, yeah, like branding wise, a color scheme, like what is it about?

Brittnie Demosthene: 18:04

And, yeah, and I just kind of rolled with it and ever since then it felt like I had the seed planted for what that's going to look like. And I definitely have to give a lot of props to all of the business coaches that I've had over the years, especially the one that I'm working with now, like they've all helped brand, helped me brand this into what it's supposed to look like, and so, yeah, that's for the most part, it's been a journey of just like serving the collective. You know, how can I, how can I put all of my gifts and talents into one offer that helps to bring people together but helps to pour into them so they can kind of be like me? Oh, wait, hold on, that's exactly what it is. I was like, wait, why am I running into circles? But you know, spirit, be just having you spit things out.

Brittnie Demosthene: 18:47

Yes, yeah, I knew that a lot of people were always so inspired by what I do online Like oh, you create content so well. I love how you just get up and go.

Brittnie Demosthene: 18:59

I would always get that feedback and I'm like you could do it too, like that's literally always been at my core. I just always want to show people like, how can you get there? And primarily, how you get there is with self-work, self-development, creating a sound healing vessel for yourself to be able to tap into your authenticity and tap into your creativity. So I think Soul Seekers Club is like a mirror of myself, wanting to help others unlock themselves and to get to the space of the journey that I went through, understanding where I really wanted to be, chose myself and made those actionable steps to be able to create the life that I actually want to live.

Aliya Cheyanne: 19:42

Oh my gosh, you said so much, you said so much I did.

Brittnie Demosthene: 19:46

I was like you know what, wait a minute, let me get to the.

Aliya Cheyanne: 19:49

let me get to the you know, yeah, but I think it's beautiful that, like in your own self-discovery journey and finding, joining these different places and areas and things that you like, and recognizing that it sparks a light in other people, you've been able to craft and shape such a beautiful and inspiring business.

Aliya Cheyanne: 20:10

And I think that not, I think that part of it is a quote that I'm also going to butcher, but the idea is that sometimes when you see people out here doing their own thing and just shining, it often inspires other people to do the same, and there's a saying that we can only see in others what we recognize in ourselves, whether that's good or bad, and people being able to witness your work and your content. You don't even know like what a spark you might be igniting in other people. I still think about this. You did a reel like recapping your 20s, your highs and your lows, and it was so beautifully done, even just taking snips and clips of these moments in time and thinking through what you wanted to say and communicate by stringing like those videos and clips together.

Aliya Cheyanne: 20:55

It was such a beautiful reel. Like I think I watched it like three times in a row. I think I got a little moist in the eye. I was like this is so beautiful, this is so inspiring. But I'm just like even whether that was the intention or not like even in you producing that you don't always realize what an impact it's having on other people and I think that's so just cool and transformative. And like just by being your authentic self, like you're already doing the work or you're already being a vessel for the work.

Brittnie Demosthene: 21:26

So, yeah, that was good, that was good. What'd you do? Yeah, exactly that's what it is and and when I think about it. And thank you so much. That is my favorite reel too and honestly, that was like I put a lot of heart and soul into it because of the tremendous abrupt move and all that came after it, like I got into a car accident when I got to LA. I've been without a car for like six months in LA, which is just crazy.

Brittnie Demosthene: 21:54

And just figuring all that out and it actually caused me to take a hiatus from social media, not so much because I mean yes and no, like I had a lot of people tell me, like give yourself time and give yourself grace, you just moved to a new city. Like you don't have to show up on social media and do it all and act like everything's okay, like yeah, but like I have so many people that I don't want to leave hanging and you know, I just put so hard on myself and I took that minute away. So that reel was really like okay, I've been quiet, but here's like everything. But it was more so for me to really like progression and the beauty of my progression. So exactly what you mentioned, like being your authentic self, online or anywhere, just doing it for you know, at the end of the day, is going to give that tremendous impact because it's coming from that space of authenticity.

