Nov. 24, 2025

#050: What If Reinvention Is Not A Crisis But A Calling With Sabrina Labvah

#050: What If Reinvention Is Not A Crisis But A Calling With Sabrina Labvah

What if the fastest way to heal burnout is to make something beautiful? We sit down with designer and psychiatric provider Sabrina Labvah to trace how a grueling pandemic workload pushed her back to a first love... fashion... and why creativity didn’t pull her away from care, it made her better at it. Sabrina shares a candid roadmap for becoming: reflect on your past, choose readiness over pressure, and use journaling to metabolize what you’ve long suppressed. She reminds us that transformation isn’t linear; you may start and stop, then start again, and that rhythm is part of real growth.

Sabrina’s designs embody a powerful idea. By blending silk tie fabrics into tuxedo dresses, she unites masculine and feminine energy in a single garment, turning clothing into a symbol of integrated strength. We talk about how style influences presence, how uniforms can flatten identity, and how the right outfit can help you step into the version of yourself you’re building. Her brand name, Praxis Human, reflects a clear philosophy: movement, inclusion, and collective progress... fashion with meaning that goes beyond surface.

We also dig into the role of community for creatives. Sabrina found momentum by driving into the city, meeting peers, and sharing her work despite social anxiety and imposter syndrome. Authenticity, she says, is a magnet that attracts aligned collaborators and repels mismatches. Along the way she earned invites to local runways and Austin Fashion Week, tangible proof that connection multiplies opportunity. If you’re balancing multiple passions or craving a reinvention, this story offers practical steps and a gentle push: be honest, be ready, and let your craft carry your message.

Enjoy the conversation, then share it with a friend who’s on the edge of their next chapter. Subscribe, leave a review, and tell us: what version of you is becoming right now?

Sabrina's Profile

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00:00 - Welcome And Sabrina’s Dual Identity

02:53 - Fashion As Masculine–Feminine Fusion

05:33 - Pandemic Burnout And Creative Reawakening

09:58 - How Do You Decide Who To Become

15:43 - Readiness, Rock Bottom, And Starting The Work

20:38 - Journaling, Palliative Care, And Perspective

26:03 - Reinvention As A Lifelong Series

29:38 - The Inner Void, Authenticity, And Values

34:38 - Returning To Fashion And Owning Glamour

38:43 - Building A Brand During The Pandemic

42:33 - Finding Community And Early Wins

47:43 - Overcoming Social Anxiety And Imposter Syndrome

52:03 - Authenticity Attracts The Right People

55:53 - Humanity In Healthcare And Client Care

01:00:28 - Pen And Paper Design Philosophy

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00:00:34.469 --> 00:00:43.030
I mean it could be anywhere from underwear to lingerie to swimsuits to evening wear, but what is the thing you love to draw most?

00:00:43.670 --> 00:00:51.510
The most it's uh business wear for, you know, like tuxedo dresses and things like what I'm wearing now.

00:00:51.750 --> 00:01:01.030
It's combining some masculine uh masculinity, which is the ties that men wear to feminine clothing.

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So that's that's the key of what sets my designs apart from everything else out there is that I'm combining masculine and feminine and some things that we don't generally see on women, such as ties, I'm combining that fabric into the collars of most of the I love that.

00:01:20.549 --> 00:01:30.709
Yeah, so that women can and and and men can have the the this um enmeshment of who we are as humans, that one thing.

00:01:41.509 --> 00:01:46.469
Okay, you're strapped in for another edition of the For the Love of Creatives podcast.

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I am your connections and community guy host Dwight, joined by our connections and community host, Maddox.

00:01:55.429 --> 00:01:59.109
And today we are joined by the lovely Sabrina Lava.

00:01:59.670 --> 00:02:00.789
Welcome, Sabrina.

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Thank you very much.

00:02:02.629 --> 00:02:05.509
It's really an honor to be a part of this show.

00:02:06.149 --> 00:02:08.150
Well, we're so glad that you're here.

00:02:08.310 --> 00:02:15.670
Um, we ran into you at an event uh held by uh Fashion Group International, Dallas.

00:02:16.229 --> 00:02:29.509
And uh you got to tell us a little bit about your story, but um, why don't you share with our listeners uh just a little bit about who you are and and uh tell your your story in about a minute or so.

00:02:29.990 --> 00:02:30.310
Okay.

00:02:30.950 --> 00:02:31.590
All righty.

00:02:31.750 --> 00:02:39.030
So I have two sides to me, which is one thing that we talked about at the FGI event.

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One side is that I'm a mental health care psychiatric provider.

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So I see clients for a living who are struggling with mental health disorders of all kinds.

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And then the other side of me is a designer and a person who is heavily involved in the fashion industry.

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So now I can say that I there's a multifactorial way of me uh introducing myself into the world because I have two different sides, but somehow I mesh the two together because my mental health experience and what I do for a living meshes with the fashion world because it's about people, it's about people becoming themselves, which is one of the reasons that I am part of FGI and one of the reasons that we met, because we were people meeting each other.

00:03:32.469 --> 00:03:36.549
So in the grand scheme of things, those are my two sides.

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Love it.

00:03:38.069 --> 00:03:40.870
And I I love the way that you you fuse those together.

