From My Brown Heart to Yours: 20 Episodes and a Soft Landing
On bravery, self-censorship, community care, and the unexpected beauty of trusting the unscripted.
20 Episodes. One Brown Heart.
20 episodes of the Brown Heart Wellness podcast… wow.
20 episodes.
Countless promises kept to myself.
Hard conversations when I had to pivot.
An abundance of bravery and celebration from a community built from a brown heart.
Today, I am so proud of this calling placed in my heart.
My word for the year is “vessel.” I talked about this in the beginning of the year, and these 20 episodes feel like the embodiment of that word — the process of pouring and being poured into that I was craving to share with the world.
Out of this podcast has grown a Brown Heart community — a foundation rooted in bravery as a lifestyle. One dependent on faith and the belief that your gifts and purpose aren’t tied to any one person, place, or thing.
Together, we’ve leaned into truths like:
Rest is resistance.
Healing happens in community, even on deeply personal journeys.
One brave thing at a time can teach our minds that we are safe.
We are allowed to believe in our gifts.
We can create soft landings for ourselves.
Through this experience, I’ve poured into leaders in deeper ways than I ever imagined — even when I doubted what I could offer from my own leadership journey.
I’ve learned that self-censorship is only useful when it’s strategic.
That not everyone deserves your vulnerability, especially when community is assumed but not truly cultivated.
And maybe one of the most freeing lessons:
I don’t have to recreate in my business the same oppressive behaviors I experienced in corporate spaces… even if those are the spaces where I bloomed.
I didn’t learn that in isolation — but in a moment of vulnerability with my coach, who has walked beside me as this mission was born.
I’ve also learned that I will teach myself anything if I think I "should" know it — a byproduct of scarcity mindset.
Now, I’m learning to invest in the areas where I can’t (or shouldn’t) do it all.
That’s part of my ongoing healing: unlearning the belief that I have to earn everything through overextension.
Also? I clear my throat A LOT when recording 😂
And I put my face way too close to the camera when I get excited.
But I’m learning to trust my unstructured, unscripted self — because scripting every inch of my life is not liberation. It’s just another form of self-censorship.
That’s a journey I’m still on. Because let’s be real:
It’s not that safe out here.
Not in corporate spaces.
Not on social media.
Not always in the schools my children attend.
Not in these well-meaning professional conferences.
And that is a very real experience.
So, I’ll keep taking one brave step at a time — finding the balance between knowing how I want to say it, and letting my heart do the talking.
As we wrap up Season 1 of the Brown Heart Wellness podcast, I’m taking time to reflect on what a return might look like next month. (P.S. Episode 20 is on its way — just a few final touches before I share it with you. Trust me, it’s worth the wait!) I’m excited to welcome guests I’ve gotten to know over time and connect with new voices — people who lead from a very Brown Heart space, creating room for more inclusion and more stories.
The Brown Heart Wellness Podcast has always been centered on the experiences of Black women, while holding space for anyone who seeks brave and safe community — as long as that safety never comes at someone else’s expense.
In between seasons, I’ll be:
Re-sharing clips from past episodes
Highlighting some of my favorite moments
Staying connected here on Substack
Please follow the podcast, share your favorite episodes, and help me grow our community here on Substack.
Because this space?
This is where we live. This is where we expand. This is where we come back braver.
I am in love with this brand.
Grateful for my growth.
Brave to my soul.
And forever thankful.
From my Brown Heart to yours,
– Samantha Edu, LPC