Meet Bri Beverly

We were lucky to catch up with Bri Beverly recently and have shared our conversation below.

Bri, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

I didn’t find my purpose in a moment of clarity — I found it in a moment of frustration.

Lotus Life Total Wellness, Inc (@lotuslifetw) started as a quick note scribbled in my phone during one of the hardest stretches of my early career. I was burned out and hadn’t even started the long journey to becoming a licensed therapist — 3,000 hours and a licensing exam in Pennsylvania still ahead of me.

I knew I wanted to help people. But the mental health system I was working in left me overworked, underpaid, and unable to address the root of what my clients were really facing. I was tired. They were tired. And deep down, I knew the answer couldn’t be found in what already existed.

So I dreamed up something different.

A year later, on 1/11/22, that scribbled idea became real. Lotus Life launched with just mental health coaching — no fancy setup, just heart and vision. Since then, it’s grown into a space for therapy, healing, wellness, and community.

Over time, my purpose revealed itself in pieces — in the clients who said they felt seen for the first time, in the research questions that wouldn’t let me go, and in the communities who needed more than just coping skills… they needed space to breathe, feel, and grow.

Now, my purpose is clear: to create spaces — whether in therapy, wellness, or advocacy — where people feel safe enough to come home to themselves.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I’m Bri Beverly — a licensed therapist, health psychology researcher, and founder of Lotus Life Total Wellness, Inc (LLTW). At its heart, LLTW is a holistic wellness space for people who’ve been told to “just push through” for far too long. We specialize in therapy, coaching, and culturally grounded wellness programs that meet people where they are — mind, body, and spirit.

What makes LLTW special is that it was built out of lived experience. I know what burnout, chronic pain, and high-functioning survival feel like — and I know how hard it is to find care that actually gets it. So I built a space that centers rest, healing, and realignment — especially for Black women and other folks navigating complex layers of identity, stress, and silence.

Professionally, I split my time between client care, research, and curriculum development. I’m currently completing my PhD in Health Psychology, where my dissertation explores the experiences of Black women navigating chronic pain, mental health, and social support. I also research suicide prevention and the effectiveness of remote mental health interventions — an area that has become even more urgent in recent years.

On the business side, LLTW is expanding in some exciting ways. We will soon be launching Cultivate, our coaching and community platform for those looking to deepen their self-care, reconnect to their bodies, and make sustainable change. We’re also preparing for the release of The Reset Method — an 8-week virtual program that blends psychology, somatic wellness, and lifestyle strategy to help people reclaim their rhythm.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Balance — not the perfect kind, but the kind that protects you from disappearing inside the work.
For a long time, I was praised for being strong, for pushing through, for holding it all together. But that kind of survival wasn’t sustainable — it was draining me. I had to learn that balance isn’t about doing everything; it’s about honoring what you need to stay whole. If you’re early in your journey, notice where your energy goes and ask: Is this pouring into me or pulling from me? Choose boundaries over burnout, even when it’s hard.

Vision — even when it’s just a whisper.
Lotus Life didn’t begin with a polished plan. It started as a note in my phone and a feeling that things had to be different. That gut sense — that whisper — became my compass. My advice? Start where it hurts or where you feel most called. The details will come, but let your ‘why’ lead the way.

Cultural and emotional fluency.
Whether I’m in a therapy room, research setting, or coaching circle, the ability to read between the lines — to understand context, culture, and emotional nuance — has been vital. Healing doesn’t happen in isolation, and it doesn’t follow a script. For those early in the work: listen deeply. Study people, not just systems. And leave room for the wisdom that comes from lived experience.

Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?

One of the most important books in my personal and professional development has been Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde. I return to it often — not just for wisdom, but for grounding.

Lorde gave language to things I had only felt. Her essays helped me understand that survival itself is political — and that silence is never neutral.

A few truths from Sister Outsider that have shaped me:

“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation…”
This quote changed how I understood wellness. It helped me unlearn the belief that rest had to be earned and reminded me that tending to myself is also tending to my purpose.

“Your silence will not protect you.”
As someone who holds space for others, it taught me that I have to make space for myself too — and to speak even when my voice shakes. Whether in clinical work, community spaces, or my own healing, I carry this reminder with me.

There’s no hierarchy of pain.
Lorde invites us to hold complexity — to resist comparison and instead sit with the fullness of what we feel. That has become foundational in how I hold space for my clients and for myself.

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