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I'd I'd like to to compliment you on the the lovely uh ensemble you're wearing.

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Is that one of your designs?

00:03:47.990 --> 00:03:49.030
Yes, it is.

00:03:49.189 --> 00:03:51.509
This is one of my very own designs.

00:03:51.669 --> 00:03:56.389
It's a silk tie material here, and then it's a business suit.

00:03:56.629 --> 00:04:01.349
So I this was one of my my first designs, and it's been very popular.

00:04:01.669 --> 00:04:02.710
It's lovely.

00:04:03.030 --> 00:04:03.750
Thank you.

00:04:03.909 --> 00:04:04.629
Thank you.

00:04:04.949 --> 00:04:12.949
I I I also love the way you talk about both of your professions because it sounds like there's passion for both of them.

00:04:13.590 --> 00:04:14.229
Yes, absolutely.

00:04:15.509 --> 00:04:33.189
We had a previous guest that was an actor and had a corporate job with uh Microsoft, and he talked about how he had decided that he was not going to have just limited to one passion, and that he loved both and intended to continue doing both.

00:04:33.270 --> 00:04:42.950
And that's kind of a new concept because most people are either or, and um if they're in one, they're trying to get into the other so they can let go of the first one.

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And so it's really kind of interesting and refreshing.

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Now you're the second person that talks about two passions and how much they mean, both of them mean to you.

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And I'm assuming you wouldn't give up either one to do the other.

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Is that correct?

00:04:57.189 --> 00:04:58.150
That is correct.

00:04:58.310 --> 00:05:10.230
So basically, my career, my professional career in healthcare started decades ago, and I have four US degrees from universities all the way up to my doctorate degree.

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So my associates, my bachelor's, two master's, and my doctorate degree from my professional side.

00:05:17.189 --> 00:05:22.070
So there was a time in my life, decades, where I was just doing one thing.

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I was just pursuing one career, and that career was my entire life.

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I was breathing mental health care, I was waking up to mental health care, I was going to sleep to mental health care, and that really was consuming my entire life.

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So around the time of the pandemic, I felt really overwhelmed with the work life and trying to balance the work life and having a life of my own.

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Because during the pandemic, it was a very heavy time, as we all remember.

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There was a lot of things going on in the world and in people's family lives.

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And it was a time of uncertainty.

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And being a mental health care provider at that time was a very, very heavy burden for me.

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And that's when I started to realize that this burden started to overtake my entire being, that I wasn't using the creative side of my brain that I had years and years ago, which was my passion for fashion, um, the love of everything that included the glamour, the glamour.

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I suppressed all of that just to focus on everyone else and everyone else's needs, but I realized how overwhelmed and how burdensome it became just to be a caregiver for everybody else in this field.

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So I started to explore more, a little bit more about myself, wanted to become myself, wanted to understand myself.

00:06:52.870 --> 00:07:00.710
And I was also in a decade of my life where I had the capability and the mental understanding that there was inner work that needed to be done.

00:07:00.950 --> 00:07:03.510
So I started my clothing brand.

00:07:03.670 --> 00:07:05.030
I started to work on that.

00:07:05.110 --> 00:07:11.430
And I realized the more that I started to work on my creative side, the less burden I felt from my work.

00:07:11.590 --> 00:07:17.990
So it made me a better provider when I was living out my passion or starting that up during the pandemic.

00:07:18.470 --> 00:07:34.390
And then that kind of led to my evolution to come out from my shell in the suburbs to Dallas and start to experience more of the fashion world and the people that were out there, where I achieved more and more inspiration and more and more support and love.

00:07:34.710 --> 00:07:39.910
And that's how I decided to just continue the both to get both of them together.

00:07:40.630 --> 00:07:44.790
Sabrina, what you have said has sparked a very specific question for me.

00:07:44.950 --> 00:07:54.310
Um, we were at a Halloween party recently, and of course, we talk a lot on the podcast and on our platform about becoming.

00:07:54.870 --> 00:08:00.710
It's a big part of the whole creative process, and you're you're talking about that.

00:08:00.870 --> 00:08:12.950
And so a woman at this party asked me a party, a question, and I I want to pass the question to you, and because I know what my answer was, I'd love to know what your answer is to this.

00:08:13.110 --> 00:08:28.150
We were I I have made the comment that you know, as human beings, we get to choose who we become in life, and we get to choose and determine, completely determine how we show up in life.

00:08:28.390 --> 00:08:34.629
And she said, I get that, yes, but how do you figure out who you want to become?

00:08:36.309 --> 00:08:41.750
And I'm gonna flip that question because I know how I answered, but how would you answer?

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You're in in the process of that.

00:08:45.029 --> 00:08:46.149
How would you answer?

00:08:46.230 --> 00:08:49.189
How do you figure out who you want to become?

00:08:49.830 --> 00:09:01.269
I think that um there are certain steps to take in order to figure that out, but in the grand scheme of things, I think it requires a lot of reflection.

00:09:01.429 --> 00:09:04.629
And that reflection is about the past as well.

00:09:04.789 --> 00:09:14.469
A lot of times we suppress the past and we just want to focus on the future to become someone or or try to become a better version of ourselves.

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But only through understanding and processing our past do we go on that journey to become the best version of ourselves.