Aliya Cheyanne: 22:44

Yeah, and I think it's always important to to like step away from a thing and come back to it, like give yourself space to just live and gain more experience and, you know, navigate life and enjoy life and then come back to it. We all need those breaks and it sounded like it was really important for you and when you did come back, you came back bigger and better. So, yeah, I think that's really great. So you've already touched on some aspects about how your gifts are showing up in the work that you do, from Reiki, healing to curating spaces for all people people of color, black women, everyone who needs your work or who's drawn to your work. I'm curious about how you've seen other gifts or additional gifts, like maybe not all spiritual, but even just recognizing some of your core hard skills and your talents, how that's shown up and really supported you in your entrepreneurial journey.

Brittnie Demosthene: 23:40

That's a great question. Yeah, I would say, kind of how you were commenting on that reel that I made. I think I've developed a really great gift of, I guess, within filmmaking, or understanding how to make content that you can feel I don't know what that word is or like how to describe it exactly but instead of just like putting things together even though, yes, like you know, create for yourself and let that just let the platforms be your, your stage essentially but I really like to send a message intentionally by creating content that you can feel, and I find that it's a beautiful collaboration between editing and cutting the video, just right, finding the song that goes with the emotion that you're trying to promote and trying to have the people download when they're watching. And yeah, just like, yeah, yeah, so, whatever skill that is I can definitely say that I've grown into.

Brittnie Demosthene: 24:37

Now I get it. Now I see why people are always like you're kind of so amazing, but I'm like I'm not doing those crazy video edits like the top influencers that are doing the holograms or like yeah. And I'm like I wish I could do that, like that's cool, or I appreciate when I see that, but it's just not, it's not my.

Aliya Cheyanne: 25:01

It's not your authentic self-expression, Like that's not your bag or your thing.

Brittnie Demosthene: 25:05

Exactly, at least right now, like, who knows, I could change. But now I get it. I'm like, oh, my simplicity is what sells? Yes, so definitely that. And is what sells? And that's just so definitely that, and I want to say understanding.

Brittnie Demosthene: 25:22

So, aside from me managing this brick and mortar, for the last couple of months I've also managed a wellness space in Manhattan. Shout out to Gray Wellness. It's my forever, forever fam, forever home. One of the best Black owned wellness massage, acupuncture spaces, yoga. Okay, say it again for the people Gray Wellness, g-r-a-e Gray Wellness. Okay, all right. Fifth in near Union Square. Amazing, the community is just fire and it helped me develop so much about myself as a leader, as an entrepreneur, as a creative and a spiritual healer. But, yeah, so I helped to manage their operations. I was their operations manager for a year and some change, and I found how much just being in those spaces like helped me understand what it really means to run a business, so kind of putting those gifts into like I think I've coined the term like creative, what did I call it? Creative operation coordinator, something around that term.

Brittnie Demosthene: 26:21

My LinkedIn. You know it's a combination Like I really love creating systems, I think that's like my strong suit Um from working with other business owners and business coaches, just seeing, like when you're creating structure for your business, funnels, your website marketing and like making sure everything like leads to one thing, and creating email campaigns Like there's so many systems behind that. And I'm not going to lie, the more that I'm getting into my business and understanding what it's going to take to become successful these are the nitty gritty, that I'm just like all right, I'm not quite at the point where I could like just hire someone.

Brittnie Demosthene: 26:59

I mean, I never say never, but you're always in the infancy phase of your business where, like, you're the one that has to do all these things.

Aliya Cheyanne: 27:07

Do everything.

Brittnie Demosthene: 27:09

So, yeah, I think I kind of lost track of the question, but I think understanding you answered yeah, great. Those aspects really have helped shape my business over time.

Brittnie Demosthene: 27:20

The more that I've learned from trial and error, I can really like see, like I've recently had an epiphany of like oh my God, everything that I've done in the past has just been preparing me for that Like, just like the workshop that I was going to host in the next six days that you were gonna come to and I had to cancel it because I just made the executive decision like, okay, I put so much into it like I rebranded you'll see like in a couple days but I've rebranded color scheme wise, logo wise and I'm just finally like there's such a difference between doing something for the sake of doing it and doing it intentionally, and there's a difference between feeling like, okay, you need more money, you need extra income, so, but I know that I have a passion and I want to follow my purpose in creating whatever this looks like as a business. So, because I have this desire for more money, I'm going to put so much pressure on myself to make my passion become successful.

