[TRANSCRIPT]

0:00:30 - (Dreena Whitfield): Welcome to how I got here. With me, Drena Whitfield. The podcast diving deep into the inspiring journeys of remarkable women on their path to success. Here with me today, I have the visionary force behind Omniwar, a platform redefining wellness and community for black women and women of color. Christina Rice, I'm so thrilled to have you. So, Christina, thank you so much for joining me today. As I shared, I've been a follower of your brand since Luxlife Media, when you were, like, a dope behind publicist.

0:01:01 - (Dreena Whitfield): When I started my company, and I was like, she's somebody that I need to kind of follow and see how she's doing things because I started my company, like, not knowing anything about pr or even running a business. And so I just want to tell you, you were someone that I definitely aspired to when I started my company. And so just to see transition from PR into now omnuire, I was just very excited to talk to you.

0:01:27 - (Dreena Whitfield): So thank you so much for joining me today. I'm getting, like, emotional. Just think about it. Because, like I was saying, I started my company with nothing. And so I didn't see that many black women killing it or just out on their own. And then I saw you, and you had dope clients, dope brands that you were working with, and I was like, how do I do that?

0:01:47 - (Christina Rice): Thank you. Just heard and felt I'm always surprised. Like I said, as somebody who has spent most of my career behind the scenes and kind of just do the work that I'm called to do and step away from that world. Like, whenever someone says, I admire you or I aspire to be you, I'm like, what? I was just doing the work. You know what I mean? But I'm grateful and humbled for that. Thank you. Of course. So I'm going to take it all.

0:02:20 - (Dreena Whitfield): The way back to when you were in high school. So when you were graduating high school, and I do this because I like to see what you wrote back then kind of helped guide your path to where you are today. When you were graduating high school, what did you write in your yearbook when it said, christina will be XYZ in ten years?

0:02:38 - (Christina Rice): Well, I think at the time, at graduation, I wanted to be an attorney. And then I got to college, and that completely shifted where it was like, I don't even know what I want to do. But I decided to study business information systems, which is, I'm agent myself, but it's technology today. So it was like building, say, a reservation system for a hotel, right? So it was coding. Right. And then my minor was computer science, and I was never like a techie person, so I have no idea where that came from. I think once I got into the business information systems and it was like, okay, I need more education on coding. And again, computer science. So that was it. And then graduation from college, and I was on the dean's list.

0:03:38 - (Christina Rice): I had different offers, but it was another thing, like, I don't think this is for me. And it was then, and I'm 20 years old, so I graduated a little younger, but I was like, I don't think I ever want to work for someone. So I knew that back then. But I also come from a family of entrepreneurs. So my uncle on my dad's side, he was a mcdonald's owner operator. I think that they had probably about 16 to 18 stores at one time.

0:04:10 - (Christina Rice): My grandparents, they were into real estate, so they had multiple properties. So I just came from a family of entrepreneurs and I think that was just like, in my bloodline.

0:04:21 - (Dreena Whitfield): Wow. So talk to me about how you landed with Lux life media.

0:04:26 - (Christina Rice): Well, we had to go back because after graduation, I was like, I have no idea what I want to do. I know I don't want to work for someone. It was probably about six months after graduation. I had a little bit of money, you know what I mean? Like savings. So I wasn't like, I have to get a job right now. And I woke up one day and I said, I'm going to open up a clothing store. And I had no idea where to start, what to do.

0:04:53 - (Christina Rice): And of course I had people, including parents and just other people that were like, you've never worked in retail, you never had a business. And I was like, I'll figure it out. I'm a figure it out kind of person. And so I just remember I'm 21 at this time, and I just was at barnes and noble for like 8 hours a day. And I was just reading know, opening up a clothing store. I started researching where to my.

0:05:27 - (Christina Rice): My inventory, all that stuff. And I did it, I think probably about eight months after that decision, I was like, I'm ready. And I found a space. I opened up probably like three months later, and it was a small store. I mean, it might have been maybe like these two rooms combined behind us. And after a year, I moved to like a 5000 square foot store. What?

0:05:50 - (Dreena Whitfield): Yes.

0:05:52 - (Christina Rice): And I was the only black woman that owned a store in Nashville at the time.

0:05:56 - (Dreena Whitfield): Oh, my honest.

0:05:59 - (Christina Rice): May have been the first. I was right across from vanderbilt, which is a know trust fund baby school. And I was in the heart of Nashville, like, in one of their more expensive, you know, natalie Cole used to come in there and shop. Like, rest in peace.

0:06:18 - (Dreena Whitfield): Oh, my God.

0:06:20 - (Christina Rice): A lot of the titans wives would come in and shop. And so going back to that, like, four and a half years in, I was like, I'm done. I'm a very definitive person. So once I make a decision, that's it. And I was burnt out. Now I'm, like, 25 and maybe going into 26, and I was just like, I don't want to spend my life in Nashville, and I don't know what's next, but I was just ready to go. And so I actually sold everything in my store, like the furniture, the racks, to a titan's wife.

0:07:01 - (Dreena Whitfield): Oh, wow.

0:07:02 - (Christina Rice): And she wanted to open up a boutique, so I was like, take it all. And I packed up, and I moved to New Jersey, and that's when I started my pr career. And this was, like, 26.

0:07:17 - (Dreena Whitfield): Wow. So you come New Jersey because that's where I'm from. Yes. And you just hustle to find a pr gig, or did you already have something lined up when you.