00:09:22.870 --> 00:09:32.789
And the inner work that's required, it takes a lot of steps and it's it's a it's a process and it takes time to do the inner work.

00:09:33.029 --> 00:09:42.389
The inner work does require uh reflection and understanding and going through the troublesome times in order to get past them.

00:09:42.629 --> 00:09:53.189
Because if we only suppress, if we only just uh, you know, just close our ears and our eyes and say that never happened, that that's not a part of me, it just comes back.

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It comes back and we have to face it over and over and over again.

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It's through reflection and processing to go through it, do we get past it to become the better version of ourselves?

00:10:05.990 --> 00:10:16.629
So that process that you're talking about going through and becoming, looking and reflecting and all, I I'm I'm very aware of that and I completely agree.

00:10:17.269 --> 00:10:28.709
There is a certain portion of the population that is reluctant, reluctant to do that for those people that haven't taken that first step.

00:10:29.829 --> 00:10:32.149
They are in that reluctance, that resistance.

00:10:33.189 --> 00:10:47.589
What would you say to them that might inspire them to take those steps, that first step, and to launch into that self-awareness work and reflection?

00:10:49.029 --> 00:10:54.149
What are your words of wisdom based on because I can tell right now you're in this, you are doing this.

00:10:54.309 --> 00:10:56.870
This isn't some lip service that you read in a book.

00:10:57.189 --> 00:11:00.549
You speak in a manner that I can tell you're in this process.

00:11:01.110 --> 00:11:03.110
Yes, I am in the process.

00:11:03.350 --> 00:11:07.110
I would say the very first thing is the readiness factor.

00:11:07.350 --> 00:11:09.189
The person has to be ready.

00:11:09.429 --> 00:11:19.509
If they're not ready to do the inner work, if they don't feel that they can face the past and the challenges, then they're likely not going to be successful.

00:11:19.669 --> 00:11:27.990
So when a person has the mindset and they say that I am actually ready and I really want to do this, then the journey begins.

00:11:28.309 --> 00:11:43.350
And a lot of times that happens when a person, some people have an epiphany, they have that moment where there's some sort of something happens, something changes in life, and they sudden suddenly start to see things a little bit differently.

00:11:43.589 --> 00:11:58.389
It could be through experiences such as travel, it could be through meeting other people, it could be through through various types of some epiphanies, sometimes dreams, sometimes health problems.

00:11:58.870 --> 00:12:04.309
There becomes a time when a person is ready and they generally know when that time is.

00:12:04.469 --> 00:12:11.269
And that's when people sit down and they try to look at the resources that they have in order to do that inner work.

00:12:11.429 --> 00:12:21.669
If the readiness factor isn't there and a person says, Well, I just want to do this, um, but they may not be quite ready, they may go halfway and then just stop.

00:12:21.829 --> 00:12:31.269
They may do a little bit of work and then just stop because they aren't fully ready to uncover all the layers to become the best version of themselves.

00:12:31.589 --> 00:12:40.629
So I I guess what I'm hearing is if you start and stop and you get bogged down, that could just indicate that you weren't quite ready.

00:12:41.350 --> 00:12:41.990
It could.

00:12:42.309 --> 00:12:45.589
Sometimes the process is very overwhelming, too.

00:12:45.750 --> 00:12:58.389
We start the process and we may be journaling and writing things down, and suddenly it becomes an interference in our life because those are some of the things that we aren't quite ready to deal with emotionally.

00:12:58.549 --> 00:13:06.469
So sometimes people have to put that to the side, do the daily work, the work, the going to work, coming home.

00:13:06.789 --> 00:13:11.750
People may suppress that for a little while because it was just way too overwhelming.

00:13:11.909 --> 00:13:19.990
But then people who have that desire and need, they'll go back to it, they'll start it again, they'll pick up their journal again, and they'll start writing again.

00:13:20.230 --> 00:13:22.549
So that's why it's an evolution.

00:13:22.709 --> 00:13:23.829
It's a process.

00:13:24.149 --> 00:13:27.029
I like how well you articulate all this.

00:13:27.189 --> 00:13:32.549
I sense that is the product of multiple, multiple degrees.

00:13:32.789 --> 00:13:38.309
You this is part of your your studies as a mental health professional.

00:13:38.789 --> 00:13:48.549
Yes, um, a little bit, but most of it came through self-discovery because I was preaching to people, journal, do this, do that.

00:13:48.949 --> 00:13:53.909
And sometimes I would see results, but it was something that was separate from me.

00:13:54.149 --> 00:13:59.589
It's when I picked up the pen and the journal that that's when the changes started to happen.

00:13:59.669 --> 00:14:03.990
And that's when I truly started to believe in some of the things that I had learned.

00:14:04.309 --> 00:14:16.789
But in addition to palliative mental health care, there was another part of my career that helped me to realize quite a lot more about life in my life, and that was palliative care.

00:14:17.350 --> 00:14:23.669
That changed my entire life, and that's what led me to pursue the career in mental health.

00:14:23.829 --> 00:14:31.909
Because with palliative care, that was being there for somebody through the most challenging time in their life.

00:14:32.230 --> 00:14:37.110
That really started to make me reflect a little bit more about my own life.

00:14:37.429 --> 00:14:49.189
So the the clients that I see in mental health care, they make me better because when I see them doing the work and they get better and they come back and they say, I'm I started this journey.

00:14:49.350 --> 00:14:59.269
I'm starting to see changes in my life, I'm starting to feel brighter, I'm starting to do things that I have suppressed for so many so for so long, such as hobbies.

00:14:59.429 --> 00:15:03.429
That's when I realize, okay, there this process does work.

00:15:03.669 --> 00:15:09.269
And I think we all need to at some point get do this, do this work.

00:15:09.669 --> 00:15:16.469
You know, most of my life I've heard we teach what we most need to learn, and you have just validated that.

00:15:16.870 --> 00:15:18.389
Yes, absolutely.

00:15:18.629 --> 00:15:19.269
Yes.

00:15:20.709 --> 00:15:32.069
So, you know, this this world that we live in, I think the inner work that we do to authentically live and understand our purpose in life is the greatest work that we can do.

00:15:32.149 --> 00:15:35.829
It's holy ground, and there's no other work like it.

00:15:36.309 --> 00:15:38.469
I agree wholeheartedly.

00:15:38.789 --> 00:15:40.389
Wow, very well said.

00:15:41.350 --> 00:15:41.990
Yeah.

00:15:42.469 --> 00:15:56.549
It's really hard for me to uh as you as you share and reflect, uh, when you mentioned palliative care, I um was taken back to my pandemic experience.

00:15:56.789 --> 00:16:05.589
And uh in uh all of 2020, I I spent it in hospitals and in skilled nursing facilities.

00:16:05.990 --> 00:16:16.309
And it was a very long goodbye to someone that uh was um someone that meant a great deal to me.

00:16:16.549 --> 00:16:29.429
I uh wound up burying a partner in at the close of the pandemic, and uh I learned to we learned to appreciate the things that really mattered.

00:16:29.909 --> 00:16:38.230
Uh I I got to have a sense that there are a lot of things that people might tell us are important.

00:16:39.589 --> 00:16:55.589
But when you're facing the stakes that mean uh you have to you you know that you're going to say goodbye to someone that your sun rises and sets on, you start to evaluate what's really important.

00:16:57.589 --> 00:17:02.149
And that's the the kind of experience that that you're talking about.

00:17:02.389 --> 00:17:08.470
You you have to be ready before you're you're willing to to make those strides.

00:17:09.110 --> 00:17:20.390
Um and to to take it to a place that's not as as heavy that I I think has more of a universal uh experience for people.

00:17:20.470 --> 00:17:32.550
I I remember what it was like going through school and seeing uh older adults who are going back, contrasted with kids that were you know away from home for the first time.

00:17:33.350 --> 00:17:36.550
There's uh a different energy between those types of things.

00:17:36.710 --> 00:17:50.630
And you can see with the the kids that are finally away from their parents for the first time, they want to party, they want to go and have that experience, and some of them uh might might fizzle out, might they might get into trouble, they might get hurt.

00:17:51.590 --> 00:18:01.830
Whereas um somewhere along the arc, people that return really appreciate it a lot more, they value that experience a lot more.

00:18:02.630 --> 00:18:11.830
And I I think that's a a concrete, near universal kind of experience that anyone can relate to that is along those same lines.

00:18:12.070 --> 00:18:14.390
One when you're ready to hear it, you will.

00:18:16.470 --> 00:18:20.790
Yes, I think a common question is, well, how will I know when I'm ready?

00:18:21.110 --> 00:18:26.790
But you really articulated that in just saying, you'll know when you're ready.

00:18:26.950 --> 00:18:35.190
And and it may not be big fireworks and and a flashing neon sign in the sky that says, I'm ready, or you're ready.

00:18:35.430 --> 00:18:37.029
It could be something really subtle.

00:18:37.110 --> 00:18:42.790
I I've known a lot of people that the readiness looked like really bottoming out.

00:18:42.950 --> 00:18:48.150
I mean, hitting rock bottom where there was no other place to go but up.

00:18:49.190 --> 00:18:53.269
For me, it came as a complete surprise.

00:18:53.430 --> 00:19:03.350
You know, I I was 29 years old, and a a boyfriend's friend that I never met in real life, we would talk to him on phone.

00:19:03.430 --> 00:19:06.470
He was on the other side of the world, but we would talk to him on the phone.

00:19:06.630 --> 00:19:09.830
He said, Oh, I've just done this really cool thing and it's coming to your city.

00:19:09.910 --> 00:19:10.550
You should do it.

00:19:10.710 --> 00:19:13.190
Well, it was a personal growth workshop.

00:19:13.590 --> 00:19:16.230
And he just talked about how fun and how cool it was.

00:19:16.310 --> 00:19:17.830
And we were like, Okay, we're all in.

00:19:17.910 --> 00:19:25.190
We didn't do any research, we didn't, we just signed up and showed up without knowing what to expect.

00:19:25.350 --> 00:19:29.430
And it it didn't have as profound an effect on the boyfriend of the time.

00:19:29.590 --> 00:19:36.630
It cracked me wide open and made me realize that I had just experienced something that I wasn't really even sure what it was.

00:19:36.710 --> 00:19:38.310
I just knew I wanted more.

00:19:38.870 --> 00:19:44.070
And that was where my moment of I'm ready.