Brittnie Demosthene: 28:59

And sometimes that drive behind that isn't as, it's not as intentional or it's not as so. You do it with some kind of rush where, like, everything needs to be perfect because I needed to make money, versus that's where I used to be, versus now I'm seeing how much like all of that was just trial and error for me to finally be in a space where I'm just like, okay, no, I now truly understand what it means to serve and what it means to create, and so I'm going to do this intentionally, without the notion or the what's the word Immediate gain Word? Oh goodness, it'll come.

Aliya Cheyanne: 29:38

It'll come, but when you want it Like the immediate reward, the gratification.

Brittnie Demosthene: 29:44

Okay, instant gratification. So when you put instant gratification to the side and you can just focus on creating for the sake of creating, not for the sake of being, like checked off somebody's box, like yes, britney's doing well, or like you know, you know, like um for for um, now I'm losing my other word. Damn, what's the other word? Um?

Aliya Cheyanne: 30:06

it'll come checking off boxes. It's not, it's not just for, like that, immediate gratification and satisfaction. It's like you're actually pouring your intention and your purpose into your work and you're doing it to ensure that you're producing something to a quality that you appreciate, to your own standard, and like putting your work out into the world in a way that you can be proud and can be satisfying, knowing that in doing that work it'll manifest the results that you want. It may not be immediate, maybe down the line. It'll manifest the results that you want. It may not be immediate, maybe down the line, but it's coming. Bring it on home.

Brittnie Demosthene: 30:38

Miss Olivia, because you just finished my whole thing.

Aliya Cheyanne: 30:43

I think that's so powerful. I think there are spiritual gifts, there are your core gifts and your hard skills, and all those things go into creating the life of your dreams and the business of your dreams. It's funny that you were talking before about being really good at identifying and building systems, because so much of that is what it takes to build a brand and a business that can really thrive and grow and serve in the way that it's supposed to. And in order to be that leader and build it from the ground up, you know how, you have to know how to do all of the parts, but eventually you get to a place where you can hire people who are, like, smarter and better at certain aspects of it and can really help to grow your vision. And I think it's so important to have had the experience of working at other places so you can see what was done well. You can see what you would do better in your own business, but you have that information and that experience to help shape your own vision for your own work too. And I think about that a lot too in my professional space, my entrepreneurial space, like what that looks like for me, like taking the values and the lessons and things that I've learned working elsewhere and applying it to what I'm trying to build for myself. And doing that with intention, recognizing that it's a long game, like it's not going to be instant. That would be amazing. I would welcome it. If it happens, that would be a miracle. Hello universe, like, please do. But recognizing that it's a long game.

Aliya Cheyanne: 32:18

And while you were talking, something I was thinking about was I'm going to forget the author's name Lord, have mercy, but I was reading the Energy of Money, maybe like a year ago, and I mean there are a lot of lessons in that book, but the core thing that it always comes back to is how can we use this physical plane to manifest things that are not tangible? Like each of our souls and our spirits have a calling and a purpose and a thing we are meant to do and accomplish in this world. Our duty is to materialize it. So, whatever that thing is in that spiritual plane, calling in the energy of money looks like materializing that spiritual thing, and everyone's gift is different. It could be the Soul Seekers Club. It could be a communications platform like a podcast. It could be someone who's an artist who's out here doing transformational paintings that are inspiring people and they're hanging in museums and homes. It could be literally anything, but our calling and our job is to materialize that which is intangible and that which is immaterial and pulling that into the physical plane and being rewarded with money through our gift.

