RVL Wellness

Malliron talks with Brittny, Founder of RVL Wellness, about her journey to becoming an entrepreneur.

Connect with featured BADDIE:

• IG: @rvlwellnessco
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rvlwellnessco
• Website: https://www.rvlwellnessco.com/ 
• Tiktok: @rvlwellnessco

At RVL (pronounced "revel") Wellness Co., their mission is to help improve women's overall well-being by offering alternative self-care rituals. They are proud to feature artwork created by Black women that reflects beauty, values, and magic. So please take a deep breath, allow yourself to unwind, and join them in a revel wellness moment. 

Use code BADDIES20 for 20% off your first purchase. | 

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Music By: TuKool Tiff

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• iTunes, Spotify: TuKool Tiff

Be Bad. Be Bold. Be A Baddie! 

Transcript

BaddieswithBusiness: 

All right, welcome back Baddies and friends. This is our second episode of season six. Actually, this is episode 95 total. One 

Brittny Horne: step closer 

BaddieswithBusiness: to 100. Okay. And we have a special baddie today. So I'll turn it over to her to share more about herself. 

Brittny Horne: Hi, baddies. My name is Brittany Horn, and I am the founder of Revel Wellness Co.,

where we create therapeutic jigsaw puzzles to help Black women rediscover their joy and secure their peace. 

BaddieswithBusiness: Okay. So Brittany, before we get into rebel wellness, can you back up and just share a little bit more about yourself, where you're from your Zodiac sign, if you want to share that things you like to do for fun and then get into the catalyst for starting this incredible business.

Brittny Horne: Okay. Oh man. It's so funny. I always struggle with the tell us about yourself question, but I'm from originally from Maryland. So my parents were in the air force. But I didn't have the typical military brat experience. We didn't move around that much. Fun fact, I guess we lived in the Philippines for a year when I was a baby, but I was literally like one year old and then a volcano erupted.

So we had to evacuate. So I grew up on Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland for anyone who's familiar. And pretty much lived in the DMV most of my life. [00:02:00] And then I now live in Charlotte, North Carolina. Zodiac sign is Leo. I forget my Sun rising, all that I'm trying to get, I told myself this year, I wanted to pay more attention to all like angel numbers and stuff like that.

But for now you can go with, I'm a Leo. What do I like to do for fun? It varies. I like to, I've realized like this part of my life, I really, Cherish, like spending quality time with people. So it's just, it doesn't necessarily matter what we're doing as long as I'm doing it with someone I care about.

So small things just this past weekend for new years, I invited one of my friends over and we have a little vision board party, but not the stereotypical one where cutting out all the paper and putting it on like you're gluing it. I actually saw one of my artists, she had posted about a vision board where the pictures and the quotes were on these little index cards, and then you could just place them And these holders on a book that you could open.

So I like invited her over for us to do that. Got us some wine, lit [00:03:00] some candles, created some ambience. And that was just like a really good time. So anything that involves like, spending quality time with people. I've also started getting into like audio books. I'm like, am I exploratory era?

So I'm just like trying different things, figuring out like what I really enjoy doing. So yeah. 

BaddieswithBusiness: I love that. So dabbling here and there and exploring the things that bring you joy. That's such a Leo vibe. I'm a Virgo. So we right 

Brittny Horne: there. My husband's a Virgo. Okay. And I love this 

BaddieswithBusiness: this new take on a vision board.

I feel every year I see these new examples of like how to bring your vision to life through vision boarding using Canva. So I like this one you're talking about. And now I'm like, I'm gonna Google this after me. 

Brittny Horne: Now, one of the things though, of course, there wasn't a whole lot of African American representation in the cards, but they had a nice mix of like images where there were no people.

[00:04:00] So it didn't necessarily matter. And then there were a lot of really good quotes. So I just, I use it as an opportunity to really just focus on create creating the vision, like in my mind, in my heart to. Go into the new year with so 

BaddieswithBusiness: yes, I love that and having those words and representation matters and being able to use those words.

Maybe there's a baddie out there that's creating 

Brittny Horne: a version for us. Please let me know. Brittany, y'all that could be a partnership right there. Exactly. Okay, 

BaddieswithBusiness: let's get into rebel wellness. First, I want to start with the name because before we hit record, I had an aha moment because I, and maybe some people who see the name thought RVL.

But can you tell us a little bit more about the name and then also some of the products that you offer? 

Brittny Horne: Yes. Like I was mentioning to you earlier, originally so it's spelled RVL and this is just like a fun fact for anyone who's like trying to get a trademark on their business name.[00:05:00] So I originally wanted to just call it Rebel Wellness and spell it Rebel, R E B E L.

But my trademark attorney, when she went to go do her job, she was like, there's just too many other businesses in the wellness space called Rebel Wellness. So she was encouraging me to come up with something more unique. So that way there wouldn't be any confusion in the marketplace with consumers.

And so that's how me and my previous brand team at the time came up with spelling it just RVL and pronouncing it rebel. And so that's how. The spelling came about, but the name rebel wellness comes from the fact that when I was first planning this business, it really started from my own personal wellness journey and me coming into my own and realizing how, the previous ways that I used to practice self care or take care of myself really weren't serving me.

They really weren't filling my cup in the way that, they should have been. And I just started realizing just how much I would feel guilty trying to take time for myself. Whether that's like leaving work on time, like [00:06:00] simple things, like I would feel bad about leaving work at five o'clock and not staying late.

Or I would feel bad about just like treating myself to something and not treating others. So it, I, it was more of like a mantra to myself of I need to like, Take care of myself and I need to revel in that. Like I need to feel good about the fact that I am putting myself first. I'm taking care of myself.

So the term rebel wellness is really like my call to black women to like, really take power and ownership and pride in taking care of yourself and your wellness.

BaddieswithBusiness: That is powerful. Just like You giving or offering like this permission for us to take pride and just taking care of ourselves in whatever way that looks like. And yeah, I don't think I know I've always been moved by the products that you have especially like when we partnered on the [00:07:00] retreat for you to do some pieces for bad as a business, but like 

Brittny Horne: Brittny.

BaddieswithBusiness: That's powerful. That's really powerful. So I know you talked a little bit about when you were building the business and how you wanted to just create this space or create a space for black women to really revel in the wellness. You see what I did there? How did you get to the point? Like prior to I'm going to start a business, I'm going to launch this.

Like what was some of the catalysts or pivotal moments in your life that kind of spark that interest in starting this business? 

Brittny Horne: Yep. So I'll, it's a couple of things. I really think it was a perfect storm or like I was some things were just happening in my life that were pushing me closer and closer to this point.

So number one, like for years I had a somewhat of a curiosity in terms of being a business owner, like before it became like super popular and everyone knew it was like doing it, or like before it was like really big on social media. I had just been curious about it.

But I [00:08:00] was always like too afraid to really jump all in. And so at one point, like I started dabbling in like making websites. I think the first business idea I had was to be like an accountability partner. And so I was like, Oh, like I was like thinking through what kind of, cause basically it came from.

My relationship with my friends, like I was that person who if my friends said they wanted to do something or if they had an idea, like I was always trying to support them and I was like, Oh, you should do this. So you should look into that or you should try this. And so I took that and I was like, Oh what if I could turn this into a service of someone tells me what their goal is.

And I'm essentially just their cheerleader and their accountability to say okay, like here, we're checking in on this have you accomplished these goals, like whatever. So I just would like I think I made a website on what's it called? Not Shopify. What is the other one? Wix.

It was on Wix. And so I just started like playing around, like creating websites and I would send it to my friends and get them to give me feedback. And at the end of the day, I just got too afraid. I was like, you know what? I don't [00:09:00] know. Who would want me? Like it was one of those like self sabotaging things of like, why would anyone want to hire me, to help them type of thing.

So then like time went by and this was back when I was still in Maryland. For a long time, I had felt called to move to Charlotte, I'm the kind of person who I lives in a bunch of different places, like in the DMV and also like Pennsylvania. And no place ever really felt like home to me.

Like I always just felt like I don't belong here or this doesn't feel like where I want to stay. But until my brother actually went to college here in North Carolina, and that's like the first time I came to visit. And for whatever reason, I just felt really happy when I was here. And then I would come back to visit him and like the same feeling was there.