0:07:28 - (Christina Rice): I had nothing lined up. I have friends who were in the music business, and they had a recording artist. She was actually a black country artist, young. She was probably 19 or 20 at the time, and they were like, just come help us again. I had savings from the store, from selling inventory, and just over the years, and so I wasn't in a rush to get a job. Job. And it was just, like, one day just working with them, I think she had a show, and I was helping with some marketing strategy and stuff like that, which I didn't even know what that was at the time.

0:08:05 - (Christina Rice): It was just like, how do we get her name out there? So we were just, like, brainstorming, and one of them was like, you would be a good publicist. And I was like, I have no idea what that is, but let me research it. I'd even tried to find a job at some of the showrooms that I ordered clothes from, and they were like, you don't have any experience. I'm like, I owned an entire store, so I can sell, I can merchandise.

0:08:32 - (Christina Rice): And so I ended up having to do, like, an internship with Frankie B. Do you remember Frankie B. Jeans? Okay. They were huge back then. But at the time, again, when my friend was, yes, thank God. When she was like, you will be a great publicist. I just was like, let me research what that is. And I googled it, and I was like, I think I can do this. And so I started putting up my resume to just different brands.

0:09:00 - (Christina Rice): I focus on fashion because that's where I came from. And I got hired. My first interview, this french clothing company, they had stores in France, and also, I want to say, like, japan, they had one store in New York, but they were, like, two $3,000 cashmere sweaters and very hip and modern. Like, they would have, like, skulls or, like, hempleys. And Puffy was a client, and Kamora Lee Simmons and Jennifer Aniston. And so that is what was my pathway into celebrity pr.

0:09:36 - (Christina Rice): Wow.

0:09:38 - (Dreena Whitfield): And so you worked there for a few years. How long did you last?

0:09:42 - (Christina Rice): Like, seven months or eight months there. But then I got hired at five W. Okay. And that's when I started working with celebrity clients like Nick Cannon and Snoop and Ice Cube and Nas Khalise. And then we also produced, like, big events, Anheuser Busch, also album release parties and stuff like that.

0:10:06 - (Dreena Whitfield): How long were you there before you kind of decided to branch out?

0:10:12 - (Christina Rice): So after five w, I went in house to academics, and that was, like, 2008. And so I was there for two years, and then I was planning this big event at magic, and I had probably, like, a $200,000 budget, and it was going to be grand. At the time, we were more focused on independent artists. So think of a kid Cuddy. There was, like, ry Rye. There was a couple of other. They were, like, these up and coming independent artists. And so I'm booking artists. Like, I have this master plan, and probably about two months before the event, I got laid off.

0:10:59 - (Christina Rice): And at that point, I was like, I'm not going back in house. And I had already had some clients on the side, so DJ kids, DJ Mos. And I was like, I'm going to start my own agency. And that was in 2010. I love it. And it just grew. It just grew. And I started producing fashion shows at New York Fashion Week and Super Bowl, Grammys, BET Awards. And then I started working with tech clients, and that was, like, one of my favorite parts of my job because I was working with black tech founders at the time.

0:11:39 - (Dreena Whitfield): All during this time, though, were you dreaming up dwar?

0:11:44 - (Christina Rice): No, it wasn't in any of my peripheral. Like, I did not see that coming.

0:11:51 - (Dreena Whitfield): You were killing it.

0:11:52 - (Christina Rice): Yes, it was, but it was around 2015. I was going through a bad breakup. I was burned out. I was just in a bad place. And I was like, I need something. Whatever it is, I don't know if it's therapy, I don't know. And I remember having dinner with a former assistant. My office was in Manhattan, right? In Times Square? Yes. Look, it was in Manhattan. Times Square. And we had dinner, and she had lost a ton of weight. She was glowing, and I was like, what are you doing? And she was like, I'm going to this yoga studio two blocks down the road. And it was literally two blocks from my office.

0:12:36 - (Christina Rice): And she was like, I just fell in love with it. And I started going, and I fell in love with the two. And this was, like, spring of 2015. By the summer, the studio announced they were hosting a yoga teacher training. And I had no desire to teach, but I wanted to just get deeper in my practice. And I love the discipline of having to show up and do the work and be intentional about my healing, about my wellness, and about getting deeper in my practice. And so I signed up, and I started.

0:13:14 - (Christina Rice): It was a ten week class. I mean, it was every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. In the fall of 2015, I got my certification. December of 2015. And by the beginning of 2016, that's when the idea of Om noir came to me.

0:13:32 - (Dreena Whitfield): But you were still operating and moving everything along with luxe life media.

0:13:37 - (Christina Rice): Yes, I still was. But I also was like, what's next?

0:13:41 - (Dreena Whitfield): Scaling back on clients?

0:13:42 - (Christina Rice): Yeah. But I was just like, no, I was just having internal conversations with myself, like, what's next? I just lost a passion for pr, and I really did not know what else I could do, because I'm like, I've been an entrepreneur my whole adult life, almost besides that small block of time. I was in house, and I was like, what other skills do I have? And so it was, I think, just kind of being aware of kind of like, my yoga journey and not seeing black women in my classes. And as I was chronicling it on social media, which was, at the time, so unusual as a publicist. Now I'm like a yoga instructor, but I'm still getting clients on a cover of magazines. And so I think people are just intrigued by it. And so a lot of women, also in entertainment, black women would come to my classes.

