Hey Glow Gang!

Here’s to an impressive roundup of change-makers and glow-getters. We’re here to take over, and we’re just getting started!

Let's get glowing

-Shilpa

P.S. This week we interviewed Shanice J. Douglas-Samuels from Witted Roots - a global mental health platform for millennial women of colour. They're currently crowdfunding so they can provide more resources. If you have the means and want to help, you can donate here.

All We Want Is To Be Seen And Heard 👀

Health

What the menopause?! 😲 A recent study found that Black and Asian women start menopause earlier, go through it for longer and live with more severe symptoms than white women. There’s not a lot of advice out there for how women of colour experience menopause (are we surprised?). Anita Powell and Madhu Kapoor are changing that. Lucky for us, since basically all women experience menopause, and we kind of need to know what we’re in for.  

Race and wellbeing

We’re fighting back✊🏾 Indigenous Australian health researcher, Chelsea Watego, is pushing back on racism in academia. “I bought into the idea of academic excellence offering some protection from racial violence in the workplace. And I would come to learn that that was not the case.” Watego also shares the physical and psychological toll fighting the good fight took on her. These tips are here to help women of color facing workplace bias and discrimination. Protect your mental health, ladies!

Plus: The Australian Diamonds netball team is boycotting Hancock Prospecting’s logo on their uniform because of horrific remarks about First Nations people in the past. 

Extra Nuggets 👀

• Amplify Iran 🇮🇷 The fight for women’s rights continues. Iranian climber Elnaz Rekabi made headlines this week for competing without her headscarf on in South Korea.

• Newly minted 💲 US coins feat. Anna May Wong are rolling out on Monday. They’re the first US coins to feature an Asian American.

• A new season is coming 👀 Production on Season 4 of A Black Lady Sketch Show has begun!

• A feminist icon 🚌 After leaving her unhappy marriage at 58, Su Min is now living her best life travelling around China in her camper van. We love to see it!

Glowreel Recos

What we’re loving this week:

Make - Easy Indian sweets by Cook with Kushi (in the spirit of Diwali coming up next week!). Peda is a personal (and super easy to make) fave 🤤

Listen - Marigold, the latest single by Anusha Savi. You’ll feel all the feels with Anusha’s latest hit - and if you don’t believe us, check out Elaine Welteroth’s reaction to the it! 💃🏽

Watch/Social Media - Kristine Fernandez for the BEST capsule wardrobe tips. Complete with bright colours and bold prints 🐆

Support BIPOC Women Owned Businesses

Handcrafted Skin Tone Crayons (set of 8) by All Of Us 

$23 (USD, ships worldwide)

Trailblazing Woman

Shanice J. Douglas-Samuels: Supporting Millennial Women Of Colour On Their Mental Health Journey

Meet Shanice, founder of Witted Roots: a mental health and emotional wellness platform for millennial women of colour. 

The mission? Make it easier for women of colour to have a better relationship with their mental health by providing them with the necessary resources and tools.

We caught up with Shanice to hear all about Witted Roots, what it offers for you, and the Witted Roots crowdfund campaign. Let’s go!

Hi Shanice! We’d love to get to know you - can you tell me a bit about yourself?

Hi! I’m Shanice J. Douglas-Samuels. I was born and raised in Jamaica and immigrated to New York City as a teenager. I studied psychology and did my masters over in the UK. I’ve always been interested in the connection between the mind and how people behave. 

A fun fact about me: I’ve had a lifetime fear of heights. But one of my favourite things to do is to hike to really high places - just so I can take in that breathtaking view!

Why did you start Witted Roots?

Because we need it! We need spaces where we can come to terms with ourselves and get support or guidance to be able to look within ourselves more. A lot of us women of colour have this common thread of being from cultural backgrounds where the focus is on how you can help people, or how you can be there for your family. A lot of our lives - especially for eldest children - has been wrapped up in the wellbeing of other people. We end up neglecting ourselves.

There’s also a real lack of representation in the global health and wellness industry, and not a lot of cultural sensitivity or safety. Witted Roots is helping to change that.

What does Witted Roots offer, and where are your services available?

Witted Roots is accessible globally because millennial women of colour are located globally!

We offer four key services: 

1. Our educational arm: expert backed, research based articles on our website. These articles are a resource to help you to access information that may not be readily available.

2. Guided reflections tools: we do journals and journal prompts and we’re building out planners with prompts for your mental health throughout the day.

3. Expert led live sessions: This makes it easier for you to access the expertise of people that look like you and have similar experiences. Our first set of sessions will be virtual. They consist of expert led psychological sessions, and well-being sessions where you’re led through a holistic wellness session like meditation or breath work.

4. We’re also launching a paid private membership community next year. This really encapsulates everything we stand for. This community will be a safe space for women of colour where you come to share your most vulnerable experiences, and be unapologetically yourself.

We’re currently crowdfunding to build out our live sessions and our membership community.

The funds will help us pay our experts and writers and grow our team so we can provide the best support to our community.

What have been the challenges and highlights of building Witted Roots?

Challenges: My main challenge has been taking care of my own mental health. I got to a point where I was questioning myself so much. It took me a while to step my way out of that in terms of questioning “why me” because at the end of the day, why not me? I’ve had to remind myself that I literally studied this. I did a masters degree in psychology, health and behaviour. My experience in the UK while doing my masters wasn’t all roses either. But I did it and I survived. And I did it for a reason - and Witted Roots was part of the reason.

Another challenge is finding our community. I want anyone that knows about Witted Roots to tell others about Witted Roots!

Highlights: The biggest highlight for me has been connecting with so many different people, so many women of colour, from different backgrounds. Being able to connect and laugh and cry about the almost same things in different languages and in different countries as our backdrop. The experience is so cathartic, and freeing. The reason why we’re continuing to build and why we’re crowdfunding is because we want more of these experiences. We need more spaces like this and it’s been a highlight seeing the seeds we’ve planted over the years starting to bloom a little bit.

Your top tip for BIPOC women who are wanting to blaze their own trail?

The key takeaway: one step at a time.

That fear that you have about starting something new, it’s valid. You should definitely explore the root of it. I also recommend that you take that first baby step on that path that you want to be on. 

Once you take that first step, check in with yourself and then decide what’s the next best step for you. The step that feels right for you and will take you to where you want to go. That step can be as small or as big as you want it to be. And you repeat this over and over again, as slowly as you need to go, for as long as it takes.

Lioness Thoughts

Nominate A Shoutout

Tell us about someone doing cool shit.

It can be you, your friends or family or someone else you know. Whether you’ve just started a book club, are creating artistic makeup looks for fun, or are doing some research and want to hear from women of colour. We want to share thing cool things you’re doing with a community shoutout!

Please send your nominations to [email protected] or DM us on our socials :)

This week's email was brought to you by Shilpa Bhim, founder of Glowreel. You can see more of her work at www.shilpabhim.com or follow her on Instagram @shilpa.bhim

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