Meet the Maker: BRealStudios
Bringing balance, creativity, and community together!
We are thrilled to introduce our next featured maker: BRealStudios, a vibrant wellness hub nestled in North Bay, Ontario. Dedicated to fostering genuine connections in our fast-paced world, BRealStudios offers a harmonious blend of yoga classes, nutrition services, and eco-friendly, handcrafted products.
Their mission is to awaken authenticity and purpose within each individual, providing a sanctuary for mindful practices and holistic well-being. Join us as we delve into the inspiring journey of BRealStudios and discover how they're nurturing community and wellness through their diverse offerings.
Hi! My name is Brianna and I opened BRealStudios in 2018 - a holistic lifestyle space for all to come and enjoy yoga class, personalized holistic nutrition packages, and my ever growing line of handmade organic, healing skincare, mineral makeup, and clean home products.
Tell us a bit about yourself and your business.
While I was born and raised in North Bay, I spent 6 years in our nations capitol getting my BA with a Major in English (though you'd never know it from my dyslexia and inability to spell literally anything) and started working for my university newspaper "The Fulcrum". Spoiler alert I absolutely HATED the publishing industry (which was my life plan) so I decided to take a year off after getting my degree to do what all 20 something's do - buy a cat, party, and cry in a bathtub once a week while living on borrowed money and Mr.Noodles.
Picture it - 2013 - I was living alone, personal training, teaching group fitness classes for pennies, and constantly re-watching "The Holiday" while yelling quotes and comments at my slow-blinking hairless cat "Well HELLOOOO big dollop". After the millionth watch and another good bathtub cry, I once again, did what any good 20 something would do - I called my mom. Her solution "why don't you take a workshop or something - maybe photography! That sounds fun!" *Please read in your best "supportive mom voice". And so the hunt began. What workshop should I take? What do I even like? Who even am I? And after some quick googling I came across the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition. What I thought would be a fun workshop to gain some knowledge to better serve my personal training clients and my Mr. Noodles addiction, turned into a full blown collage application, acceptance, and taking/passing my province wide boards exam to become a Registered Holistic Nutritionist. Within 2 years after that I met my best friend ever, became a certified 200 hour Hatha Yoga Instructor, and specialized in inflammation, toxins in our home and products, and essential oils.
I started making my own natural skincare products and to my surprise - my fellow yoga instructors, classmates and friends started asking me to make some for them too!
With my new certifications and degrees in hand, I packed up my cat, threw out my Costco pack of Mr. Noodles, and moved back home to North Bay to huddle up and design a business!
What advice would you give to a maker just starting out?
To quote Matt Damon in "The Martain" - "You solve one problem...and you solve the next one...and then the next." And if you solve enough problems, you make a profit. Enjoy the journey and just focus on the problem (or solution) at hand.
Where do you find inspiration?
Pouring energy into myself. When I'm taking care of myself and giving back to me - the inspiration, ideas, and excitement flows out of my fingers and into my notepad app like a river. Every time I focus too much on giving to others or I break one of my own boundaries in my work life - the river stops and the fun is drained out of me.
What is your dream project?
To create a holistic hub - I'd love to invest in a building that operates as a holistic co-op space where businesses in the holistic health and alternative health world (whether a product or service) can come for affordable rent, spaces to host workshops, and community marking/awareness with a consignment store for local and northern ontario to sell their handmade product.
Shout out your favourite Northern Ontario based maker!
I think Jayda from The Indecisive and Things is honestly killing it. She's constantly being innovative with her marketing, her booth set up is super cute, and you can see that she is constantly improving and reinvesting in her business and brand!
CONNECT
We hope you loved getting to know the fabulous BReal Studios and learn the passion behind their craft! It’s so inspiring to see Northern Ontario’s creative community thrive, and we can’t wait to share more incredible makers, artists, and entrepreneurs with you. Stay tuned for more stories celebrating the talent that makes the North so unique.
Ok, we’re off to make things!