0:14:45 - (Christina Rice): And so it was just like this light bulb moment. Like, black women need a space, a healing space for us, or rather, that they are led through their wellness journey by a woman that looks like them, right? And we speak a certain language when we are in rooms, and it's only us. And a lot of times after classes, black women would come up to me like, thank you for seeing me. Thank you for creating the safe space for me. I had no idea what I was doing, but I felt comfortable in your class. And so that was a light bulb moment for me. And then I was like, well, let me just start an Instagram page that's about black women and wellness.

0:15:26 - (Christina Rice): And a lot of people ask me, do you know this black yoga instructor in St. Louis, or do you know a Pilates studio in black owned Pilates studio in DC? And I'm like, no, but maybe I could just be this resource and start to highlight other yoga instructors and meditation teachers and sound bow healers. And so it really was just supposed to be an Instagram page, and that was 2016.

0:15:53 - (Dreena Whitfield): So what was the moment where you were like, I need to jump into this full time and really put all of my energy into building this out. Okay.

0:16:03 - (Christina Rice): So I started the page in 2016, like spring 2016. By November, there was a woman, we had a mutual friend, and she was also getting into the wellness space. And she just came to me. We were introduced by our mutual friend. And so she was like, have you thought about hosting a retreat? And I was like, I have. And it's kind of been, like, circling my orbit for probably about a year, even before. Even while I was in my yoga teacher training. But I was like, I don't know where to start.

0:16:37 - (Christina Rice): Then I had to do a self check. Like, girl, you produce events for 3000 people. You know what I mean? You can produce a wellness retreat. And so she was like, well, I will help you, and let's partner and do it. And so March of 2017, we announced the retreat, and 53 black women signed up for that retreat. Still to this day, I'd be like, was that a fluke? That was, like, massive for a first retreat. And it was so incredible.

0:17:13 - (Christina Rice): And after it was in Grenada, November 20 or October 27. Yes, they came to Grenada. I'm almost on my six year anniversary of my first retreat. Next month would be. And everybody kept asking, like, what's next? And I had no idea, but I was like, I think I have something here. And Black Enterprise wrote an article about om noir. In our retreat, there was another young black woman who I had pitched for a client, like, months before, and she was a writer for, you know, we got that article, but then I spun the block and was like, so this is what I'm working on.

0:17:54 - (Christina Rice): And she was like, I like it. So then that Forbes article was coming out, and I was like, well, I gotta do something. I'm telling you. When she told me to date, the article was coming out. I was up probably, like two days building a website, building my own website, just in time for that article. To hit anticipated, I probably put, like, save and publish about 2 hours before that. Oh, my God. And that was like December 2017. And then I was like, okay, well, I got to figure this thing out, right?

0:18:29 - (Christina Rice): So 2018, I was like, I'm going to host three retreats. And I chose the Poconos, Barbados, and Bali. And I put two out at one time, started getting, like, bookings, then I put Bali out, started getting bookings, and then I started pitching brands for sponsorship. There was a black woman. She was a VP at Dr. Miracles. And literally we sent the deck. She was like, I'll be in New York in a couple of weeks. Let's have lunch.

0:19:00 - (Christina Rice): So I'm at lunch with this whole presentation. She was like, girl, put that to the side. She was like, I got 25,000 for you. Come on. I was like, what? I'm thinking maybe they'll give me like 5000 because we had probably like 1500 followers on Instagram. We were still a new company. And that's at the stage at that point. Yeah, that's at the stage at that moment for me to start transitioning out of PR because I was like, I need to focus on omnuar full time. I have something here and I'm going to lean into it all the way.

0:19:40 - (Dreena Whitfield): Two questions. Was that a difficult decision for you to do, and how did your clients handle you saying you're transitioning out of doing PR?

0:19:53 - (Christina Rice): Well, at the time, I already slowly, I wasn't renewing contracts, so I was already down to probably like three or four clients. They were all tech clients. And it just started, like, it was starting to just phase out. And I think they kind of knew, right? Especially, like, my favorite client, Angela Benton. She was like the one, she's huge name in tech, and she was the one that referred me to all these different tech founders.

0:20:26 - (Christina Rice): And so she was like a part of this journey for me because we become friends. So I think she knew and so she wasn't surprised. And so funny. I saw her like two days ago. I was in Tampa for the weekend, and she lives not too far in another smaller city. And she was like, to this day, I tell people I cannot find another publicist like Christina. Yeah, it was around April 2018. I was like, I'm done. And I decided to move to Atlanta and focus on omnuar full time. And so from April 2018 to November 2018, I was like, we're done. I started transitioning out and I moved here November 2018.

0:21:14 - (Dreena Whitfield): What's the meaning behind the name?

0:21:17 - (Christina Rice): Well, you know, ohm is the chant in meditation and noir is black. It was just that simple.

0:21:26 - (Dreena Whitfield): I love it, though.

0:21:27 - (Christina Rice): Yeah. And I think there was another name that came to me. It was something with glow in it. And I was like, I don't think that's it. And I tell founders, too, when you think of a name, it has to have longevity. You know what I mean? It can't be like a trendy phrase or anything like that. And omnuar just felt like a name that even at the time, I wasn't thinking about branching out and having different revenue streams and scaling the business. But I was like, this name has to have longevity. It has to be easy to remember, easy to know, all that stuff. So that's it.

