Part of our vision here is to highlight incomparable, inspiring humans. It was such a pleasure to interview Miana Melendez of the mother and daughter duo: Brown Girls Who Coach. Enjoy!
Could you tell us a bit about Brown Girls Who Coach?
Brown Girls Who Coach is for aspiring women of color + entrepreneurs who are ready to take their business and sense of empowerment to the next level! We’re a spiritual mother daughter team who want to see more women living life on their terms with freedom, creativity + their natural talents at the forefront.
What's the most exciting part of your work today?
The most exciting part of my day is engaging with our community while in a class. I love knowing we’re getting together for a common purpose and seeing each other. My mom and I can really get on a roll while live together and it’s so fun + insightful for students!
The second exciting part is when we’re crafting ideas + upcoming programs. We truly have a lot of fun working together because we play to each other’s strengths.
What led you to starting Brown Girls Who Coach?
Well 2 reasons, the first is we’ve always wanted to empower other women in cultivating their personal freedom + spiritual wealth. As a mother, daughter team we know the generational power of having your own business and not having to stick with something, i.e. another job or even relationship out of comfortability or convenience.
And the other reason is we had a thriving 72K community on Instagram, Brown Girls Who Bruja that got hacked last year. And we didn’t receive any support or assistance in retrieving it back so we pivoted + saw it as a divine sign to begin anew.
What would an exciting future look like, from your perspective?
An exciting future would look like a thriving community of women and those who identify who want to turn a small idea into a freedom-creating experience. We want to give them the tools they’ll need to be a spiritual entrepreneur from intuition development to identifying their unique + profitable talents.
Briefly, what’s your approach to coaching and what makes you great at it?
Tonya, my mom being a Psychic Medium + Certified Spiritual Counselor gives us a holistic approach to coaching. She’s able to see beyond the surface to what’s really going on. Energy is everything and she can read into that. Our age difference also allows us to reach a wider variety of women.
And being a business owner means you’re bringing more of yourself to the work so we give you a full service perspective from business to emotional + spiritual wellbeing.
You have some great quotes on Instagram, what's your favorite quote?
Two personal favorites, “energy is everything” and “what you think about you bring out”.
What are your thoughts on natural hair, curly/coily hair? Is it something you think about often?
Oh yes! We both have different hair textures. I’m a #3c hair type with tight curls and my mom’s definitely more of a #4b. We wear our hair differently and while we do use a lot of the same products, they don’t react to our hair the same so sometimes we swap products!
In your experience, what role does hair play in how we see ourselves? Any stories you could share?
Wow, yes our hair continues to play a huge role for black women especially. I’ve always worn my hair naturally curly but in high school and college, I would get it blow dried straight regularly. I loved the 2 weeks it lasted and feeling like I was ‘fitting in better’ with certain groups. But ultimately I always loved going back to my curls. And its truly finding great products like yours, that makes it all the more fun in working with my hair. It continues to be a self love journey.
Tonya, I know has tried different hair lengths but ultimately, she loves and feels her most empowered when rocking her fro. And she looks amazing with those high cheekbones! I tend to pull my curls down and go for lengths whereas she goes for volume!
We're also here to learn, what are you favorite styling tips & techniques?
Living in sunny Mexico, I try to do more heat protecting styles. I also had cut my hair very short and was growing it out so I’ve been doing the LOC method with braids, co-washing just once a week. This allowed me to add more layers of product so when I took out my braids, my hair is really soft and feels well taken care of.
I know my mom too likes to do twists and cover her crown for several days while it dries and then letting those curls pop into a fro!
We both co-wash and always leave our deep conditioners in for 20-30 minutes to really moisturize + soften.
We both love making our own Aloe Vera water, straight from our home garden to use as a natural hair grower, it works!
If you could talk to your younger self, what would you tell her?
So cliché but I’d say, you’re beautiful just the way you are and to really go for the dream you’ve always wanted. Not what society or family says you’re good at.
What is it like to work with family? Any tips for those thinking about going that route?
At first it was rough around the edges. She raised me to strong, independent and all about higher education. So when two smart women come together we both think we’re right. But we quickly find our individual strengths and now work to those. We both have things we enjoy doing as well, so that keeps the work fun and exciting. Nothing more motivating than working for yourself! This has also been our shared dream since high school so to live it out everyday makes it feel so special.
Anything else?
We’re ecstatic to try your products and can’t wait to share our thoughts with you, especially because our different textures and hair methods!
Where could people learn more about you?
Yes, people can find us both on Instagram! @mianamelendez & @tonyargonzalez
We also have a free gift: Our Brand Clarity Checklist: https://www.subscribepage.com/brandingforspiritualentrepreneurs
Finally, Empowered Tarotista is our yearlong program to support women in cultivating their intuition, developing a spiritual practice and really using Tarot as a tool for self empowerment.
The benefits are outstanding from a Birthday Tarot Reading to your very own Tarot Profile. Plus, Monthly Full Moon Gatherings + Masterclasses too!
You should check it out!
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us, I have a feeling we'll be speaking again in the near future! :)