00:19:44.310 --> 00:19:48.870
And and it, yeah, I didn't even know what I was ready for.

00:19:49.029 --> 00:19:52.070
I just knew that I wanted more of what I just experienced.

00:19:52.230 --> 00:20:02.150
And I've spent my life reading books and doing seminars and trainings and coaches and therapists, and you name it.

00:20:03.750 --> 00:20:07.670
But it can look a lot of get being ready can look a lot of different ways.

00:20:08.710 --> 00:20:10.150
Yeah, absolutely.

00:20:10.390 --> 00:20:10.870
Yeah.

00:20:11.509 --> 00:20:15.350
And many times it is that rock bottom that you mentioned.

00:20:15.430 --> 00:20:25.430
That's generally what I see is the rock bottom to mean alcoholism or drug abuse or divorce or you know, losses.

00:20:26.070 --> 00:20:37.990
But um, but you're right in the sense that sometimes it's just this desire and need, this desire to want to be better, regardless of where a person is in their life.

00:20:38.230 --> 00:20:44.630
And what I tell people is that you're allowed to reinvent yourself many times in your lives.

00:20:44.790 --> 00:20:46.630
It doesn't have to be once.

00:20:47.110 --> 00:20:58.950
It's kind of like when you see electric poles on a street, each pole is connected with wires, one pole connects to another, and the energy continues to transfer.

00:20:59.350 --> 00:21:04.870
It's kind of like that, where one pole can stand as a version of you that you were.

00:21:05.029 --> 00:21:13.910
There's another version that connects, there's another version, and each version is your reinvention, and you're allowed to do that as many times as you want to.

00:21:15.670 --> 00:21:16.710
That's beautiful.

00:21:17.029 --> 00:21:17.990
That is beautiful.

00:21:18.150 --> 00:21:29.509
You know, I I think that probably the best kept secret in our world, and I don't know why it's a secret, but probably because when you say it, people don't necessarily believe.

00:21:29.750 --> 00:21:36.950
But I have come to believe that the key to everything we want in life, it doesn't matter what it is.

00:21:37.190 --> 00:21:42.470
The key to that will be found in our relationship with ourselves.

00:21:43.350 --> 00:21:54.070
Anything you want to be better, whether it's your own, your your external relationships with other people, your relationship with your job, your relationship with your family.

00:21:54.230 --> 00:21:55.990
It doesn't matter what it is.

00:21:56.230 --> 00:22:00.390
The only way you can get there is via your relationship with yourself.

00:22:00.630 --> 00:22:05.910
And it's it's not rocket science, but it's it's the final frontier.

00:22:06.310 --> 00:22:07.990
It's the the last place.

00:22:08.470 --> 00:22:09.910
I mean, we were laughing about it.

00:22:10.070 --> 00:22:18.470
We were at Creative Mornings this morning, and somebody said, I said, they were talking about, you know, the final frontier, the last thing.

00:22:18.550 --> 00:22:22.390
And I said, you know, Star Trek told us that space was the final frontier.

00:22:22.550 --> 00:22:23.590
I don't believe that.

00:22:23.830 --> 00:22:26.390
I believe in here is the final frontier.

00:22:26.550 --> 00:22:32.630
And we started laughing because one person said, you know, most people would go to the moon before they would go within.

00:22:34.790 --> 00:22:49.350
Yes, yes, because that void, if if there's a void inside, people sometimes try to fill it with other things, buying things, you know, um materialistic things, just fill, fill, fill, fill.

00:22:50.070 --> 00:22:55.509
So external validation on social media has become big.

00:22:55.910 --> 00:22:56.550
Wow.

00:22:57.190 --> 00:22:57.830
Yeah.

00:22:58.230 --> 00:23:02.390
I I tell people there's no one that can fill that void except yourself.

00:23:02.550 --> 00:23:12.230
And that's where you need to do that self-discovery and finding yourself, because that void will will remain empty until you fill it with you, yourself.

00:23:12.550 --> 00:23:14.470
And and it's a bottomless pit.

00:23:15.430 --> 00:23:19.590
And until you the only thing you're you're right, the only thing you can fill it with is you.

00:23:19.990 --> 00:23:21.029
Yeah, yeah.

00:23:21.269 --> 00:23:28.230
And what people see is the external is kind of like the iceberg on top of uh an ocean.

00:23:28.390 --> 00:23:34.550
People see the external, how you look, how you how you you know walk or whatever it is.

00:23:34.710 --> 00:23:38.070
But there's so much underneath the iceberg, underneath the water.

00:23:38.230 --> 00:23:39.430
And that's everything.

00:23:39.590 --> 00:23:46.470
Your your values, your belief systems, your your culture, whatever makes you you.

00:23:46.630 --> 00:23:48.470
It's underneath the surface.

00:23:48.790 --> 00:23:55.190
But in order to feel and understand yourself, you need to understand all aspects of yourself.

00:23:56.710 --> 00:24:04.070
And not a uh a lot of people don't like sitting with uh what it is to do that exploration.

00:24:05.430 --> 00:24:10.230
Well, it's it's a little it's a little scary, it's a little hard for some people.

00:24:11.029 --> 00:24:29.990
It is, it's a challenge, and many times people have to let go of things that they no longer uh that no longer serve them, such as there may be some generational curses that we talk about, or some old ways of thinking or superstitions that families believed in.