0:22:05 - (Dreena Whitfield): So you moved down to Atlanta. You have the three retreats. Like, you're planning the three retreats.

0:22:10 - (Christina Rice): No, they were. That were, they were may, June, and.

0:22:17 - (Dreena Whitfield): October, and then you moved down. So once you execute those three, are you already in planning mode for the next year, or were you like, I'm going to take a little break.

0:22:30 - (Christina Rice): So in September, right before I moved, and I knew at the time I didn't have to plan a retreat for a year. I could put one out, and it was going to sell because that's just, like, what our community was responding to at the time. But two months before I moved, I get a submission form from the website from another black woman who was a VP of. I can't remember her exact title. It may have been partnerships or some from PepsiCo and was like, we want to sponsor your next series of retreats.

0:23:14 - (Christina Rice): And so we were in talks from September to December, but by December and how much it cost me to move, and I'm not bringing in a pr clients. And I'm like, I need to put some retreats out for 2019. And then PepsiCo, it was probably like December 10. They were like, we want to partner with you on Tropicana and Quaker oats. And that deal was like 150. What? So you talk about hard, like, there was no hard decision, leaving my former career behind.

0:24:02 - (Christina Rice): I just had to pause and say, when things are in full alignment, it's not hard. Now the work is hard, of course, because you have to build a company, and there's so many things that go into entrepreneurship, but the pathway to building om noir, and I love my girl. Lovey says, let your helpers find you. And they've been finding me ever since.

0:24:32 - (Dreena Whitfield): That's insane. But you know what? It speaks to the fact that you are and were filling a void for a specific demographic of women that needed to feel safe going into spaces like yoga, because typically that's not where we feel comfortable or whatever. And so that just speaks to that, but also the fact of the content you were producing, the experiences you were providing women, and you've done this.

0:25:03 - (Christina Rice): Thank you. Thank you. I like to think just because entrepreneurship is in my bloodline, I'm always looking at solving a problem and where to fill a void. And so that's just been my trajectory my whole adult life. But especially with omnuar, it's like we're still finding places where we can fill a void and we can solve a problem.

0:25:33 - (Dreena Whitfield): So omnoire has grown like crazy since 2016. What would you say has contributed to that growth?

0:25:40 - (Christina Rice): That we are in the people business. So it's community first and the belief that community care is self care. I also believe it's because we. I wouldn't say, like the only, but I think we were one of the first that redefined what wellness truly means. And for many of us, when we thought about wellness, it was like yoga and meditation and drinking green juice, and it was just a very specific definition. We kind of came in and we're like, you get to define wellness for you and what that means for you, because it's a very personal journey.

0:26:30 - (Christina Rice): And especially black women are not monolithic and understanding that white women might be, but we're not. Right. And it was helping our community figure out what wellness meant for them by introducing them to just different healing modalities at any given time. And I'm always a guinea pig. I could be doing Yoni Steeman, Yoni egg. I could be trying all Reiki, and even on my personal page, I would just talk about all these different modalities that I was experimenting with, because, again, this was personal for me. So what speaks wellness to me may not speak to you, and that's okay.

0:27:14 - (Christina Rice): Yours could be a good book. It could be yoga. It could be meditation. It could be running. It could be cycling. It could be climbing mountains. It could be any number of things. And so I think for us, we set ourselves apart to say, like, there is no one definition. Let us introduce you to a smorgasbord of wellness modalities, and you pick what works for you.

0:27:46 - (Dreena Whitfield): How do you create that personal touch, though? Like, you have a community of over, like, 70,000, right? Yes, but there's still this aspect of personal touch with each member feels seen. Right. How have you been able to create that?

0:28:02 - (Christina Rice): Well, I think, number one, although I'm like an introvert, I have a minimal social battery. I still love people and I still love what I do. And I'm probably a little too involved when I say because we have so many projects and we have so many things coming down the pipeline, but I'm still answering emails. I'm still very much involved in the day to day. But also anybody I brings on my team has to understand we are in the people, business and community first.

0:28:45 - (Christina Rice): And so all the women on my team are very personable. And so we have like our community manager who probably most of our community might know more about than me, you know what I mean? Because she's there day to day and I pop in as I can. But I think it's just showing my humanness, right? Showing my vulnerability and my wins as much as my losses as much as my wins. And just again, being kind of like this open door. And at any given time you may email our info, email and I'm responding to it, or sometimes the phone rings and I'm answering. So I think people love that, right? And I have a really good memory.

0:29:36 - (Christina Rice): And so if somebody, we had one retreat attendee, she had a request like last week and I had to hop in and kind of manage it. And I was like, I'll circle back. And then like three or four days later, I was headed out of town. I was like, I haven't forgotten about you. I'm going to get on this. And she was like, I'm not worried at all. I know you all got me. And that touched me. Right? Whether it was me or my community manager or retreat leader, they know we got them.

0:30:09 - (Dreena Whitfield): Regardless, the fact that you even went back and was like, don't worry, I got you. I'm sure that touched her as well.

0:30:15 - (Christina Rice): Yes.

0:30:16 - (Dreena Whitfield): How big is your team?

0:30:18 - (Christina Rice): Well, it changes. So it's like my one and two, right? And they are day to day. Then we have my retreat leaders and that's 28 of them.

0:30:33 - (Dreena Whitfield): Wow.