So years later, we finally ended up moving here and I just had it in my head. I was like, you know what? I want all black women, everything. I want a black woman doctor. I want a black woman trainer, dentist, like any, anywhere I could find a black woman. That's who I want to help me. And that, I think seeing all [00:10:00] these black women around me in these, like having their own businesses and like being in these professions, it really just inspired me to feel even more if they can do it, maybe I can do it too.

So it's around this time where I had gotten a job. I had switched into an it field, which I had never done it before. And it was just a really. hard, hard field. Like it was like, people were just completely cutthroat and rude. And it was just, it did sit me in a really dark place and I was just really struggling to pull myself out of it.

And my therapist at the time had just recommended, she's think back to times in your childhood, like just simple things that used to bring you joy. And one of the things that came to mind was doing puzzles with my grandmother. So that's something that she's done like most of my life. I guess the first thing I think of when I think of her.

And so that encouraged me to like, why not try puzzling again as an adult? You know what I mean? So I like go online. I'm like looking for [00:11:00] puzzles and I'm struggling to find any puzzles with artwork that inspired me. Have people that look like me. I knew hands down that I wanted to frame it when I was done.

Because that's what my grandmother taught me. So I was like, oh, I need something I can like, that's gonna be cute in my office or somewhere in my house. And it was really hard to find one. So two weeks later, I finally found one that was like, okay, this will do the trick. At first, it was really overwhelming because it was like, Oh my God, there's so many pieces what have I done?

But the more I worked at it, and the more I like sat my forced myself to sit down and really like focus, the more I started to feel at ease and like I found a rhythm and I found I just found a sense of peace. I just found it gave me something to look forward to. It helped me with my confidence, especially dealing with a job that was knocking me down every day, like being able to come and do this puzzle where I knew how to find the pieces, like every time I put a piece together, it was like, Ooh, look at me, I'm doing this, I'm doing this.

And then when I was done. Like this sense of [00:12:00] pride that I had when I put that last piece in was like, just such a great feeling. I was like, I don't feel like this again. So like I like immediately framed it and I was immediately looking for my next puzzle. I say that to say that became a hobby for me.

And in the process I just. Sat to myself and I thought, I'm like, I can't be the only one, especially the only black woman who's going through what I'm going through, like at work, at home, wherever, and maybe never consider doing a puzzle as a way to de stress. And so that is how the idea came about, was just wanting to offer it as like an alternative wellness tool, because no one ever really told me that a puzzle was good for stress.

So I'm like what this thing is out here that. It could be really helpful, but it's not really marketed towards us. You know what I mean? And so I wanted to just fill that gap as well as expose my community to something different. 

BaddieswithBusiness: So it was a baddie that inspired you. 

Brittny Horne: Yes. [00:13:00] Grandma was the baddie.

Yes. Yes. 

BaddieswithBusiness: So you. Shared about your journey to Charlotte, shout out to North Carolina, shout out to QC, okay. But your journey to North Carolina, seeing having this interest and this commitment to supporting black women in the various fields that then can support you. Building this community and network of black women that are, you're pouring into, but they're also pouring to you.

And. Then you talked about like this career that you were in, that was really taxing, taking a toll on you and then finding, thinking back to that OG baddie of we used to do puzzles and I want to find this thing to do. And I love how you talked about like when you first started, it was overwhelming, but the more you did it, the more calm you felt, the more kind of settled in you felt.

What was that like bridge between, okay, I'm going to start this to. I'm actually going to launch it. Like, [00:14:00] how did you learn about creating puzzles? Was there a course? Did you go to YouTube? 

Brittny Horne: So I actually didn't go to YouTube. So YouTube and Google good old YouTube university and Google university.

So it was one of those things where, again, in the very beginning, I was still hesitant, right? I was still like, all right, I'm willing to like, finally, I think I had just hit a place where I'm like, what do I have to lose? It's I was still, struggling with that fear of what if no one buys it?

Why would anyone want it, to buy this from me? Who am I to do this? And I have a friend who is very, she's just very much She's to the point, but she's also can see things from a really great perspective. So I was actually, she's another baddie who inspired me before I moved here. We were working at the same job and she had a business, so she made these really beautiful head wraps.

