In partnership with Weeksville Heritage Center, GrillzandGranola and I See You Wellness bring you ZEN DAY: the first and only community wellness conference that promotes movement, mindfulness & modern spirituality among Women of Color (all people are welcome).
This year, we will explored the theme: RISE.
We are powerful when we gather, and the time to RISE is now. Personally and collectively, we are all experiencing an awakening where we are called to our purpose. Many women of color are defining their own paths by building and creating spaces and businesses that give rise to their communities, their healing and their universal right to vibe higher.
Thanks to our powerful community of practitioners, creatives, entrepreneurs, influencers and wellness ambassadors who joined us for our second annual ZEN DAY.
It was epic. See you next year!
Lauren Ash is a wellness visionary, yoga and meditation guide, sought-after speaker and writer, and Founder and Executive Director of the culture-shifting lifestyle brand synonymous with black women’s wellness—Black Girl In Om.
Lauren’s contributions to the world ultimately reflect what she once needed and didn’t see. From her development of the now-signature BGIO Self-Care Sunday experience to the Black Girl In Om Podcast—which has already reached more than one million listeners—her leadership in creating and cultivating meaningful experiences and content for a hugely marginalized community illuminate the compassion, care, and belonging that she affirms all black women are deserving of. Her work is resonating with everyone—ESSENCE has commended her work for "expand[ing] the possibility of what Black women can and ought to be: their most whole and healthy selves" and she is named “a leading voice in the healthy-living world” by Well+Good, declared “one of the most important voices in the wellness industry” by Shape, and one of Wanderlust’s “35 under 35 in Wellness to Watch” IG: @hellolaurenash
When Tracy G. manifested her coveted job as an on-air personality for SiriusXM's top rated show, Sway In The Morning, she wasn't expecting to be plagued by self doubt in a career that exudes self-confidence. This bout with imposter syndrome in 2015 inspired her to remix affirmations and create what she calls audio vision boards. These are a series of raw + modernized mantras set to bomb beats written and voiced by Tracy along with her edutaining life musings. What began as her own mental medicine quickly grew into a popular social experiment embraced by a loyal audience of millennial women looking to embrace spirituality but without shedding sass.
As a nice Scorpio who loves thick conversations about self-care, expect Tracy to share content about befriending both our inner Drake and inner Deepak, working out in the name of mental health, women's lifestyle faves, love vs. lust and adulting faux pas.
IG: @itstracyg
Julee Wilson is the Global Beauty Director at ESSENCE. She oversees the brand’s vision for beauty from the website to the magazine’s monthly editorials, as well as the ESSENCE Beauty Carnival and other live events. Wilson was previously ESSENCE’s Fashion & Beauty Director for over 3 years. Before landing at ESSENCE she served as the Senior Fashion & Beauty Editor at The Huffington Post — and prior to that spend several years as Staff Fashion Editor at Real Simple magazine. Her writing has appeared in InStyle, Conde Nast Traveler, Business of Fashion, and The International Journal of Fashion Studies — just to name a few. Wilson has also appeared on CNN, The Today Show, and the CBS Early Show. She received her B.A. in Leadership Studies from the University of Richmond and is an alum of Stanford’s Professional Publishing Course. Wilson sits on the advisory board of Harlem's Fashion Row and is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. She resides in Harlem NYC with her brilliant husband, dope four-year-old son, and a massive shoe collection. IG: @missjulee
Mary Pryor is the co-founder & CEO of Cannaclusive, a collective focused on inclusion in the cannabis industry. She is the Marketing Lead for Come Back Daily - a CBD store in NYC, the New York Chapter President of Minorities for Medical Marijuana, and she serves as the current NY advocate for The People’s Dispensary. Mary is known for being a trendsetting, innovative, passionate and strategic problem solver. She has always been ahead of the curve due to being immersed in automotive design, electrical engineering, music, education, digital arts, and marketing while being raised in Detroit. She is a bicoastal media expert with an impressive roster of employers and clients including Sony Music Group, Viacom, Black Enterprise, CBS News, Ebony Magazine, Essence Magazine, Rolling Stone and Sean Combs Enterprises. Mary founded her own firms, WeFancy and UrbanSocialista to cater to culturally rich and niche audiences.
Tw + IG: @msmarypryor and @cannaclusive
Weeksville Heritage Center is a historical multidisciplinary museum dedicated to preserving the history of the 19th century African American community of Weeksville, Brooklyn—one of America’s first free black communities.
We are grateful to Weeksville for being an amazing partner in bringing our vision for ZEN DAY to the community.
This year we are donating $2 for each ticket sold to #saveweeksville