Aliya Cheyanne: 33:17

And I think that's for all of you know, that's for all of us. You know, to find that thing and I think something the book shares that's one of the easiest ways to find that is to lean into what you're, what brings you joy, what are you naturally good at, what are you naturally passionate about? And when you lean in, when you find that thing and you lean into it. That's one way of making the intangible tangible. And I hear so much of that in what you shared about your work and inventing, like creating your business. I keep hitting my mic oh, my God, I'm getting excited. But so much of that is like what you shared about how you've created the Soul Seekers Club and how you continue to evolve and grow it, and I think that's really powerful and really beautiful Wow.

Brittnie Demosthene: 34:00

Okay, no, you're definitely going to have to share that author, because what is the book called again?

Aliya Cheyanne: 34:06

The Energy of Money. I'm going to get the author's name. I'm like blanking on her name right now, but the book is called the Energy of Money. Get the author's name.

Brittnie Demosthene: 34:13

I'm like blanking on her name right now, but the book is called the Energy of Money. Amazing, that was a really beautiful take, and I don't know if you listen to Abraham Hicks, but he talks about that a lot, not verbatim, but I've heard her say that in so many different ways. The fact that I love that. You said that that the money is just a reward for you doing what you love instead of actually chasing money. And while you were saying all that, what came to me was to mention how much like my business and my the way that I show up lately has transformed so much because I started putting spirituality at the forefront of what I do. Also like involving my ancestors and my spirit guides involving my ancestors and my spirit guides, it's been a game changer and just like really being intentional about everything, especially with business. So, yeah, that definitely made a difference.

Aliya Cheyanne: 35:02

Yeah, I think so too. I've been saying to myself too. My late grandfather passed over a year ago and he had an entrepreneurial spirit back in his day and I like to think that I'm channeling that energy in the flesh and like always asking for guidance from him and other people in my family and my past on who also had those spirits, and just entrepreneurial spirits, and just asking them like am I doing this right? Like share your wisdom with me. Come through in my dreams, like give me signs. And I feel like I've had little signs here and there, little messages and dreams, so I think they're showing up how they know best. But I love that tapping into spirituality is so important, whatever one believes in. You got all kinds of belief systems out here. Yeah, I think that's beautiful. So I feel like you've talked about so many things and like hit on so many things that I wanted to ask. But I would love to know.

Aliya Cheyanne: 36:00

We all define success differently. It looks different to each and every person. But for you personally, in this life and in this work that you're doing, what does success look like to you? Or, if it's not a look, what does success look like to you? Or, if it's not a look. What does it feel like to you in your body? What will let you know that you've been successful, that you've done the right thing?

Brittnie Demosthene: 36:21

Yeah, I believe success needles like freedom. I'm very passionate about personal freedom. With the Soul Seekers Club, it's our motto and, yeah, I think success for me it looks like being able to travel wherever I want to go. I literally think about it often and I write the same things. Success for me means I want to have the financial freedom to be able to afford the things that are going to feed my mind, spirit and body. I want to be able to get all the best wellness services. I want a massage per week.

Brittnie Demosthene: 36:59

I want the organic food that's going to help me feel good. I want all those things and the more that you realize, then tapping into the energy of luxury and the energy of quality things, like things. It's not so much about, you know, oh, being bougie or just having the best stuff for the sake of like, like, for example, I had being home and staying with my parents and my sister um. I'm the older sister but I'm raving through my little sister's closet because I'm just like you what I don't really like, what I brought from LA.

Brittnie Demosthene: 37:32

So what do you want in your closet? She had this one hoodie. I think it's the brand Essentials. Oh yeah, that hoodie was so cozy and I was like, oh, maybe it's just going to be on mine. No, not that Whatever the material is was so comfortable.

Brittnie Demosthene: 37:49

She was like, yeah, the hoodie alone was like a hundred something dollars. And then she also has like a sweatpants set which was probably another hundred and for some people, like, that's probably not within their budget. But when I think about it I was like, oh, after feeling what that hoodie felt like, I felt so comfortable.

Brittnie Demosthene: 38:07

Once you can feel what success looks like or what like comfort looks like you have, you won't bat an eye of like paying for whatever it is that's going to give you. Oh yeah, kind of like I think it was steve harvey had said and other like influencers had rinsed and repeated it like get yourself a first class airline ticket or get it one time, one time, and it will shift your mindset to say oh, I'm not fly first class again because this is cozy, this is comfortable.

