What inspired you to start your business? What motivates you to keep going?: Since moving to Minnesota I have held three job titles in less than two years. This was not the plan nor what I had expected. Before my time in the Twin Cities my resume felt sparse with only one place of employment spanning the course of almost six years. Here in Minnesota I have been invited into numerous companies. I’ve been present in countless rooms.
I’ve sat at the table and been told it was a space to execute my life’s work: advocate and care for those marginalized by racial oppression. However, one thing came into clarity each time – to value equity in theory is very different than to practice anti-racism.
In this context, my new role became to persuade. Before accomplishing what I set out to do, I had to convince those with power from within these institutions that racially oppressed people, Black and brown people, my people, are worthy of our collective attention and the resources needed to thrive.
Existing in these environments 9-5, five days a week, led to a deep sense of exhaustion and ultimately hopelessness. This was not the work I had set out to do. In fact, eventually for each position I held, I realized that this work was not worthy of me. My body began to tell me in various ways (sleep depravity, newly developed anxiety, skin irritation, ect.) that though I can collect an infinite number of job titles, my body is finite.
In all this, Render Free was born. Community leaders are at a loss regarding how to dismantle unjust systems of oppression that have been adopted within their institutions. Persistent adaptations of systemic racism affect the day-to-day lives of people of color. We are left to endure trauma and race-based stress.
"African American women disproportionately experience a number of stressful conditions and events that are linked to the development of mental health problems, including low-wage employment, caregiver and multiple role strain, medical problems and disabilities, social isolation, bereavement, exposure to traumatic events, and poor access to health care. They also experience greater morbidity from stress-related illness... Stress and distress impact health via both direct and indirect pathways. Stress is associated with a wide array of negative health outcomes. – Chanequa Walker-Barnes (Too Heavy A Yoke (54))"
Thus, Black and brown women are left to carve out space for themselves. Moving in and out of institutions that are not created or developed with us in mind, we are repeatedly forced to justify our presence. This continuous effort, coupled with everyday concerns, creates deep psychological, emotional and spiritual fatigue.
Render Free is a space for her – for us.
We will practice loving ourselves.
We will learn together, in community, how to answer these questions with a resolution toward internalized dignity. We will remind one another: we too have inherent worth.
How do you create the life you want?:
I give myself permission to dream. I trust that if the vision and passion is in my heart, founded in love, it's worth pursuing. I give myself permission to try and trust that beauty will blossom from my success and growth will bloom from my failure. I create the life I want by reminding myself that it is good to asking for help. The best of this world has been cultivated by a family, friendship or community. I invite people into my life who show up for me. Truthfully, I have the life I want, not because I've created it but because of the immense blessing of a God that loves me and trusts me with His work. My job is to reach for humility, hold onto gratitude, and extend grace and love.
What makes you HUMAN?: As a little girl, I was described as one who truly feels her feelings.
These larger-than-life feelings of mine fuel my creativity and my empathy.
They are so much of who I am and perhaps what makes me human.
However, as a Black woman, tricked into fixating on survival rather than pursuing wellness, I’ve believed these deep feelings of mine to be inconvenient and dangerous. To be Black, female, tough, unbreakable and strong, is the only way to endure.
Yet, Black women are not simply troupes nor characters of inhumane strength. We are very human, whole beings. What we experience outside of ourselves, in the workplace, on the street, and in our homes will affect our inner selves. Our mental health is wrapped within our physical health.
What's three things you want us to know about self-love/wellness?: I want all Black women to know...
...you are worthy of wellbeing. You deserve to be well + free.
what you feel is okay. Make room for it. Name it. To silence yourself is to oppress.
There is liberation in honesty.
...self-care isn't selfish or frivolous. On the contrary, particularly for Black women it is necessary. We are dying at alarming rates of curable disease. If we are to continue to care for those we love and invest in our community, we must care for ourselves.
What's something we can incorporate today to LIVE LIFE WELL?:: Explore the practice of introspection. Become more familiar with who you are apart from all that you do. Establish a dance from looking outside to looking within, caring for yourself as well as your loved ones. It may feel risky to invite introspection. You may discover inside yourself a myriad of thoughts, fears, feelings, and dreams. Remember, be gentle with yourself.
Pause. Illuminate. Liberate. With certainty we can know that, albeit imperfect, the beauty you bring into the world as counselor, daughter, friend is but a fraction of the gold inside of you.
Email Address: arielle.grant@renderfree.com
Website: http://www.renderfree.com
Social media handles?: Instagram - @renderfree
Facebook - @renderfree.mpls