Her business is called so nice named it twice, by the way. And, I remember I was like sitting in a meeting with a bunch of people and she came in and handed someone a bag with her [00:15:00] logo on it. And I was like, what is this? I was like, what's happening here? And I saw the person take it out and she had this really pretty packaging.

It looked really nice. I was like. You did? I was like, this is you? So again, like that again, seeing someone who literally worked at the same company as me around the same age as me Has a product that someone is physically buying from her and it looks nice and she did it all by herself so this same person I was telling her how I was like afraid and Nervous and didn't know if I wanted to start and she said okay.

What? What are you afraid of? Put it into words. What are you afraid of? And I'm like, I'm afraid of failure. And she said, okay what does failure mean? What is, what does that mean? And I was like it means like no one will buy my product. What if no one buys it? And she says, okay, so if no one buys it, then what I'm like.

Then I failed. And she's okay first of all, failure is not a bad thing. But second of all, if no one buys it, you just do something else. She's it's okay. It's not the end of the world or this big, scary thing. Like it's something that happens and you learn from it and you move on.

And I think [00:16:00] hearing her put it in terms like that really just helped me to be like, huh. Okay, like I guess it's not that bad, right? So let me at least try. When I started looking into how I wanted to do this, I knew I wanted to test the waters. Oh my god, I don't want to jump in And then it's, it turned out to not be what I expected or it's not what I want.

I also knew that I didn't want to take too much time to just plan everything completely out because I knew that I would end up just not doing it. So what's a good middle ground of just let me get started and finally do something, but also be cautious. So that's when I just started researching different ways to like.

Have a puzzle company or to make puzzles. So I knew I could have bought this really big machine and like made them like, like the way manufacturers do overseas, but that costs a lot of money. So I'm like, I'm not doing that. I also knew that I could like just hire someone overseas to make it, but that again, cost a lot of money and I didn't want to do that.

So then I was like how could I make them myself? [00:17:00] And I came across, it's called sublimation. So that's essentially where similar. So if you made a custom t shirt and the ink just gets deposited into this paper and then you have a blank puzzle and you put the paper on top of it.

And with the heat press, then the ink will deposit into the puzzle. So then when you're done. the puzzle has the artwork on it. And so that one just required minimal supplies for a price that I was willing to go all in with. I was like, okay let's just say worse comes to worse. No one buys this, and I wasted my money.

I can live with this amount of money wasted. And so I just went from there, and I was just like, Exploring and like looking for artists and like buying the different material and like a way I went. 

BaddieswithBusiness: That's amazing. So I want to zoom into this part that or this particular area that you talked about with your friend.

So nice. I named it twice. 

Brittny Horne: Okay. 

BaddieswithBusiness: Where it was around failure and I [00:18:00] feel as black women, we often are in this place of whenever I do something, I have to do it great and it has to be perfect or I'm not going to do it at all. And I like the way that she framed it to you. And also you also shared it with me and the rest of those who are listening.

If it doesn't work, if someone doesn't buy it, you do something else. Maybe you change, maybe you shift, maybe you get feedback. And so for those who are listening, know that if you have failed today to tomorrow, if you fail yesterday, if you failed, take that as a learning and dust yourself off and try again.

Okay. 

Brittny Horne: Also keep in mind, literally everybody fails, every successful person. like every person you come across has failed something at some point in their life. And those who are successful have learned from their mistakes and just did it better the next time. And again, until they got to where they needed to be.

Yeah. 

BaddieswithBusiness: As Brittany is giving you permission to step into that space of wellness and caring for [00:19:00] yourself, she's also giving you permission to fail and fail over and over again and learn from those things. So thank you, Brittany. No problem. So as you think about your journey. Over these last couple of years, cause you started Revel Wellness in 

Brittny Horne: when did you begin?

So I started, so when I first launched, I actually launched under a different name. So that was another thing where I always struggled with naming things. And I didn't, I couldn't figure out a name that really stuck with me. And I, but I didn't want to let that keep me from. Moving forward. So when I first launched, I used it as like a testing ground to figure everything out, figure out what type of art I wanted to use, what size puzzles I wanted to have the name, the messaging, like the core audience.

