Dr Cheyenne Bryant: World Renowned Celebrity Life Coach & NAACP Branch President Speaks Out
Dr. Cheyenne Bryant: World Renowned Celebrity
Life Coach & NAACP Branch President Speaks Out
Interviewed and written by Tocarra Eldridge @Tocarramusikworld
Over the years, Dr. Cheyenne Bryant, Psychology Expert
and renowned International Life Coach has dedicated her life and time to give
back to the community and make a positive difference with her wisdom and
knowledge and by bringing an abundance of awareness through her private
practice, best-selling books, lectures and workshops. With an impressive
background, Dr. Cheyenne Bryant has won numerous awards for her work. Bryant is
the President of the NAACP, branch #1069, founder of the Dr. Bryant Institute,
as well as the founder of the Dr. Bryant Foundation non-profit organization
that recently received $100,000 in gift cards to assist with the Corona virus
relief efforts.
I had the opportunity to speak to Dr. Cheyenne Bryant about
her amazing endeavors, as she is filled with a fortune of knowledge and information
that has changed a massive amount of people’s lives. In our conversation she shared
encouraging and empowering dialog by spreading her powerful message and
expertise on social issues, as well as how to live a healthier, balanced and a
more fulfilling life. Here is what Dr. Cheyenne Bryant has to share with our
readers.
Tocarra
Eldridge: Dr. Cheyenne Bryant, you are the
President and founder of the NAACP branch #1069.
Can you tell me a little about your role and your experience?
Dr.
Cheyenne Bryant: Yes, absolutely! I have been the President for about
seven years now. Initially, my experience was a bit chaotic because myself, and
the founder were responsible for reactivating the branch. So, I took on the
role as President and I had to do a lot of reactivating, restructuring and
rebuilding. I had to build an entire new board. I had to go and establish new
memberships, as well as get in contact with old memberships so that we could
have a branch. At the beginning it was a lot of footwork and restructuring as
we reintroduced our community to the NAACP. Our local city council, our
Congresswoman, and all of our elected officials in the area partner with us. We
have done so much in the community. We have provided laptops to the local Boys
and Girls Club. It has been an absolutely amazing experience to be able to be
in a position to serve those who lack resources and are underprivileged, those
who just really depend on organizations like the NAACP and the Dr. Bryant
Foundation, to provide that extra assistance they need to thrive and survive in
their world and environment.
Tocarra: You are the founder of the
Dr. Bryant Institute; how did this come into existence?
Dr.
Cheyenne Bryant: So, I
started off as a Marriage, Family and Child Therapist about twelve years ago
and I transitioned from doing therapy into life coaching. When I transitioned
over, I realized I didn’t want to just do life coaching only. I came from a
mental health background and I understand how important that is. A lot of
people who are in need of mental health assistance do not have access to
healthcare, especially minorities…black and brown. 33.3% of the United States population
is African American, and 11% of those African Americans do not have access to
healthcare. I also realized that African Americans turn to church or other
traditional type of methods for their mental health assistance. I am pro God. I
am pro prayer. I am not religious, but I am 100% spiritual and I believe in
faith. However, I also know that in addition to prayer, there are certain
professionals that were put in place to help you in the area that they are
trained, and they have an understanding of either your diagnosis or your mental
instability and your mental health needs. Those professionals, like myself, can
really make a difference when you pair that with faith or prayer, or whatever
they may believe in. So, I decided the Dr. Bryant Institute will have two components
including life coaching where we provide personal professional development and
then the other side of the Dr. Bryant Institute provides mental health
treatment. If a person decides to have both, we call that a hybrid, where they
are going to the mental health therapists, and then they also come over to get
life or business coaching provided to them. It’s very important that people
obtain a balance between – I call it the three part health – this consists of
how you think, how you feel and how you behave. When that house is united, then
you are in alignment and are healthy enough to manifest things that you want
and you’re healthy enough to where your dysfunction is no longer choosing for
you. The Dr. Bryant Institute provides higher treatment and coaching in its
entirety, and it’s literally been life changing for people.
Tocarra: It’s interesting because we have a non-profit
organization that we started in 2014 called Still I Rise and In 2014 you
founded the “Dr. Bryant Team” which provides
food, hygiene, clothing, programs, and resources to the disadvantaged
communities in Los Angeles County and also founded the Dr. Bryant Foundation, a
non-profit that provides school supplies, clothing, computers, and exposure to
the underprivileged, and implements needs and resolutions to the community.
These two initiatives are very similar to ours. What was instilled in your
heart that allowed you to want to give back and empower your community?
Dr.
Cheyenne Bryant: That’s a
great question. For me, I always say that I have been very blessed to give back
to the city and the places that I am a product of. When I was a young girl I
grew up in the inner-city, and it was always a dream of mines to come back to
the area, in an environment that I am a product of, and provide those families
with the resources that I didn’t have and wasn’t able to obtain because of
maybe my family’s lack of education or maybe because of just a lack of
resources. For example, I am the first generation of the family on my mother’s
side to go to college and obtain a bachelor’s degree, let a alone a Doctorate’s
degree. I didn’t have the resources on how to apply for college or any knowledge
of the PSAT or the SAT exam. I kind of just went out there on a limb and was
this determined little girl who knew that I wanted to make myself and my family
proud. I remember having to figure that stuff out, so I drew up a blueprint of
my own. I always grew up thinking if I could go back to where I am a product
of, I can show them what a product of their environment looks like. Many people
who grow up in the inner-city lose hope and ends up landed in the criminal
justice system or working blue collar jobs, which are not bad jobs at all, but
a lot of times people end up there because they don’t know it’s another way out
or a better way, or a bigger way. So, with my Dr. Bryant foundation I wanted to
be able to provide services to people who are in an environment that I was once
in.
Tocarra: Recently
your non-profit received $100,000 in gift cards to serve the Harbor Area, Los Angeles County to help with
the Corona virus relief efforts. How was that experience?
Dr.
Cheyenne Bryant: Mike Lansing
is a good friend of ours and he contributed $100,000 worth of gift cards to the
Dr. Bryant Foundation. Oh my God, it was absolutely amazing! We set up shop and
did a grab-and-go because of the Covid-19. Cars came and they drove by and we
were able to keep ourselves and the community healthy, but also assisted them
with things like groceries and whatever hygiene products they needed. It was
extremely extremely successful! We hope in the near future that we’re able to
do more contributions like that because the community needs it. When you see
the community come out and they have this big smile and gratitude – they give
you eye contact – and they say ‘thank you so much’ and you can see tears in
their eyes and you can feel the energy and gratitude through that exchange and
‘thank you’, that experience for me is why I do it. That makes my heart
smile.
Tocarra: Regarding
Covid-19, what are your thoughts of this pandemic that is going on today?
Dr.
Cheyenne Bryant: I think that
it’s extremely unfortunate that the black and brown communities are being disproportionately
affected by Covid-19. It’s very disheartening that you have African Americans
who knowingly have underlying health issues, and it’s sad that it took so long
for testing centers to be set up in inner-cities where you have a full race of
people who are being two to three times more affected than any other race…who’s
life expectancy without the pandemic is several years shorter than every other
population. I believe in being a part of the solution, so I partnered up with
our mayor here in Los Angeles County. We have put up a testing sight, whereas
individuals can get tested with or without health insurance. It’s open testing
to all individuals because it’s a human right. We also do home visits for those
who are too sick to come out for testing. For me, it’s really an exciting
moment, not that people are sick and losing their lives, but it’s a wonderful
moment to see that we do have a God who is awakening us at a worldly global
level pandemic, not just at a national level. Of course, this too shall pass,
and after this is over, we get to see the harvest. I advise people to stay with
prayer over panic, stay with faith over fear in your life every day, not just
during this pandemic.
Tocarra: What
are some precautions and preventions to not become in contact with this virus?
Dr.
Cheyenne Bryant: I think it
goes back to what we’ve been shown on the media screen. Definitely, wear your
mask over your mouth and nose where it can protect you, not on your chin. Wash
your hands as many times as you can throughout the day, especially once you
leave home and then return back home. Make sure you are constantly disinfecting
your house even if you are not having company, and keep yourself clean. On top
of that, I feel what is most important is that you keep a healthy mindset,
because what you don’t want to do is lose your mind, because that results in a
person not taking care of their hygiene, not being responsible and not able to
have clarity thoughts to make the right decisions as of how to protect
themselves, their family, and the community in which they live in. I think that
another thing that is very important is remember to be kind, not just to
yourself, but also to others. Everyone is experiencing this, so it is important
that we support each other to let one another know that everything is going to
be ok.