0:30:34 - (Christina Rice): So they are at the forefront of their retreats and I support behind the scenes. I step in when I have to, whether it's any kind of customer service issues that we need to manage or negotiating with a hotel, things like that. And then I work with independent contractors. Right. And so of course, the slow climb of entrepreneurship is like full time and expanding. But for now, it's like my one and two, my retreat leaders. And then we have our copywriter, we have our email marketer, we have our package designer, we have our product developer. So these are all independent contractors, which is fine until we get to a point where it's like we need a 15 person full time team.

0:31:30 - (Dreena Whitfield): And how far out do you plan out your retreats? And what does that consist of? Especially if you're going into a new country or. I'm sure there's a lot of logistical planning that has to go into that.

0:31:46 - (Christina Rice): Yes. So my last retreat was a year ago, my own retreat. I don't know when I'm going to host another one myself because of all of my retreat leaders, and that alone is a lot of work, but for them. And let me back up. So how I found my retreat leaders was through my academy. So in 2021, I launched a retreats academy to coach women how to do what I do. And the entry point was going through this eight week live course.

0:32:18 - (Christina Rice): And then we partner with you on your first retreat, and you become a part of, like, the Om noir marketplace. And so when you go on our calendar, you see all these retreats. These are all women who have gone through my academy who I personally coach, who I still coach. Like, I coach them from the moment they sign up for the academy until they leave their first retreat. And then we decide, okay, does this work?

0:32:41 - (Christina Rice): Do we mesh well? Is this in alignment? And then we work on their 2nd, 3rd, 4th. So for them, it really depends in terms of how long it takes to actually plan the retreat. Then there is launching the retreat, then there's selling the retreat, then there's the retreat itself. So that could take from like 910, twelve months. Right. But also, too, just, I mean, the planning could take two weeks. Like, if you know a destination, you reach out to hotels, they're responsive. You got your proposals, you start working on your pricing and your expenses and all that stuff. That could be two weeks.

0:33:26 - (Christina Rice): It could take a couple of months. So those kind of vary, but we typically try from the time we announce it to the actual retreat dates. It used to be like, in 2022, it was like six months. But because the shift in the economy and inflation, now we're at like 910, twelve, sometimes 13 and 14 months to give people longer payment plans, all that stuff. Yeah. And manage life, right?

0:33:55 - (Dreena Whitfield): Yeah.

0:33:56 - (Christina Rice): When we released our first series of retreats in 2022, before that, I was the only one hosting the retreats. And so in 2022, I think we had like twelve retreats. People were just, like, booking them like hotcakes. They had been in the house for two years. They've been saving money.

0:34:14 - (Dreena Whitfield): I'm outside.

0:34:15 - (Christina Rice): Yes, I'm sorry. That was 2022. So then this year, I noticed a shift and the applications were slowing down. People weren't booking as fast and so I was like, we need to make adjustments. So I'm like, as an entrepreneur, my philosophy is find a solution before you get to the problem. Right. So I'm always like, when I start to see something that's not how it should be, I'm like, okay, what are all the solutions?

0:34:47 - (Christina Rice): And then we figure out the right path to take. And so this year was like, oh, we got to start planning our retreats out longer. It's a different time now for people and I proved to be right. So now our 2024 retreats are like just selling.

0:35:04 - (Dreena Whitfield): Have more time.

0:35:05 - (Christina Rice): Have more time. Yeah.

0:35:08 - (Dreena Whitfield): So you've taken a break from planning your own, like, you leading the retreats. What does your day to day look like now?

0:35:16 - (Christina Rice): My day to day looks like trying to catch up on a bunch of unread email. Because if I don't address it in a moment and I don't save it somehow, I'm going to forget about it. So the first thing I do is I got to tackle these emails. After that, it's all of our retreats. So right now we probably have about twelve retreats that are in our marketplace and eight more that are launching in the next two weeks.

0:35:49 - (Christina Rice): Right. And so a lot of it too is also quality control. Sometimes weird stuff happens on the website. It's like, what happened to this link? Why is this not working? What happened here? And so a lot of it also is troubleshooting. Right now we're about to launch our home collection. So I'm in a thick of the process. So I'm in a thick of package design and ordering for holiday and I'm a little behind.

0:36:20 - (Christina Rice): But the good thing is everything is in the fulfillment center. The only thing is like our boxes. So just this morning I sent the print files and like, okay, tell me what the turnaround time is so I can plan out the full launch and stuff. So I'm really toggling between three major projects and that is our retreats, our home collection, the academy, and then also have this live event coming up in Lord and so next month. Yes. So it's toggling between these four major projects.

0:36:53 - (Dreena Whitfield): Oh, wow.

0:36:54 - (Christina Rice): And so whatever is across my desk at the time, I'm tapping into it.

0:36:59 - (Dreena Whitfield): I know you talked a little bit about the Omniwar Retreats academy, but what.

0:37:03 - (Christina Rice): Sparked.

0:37:06 - (Dreena Whitfield): Your interest in even launching that?

0:37:10 - (Christina Rice): Well, it was a couple of things. It was, again, having conversations with myself, how am I going to scale this company that does not require me to show up every day? And that showing up means hosting a retreat because that's where most of our revenue was coming from at the time. Then it was paying attention to our community and their feedback. And so I would get dms or emails like, are you going to host a retreat for mothers and daughters? Are you going to host a retreat for entrepreneurs?