00:24:30.230 --> 00:24:35.990
A lot of times when people are uncovering and doing the inner work, they're letting go of things, and that's hard too.

00:24:36.150 --> 00:24:39.190
And a lot of times people have to let go of relationships.

00:24:39.590 --> 00:24:43.029
That's a challenge too, close-knit relationships.

00:24:43.670 --> 00:25:04.470
So that's Sabrina, let's steer back to because what you're sharing with us now is what I'm what I'm getting is that this was the journey to get you to that second passion, to get you back in touch with that part of yourself that loves fashion, loves glamour, loves design.

00:25:06.710 --> 00:25:11.750
What part of your life was that in when you really started to head back in that direction?

00:25:12.310 --> 00:25:18.390
Were you a teenager still, or were you a fully, I guess you were a fully a full adult because you'd been in the field for a while?

00:25:18.710 --> 00:25:29.830
Well, I would say the passion for fashion probably started when I was seven years old because I have photos of myself wearing lipstick and heels and carrying purses.

00:25:29.990 --> 00:25:34.870
I was always one of those little glamour girls, just by by nature.

00:25:35.029 --> 00:25:38.150
I I'm pretty sure I was I was born that way.

00:25:38.470 --> 00:25:40.310
So it had always been there.

00:25:40.470 --> 00:25:50.310
But what's so ironic is that throughout my journey in my educational uh and my career, there was, I couldn't suppress that side of me.

00:25:50.470 --> 00:26:05.110
So I was always showing up 100% fully glamorous at just general dinners and general activities where there was happy hour and I would be my fullest version of my glamour self.

00:26:05.269 --> 00:26:08.070
And at some time, at some times it didn't quite fit in.

00:26:08.230 --> 00:26:10.230
Well, most times I didn't fit in.

00:26:10.390 --> 00:26:17.830
People would say, you look like you're going to a gala or you're, you know, you look like you're you're going to a ball or something like that.

00:26:17.990 --> 00:26:22.150
But I it was very difficult for me to suppress that side of myself.

00:26:22.310 --> 00:26:34.870
And I tried, I tried, but no matter what I did, there was always this, this, this intensity of that world that I wanted to just live every single day of my life to this day.

00:26:35.190 --> 00:26:53.750
So I I continued to kind of have it on the background, but I lived it out through just looking at others, through looking at magazines and admiring models and just kind of visualizing those things and um, you know, purchasing things and doing interior design, but I just couldn't take it outside.

00:26:53.830 --> 00:26:56.790
I couldn't take it out because I just felt like I couldn't.

00:26:56.950 --> 00:27:01.029
I felt like I had this career, I have this title, there's a barrier.

00:27:01.110 --> 00:27:02.310
What will people think?

00:27:02.550 --> 00:27:05.190
And most of all, what will my family think?

00:27:06.310 --> 00:27:13.830
So, you know, and then so obviously I had to get past those things because everybody thought I was losing my mind.

00:27:15.590 --> 00:27:18.070
People would say you're fine where you are.

00:27:18.230 --> 00:27:24.950
You have your career, you have your your safe space, you have what you've worked so hard for.

00:27:25.110 --> 00:27:26.310
So, what is all this?

00:27:26.390 --> 00:27:29.350
Is this your midlife crisis or what is it?

00:27:29.590 --> 00:27:41.910
And I said, Well, this is that side of my brain, the creativity that I suppressed for so long because of what I thought everybody else would think, the society's version of how I should be.

00:27:42.150 --> 00:27:48.870
So once I came out and started to live this out, I started to feel whole again.

00:27:49.029 --> 00:27:53.590
I started to feel complete and that the passion was finally out.

00:27:54.870 --> 00:27:59.830
Yeah, I think you just need to bitch slap that person that asked you if you were having a midlife crisis.

00:27:59.990 --> 00:28:02.470
Please, you're nowhere near midlife.

00:28:03.830 --> 00:28:05.110
It's getting close.

00:28:06.630 --> 00:28:13.269
But I think it's that that you know, we we can we have that that one that midlife crisis.

00:28:13.350 --> 00:28:15.190
I don't think it's a one-time deal.

00:28:15.350 --> 00:28:27.029
I think it happens at certain times, but it's not really a crisis, it's that moment where we feel that we need to reinvent, we reflect, we understand, we look at the past, the present, the future.

00:28:27.190 --> 00:28:28.870
So it's it's a it's a good moment.

00:28:29.590 --> 00:28:30.870
It's kind of a hurdle, isn't it?

00:28:31.029 --> 00:28:42.550
It's something where you it I think it's different for every person because it was it didn't show up for me anything like most people describe, but it was definitely an awakening.

00:28:42.710 --> 00:28:49.670
It it was it was stepping through the veil to the next level, yeah, and and everything changed.

00:28:49.910 --> 00:28:51.269
Everything changed.

00:28:51.590 --> 00:28:53.910
Yeah, the reinvention started.

00:28:54.230 --> 00:28:56.150
Yes, yeah, yeah.

00:28:56.470 --> 00:28:57.110
Yes.

00:28:57.590 --> 00:29:03.110
So when did you come out of the closet with your design?