Tocarra: I’m
going to switch gears. You are a fitness model and spread your message on how
to live a healthier life. When it comes to living a healthier, happier, balanced
and fulfilled life, what are some pointers that you can share for those
individuals who are having a difficult time doing so, however desires to live a
healthier lifestyle?
Dr.
Cheyenne Bryant: Great
question! What I would offer is what I do for myself. I’m cooking at home a lot
more. Just from cooking at home and being able to control what I’m eating, it
has organically, naturally allowed me to eat cleaner and stay leaner. I think people
should take this time out to learn what type of lifestyle eating and lifestyle
fitness they would like to have. This is a really wonderful and exciting time
to process those things and to make sure they are joining in on the free live
workout. You can save money because everything is live and on-demand. This is a
great way to learn new exercise regimens that they can implement into the world
when we go back to normalcy. The second thing is to make sure that they are
processing meal prepping and cooking for themselves, because when we go back to
normalcy we are not going to have all of that free time to stay at home and
cook. We can make wonderful cookbooks of what we did cook that was clean and
that allowed us to stay lean. Everyone has their own goal as to what they want
to accomplish when it comes to the fitness world and I think it is very
important that they get in contact with what they want their bodies to look
like. Then they must do research to see what food and workouts will give them
that look and implement that every day. You must create a lifestyle change. Once
you create that lifestyle…that then exercises your discipline muscle. So, it’s
really an important time for people to use a workout regimen and eat clean as a
way to get your external look the way you want it, and then you’ll get to see
the results. The most empowering thing you can do is actually see the results
of all the work you’ve put in and the harvest you’ve been planting – results is
what empowers us. Therefore, we have to learn to stay in the results at all times. So, fitness is
actually benefiting people in more ways than they can even imagine.
Tocarra: Do you have any words-of-encouragement or empowering
words that you would like to share for those individuals who are going through this
challenging time?
Dr.
Cheyenne Bryant: Yes! I think
people should really get in contact with the beauty of their authentic
self…really sit with themselves and take the time to understand who they are,
to understand what makes their heart smile. I think this is a great opportunity
for people to start that business they’ve always wanted to start and to do
research on that business and who their audience is. They can also start to
accumulate their email and text message list of who their clients are going to
be once this pandemic is over. It is a great idea to start sending out weekly
newsletters about their business and the services that they are going to offer.
So, start letting them know what’s to come, what the prices may look like and
that they can start making a payment plan on what you plan to launch on a
particular date. Ultimately, people should take this time to do the self work
and uplift their self-love cup. If we can see in others what we see in us – and
if that ends up being love, compassion, support, happiness and joy – then guess
what, no matter what negativity others bring, we won’t see that because we
don’t see that in our self, so we won’t see that in them. However, if it’s all
negativity and self hatred and lack of self love in ourselves, then that makes
our experience with people constantly negative. So, self work is the hardest,
but the best work that you can ever do in your entire life…is to work on
yourself. Make sure you have fun while you are doing it. There is no point in
doing it if you can’t do it with joy.
Tocarra: Would you like to add anything else that we haven’t
covered before we complete the interview?
Dr.
Cheyenne Bryant: For me, it’s
really important that people are not isolating because that is such a dark
place for people. I want people to really understand the importance of staying
connected. I know we have to practice social distancing, but stay connected
through text messages, email, Facebook, Zoom, or through Skype. Take a walk
around your block. If you have someone in your home who you live with, play
video games, go in the back yard and work out together. Have fun and lively
conversations. Just continue to implement those things in your world because
isolation creeps in and you don’t know it until it’s too dark, and becomes so
dark that you can’t find the light switch to turn that light on. That’s a place
that we don’t want people to get into because it’s easy to get in and some
people take a life time, if ever, for them to get out.
Child Therapist
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