0:37:42 - (Christina Rice): A retreat for those dealing with grief. And I was like, I'm only one person. I can only host a certain amount of retreats a year, and my max is three. And not even, as the years have gone on, has been like two and then one. Right. And so then it was like, well, how am I going to offer a variety of retreats that have different themes? Yeah. And also I know that I host very specific style retreats. My retreats are going to be more adventurous.

0:38:18 - (Christina Rice): I'm also going to probably have some kind of activity that inspires you. I don't want to say forces you, but inspires you to face a fear. Right? Because what I've learned, like a lot of black women, we live with a lot of fear and a lot of trauma, right? And so my retreats are just not for everyone. They're more active. Like, I'm a certified scuba diver. I hike volcanoes. I'm very active. And so that's not for everyone.

0:38:53 - (Christina Rice): Some people want like a spa, luxurious, relaxing retreat. I need somebody that can lead those type of retreats. Other people need really deep trauma healing. I'm not certified in that. I need someone that can lead those type of retreats. And so that's where it started to take shape. And that was like, probably, I want to say, like early 2020. And then like a month or so later, I was like, okay, I'm going to bring on retreat facilitators.

0:39:30 - (Christina Rice): I'm going to launch, like, an academy. And I, again, was like, I don't know where to start, how to do it. And then lockdown came and my retreats that I was hosting, 2020, I had to cancel. And then we were just trying to figure out life at that time. So that idea was moved to the side. And then it was the top of 2021 that I was like, travel is going to explode and the time is now for me to launch this academy.

0:40:05 - (Christina Rice): And again, where do I start? I was having a meeting. My team was a little bigger at the time. It was like more of like five of us. And I was like, I'm going to launch this academy. I still haven't figured out how, what, but I'm going to do it. And then one of the young ladies on my team, she was a former teacher. Two weeks later, she sent me an email. She was like, here's your syllabus. Here's your course.

0:40:30 - (Dreena Whitfield): Oh, wow.

0:40:32 - (Christina Rice): And going back, let your helpers find you. You have to speak it out loud. You have to. Right? And that's where I was like, okay, well, I have to do it. She just gave me the blueprint, and so I started moving things around and figuring out what are the modules, how we're going to do this. And then I started bringing in more helpers, my spiritual advisor, my copywriter, my mentor, and as a team, it was five of us at the time.

0:41:06 - (Christina Rice): They were the catalyst and the gas that really pushed me into launching. And I'll tell you, I was like, maybe I'll have like 25 people sign up, 60 signed up. And it got to a point coming out the gate, the first cohort was 38.

0:41:28 - (Dreena Whitfield): So that's amazing.

0:41:30 - (Christina Rice): And then I was like, okay, I got to close it down. I don't even know, 38. And then I was like, but after I closed the registration, more women were emailing. Is there going to be another cohort? I just found out about this. So then I opened it up again, and it was 22. So you're talking about, like, in a six week period, I had 60 sign up.

0:41:54 - (Dreena Whitfield): That's amazing. Yeah, that's amazing.

0:41:57 - (Christina Rice): Yeah. I mean, I wouldn't do it like that again, but one of the guys tell people, like, you don't know what you need to perfect in a business or product that you launch until you launch it. So you don't know what you don't know what you don't know. But when you are in the thick of it, you start to learn what you need to know. And so I wouldn't do it again, but it was incredible, I think, and really affirming that I was on the right path to have such a big response. And it wasn't like a struggle to sell this academy, and I've shifted it since, but I know what I know what I know now, right?

0:42:36 - (Christina Rice): And so it's a lot different now.

0:42:38 - (Dreena Whitfield): So how many retreat facilitators do you have?

0:42:43 - (Christina Rice): Okay, so at our highest level, like the course level where you're in the marketplace, you are an om noir retreat leader, but they still are independent. I encourage them. Build your wellness business. If you were coached, you help them with that too. To some degree. I think it's more organic where because I have one on one calls with them and I give them ideas. And of course, when they signed up, I'm like, get your llc.

0:43:19 - (Christina Rice): What is the name of your company. I don't care if it's like first name, last name, wellness. Know where you want to go two years from now and build your company like that today. Some of them, they have these really amazing niches and also really dope retreat names. I'm like, that could be your business. Start thinking about products, water bottles, t shirts, things like that. Because I tell them, scaling a retreat business is not just your retreats. It's like how you branch out into different legs of your business.

0:44:01 - (Christina Rice): Retreats should just be one part of it. Now you could write an ebook about, I don't know, how to transform your life or whatever. You could have products, you could have your coaching business. There's different legs that you can branch out. So you have to think about that right now. Don't be like glow up retreats. If you know that you want to do products, you want to do free guides or paid guides, right? Or you want to write a journal or whatever the case may be. You got to think about what the longevity of this business can be and how many revenue streams that you have. I mean, we have multiple now, you know what I mean? And we're still going to add more.

0:44:49 - (Dreena Whitfield): So you mentioned earlier you're branching out into home.

0:44:52 - (Christina Rice): Yes.

0:44:54 - (Dreena Whitfield): So what is that going to look like for you?

0:44:56 - (Christina Rice): So our tagline, and this will give you everything you need. You don't have to go away to get away. You can instead create a retreat within yourself and in your own beautiful spaces. So it is bringing our retreats to their homes and what like that feeling of community and sisterhood and healing and wellness and zen. Because it's Zen at home by Om noir candles well, we started with candles, so I first launched in 2021. And again, people just buy a few candles. I probably had like 140 candles in my inventory. And it was at my house because I have a room that is dedicated to workout and products.

