Meet Bre Winston | Intuitive Wellness Guide, Writer & Yoga Instructor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Bre Winston and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Bre, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
I’m from a very small town in North Carolina, I’m talking less than 9,000 people and an hour drive to a major city. Growing up in a small city made me more mindful I believe. I’m so used to everything moving so slow and gradual that there are few moments where I feel impatient or bored. My upbringing and background definitely made a huge impact on my love for being outdoors and immersed in nature. In small rural towns you make the most out of being outside surrounded by forest and land. I spent many of childhood days wondering “the woods”. I enjoyed climbing trees, finding tadpoles, identifying different greenery and eating wild fruit growing up. I now still enjoy all of those things with a deeper awareness of how we all are connected with nature. As an adult, I enjoy gardening,hiking, rock climbing and foraging wild herbs. I owe 75% of my interest to my upbringing. I’m forever grateful for my small town and it’s beautiful terrains.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am in the process of rebranding my wellness brand from Jen Von Jan Wellness to Soular Bee Wellness, it has been a tough process but in the light of honesty and vulnerability it was the right thing for me. Originally the name was a mixture of my mom, sister and my middle names, it showed communal value. But after some months of introspection I realized it didn’t represent me and who I am. This year I decided to change the name because I must be authentic to myself , any time I stray from myself I fail. Soular Bee Wellness represents my background and my personality, my nickname from a infant was busy bee because I was always busy trying to figure something out or trying to explore. When I started my wellness business in 2020, I wanted everything to be designed to help the black community heal from whatever pain we may carry with them day to day. Now in 2023 I am redesigning my business so that I can continue to hold space for my and clients and community but also hold space other healers heal while promoting trauma informed care for marginalized communities. By weaving the traditions of African spirituality, Astrology (Vedic and Western), tarot divination and the 8 limbs of yoga, I am committed to sharing my knowledge and holding space for the members of marginalized communities while we all navigate through healing trauma. Getting to this point professionally was not easy at all, coming from a religious background I had a lot of internal struggles and family members that didn’t agree with my path. I’ve known since a child that my career path would have to be something I created but I still tried to oblige what I thought was the “right” way to make a living. I spent much of my early 20s soul searching and studying different religions and spirituality, one day my heart just opened up and I understood my purpose here in this lifetime. Through yoga,meditation, breath work, divination, eating whole food and connecting with my ancestors I was able to heal years and years of trauma. I’m happy to say I’m still healing and that why holding space for others while they heal is so important to me. I want the world to know that you can empty your cup at any time and allow new experience and self inquiry to refill it as many times as you need.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We are going to OAKCLIFF. There is so much community and culture in Oak Cliff Dallas my bestie would have a balllll..

So we would start with a movie at the Texas Theatre! Drinks and food at Casa Del Vegano because they have the best happy hour. Then we would head to bishop arts for shopping especially at Urban Owl one of my favorite stores in Dallas. Grab lemonade from the Wow Wow Lemonade stand. Get some chocolates from coco andres. Ending the night with tacos and drinks from the last stand.

The next morning we would grab some CBD matcha from THE WEED SPOT and head to lula b’s antique mall. Then recipe oaklcliff

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would love to shout-out my best friend of over 16 years, Gabrielle Kearney. Gabrielle showed up to my 5th grade class as a new student on birthday. She has seen multiple versions of myself and has never once passed judgement nor make me feel invalidated. Gabrielle and I have had points in our lives where we talked little to not at all but we’ve always made our way back to each other. She reminds me how to cancel out the opinions of others and constantly motivates me. In the darkest moments in my life where I thought I wouldn’t be able to make it, she was by my side letting me know anything is possible. Our families love our friendship because we support each other while holding each other responsible and accountable for our own actions. Growing up she was the only person I would let read my stories and poems, she taught me how to take criticism. When I disclosed to Gabrielle that I wanted to be a yoga instructor she seemed more excited than I was. When I let her know I was making a huge transition to another state she beamed and let me know that I’m making the best choices for myself. I cannot express how grateful and appreciative I am of this connection and friendship. We always give each others flowers but this calls for a shoutout to my right hand, my sister, my bratty diva and most importantly my mutual support system.

Website: www.jenvonjanwellness.com

Instagram: @soularbee

Facebook: Briana Winston