Today we’d like to introduce you to Mystique Hargrove.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Mystique. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My journey in healing began with my business starting off servicing sex workers in Atlanta privately for holistic aftercare. Regarding my journey of birth work, that came from my own experience as a birthing person who almost lost their life and the life of my son (who is now four years old and turning five years old in March) during birth. After having my son, I was postpartum for 2 1/2 years with a lack of accessible care and healing to assist with my own needs that were not being met.
I created my business “Boho Wellness” and my brand, “The Black Birth Healer” to make sure services of radical and inclusive holistic healing, birth work and reproductive justice healing and care were accessible to bodies of color, particularly Black bodies in the community. From serving as a healer and birth worker in my community, it has pushed me to currently obtain my Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision in order to advocate, inform and educate about the importance of inclusive services of reproductive healing along with mental health and wellness for Black bodies due to the alarming statistics that have proven how Black bodies are 4x to 5x more likely to die during pregnancy, birth and postpartum and 5x more likely to die if being a Black body with an education.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As a single Black parent, this journey was not easy at all. There were many trials and errors as well as barriers I had to face to get to where I am today. I remember there were times I did not have the funds to cover the necessary training and certifications I needed to establish myself as a professional in this work. I began to see lots of faces who were not serving the Black community or refuse to because it did not provide a lucrative amount of monetary gain or even discriminate against those of marginalized communities.
I had to make a way out of no way to bring these services as much as I could and as accessible as I could to those who were no to low income families like myself. Thankfully through a circle of supportive networks, I was blessed to have others sponsor the costs to those needed training opportunities to bring back to the community. Through the ups and downs, I was still fortunate enough to have a flood of abundance come my way to let me know how I was supported and believed in to provide the services of healing and care.
We’d love to hear more about your practice.
My business is centered on radical and inclusive services related to birth work, reproductive justice and holistic wellness. I am certified in childbirth education, lactation education, holistic counseling and consulting, Reiki I and II as well as marriage and family counseling. I am a birth, postpartum and full-spectrum doula, an herbalist, a therapist/counselor, and a healer.
I am known to provide authentic care and healing to connect with the clients in the community. My services and practice are not the “cookie-cutter” way of “love and light.” I am about servicing what is real and not what is synthetically provided such as “sugar-coated” healing. In my services, I not only create herbal holistic products such as teas, tinctures and oils, but I also provide birth working support to pregnant and birthing bodies of color, consulting and healing services to those in need.
I’m proud that this company is centered on the healing practices I was raised on and taught to by my Abuelita, Olivia (or “Mother Canada” as she was known for). I’m happy how every time I continue to work in my truth to my calling of this work, I dive deeper into this gift I was given to by my Abuelita. I embrace who I am and how I am a different kind of professional in healing and birth work. My style of business is about being real and radical to authentically connect instead of conforming to what it should look like based on “traditional” and “conservative” standards.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
I feel that my transparency as a human being and a professional is the reason for my successful journey. I am open (for the most part) about how I am human and have struggles just like everyone else I serve. I never try to portray myself as someone I am not or act as if I have this glamorous lifestyle because birth work and healing is not something that is all about the money. This work is about having a true calling to serve those in need, especially those who are needing the services while being a body of color that continues to be neglected and dismissed.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.blackbirthhealer.com
- Email: hello@bohowellness.com
- Instagram: @TheBlackBirthHealer and @BohoWellnessLLC
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheBlackBirthHealer
- Spotify podcast: Radical Black Parenting
Image Credit:
Logo, Abuelita Healing Oil, Dried Herb Blend in Mortar and Pestle, Tea Blend in Glass Container, Herbal Healing Capsule in Hands Credit: Boho Wellness/The Black Birth Worker
Sitting at Desk with Book Credit: Ann Hunter Capture
Laughter in the Woods Credit: Vetta From Down The Street
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