Hello Reader Friends:Thank you for opening this email to read my thoughts. The past 30 days have been a lot. Politically, professionally, and personally. In this edition, we will cover grief, personal reflection, upcoming events, and of course my monthly Brée-sources.

I dedicate this month’s newsletter to my uncle, Richard N. Gross, Jr. who passed away unexpectedly last month — just days away from his 64th birthday. As a child, I knew that MY Uncle Richard always had my back. What’s funny is that in my earliest memories, Uncle Richard was almost always in uniform on his way to work. He would stop by my grandmother’s house between shifts to say hello. He would often sit for a few moments talk to my baby dolls, or ask about the book I was reading. As an adult, I came to expect our Sunday text messages. He’d text all of his nieces to check on us. His presence and essence will be missed.

As I type this, I am transported to the house of my late Grandmother Gross. The smell of fried cabbage and onions, and the sounds of good soul music. I can feel the warmth of the energy from the souls of those who are no longer with us filling the air. The boisterous elevated tones of debates, the faint smell of cigarette smoke, and the scatter of puppy feet across the kitchen floor. The warmth I feel is the memory of their love.

His passing reopened grief that I never properly sat with, and made me reconnect with my ancestors through prayer and journaling. I also got a front-row seat to observe if the “growth” I claimed was performative or in practice. Cause chile, life worked every milligram of my daily Lexapro dosage through this difficult time.

Death can cause you to regress to old patterns, and for a moment I felt small. My anxiety kicked in, and before I realized it I was in fight mode, ready to go handle anything that came my way. While in fight mode, I moved so quickly to get to my loved ones that I arrived an hour before the station opened! I waited the hour, forcing myself to refocus and recenter my energy, and my blood pressure to return to normal. Recognizing old patterns early is helpful and necessary to prevent sliding back into old habits. The ones that my uncle was happy that I had overcome. Your family will miss you Uncle Richard, but I know that you and our loved ones that went before us, are having a great time in paradise.

While journaling the other night I decided to visit my 2024 vision board to check in on my goals and give myself a midyear performance evaluation, and to be honest I have some work to do before my annual bonus. While I have made huge splashes in some areas, I have unfortunately stalled on some projects. I’ll catch you up on my personal critiques of my development in future communications, but for now, I will share the prompts I wrote up for my self-evaluation.

If you found these prompts helpful please send me an email to share your feedback.

I am getting back into the stride of conducting events. Please check out what’s coming up!

I am live and in the building at Blerdcon 2024 to Host Late Night Coloring and Conversations with my sister friend Linett! Click the image below to grab your tickets!

Join me and other talented creatives for bi-weekly co-working sessions at 8 pm EST.

Join me for a Rooftop Meditation session at the Delegate Rooftop bought to you by Plus Ultra Entertainment. Register here: It’s Free!!

Join me for a panel discussing AI diversity and creativity at Podcast Movement 2024. Grab your tickets now!

I created a bigger and better Resource manager using one of my favorite organizational tools called Notion! I think of this as a card catalog for all of the items people reach out to me for. If you have any resources you’d like for me to share reply to this newsletter.

Thank you so much for reading this month’s newsletter!! Please shoot me an email if you have any suggestions, comments, or opportunities you want to share with me.

With Love

Brée Nachelle