S01EP3: With Leona Nichole Black

In this episode, LEARNING TO BE host, Amy Houldey, talks to Leona Nichole Black. Leona is a passionate educator, tarot therapist, and wellbeing advocate. She’s also a black British academic currently working on her PhD, “Beyond the problem of blackness” where she aims to explore and articulate black joy in the world we live in today.

Amy and Leona chat about building a life that works for you instead of following society’s blueprint, because success and happiness look and feel different for everyone. Leona shares her story about building her business from the heart and the joy and challenges that come with this.

They also discuss the identity shift that comes with deciding to follow a different path in your life, having to grieve what you’re losing but also birth something new.

And Leona talks openly about burnout, pushing through self-doubt to achieve the work she believes in, finding her voice as a tarot therapist, and navigating academia as a black woman from a working-class background and the lack of mental health support in this space.

Connect with Amy:

@amyhouldey

amyhouldey.com

Connect with Leona:

@leonanicholeblack

nicholeblack.com

Book reference:

Brené Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection