The Launch of “Balanced Black Girl”
Seattle-based Lestraundra Alfred is a social media manager at The Riveter and founder and host of the podcast “Balanced Black Girl”—a name she consciously chose to educate people on why wellness matters for Black women too.
From a young age, Alfred loved storytelling and creating content. She changed her course to business and corporate communications, in college, due to the long-term financial security and stability benefits. Aside from working in corporate America, Alfred was a personal trainer and nutrition coach and over time was burned out. So she created a fitness blog in 2014 called “Balanced Berry” where she created content, a passion she finally pursued, on workouts and smoothie bowls to reach a larger audience.
“I got really tired of going to events and being the only Black woman and being the only woman of color there.”
The diversity issue in the wellness space really bugged Alfred. She then decided to extend her fitness blog and give her audience “content to help either other women of color feel seen and heard in the wellness space and to maybe build a community for [her]self that [she] felt like [she] wasn’t getting.” In October of 2018, Alfred launched her podcast “Balanced Black Girl” to offer other women of color a platform to engage in candid conversations around wellness, self-care, and self-love.
Although she didn’t have a prior experience in podcasting, she “taught [her]self how to do it and jumped in and was really nervous to put it out there, but did it anyway.” In her first episode “Wellness So White,” she shared her experience of being uncomfortable with the lack of representation in the wellness space. Because it’s a very taboo topic and “it can make people really uncomfortable [and]…defensive,” she did lose quite a few followers at first, but has since then attracted an even bigger audience that resonated with her message better. Therefore, pushing through that initial fear and tension is what she’s most proud of.
Challenges Then and Now
One of the biggest challenge for Alfred was “not knowing how to create a podcast, how to host it, or how do people find out about it.” Moreover, she gave herself only a week’s timeline in which “[she] taught [her]self how to create a podcast, recorded several episodes, built a brand-new website, and launched the show.”
“I was just so gung-ho about it that I just wanted to jump all in.”
As a creator, her current challenge has been how to create enough content and enough diverse representation of people on her show. Though finding time for self-care has been challenging, she is figuring out how to show up authentically for herself and her audience because “at the end of the day, at its core, Balanced Black Girl is still a wellness brand and [she] can’t fully neglect [her] own wellness.”
Driving Factors
“When I hear these stories from women finally taking care of themselves, those are the things that just make it all worth it.”
One story Alfred shared was from a woman who finally found her community in Seattle by being part of Balanced Black Girl’s book club. She has made incredible friends and built an incredible community of women.”
Additionally, the constant love and support of Alfred’s childhood heroes, her parents, keeps her driven.
The Podcast Set-Up
According to Alfred, 90% of guests are Black women who are creating wellness content and “killing it.” Recently she has also branched out to more lifestyle content like career advancement to help women of color better navigate their workplace.
Alfred hosts and facilitates guests conversations and manages their scheduling. She also works with two other team members: an editor who helps edit the show and a virtual assistant who helps schedule and publish her episodes.
Aside from podcasting itself—Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher, Alfred actively engages with her audience on Instagram, where she has the largest following, and that’s how most of her audience learn about her and her shows. She also has an active Facebook page and a Facebook group for listeners where a lot of women connect with one another. Alfred even sends out a weekly newsletter with updates about events, shows, and general wellness content.
Entrepreneurial Models That Inspire Her Work
Although Alfred’s listens to a few podcasts, she really looks up to people who have created communities. Her biggest role model is Oprah Winfrey because “she has completely revolutionized media.” As a Black woman from the deep South, Winfrey completely created her own network and made Alfred’s dream a possibility.
“Black women in media wouldn’t be a thing if it weren’t for [Winfrey], so I would really love to create a [next-generation] version of that where I really amplify other people’s voices on a ground scale but in a more modern way.”
Top Advice For Young Entrepreneurs
“Just do it, don’t worry about being perfect….It’s far better to put something out there and fix it as you go….I think we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to have like the perfect thing that is super successful right away….It’s okay to pivot, it’s okay to change course…what’s most important is that you put [something] out there because that gives you a place to grow from.”
Final Thoughts
The podcast has really “taught me about the importance of using my voice….For a long time, I was really quiet, kind of convincing myself that my voice didn’t matter…that people who are louder, smarter, they deserve to talk and I didn’t. By creating this podcast, I’ve learned to find the power in my voice and in what I have to say and what I have to bring to the table.”
Just Women 