0:45:59 - (Christina Rice): Right. And so I had all these candles and I was like, oh, they'll just sale or whatever. We sell like 70 candles in 24 hours. And I had to pack these up because it was coming 70 and I had to pack them up myself. But like friends came to help because I was like, what is happening? It was like, shopify was like, ding, ding, ding, ding.

0:46:23 - (Dreena Whitfield): But you should have known that with the community that you've been able to build, though.

0:46:26 - (Christina Rice): But these are like $55 candles. Then we sold those candles. I got another batch in, holiday came around, we sold those. And then I was like, I need a better system here. I cannot run my business. And then I have to pause. I get an order, and I got to go pack, and it's like a whole process to pack and ship out. And so now that we're relaunching, we're in a fulfillment center. Okay. Products are coming from overseas, and I have a team that is focused on that.

0:47:07 - (Christina Rice): I will say, though, when I first launched, I was really proud because our candle maker was a black woman, and she created all of our scents, and she was pouring those in her kitchen. So our little kind of our dust cover for our candles, it said, like, hand poured by a black woman. And I love that because it was all black owned. Right. Black owned and produced. And because now of the volume, we had to start going overseas.

0:47:42 - (Christina Rice): And so now that we're launching. So now we have our candles, our signature candles. We have our candle care kit, which is really beautiful. We'll have travel size candles. Of course, that's something we can gift for our retreats, sell for our retreats. You come home from a retreat, make sure bringing your retreat experience home. Here's a link to our candle collection, and then we'll also eventually get into textiles, loungewear.

0:48:16 - (Christina Rice): So there's, like, a big picture there. And I think this is also another lane that we can own just because we can tie them back to our retreats. And some of our candles are named after our retreats.

0:48:33 - (Dreena Whitfield): Is the goal to get it into retail ultimately?

0:48:39 - (Christina Rice): I think so. I don't know if I would do a hard push for it for a long time. It would almost have to be like somebody would come to us and say, hey, it's. Have you thought about maybe they were gifted a candle or something like that? I'm sure. I don't know. Nicole probably talked about e commerce, and I don't know if she did in her interview with you, but going into retail is a whole different animal.

0:49:12 - (Dreena Whitfield): It is.

0:49:12 - (Christina Rice): And it requires a lot more investment up front. Right. Because if you're going into a target and it's like, they need 30,000 units, they need 50,000 units, the brand has to pay for that up front, and then you're paid in increments. Right. Then also, well, target is not selling $55 candles. Right. It would almost have to be, like, a special line for target, you know what I mean? Or we would have to go into a higher end retailer. Higher end retailer. Yeah. So that's, like, long term. Yeah. Okay. Yeah.

0:49:51 - (Dreena Whitfield): What's your ultimate goal for Omniwar, though?

0:49:54 - (Christina Rice): My ultimate goal is for us to be a one stop wellness shop. Right. And so that is our retreats. That is our home collection. That is, do you want to venture into entrepreneurship and now you want to host your retreats? We have some other things that I want to talk about yet, but that we're starting to roll out. But it's like. It's the feeling of it takes a village, and when you come into om noir, that feels like the village.

0:50:25 - (Christina Rice): You know what I mean? Like, you get everything. You get your travel, you get your sisterhood, you get your community, you get your home products. Right? And then again, other products that we're starting to roll out probably next year, is like, you don't even have to leave. You can come right in our house. Right. And you can get pretty much everything that you need on your wellness journey.

0:50:49 - (Dreena Whitfield): One thing about your journey that I love is that, you know, when something no longer serves you and you're ready to go on to, you are being pulled in another direction. Right. So what is some advice you would give another entrepreneur who may be in a similar situation? They've built a successful business, or they may have even been in the C suite and have built a successful career, but they feel like it no longer serves them and they are being pulled into another direction.

0:51:22 - (Dreena Whitfield): What one bit of advice would you give them if they're at the crossroads of, do I stay with something that feels familiar, or do I take that leap into something that's like uncharted waters?

0:51:37 - (Christina Rice): Well, I think because you've done that a few times, I've done a lot of work to let things go with ease and to listen to my body and listen to my gut instinct. And so I've had three businesses, and none of them tie into each other. And it was not like I'm going to run through businesses at once. I'm going to keep one and launch two others. It was that art of moving on. And I like to say I don't have founder add, I'm founder fluid.

0:52:15 - (Christina Rice): And so that means I'm really definitive with my ends. And I think a lot of times when we hold on to something, there's ego involved, there's a sense of failure, or like, you're leaving something undone, like, you didn't see it all the way through and not everything we're supposed to see all the way through. Some of them do have a hard stop because they were for a period in our lives, and that's relationships, that's friendships, and that's careers.

0:52:52 - (Christina Rice): And so I just kind of learned to listen to my body and ask myself, is this a full body? Hell, yes. Or a full body? Hell, no. And I know what that feels like, because the yes feels like freedom. Right? It feels like release. It feels like openness. It feels like receiving. And that no feels very constrictive and limiting. And so I listen to what that feels like. I'm ready to start a new business. Does it feel like a full body? Yes.

0:53:29 - (Christina Rice): Hell, yes. I'm excited about it. I see all these possibilities. Or does it feel like, I don't know about this? That's my internal compass.