Brittnie Demosthene: 38:39

That was me when I went to Tanzania two years ago. Oh, yes, no, no, take this Not bad, I didn't, oh, I'm sorry. A group trip and I saw all my other peers like rolling into business, rolling into, and they were taking photos of their little suite and I was all the way in the back and I was just like this is like a 10 plus hour flight and for X amount extra I could have you know. So I remember how that felt, like just knowing what, like sometimes you have to put yourself into what success feels like to be able to shift your mindset to want more.

Brittnie Demosthene: 39:14

But backtracking that's what I would want Like. I want the freedom to be able to get the things that are going to make me comfortable but are also going to elevate my mind, my body and my soul in so many ways, and that looks like all those things. So yeah, personal freedom, everything at its core is what success looks like for me. And I would say, success also for me looks like being able to provide for others, whether if it's my family, whether if it's you know experiences.

Brittnie Demosthene: 39:44

Like the littlest thing this weekend I was able to come home and hang out with my friends and like I got them all drinks and I was like, ooh, that felt good. You know, like I want to be more money in my pocket to be able to do nice things for people but also carry the work that helped carry me throughout time. Yeah, and be able to support others and show others how to do the same thing.

Aliya Cheyanne: 40:06

Yeah, I think that's so beautiful and like we're aligned in so many ways because I'm like so much of what would make people like and I'm using the word comfortable, knowing that comfortable can mean many different things, but so much of what would make people comfortable is just being able to live well. Like we should all have access to healthy, organic food that is affordable to purchase. We should all be able to experience massages often acupuncture, reiki, like all of these things that support us. I was listening to an older episode of Small Doses by Amanda Seals, her podcast, earlier and she had a therapist on there and she was like I want to reframe the language from everyone needs therapy to everyone deserves therapy. Everyone deserves to have the ability to speak to an unbiased person who's just showing up for them, like it's not a give and take relationship, it's a give and give relationship because they're there for you. Like everyone deserves those things. So I think that's so beautiful and I'm wanting the same things for myself. Like I want to fly first class at least once in my life and I've said that to myself. I will, I will one day.

Aliya Cheyanne: 41:18

I said to myself, tasia and I had gone to Seychelles, I don't know a couple years ago, a few years ago, and it was when the flights it was during a pandemic. So you know the flights were lower than what they are right now, but it was such a long flight. But it was during the time when the airlines were still practicing like social distancing so we had like whole rows to ourselves but we still weren't in first class. We could stretch out but it wasn't a first class experience. And I told myself if I ever flew that far and that long again, I have to build it into my budget for that experience that I fly first class. It's not. If I can't do it, I'm not going. It's so long.

Brittnie Demosthene: 41:55

Yeah, it really is Like, even with a stop. Oh, when you know what else, girl, oh my God, when you fly to that, when you fly to that part of the world like when I went to Tanzania, the stop was in Qatar Okay, the airlines, when you get there and you actually pay for those upgrades and you get access to, like, the lounges at the airport it's such an experience it really helps your whole, oh everything.

Brittnie Demosthene: 42:22

But that's honestly kind of how it has to be, like you kind of have to build it in, like you said, into your budget but, most importantly, build it into your mindset and say like no, this is the experience that I want to have from beginning to end.

Aliya Cheyanne: 42:35

Yeah, absolutely. And also just like recognizing that it's it's not even a I don't even want to label it a bougie or like a luxury thing like we deserve, if anyone deserves experiences like this right black women is indigenous women, it's women of color, it's everybody, but like if anyone really deserves it, it's us. So just shifting my mindset around, that is important too. Like we deserve it, we're worthy of it. We've been boxed out of it for a long time historically, yeah, so yeah, well, cheers, cheers to this year being our.

