Meet Taja Gray

We recently connected with Taja Gray and have shared our conversation below.

Taja, so good to have you with us today. We’ve got so much planned, so let’s jump right into it. We live in such a diverse world, and in many ways the world is getting better and more understanding but it’s far from perfect. There are so many times where folks find themselves in rooms or situations where they are the only ones that look like them – that might mean being the only woman of color in the room or the only person who grew up in a certain environment etc. Can you talk to us about how you’ve managed to thrive even in situations where you were the only one in the room?

Being a plus sized, queer, tall and black woman, you could imagine the boxes society has tried to place me in. It screams ‘pick a box’ as I have so many ‘labels’ that ‘define’ who I am, what I’m all about and how I should be perceived, but they don’t. Society has created an ‘image’ of what wellness and self care are supposed to look like, how it’s supposed to feel. But it’s different for us all. Being neurodivergent was a super power that allowed me to be oblivious to the obvious differences between myself and the people in these spaces with me. It wasn’t until I began creating content circling wellness that I realized there weren’t a lot of people who looked like me that filled this space. I had to relearn self love and self realization due to my new feeling of not fitting in. I had to learn to be louder, show up more, be myself out loud. This content is no longer just me sharing my life, it’s me showing people like me that they too can life a life that speaks to them without looking like the people who speak for that lifestyle. We are all deserving of self care, luxury and romantic lifestyles even when we don’t fit the aesthetic. Often, I am the only one in wellness spaces that checks all the boxes I check, the one who doesn’t fit what wellness typically looks like. I’m often the largest person on the mat, the least flexible, the most overweight and the least fit. But, I show up. I may not be able to touch my toes (which I never could even when I was a skinny kid), or outrun most people in a 5K, or make it through my pilates class without feeling like my legs and arms will fall off, but I show up and give it 100% each time. I want to change what wellness looks like. Go from being one of the many faces of wellness that often get overlooked to one of the many people pursuing wellness for themselves and not the image.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I advocate for you to take up space just as I do. I show up in any space just as myself without an explanation and I encourage other to do the same. I am focused on building the community around my non-profit, Perennial Zen, so that I can provide a space for others to escape burnout, survival mode and imposter syndrome in the way that works best for them. I started Perennial Zen in 2023 while struggling to find the silver lining between my survival and burnout phases. I spent 2 years figuring out my triggers, the signs and what worked best for me to stay in the sweet spot between them both but suffered from imposter syndrome until the end of 2024 where I finally decided to be the main character in 2025. I realized how selfish it would be for me to stay behind fear when there’s at least 1 person out there that needs to see me come alive to gain the inspiration and the confidence to do the same.

Personally, I’m focused on intentionally reconnecting with my body and truly walking in my purpose, unapologetically and with passion. Being unapologetically me was the key to fighting against imposter syndrome and ultimately owning who I am.

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?

3 qualities, skills or areas of knowledge? Self awareness, emotional regulation and a dash of strategic and intentional delusion. Exercising the quality of emotional intelligence and practicing emotional regulation allows me to stay focused on my goals by not allowing an emotion to dwell longer than it needs to but still allows me the room to fully feel my emotion instead of suppression. The skill of strategic and intentional delusion allows me to act oblivious to negativity on purpose. The knowledge of self in self awareness allows me to know myself enough to see what others see from the outside as well as see and know myself from the inside.

My advice is to do what feels right every day, walk in your purpose and stay aligned with your goals. Trust in whichever higher being you believe in and keep your heart open.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

I am always open to collaborations and partnerships. I’d love to work with other holistic healing enthusiasts, advocates and non-profit hosts. I’d love to work with yogis, pilates instructors, float therapy places and spas etc. Places designated in healing and brands that treat plus sized healers the same as straight sized healers. What I mean by that is, they create products that make sense for a plus sized body without compromising style and comfort.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @bohemianpharaoh
• Youtube: @bohemianpharaoh

Image Credits

@BrendaAmayaLLC