Revel in Taking the First Step

Why I plan to walk in joy and holistic wellness for a life of revelment, one step at a time.

We all have a moment when we realize we’re doing life wrong, or there’s definitely something more to it than what we’ve been doing. In this space, you’re witnessing me come to terms with what that is for me as I discover it. Here’s a little bit about me and brought me here:

Hi, I’m Nico L., a lover of culture, tech, and holistic living and the creator of revelment. I’m from Southern California, moved to Oakland for a couple years and now I’m based in Philly.

I’ve always been a media creator. I love how a collection of content captures and shapes perspectives of life and ideas. I’m a magazine child of Essence, Suede (I really loved Suede), Vibe, The Source, Honey, but also Fast Company, Inc., Good Magazine, Whole Living, Green Living, and Body + Soul. I definitely miss the textured feel of the covers and the uplifting photography and design behind the topics being covered.

Younger me kept scrapbooks of clips I took out of health and wellness magazines that taught about different plant-based recipes and spotlighted foods and herbs for the purpose of healing and nurturing. I had framed music, photography, and design artifacts all over my walls. I can still remember the Soulquarians spread hung next to my closet, N.E.R.D.’s promo poster next to my bed, and a Charles and Ray Eames postcard propped up on my shelf from when I visited the Vitra Design Museum in Germany.

My life is an amalgamation of unique experiences that I scraped together within my means. University studies and living abroad for a semester is the only thing out of my means that I was willing to risk the burden for. I studied graphic design, and later earned graduate degrees marketing and social impact. I spent a little over a decade working with a grassroots organization that advocated for the Juneteenth holiday across the nation, worked for a state program dedicated to improving black infant health outcomes, became a communications lead for an early childhood development funder, and then transitioned into tech to work for a GIS software company which led me to working with the world’s most popular music streaming company.

After progressing in my career and moving in a different direction from the life I had known (largely centered on all things suburbia), I found space to live by my own terms and center my own interests in travel, music, books, spirituality, culture, and wellness. Little did I know, focusing on myself would be the most important thing I could do to for my own health.

My body changed a lot, and mentally, I was just rolling with the punches without knowing how to balance wellness properly. Two visits to specialized health practitioners helped me understand how the stress I was unconsciously enduring was impacting my body. The first visit I had with a therapist who specialized in women’s health helped me realize how stress impacts my hormones and how much I wasn’t really living a life, I was just over-accomplishing things. Later, a visit to a holistic practitioner sent my pivot to holistic living in to overdrive once we discovered how much the stress I continued to endure overtime strained my immune system and sent red flags flying in other areas of my body.

So with a more pressing need to adopt a holistic lifestyle and time to pay more attention to my journey of self-(re?)discovery, I wanted to honor the privilege of being in this moment of holistic healing, celebrate other black women who are living authentically, and weave in the culture and interests I’ve always loved so others can connect with this unique space. Thus, revelment is born.

This is my “why” as concisely as I can put it. Since holistic living doesn’t come natural to me or my background, I plan on learning choice by choice, day by day on how to adopt it. So far this means I keep my phone on DND more often then not, I am constantly on a quest for achieving 8 hours of sleep, I’m learning how to cook with vegetables, beans, and tofu more often and paying attention to the simplicity of ingredients. I notice the things that actually make me happy, and surround myself in it. I practice how to be more clear and specific about what I want, what I am feeling, what I need, and who I am.

I hope other people who are making choices for the betterment of themselves can connect here too as I share what I am learning while enjoying the fun of creating my own blog as a media space.

My mission with revelment is to empower black women to embrace holistic wellness, self-discovery, and our culture through thoughtful inspiration and everyday choices. To stay connected, subscribe to Substack or follow on Instagram, Threads, TikTok, and Facebook.