So when I first started, it was actually called shades of joy. Cause at the end of the day, at the baseline, it was about. Providing positive imagery for people of color. So at that time I had like puzzles for different ages. So I had [00:20:00] like Children's puzzles featuring, black and brown Children.

I had puzzles like there were more geared towards just like black women specifically. And then I had some that were like a mixed like a family style puzzle. And so I did that from like 2021 to 2022. And that's when I launched rebel because that I took that first year. to figure out okay, what are people like?

What are they not like? What do I like? What do I not like? What do I want my mission to be? And so that's how it morphed from, okay, puzzles for people of color in general to, okay, puzzles specifically geared towards black women's mental health and wellness. 

BaddieswithBusiness: Okay. I was about to go somewhere else.

We're going to get there, but first I want to stay right here on this step. So you are talking about what we often hear around testing. And so trying, starting small, oftentimes people want to build something big. They want to launch it. They want to buy the building, get the logo, all those things.

But what you're talking about is how you tested and started [00:21:00] small. You started with what you could do. You started with the funds that you had. You tested, iterated, got feedback, tested again. And not only the things that were bringing other people joy, but what was bringing you joy. See? Oh, 

Brittny Horne: but the old 

BaddieswithBusiness: way around.

The old way around. So I really love that. Are there any other learnings that you had along like that testing phase? I imagine that it's still not done as you're like growing your business, but is there anything else you want to share around like that power of having that year of just. Testing things out and, seeing what fits for you.

Brittny Horne: I think the biggest thing is just like not being afraid to get the feedback. I think had I been, cause of course, like I'm still this business has really helped push me to stretch myself in positive ways that I wasn't able to push myself before. So keep in mind, I'm still, even though I've pushed myself to do this and acknowledge that failure is [00:22:00] likely impossible.

I still, deep down, I'm like afraid of this and I'm afraid of someone telling me they hate this, or I'm afraid of someone saying that this is dumb. And so I think that kept me from really reaching out to people or talking to people in the way that I could have, which might've like maybe even expedited the process even further or connecting me to the right people even sooner.

So I would just say not being afraid to get that feedback, but at the same time. You have to work on being secure in your vision because it can be really easy when you get feedback when you take in too much feedback is really easy for those who don't get it to try to sway you in different directions.

And you have to remind yourself like everyone is not going to get it. And that's okay. Not everyone is your target audience and that is totally fine. So it's a fine line between, taking constructive criticism and getting feedback. Versus letting others just diminish your dream, diminish your vision, and tell you that you're not doing the right thing.

BaddieswithBusiness: Another gem. Okay. [00:23:00] Your target audience will not be everyone. And I say this over and over again, that your family and your friends may not be your target audience. They can support you and love on you and be there, but they may not be your target audience. So don't get upset with them if they don't understand.

You find your people because your people are out there. And those are the people from what you're sharing, Brittany. Those are the people that you want to be open to. Is this working for you? How can we shift? How can we change and improve this? But then also you have the vision. So you're writing that vision and making it plain.

And then also weaving in some of that feedback from others as well. 

Brittny Horne: Exactly. Come on, 

BaddieswithBusiness: Brittany, with the gems, all of these pieces to the 

Brittny Horne: puzzle. 

BaddieswithBusiness: Okay. 

Brittny Horne: Yes. 

BaddieswithBusiness: Yes. Okay. So the place I was going to go earlier, I'm going to pick that up now. So along your journey over the last couple of years, let's even count in like from 2021 up until [00:24:00] this point of 2024.

I was mistaken this year for 2014, 2004, because 2024 is very hard to say sometimes it is. And we're only what a couple days in, 

Brittny Horne: not even a full 

BaddieswithBusiness: week, not even a full week. Okay. I'm gonna still be saying happy new year in April. Okay. But as we think about the journey that you've made up until this point.

What are some things that you want to celebrate about your 

business? 

Brittny Horne: Ooh, that's a good question. That is something that I've tried to make it a point. Cause things move so fast and like you're constantly working and building and striving and creating goals, trying to get, accomplish them.

And then when you do, I would, sometimes it's really easy to be like, Oh, Hey, what's the next thing? And I think it wasn't until the end of this year that I had a, or the end of last year, where I had a moment to really take a step back and be like, man, I have really [00:25:00] accomplished so much of what.

I wanted to do. So I'll say the biggest thing to look. So this was the year that I had decided I wanted to finally launch manufactured, outsource the manufacturing of the puzzles because the first year is when I launched as shades of joy and I was making it myself. A lot of trials, a lot of ups and downs, a lot of learning.

And it was really to validate to myself okay, do I think there's an audience here that will Validate me investing in outsourced manufacturing. And I was proven. Yes. There is, there's, there is quite a big audience. To the point where, it was too much for me myself to. Only me be making these puzzles and then the demand and I quickly realized if I want to get into any type of retail or any type of wholesale, like the amount of puzzles that they would need is just too much for me to do myself.

And I also knew that I'm not the kind of person who wants to have a warehouse where I'm like, I'm hiring people to make [00:26:00] it for me. I don't necessarily want to, buy a huge building and have huge puzzle manufacturing products and have a warehouse team. That's not my judge.

I'm like, I don't want that. This year was finally the year where I'm like, okay, I'm going to finally invest and have manufactured puzzles. And the journey to get to that point was like, it was like all of I started thinking about this, like in 2021 and taking my time trying to figure out like.

Who are the different suppliers? What size puzzles do I want? What shapes do I want? What art do I want? What I want the packaging to look like. And all of those things take so much time. I had been working with a manufacturer like for most of 2022, like at least six months. And we had been going through the process of like pricing, figuring all these small details out. And we got to the point of where I'm like, okay, I want to get samples now. Cause I got this one. I'm like, everything seems to be perfect. I just need to test the product and let's see how it goes. Cause my goal was to launch, I think by like March of 2023 with the new product.

And so [00:27:00] come like November, December of 2022, when I got the samples. They were terrible. They were terrible. I was like, as a person who enjoys puzzles, this is crap. I'm like, I would not want to do these. This is not enjoyable to me. The pieces didn't hold together at all. The literally there was like so many mismatched pieces where I could literally take the wrong piece and connect to another piece.

And it went fine. I was like, this is ridiculous. It's not going to happen. And so I was like trying to communicate that with the supplier. And I'm like, can we do something about this? And she tried to say to me, she's if you look at the picture, you put the puzzle in the wrong place. Look at the picture, pay more attention to the artwork.

And I'm like, this is not going to work. So then I had to figure out like, what the heck am I going to do? I just wasted six months on this one person. I had all these like targets of like launch. And so I like was able to reach out to my network. So over the course of 2021, I met several. Puzzle company owners, like new puzzle company owners, like [00:28:00] black women, just starting out just like me.

And we formed a little sisterhood and they were gracious enough to tell me their suppliers. That's something where you can't really find that. Like I can never go to another company and be like, so who's making your puzzles? They're not going to tell you that. But they were gracious enough to do that.

And so I was able to take everything I had. Learned with the last person and like shift it over to the next person But again, it still takes time to go through every little thing I had to find a designer to figure out the packaging design and like all this I could go on forever about this, but I still have to say Finally being able to launch this year was like a huge milestone for me such a relief, such a like moment of so many tears, like of joy, like I finally, I've been working towards this chapter of business for a long time where I'm able to expand and me to higher demand, I'm in like several retailers now, like small stores now I have I've turned my garage into a warehouse, like my storage area, so I [00:29:00] can fit all of the inventory in there, like I have a better system now the pressure of me having to be up all night trying to make the puzzles myself is gone so that gives me more space.

To do more things in my business. So I think that's like the biggest thing that I am, proud of and like celebrating, for myself on top of, some of the grants I've been able to get this year, some of the opportunities I've been able to get this year like participating in.

Rene Blue, it's like Holiday Bazaar in New York. Like first time I've been to New York to sell my products. Like it was just like, just so much happened this year. That was really good. So yeah, that's what I'm celebrating. 

BaddieswithBusiness: Yes. That's amazing. And thank you for sharing that journey because I feel like oftentimes we Hear about like we hear of these great things that happen on social media and in the world, but we just hear about this great thing has happened as opposed to the journey that got there.