0:53:38 - (Dreena Whitfield): I love that.

0:53:39 - (Christina Rice): Yeah. And I think we just have to, like I said, we remove the ego, right. And make a list of everything you've accomplished. Right. And find pride in that. Right. And then think about the big picture of your life. And do you feel like this is a space you want to be in in five years? I didn't want to be on the red carpet with clients in my sixty s. I just didn't. You know what I mean? I didn't want to be like, well, VMas is here.

0:54:14 - (Christina Rice): Here's another four days of 24 hours of running after clients or managing their needs. I didn't feel like that. I wanted a life that felt easier. Right. And just felt like alignment with the work I was doing internally. And pr just wasn't in alignment at that time.

0:54:37 - (Dreena Whitfield): I'm going to have to retreat.

0:54:38 - (Christina Rice): Oh, yeah. And if there comes a time where it's like, I'm ready to move on from Om noir, like there's something else calling me, I can say, I did my part, I planted a seed, and maybe somebody else will carry that baton. I can pass it, they can carry it on, but I will feel a sense of completion when it's time for me to say goodbye to it.

0:55:07 - (Dreena Whitfield): So I'm going to ask you some quick fire questions.

0:55:09 - (Christina Rice): Okay?

0:55:10 - (Dreena Whitfield): So just give me the first thought that comes to mind.

0:55:13 - (Christina Rice): Okay.

0:55:14 - (Dreena Whitfield): What's your go to wellness app?

0:55:16 - (Christina Rice): Oh, my God. My go to wellness app. Chopra app. That's my go to one.

0:55:25 - (Dreena Whitfield): Are you going to create an app?

0:55:29 - (Christina Rice): It might be, but I'm just thinking.

0:55:31 - (Dreena Whitfield): I'm like, wait, that would be dope.

0:55:33 - (Christina Rice): It might be coming.

0:55:34 - (Dreena Whitfield): Okay, sorry. One mantra for success.

0:55:38 - (Christina Rice): Can it be a quote?

0:55:39 - (Dreena Whitfield): Yes.

0:55:40 - (Christina Rice): If someone presents you with an amazing opportunity, say yes and then learn how to do it. That's my entrepreneur like philosophy. Yes.

0:55:52 - (Dreena Whitfield): I love that.

0:55:52 - (Christina Rice): So that's very much jumping out the window and building the parachute on the way down. So that is my mantra for success, for entrepreneurs. Okay.

0:56:00 - (Dreena Whitfield): The first word that comes to mind when you think of omnuar, liberation favorite yoga pose.

0:56:08 - (Christina Rice): That one's a hard one because so many are my favorite. Probably pigeon hip openers.

0:56:13 - (Dreena Whitfield): Okay. I will say so. That is. I just know. Child's pose. That's my favorite. And downward facing dog. Yes, I've tried.

0:56:24 - (Christina Rice): And sun salutations.

0:56:26 - (Dreena Whitfield): Which one is that?

0:56:27 - (Christina Rice): It's a fluid movement. So it's pretty much your back. Yes. It's a fluid movement.

0:56:37 - (Dreena Whitfield): Well, Christina, thank you so much for joining me today.

0:56:40 - (Christina Rice): Thank you.

0:56:40 - (Dreena Whitfield): I appreciate you sharing your journey with me. Where can everyone find and follow you and follow the omniwar brand?

0:56:48 - (Christina Rice): Yes. Okay, so my personal page is Christina M. Rice on Instagram. That's where I am mostly. I mean, I have all the other platforms, but, baby, if they give us one more, I literally have to write it in my to do list and be like, social media. Okay. Twitter, like, well, we'll do Twitter. Anymore threads. LinkedIn. I can't do spill. It's too busy. It doesn't have. Hopefully they'll modify their ux, but I can't do spills. But I'm mainly on IG. Christina M. Rice.

0:57:25 - (Christina Rice): Omnuar is just omnuar, omnoire and then omnuar.com.

0:57:31 - (Dreena Whitfield): Perfect.

0:57:32 - (Christina Rice): And sign up for our email list because that's where all the.

0:57:35 - (Dreena Whitfield): You get all the info.

0:57:36 - (Christina Rice): All the info. All the special discounts and announcements and things that we don't always share, even publicly.

0:57:44 - (Dreena Whitfield): Everything you need to know.

0:57:45 - (Christina Rice): Everything you need to know.

0:57:46 - (Dreena Whitfield): Out of all the places like you've traveled on your wellness journey, what's been the most transformative for you?

0:57:52 - (Christina Rice): Personally, I would probably say Bali. Yeah. It's such a healing place, a spiritual place. And I've had two retreats there. And it's just one of those places, like, you cannot help but sit real deep in your spiritual healing because the place, like the people, the air, the energy really forces you to, you know what I mean? And so, for me, Bali has been that place.

0:58:21 - (Dreena Whitfield): For me, it's on my bucket list.

0:58:23 - (Christina Rice): Yeah, you should come. We have two next year in Bali. Three, actually.

0:58:26 - (Dreena Whitfield): Don't invite a payment plan.

0:58:29 - (Christina Rice): Yeah, we got a farm. We got all kind of stuff.

0:58:34 - (Dreena Whitfield): Thank you so much for joining me.

0:58:35 - (Christina Rice): Thank you. We appreciate it. Thank you. It has been a pleasure, and I hope to see you again soon at one of our retreats. Thank you. She.