Brittnie Demosthene: 43:11

What are we making it this year? Next year, our first first class? Oh, you know what? Hold on, let's. I'm acclaiming here right now because you were part of my yes and I'm happy to have you as a founding soul seeker for one of my next retreats or it will be fabricated and doused in luxury. That experience, it will be a mindset shift from beginning to end and we'll be able to. I'll be able to throw a group trip next year, 2020, where I'm first class and we are okay experience and it will be all around that.

Aliya Cheyanne: 43:46

So I love that. Let me let me start putting money aside now so it can be possible for me. Yeah, but I claim that I received that and I want to be there. So I'm going to make sure I keep an eye out for that. Make sure I start budgeting for that from now. But, yeah, I'm claiming that there are a couple of places that I have in mind that I would love to see this year. I spoke about it in a previous episode, but I've had two failed attempts to go to Morocco and I really want to make it there and a couple of other places and I've said to myself these might be the ones where I need to budget for first class. So I'm manifesting that for myself. And, yeah, luxury from here on out yeah, I love that.

Aliya Cheyanne: 44:30

So I don't know we've covered so much. I know we're coming up on time. So, just really quickly, I would love for you to just let the people know where to find you. I know like you've shared a lot about the evolution of the Soul Seekers Club and what you're manifesting to create next year and a lot of exciting things that are coming up. So if you want to share more about what the next chapter for the Soul Seekers Club looks like for you, you can. And then, of course, let people know where to find you, your website, your social media, all the things Of course.

Brittnie Demosthene: 45:01

Yeah, so next year I'm actually speaking of retreats I'm looking to partner again with Black Girls, hike and just other folks nearby. I'm looking to establish more community and building the Soul Seekers Club in LA. I'm not sure if it's going to be my forever landing spot. It's funny because back to New York just to visit for the week. I thought like, okay, I have to do the retreat, I have to do the workshop here, because my network is here.

Brittnie Demosthene: 45:28

That's the only way I'll have people sign up. But to my surprise I kind of had the epiphany that I can put the energy out there anywhere, whether if I'm in. New York or LA, so I'm looking to branch for both. My goal is to be bi-coastal.

Aliya Cheyanne: 45:44

my goal is to be worldwide.

Brittnie Demosthene: 45:45

So I'll be able to host workshops and mini retreats and long group trip retreats overseas at some point later this year and next year, but primarily also just starting with one-on-one coaching. So I'm really like scaling into what my offer looks like and I want to offer more creative, conscious coaching. Create other healers and creatives looking for like either need a thought partner to help them like actualize their ideas, or, if you actually need, like media assistance in some capacity and or life and spiritual coaching, because all those things in my book go hand in hand. So helping kind of, you know, get to your goal, but also clearing your path, your energetic field, so that you can get to those spaces. So coaching, workshops, retreats, all those good things and just more content. Being more present online and online, find me, so you can find the Soul Seekers Club on Instagram and I actually just launched the website not too long ago.

Aliya Cheyanne: 46:44

So it's the.

Brittnie Demosthene: 46:46

Soul Seekers Club, and then my personal page, brittany Demestine. I'm sure you'll write it all out, because it's my last name? Yeah, absolutely, and my first name is not as traditional, but you can find my personal page and the Soul Seekers Club on Instagram and the website as well.

Aliya Cheyanne: 47:04

Yes, and I will definitely make sure to link all of that in the show notes so that the folks can find you and just thank you so much for taking the time to share more of yourself, your gift and your work with our listeners and joining me on the podcast. It's been really great and a beautiful conversation and I appreciate it a lot, thank you.

Brittnie Demosthene: 47:23

Thank you for having me and I'm so happy to see you doing your thing. I'm so happy to see this podcast thriving, and thank you for having me as a guest, and I hope to be able to work with you soon as well.

Aliya Cheyanne: 47:34

Yes, absolutely. Thank you so much, brittany, and thank you all for tuning in to this episode. Make sure that if you like what you heard, that you leave a rating, you leave a review, that if you like what you heard, that you leave a rating, you leave a review. Share this episode with a friend If it inspired you, if any part of the conversation gave you some food for thought, and we'll catch you in the next episode.