While most people in the country consider BET Awards weekend to be filled with glitz, glamour, and undeniable star power, one woman brings wellness, peace, and groundedness to the chaotic weekend in Los Angeles. Tai Beauchamp, media maven turned wellness entrepreneur, has made it her mission to curate solutions designed to heal, soothe, and nourish the Black woman, inside and out. Beauchamp originally started her popular Instagram Live series Morning Mindset with Tai years ago, as she wanted to elevate people’s hearts, minds, and spirits every morning; the live show included inspirational and motivational leaders like ESSENCE Editor-At-Large Emeritus Mikki Taylor to entertainers like Melanie Fiona and Major.
In November 2021, Beauchamp decided to extend Morning Mindset with Tai by launching Morning Mindset with Tai: The Hike + Experience, a monthly wellness event that draws more than 150 women. Since its inception, brands like Lululemon, AG1, WalMart, Thrive Causemetics, and others have joined in the movement by partnering with her and her team to create spiritually charged wellness experiences for upwards of 5,000 women to date in Los Angeles.
On June 24th, 200+ women gathered at Griffith Park in Los Angeles to join the four-hour immersive event to move, connect, reset, and celebrate themselves amongst other like-minded women. The Morning Mindset with Tai: The Hike and Experience event included several movement workshops that stressed the importance of being present and celebrating your progress before the 1.15-mile hike throughout the park.
Britteny Floyd-Mayo, the founder of Trap Yoga Bae, led a yoga-based workshop, as well as Deja Riley, ambassador and trainer for Lululemon, led a dance workshop to hip-hop music where attendees were encouraged to drop it low in the name of sisterhood. In addition to the movement workshops, some sessions inspired us to use our voice, like the breathwork workshop led by Delena Zimmerman, who serves on Taraji P Henson’s Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation board. Following that workshop was the singer and songwriter Lady Bri’s session, where she motivated us to use our singing voice to connect with our spirit.
Notable attendees included entertainers and influencers like Vanessa Simmons, Zerina Akers, Ericka Pittman, Amina Buddafly, Tanya Sam, Logan Browning, and BET executives like Jeanine Liburd, Chief Social Impact & Communications Officer (BET), Tavia Pitts, Senior Vice President (BET Media Group), and Brittany Packnett Cunningham, Vice President of Social Impact at (BET). BET and the Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation were notable sponsors for the event, along with AG1, BROWN GIRL Jane, Lululemon, and International Day of Purpose.
Beauchamp has a longstanding 16-year relationship with BET, and both brands believed there was synergy with this activation in particular, as BET is also expanding their One Million Hours challenge through the hike. Last year’s BET Awards, when Taraji P. Henson, founder of the Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation, was the host, the media company announced their “Joy Over Everything Challenge,” part of their One Million Hours Initiative. ESSENCE spoke to Brittany Packnett Cunningham, Vice President of Social Impact at BET, about their partnership with the foundation and Beauchamp’s impact at the hike. “We know we are in a crisis, as there’s been a sharp increase of suicide attempts and ideation among Black young people. We know the burdens that black women carry daily and that things like substance abuse as a coping mechanism have increased for black men. And because we are invested in the thriving of Black people, we know that means we must also be invested in our wellness. Tai has been a part of the BET family for years. And her morning meditation, work, and brand align with our values and what we’re trying to build in the black community,” Cunningham states.
She continues, “One of the things that I think all of us love about Tai at BET is that she’s authentic, she practices what she preaches, she is learning and on the journey herself and is transparent about that journey, and is willing to bring all of us along is willing to invite us into her learnings live in real-time.”
It’s Beauchamp’s authenticity that brought out Black women in the sweltering heat to take part in the experience, and it keeps them coming back for more sisterhood, laughs, healing, and wellness. “What got me here is authenticity. What got me here was me being literally in a valley, trying to assess what those next steps were,” she shared.
She continued, “And so, I believe I am authentic; it’s who I am. There are layers. There are times when I’m a deeply spiritual person. Morning Mindset With Tai was birthed out of me, sharing with the world what I was doing because I was in this tough place. So I got up every morning, figured out my devotional practice, and went on IG Live. It started with 15 people, then 30 people in the room, and hiked up to 200 participants. Also, my consistency of showing up daily played a huge part in my authenticity for my audiences. So, with Morning Mindset with Tai, my goal, my prayer, I hope we create avenues for people to get whatever they need.”
She credits her healing journey and God when discussing her path and what led her to this marquee moment of partnering with notable and high-profile partners like BET and Lululemon. “This is a marquee moment for me, not just with BET but because I feel like stepping into my soul. I’m 45 years old. So I have to say that unapologetically. As I’ve grown, my desire around how I express identity and beauty, love, wellness, and wholeness has expanded, but now for me, it is about community. So this is a marquee moment for me because this me Tai, being Tai Beauchamp.
Beauchamp believes the spirit and power of community is what every woman needs. “I think that society in history, unfortunately, has told us that we were catty and bitchy, but the truth of the matter is that we’re not; we’re humans, with light that when our lights to shine, and also know that the light around other that surrounds us, help us to shine or more, right. And so the authenticity is just a reflection of what humanity calls us to be, and who we are as black women.”
You can keep up with Beauchamp and her ever-expanding brand here for healing, wellness, and community-based sisterhood.