Black History Month Interview Series: Michelle Goodloe

February is Black History Month, and we want to honor this important month through the celebration and amplification of Black Women changing the game in the wellness space. Meet Michelle Goodloe, the creator of Gmichelle.com, a Self Care Resource wellness website, encouraging hard-working and caring people to practically make self-care a part of their life. She is also the author of, Self Explore, Self Restore, a guided journal dedicated to supporting people to start and grow their self-care practice.

What drew you to the self-care movement? What inspired you to write and publish your guided journal Self Explore, Self Restore?  

My professional career began with working directly with survivors of domestic violence in Chicago, Illinois as a domestic violence and children’s counselor. In many of the stories survivors shared, disconnection, shame, and blame emerged often in their reflections of their relationships with themselves and others. Self-love, self-care, and learning about healthy relationships were key components of the healing work that we would do together.

As my career continued, I noticed many of my clients wanted more accessible resources to support their healing journey. I saw that survivors of domestic violence, as well as many other folks interested in caring for themselves, would benefit from more healing resources. This need inspired me to create gmichelle.com and Self Explore, Self Restore.

What are some of your greatest aspirations for your business in the future?  

My business aspirations are to grow my work to be more accessible to more people of color and provide services in private practice. I hope to create more spaces for folks to practice self-care, host more community self-care workshops and develop more tools to make self-care more accessible to busy folks.

Who are some of your greatest inspirations?  

My parents are by far my biggest inspiration. They both are hard-working, generous and caring people that have put a lot of energy and time into their education, professional dreams, and their personal relationships. I have always been in awe at all that they have accomplished together and I hope to have similar peace and success that they have.

What is the most rewarding part about creating a community in the Wellness Space that amplifies the voices and experiences of Black Women?  

When a black woman tells me, “You’re talking about exactly what I’m going through,” is the most rewarding part of creating this wellness space. I am so proud to help offer opportunities for Black women to be seen, heard, validated and appreciated. I couldn’t put a price on that.

What advice would you give to somebody who wants to create community and connection but might not know where to start? 

Don’t overthink what you want to do – just get started. Whether it be creating social media content, writing a blog or signing up to help with a wellness event in your community, just getting started can be the hardest part. There is a 99% chance that you will not have all the answers to your questions, but learning how to become comfortable with the discomfort of just beginning is so incredibly worth it.

Head over to gmichelle.com, and check her out!