00:29:03.590 --> 00:29:06.310
Yeah, I would say that was during the pandemic.

00:29:06.470 --> 00:29:14.550
I I authentically went through the whole process of learning about this business, reading, doing research.

00:29:14.710 --> 00:29:20.950
I wanted to do it right because I felt like I I was investing in that passion.

00:29:21.350 --> 00:29:24.710
And it was it was an investment in myself too.

00:29:24.950 --> 00:29:31.430
So I started to do a lot of research on trademarks and patents and how to organize the business.

00:29:31.590 --> 00:29:37.590
So I just sat down and started the structural process on pen and paper.

00:29:37.830 --> 00:29:42.470
And then I slowly started to understand how to develop these designs.

00:29:42.630 --> 00:29:53.750
And we have things that are, you know, actual drawings called tech packs and measurements, and took classes, sewing classes, measuring classes.

00:29:53.910 --> 00:29:55.350
I started to do that.

00:29:55.590 --> 00:30:03.750
And um, during my own time, my evening hours next to the candlelight, I learned about the process.

00:30:03.990 --> 00:30:14.150
And then I just uh going out networking was a big deal because that's when I met people that were actually doing this and pursuing this type of business.

00:30:14.310 --> 00:30:21.910
And I received a lot of guidance, a lot of um comfort and support as well, that I can go at my own pace.

00:30:22.070 --> 00:30:23.750
It doesn't have to be where suddenly I'm.

00:30:24.230 --> 00:30:31.509
One of the biggest designers in the world, that it's something that you just kind of do at your own pace, whatever feels right to you.

00:30:31.830 --> 00:30:36.630
Well, it sounds like you really put in the work to make sure that it was done right.

00:30:37.350 --> 00:30:42.230
And uh it sounds like you found your people, you found your community.

00:30:42.550 --> 00:30:49.750
Um did you have some uh some victories along the way that spurred you on, or how'd that work out?

00:30:50.070 --> 00:30:50.950
Yes, yes.

00:30:51.110 --> 00:31:10.310
So the number one thing is finding my people because I, in the work that I was doing in the clinic and with telehealth, I'm serving others, but I didn't have a network of friends, I didn't have colleagues, I didn't see my people, I didn't know where they were.

00:31:11.430 --> 00:31:14.790
You know, the suburban life is pretty quiet out here.

00:31:14.950 --> 00:31:30.310
So, you know, and I just didn't know like how how can I find my people, but it really took a trip to Dallas getting in my car for a fashion show and just driving 45 miles to get to the show.

00:31:30.470 --> 00:31:33.830
And it was it was kind of like the epiphany where I found my people.

00:31:33.990 --> 00:31:36.550
I was like, they exist, they're here.

00:31:37.350 --> 00:31:46.550
And so I started to take photos of people and started, and believe it or not, I didn't have a social media account until until 2023.

00:31:46.870 --> 00:31:50.790
So I I didn't even know what social media was about.

00:31:50.950 --> 00:31:55.670
I didn't make any posts or anything because there was no need for it prior to that.

00:31:55.830 --> 00:32:04.630
But that's when I started to to um network with people and understand how to create a collective, a little community for myself.

00:32:04.870 --> 00:32:09.509
And I started to to look at what other people were doing as well and where they were going.

00:32:09.670 --> 00:32:12.070
And it was it was eye-opening.

00:32:12.550 --> 00:32:26.310
And so that's um as far as moments, I got invited, not only invited to fashion shows, but big events and gallas and balls, and then uh opportunities to exhibit my designs in a fashion show.

00:32:26.470 --> 00:32:38.150
So I've done plenty of little uh fashion shows in the local region, but then uh just recently I was invited to Austin Fashion Week, and that was more of a reassurance.

00:32:38.310 --> 00:32:52.470
It was reassurance that things are working out, things are going in the right path, that um as long as I'm continuing to pursue this passion, things are just starting to come together, sort of magical.

00:32:54.230 --> 00:32:58.230
You know, I I love the way you are talking about community.

00:32:58.390 --> 00:33:01.509
I mean, this is part of our platform as well.

00:33:01.830 --> 00:33:07.910
And we personally believe that community is just like ultimately important.

00:33:08.070 --> 00:33:12.710
It's it's not a nice to have, it's a it's a necessity.

00:33:12.870 --> 00:33:24.470
If if you're going to experience growth and fulfillment and success, you've got to be plugged into community because life just doesn't happen solo.

00:33:25.509 --> 00:33:36.870
And and yet we meet and talk to so many uh creatives that are isolated and solo.

00:33:37.430 --> 00:33:56.790
And and you know, a big part of why we have these conversations on this podcast is trying to light illuminate that, to let people who are in isolation and doing the solo thing see that it's not the most effective way to be successful as a creative.

00:33:56.950 --> 00:34:00.150
It doesn't matter what your form of creativity is.

00:34:00.630 --> 00:34:04.390
And somebody says, Well, I'm a writer, I can't write in a group.

00:34:04.630 --> 00:34:21.509
Well, no, maybe you can't, but you know, there's stories of a variety of writers that would convene every year with Ernest Hemingway in some one of the places in New England where they would hang out for a week or two and all write together.

