Mindfully Moving: Creating, Healing, Mommy-ing with Sasha Lewis

Explicit content warning

02/08/21 • 55 min

Sasha Lewis is a blogger, graphic artist, dancer, mental health and well-being advocate and single mama to a two year old baby girl. Sasha didn’t always think that her creative journey would lead her to blogging. In fact, she always believed dance was going to be her way. However when she was in her teens, her world was flipped upside down when she was told after an accident that she was never going to be able to do the things she loved to do, and her struggle to understand herself and her mental health began.

Sasha attended The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles and initiated the possibility of a career in retail design, merchandising, and marketing. She silently battled her mental health hurdles when she began dealing with with anxiety, depression and OCD, but knew that it couldn't break her completely.
After years of struggling with her mental health and one beautiful baby girl on the spectrum of Autism later, Sasha created a safe space for those struggling with their mental health to turn to: The Cha-Cha blog. Her blog touches on wellness, lifestyle and even home decor as a way to serve as inspiration, and a source of information and entertainment. Most importantly the blog has created a community of positivity and open communication. The Cha Cha Blog is intended to be the outlet for others, that she wishes she had at the start of her journey.

Episode Highlights:

The Cha Cha Blog and The Orderly Disorder about parenting and autism
Dancing and an accident
FIDM
Retail design, marketing
Dance competitions and breaking out of the validation construct
Social Media - an artist’s new portfolio
Full Time: Graphic Design, blogging and Single mama to baby with autism
- The How question and future kids
Seeing life through the eyes of someone with special needs
“Numb”
Postpartum depression & OCD
Feels unnatural, but normal

Where to find Sasha’s blog:
www.thechachablog.com
Instagram: @sasha___monique

Episode Highlights:

The Cha Cha Blog and The Orderly Disorder about parenting and autism
Dancing and an accident
FIDM
Retail design, marketing
Dance competitions and breaking out of the validation construct
Social Media - an artist’s new portfolio
Full Time: Graphic Design, blogging and Single mama to baby with autism
- The How question and future kids
Seeing life through the eyes of someone with special needs
“Numb”
Postpartum depression & OCD
Feels unnatural, but normal

Where to find Sasha’s blog:
www.thechachablog.com
Instagram: @sasha___monique

Previous Episode

Kobe the Creative

Kobe Bryant, best known as the NBA superstar for his 20 year career with the Los Angeles Lakers and leading them to 5 championship rings, an 18 time all star and a man who coined the term Mamba Mentality and who displayed relentless work ethic on and off the court - was also a creative. In the second act of his career, he began to build a new empire in the entertainment and storytelling world with one mission - to inspire the next generation. Kobe combined his worlds and love for sports and fantasy with meaningful life lessons in the forms of podcasts, The Punies, and The Wizenard Series and also, film.
In this episode, Ariana pays homage to Kobe the creative and storyteller and discusses what we can learn from him and his final chapter of life on Earth, a little over one year after his untimely passing.
Episode Highlights:

The Second Act
Kobe the Creative
- writing on the road
- Sophomore year english
- structure of a game is like a story
Combining his two passions - sports + fantasy
The Wizenard Series
Everything had intention - like Hamilton the Musical
Winning the Oscar
Kobe's version of the mental "dance"
Greatness
What Kobe taught us
What we are left with

Next Episode

Her Own Design with Tess Henderson

Tess Henderson is a professional Interior Designer. Founder, Creative Director, and Principal Designer of Tess Interiors based out of Los Angeles California. Also, Tess is a lover of all things beautiful, an adrenaline junkie, dog mom, sister, daughter, auntie, girlfriend, and an all around empath.

A creative experimenter at heart, she had always found opportunities in the ability to create. Growing up, she was introduced to the idea of interior design by her mother and experimented with color palettes of different papers after trips to Michaels. It was then, shortly into her teen years when her mom introduced to her the idea of Interior design as a career.

After a brief experience working at an admirable design firm, Tess was catapulted into making a determination for her career’s turn of events due to the unpredictability of 2020 and its impact on businesses.

A young woman who was sure in who she was and aspired to be her own boss and in creative control of her vision, she went onto becoming CEO of her Interior Design firm, Tess Interiors.
Episode Highlights:

Interior Designing and it's many layers
- Construction management
- Architecture
What interior designing means to Tess - it's more personal
How her Mom inspired and pushed her to pursue this field
Working in the industry in San Francisco
- Hospitality interior designing
- Her "Devil Wears Prada" Experience
Her nephew's birth that changed her trajectory
- Moving back to Los Angeles
Dream position cut short due to the pandemic
Layoff and jump start into her business on the same day
Being in love with the process
Interior Design - It's deeper than that
- creative process with clients
Making her client's vision come to life
Tess's Dance - Feeling of loss and importance of "feeling everything"
"Having is not so great a thing as wanting."