And so for you I'm happy that made it past that [00:30:00] point, even though it was six months, you still went back to that community that you had built, was able to get the resources and now launching that. So I'm excited for you. And then also Your piece is up to New York and slinging them across New York.

Okay. You got pieces everywhere. Everywhere. 

Brittny Horne: Oh, I love that. 

BaddieswithBusiness: So while we are celebrating and talk about some of the things that you have manifested and brought to fruition, let's think about the things that, of where you aspire to be in the next two to three years. And how can this community of listeners help you get there?

Brittny Horne: Good question. I think so. One of my ultimate goals with Rebel Wellness is to create a community. So my whole thing is I want to make self care and wellness in the different ways, the different modalities and practices around that. I want these conversations to be more commonplace amongst black women.

Someone asked me when I first started this business, they said, did your [00:31:00] grandmother like ever tell you why she enjoyed doing puzzles or why she started doing them? And I was like. No, she never did. And so I asked her, I was like, grandma, why did you like, what made you want to start doing puzzles?

Or like, why do you do them so often? And she was just like, I don't really know. It's just I just, I saw one one day and I tried it and I really liked it. And so I just kept doing it. I was like, okay, all right, fair. But it just made me think about how, like my mom never taught me about. self care.

My mom never taught me about wellness. Like my mom taught me how to be strong, independent black woman. And that's what a lot of us are taught strong, independent black women, go out there, get your degree, get a good job, take care of yourself, have a, these are the main things of course.

So it's I want the topic of, balance the topic of nourishing yourself, filling your own cup, like the different. Mental health practices, the different wellness practices. Like I just want it to be a conversation and that, cause there's things that I've learned, like [00:32:00] through this business about different practices that I would have never come across.

You know what I mean? Had I not had that spark to learn more, like it wasn't something that was just like readily available to me, if that makes sense. So I want to be able to have a community. I want to be able to have like wellness retreats. That's like the bigger vision. And I want to expand the product line.

Like I want to be able to offer not just puzzles. That's why the people question they're like, why isn't your, why aren't you like rebel puzzles or something puzzles? I'm like, cause it's not just about puzzles. That's the puzzles is just the starting point. And it's really mimicking my own journey.

When you think about it, because puzzles was the starting point for me. And it's what led me to learning a lot of different things about myself and about the world. And that's what I want to be able to do with rebel wellness. It's like get people in the door and. spark that curiosity, that discovery of, yourself and what makes sense to you, like what makes you feel good.

So that's like the overall vision. And for people to help is just to, to follow along, be curious, learn more, like about the different [00:33:00] ways that puzzles can help with your mental health, the ways that puzzles, puzzles, like a lot of people don't realize that puzzles have, or puzzling has some same effects as like meditation.

So being able to like lower your heart rate and your blood pressure, helping you de stress. Because just like with meditation, like the, I guess the more formal form of meditation, closing your eyes and like focusing on your breathing, like not everybody can do that. But the purpose of that is to silence everything that's going on around you and calm your nervous system.

When you're working on a puzzle, it's doing the same thing, but you don't have to sit still and be quiet and let your thoughts run wild. It's you're focusing on like one piece at a time. You're like, you're putting, you're focusing on just putting this thing together. And that in itself helps relieve that stress.

So I still had to say join the journey, join the community, try a puzzle we offer them in three different sizes to help you like wherever you are on your puzzling journey. So you don't have to be like me and start off with a 500 piece puzzle and be overwhelmed. We have 48 [00:34:00] piece puzzles.

So that way it's it doesn't take that much time. You can get it done in 20 minutes or just like dibble and dabble and it's not a huge. a huge effort. We also have 100 piece puzzles. And then for those of you who either want to challenge or who already know what it's like to puzzle, we have 500 piece puzzle.

So something to meet you wherever you're at on your journey. 

BaddieswithBusiness: Okay. So as a recap, you want to build a community, build this community that is really channeling that wellness and not just. The puzzle pieces that gets to the second piece, but really thinking about how we can build a community of individuals supporting one another.

The second one was expanding the line. And I love the strategic move you made and making it revel wellness instead of rebel pieces, because if you decide to expand, you had to go back and go to that. So very strategic, another gym. Okay. And then that third piece really. I think bringing [00:35:00] puzzling, I feel like oftentimes people who are already puzzling, they can talk about the joys of it, but those who are just starting to ease into it, making it accessible.

So lowering that barrier. And I think another way that people can support you is following you. Of course, Oh yeah.

All of those things. And I'm going to make sure to include all of your information and the description of this episode. So I do want to, I know you talked about a couple of baddies that have shown you some love and supported you. So I want to pause right now and say it. Are there any other baddies that you want to give flowers to that have supported you along your journey?

Brittny Horne: Oh man. There's a lot. There's a lot. And that was actually something I meant to say earlier in terms of like advice or learnings. One of the biggest things that I wish I would have picked up on sooner is like the importance of finding your entrepreneurial community. So finding other women like you who are in business, they don't have to necessarily [00:36:00] have the exact same business as you, but just.

People who are entrepreneurs and trying to figure it out just like you, because being a business owner can be very lonely and very isolating. And especially if you're a solopreneur, like you're the only one managing your business, you only have yourself to like, talk to and ask questions and be like, does this make sense?

And it, it can drive you crazy a little bit. So just having someone that you can vent to and having someone say girl, I understand I've been there too. or girl, this isn't as big as you're making it out to be like someone who can help calm you down when you start to doubt yourself and who can lift you up.

Very important. Some people off the top of my head that I can think of number one, Cassandra host of the be well sis podcast. We met in 2022. Yes. Love her. And she has just been a joy. Like we just. Some people you just meet and you just click with automatically and that's her and she's, We're also on the same wavelength in terms of wanting to provide just like community and like wellness to black women and that's what her podcast is about.

So she has plenty of really great. Guests on her podcast as well [00:37:00] She's got a book club. So I could talk about her all day there's also bethany of formerly top coat, which is a vegan nail care. It's now called saint nel she's also awesome. Like she's got two businesses she's out here thriving and I'm inspired by her every day.

Brittany from buttered body care. We recently met this in 2023 and she has also just been a breath of fresh air, like just someone who I can go to for advice and who can encourage me and is doing her thing like I see her out here winning all these grants and things like that So there's just the list i'm sure could go on and on but these are like the top three people who up top my head are people that I talk to like on a regular basis who have been helping me along the way Why lori of brown girl marketing, she has she used to work for eden body works the hair care company.

She has been a great mentor and like encouragement for me for the last year and some change. So yeah, these are the people who have really helped me along the way who are also thriving in their businesses and just doing great things. 

BaddieswithBusiness: [00:38:00] Yes. So shout out to all of those Bettys out there that you named.

I hope you feel inspired and encouraged and continue doing the work you're doing. It's tough. And so just pausing to receive those flowers. Is really powerful. I also want to give you your flowers for all the work that you've done, your consistency, your passion and your drive. It's been great.

So here are your flowers.

So as we are closing out the episode I first want to pause and say, where can people find you on social media and on Blue Ivy's internet? Yeah. 

Brittny Horne: Yes. Yes. We are Rebel Wellness Co on all platforms and Rebel is spelled R V L Wellness Co. So that's on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, all the things Rebel Wellness Co.

BaddieswithBusiness: Awesome. And I'll have that information in the description. And then finally. [00:39:00] I like to close each episode with a baddie benediction. So it doesn't necessarily have to be a prayer or a scripture unless you want it to, but just a way for you to be the last person to leave us with something as we close out this episode.

Brittny Horne: Ooh, okay. It's a little pressure. Let me think about this. I don't want to close us out. I will close us out just by saying that. Everyone listening, you are capable of doing great things. You just have to, you just have to try and don't be afraid to fail. Once you can accept that failure is inevitable, but you still continue to go on and that success is possible after failure, you can walk into things with a assurance that you will get through it.

So I just want to encourage everyone here to know that you are capable. You are. You are strong. You are knowledgeable. You have all the tools that you need to be [00:40:00] successful. You just have to try. 

BaddieswithBusiness: Thank you for listening to another episode of Baddies with Business. It's been great to have you. I hope you've learned something and gained some new insight.

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