00:34:22.230 --> 00:34:46.869
It doesn't mean you've got to be in a room full of people that are all painting, but maybe you're in the room with those people when you're not painting, but you're talking about your painting and your art and your art business and and how you connect with uh art collectors, D, all the above, everything that we need in life, you can get through the resource called other people.

00:34:47.349 --> 00:34:47.670
Yeah.

00:34:47.909 --> 00:34:52.309
I'm on a soapbox because I I feel so adamant about this.

00:34:52.549 --> 00:34:56.629
And your your story clearly depicts that.

00:34:56.949 --> 00:35:06.309
So, what were some specific wins that you've had that you wouldn't have had if it hadn't been for the people in your community?

00:35:06.469 --> 00:35:12.629
Maybe, well, you you said you got invited to show your work.

00:35:13.029 --> 00:35:21.190
That came from somebody that you met at some community function that saw a glimpse of your work and went, oh my God.

00:35:22.869 --> 00:35:34.629
Let's go a little more granular and talk about a specific thing where it just that connection to another person who had resources put you on the face of the design map.

00:35:34.949 --> 00:35:35.989
Yes, yes.

00:35:36.149 --> 00:35:41.509
I would say uh the number one thing which is on your cabinet is authentic.

00:35:41.750 --> 00:35:42.949
Being authentic.

00:35:43.109 --> 00:35:47.670
When I went out into the community, I just I was myself.

00:35:48.069 --> 00:35:51.029
I didn't uh pretend to be anybody else.

00:35:51.269 --> 00:35:54.629
I was just my normal quirky self out in the community.

00:35:54.789 --> 00:36:07.909
And so I think people started to just become attracted to me and felt comfortable around me and that it was safe to talk to me uh just because I I just portrayed myself as I am.

00:36:08.149 --> 00:36:12.629
So the right type of people started to network and communicate with me.

00:36:12.789 --> 00:36:27.750
But I'll tell you one thing when you were talking about the writer, is that it takes effort, it takes overcoming some of our own anxieties and our social anxiety of what will people think if I approach them and talk to them?

00:36:27.989 --> 00:36:37.349
Or, you know, the self-doubts that we have that, you know, people might think we're weird, or our own inner talk that we just talk to ourselves.

00:36:37.509 --> 00:36:39.829
And then that isolates people even more.

00:36:39.989 --> 00:36:49.829
Then people just may go somewhere and they may just not talk to people because there's some anxiety about things that they in their own head that they've created.

00:36:50.069 --> 00:36:53.349
And so I I had some of those anxieties too.

00:36:53.589 --> 00:37:11.670
I thought, well, what if people look at me like um like uh imposter, the imposter syndrome, that I'm not really who I say I am, that maybe I'm just out here just you know, exploring this field of fashion and that I haven't done the work.

00:37:12.069 --> 00:37:18.949
Even if it's that, it was my own self-doubt that I needed to get over and tell myself, I'm I'm not an imposter.

00:37:19.109 --> 00:37:21.190
This is something that I'm interested in.

00:37:21.349 --> 00:37:32.629
And until I take the steps to start talking to people about what I'm doing and you know, let go of all the barriers and the biases that I'm creating in my own head.

00:37:32.789 --> 00:37:34.869
I'm probably not going to get anywhere.

00:37:35.029 --> 00:37:43.190
I'm probably going to be isolated in my own office at home and just doing this solo work, which is not the purpose.

00:37:43.429 --> 00:37:47.989
When you're a creative, it's about sharing your work with the outside world.

00:37:48.149 --> 00:37:49.829
It's about letting it out.

00:37:49.989 --> 00:37:56.069
It's about this, the whole journey of creatives is to share your gift with the world.

00:37:56.389 --> 00:37:59.190
It's about putting yourself out there.

00:37:59.750 --> 00:38:00.149
Yes.

00:38:00.549 --> 00:38:06.230
Yeah, there's an argument to be made that art isn't art until it's shared.

00:38:06.549 --> 00:38:06.949
Yeah.

00:38:07.829 --> 00:38:10.389
I I want to rewind for a second, Sabrina.

00:38:10.469 --> 00:38:14.549
You said something that I kind of want to do a disclaimer for the listeners.

00:38:14.869 --> 00:38:17.509
You mentioned meeting the right people.

00:38:18.549 --> 00:38:22.710
And I I just I think I know what you meant.

00:38:22.869 --> 00:38:30.549
I and I want to clarify, I don't think you meant, you know, the right people, that whole uppity snobby thing that people do, you know.

00:38:30.869 --> 00:38:34.230
The right people were about people that you resonated with.

00:38:34.469 --> 00:38:40.949
Correct me if I'm wrong, you know, and that you saw that you had something in common where you could benefit each other.

00:38:41.269 --> 00:38:42.949
You could help them, they could help you.

00:38:43.029 --> 00:38:48.949
There was this collaborative energy to move your careers, your businesses forward.

00:38:49.190 --> 00:38:53.829
I just want to put that out there that that's what what we mean when we say the right people.

00:38:53.909 --> 00:38:57.829
We're not, you know, that that that can have a whole other meaning.

00:38:57.909 --> 00:39:00.949
And I just wanted to make sure that the listeners got that.

00:39:01.269 --> 00:39:01.429
Yeah.

00:39:01.670 --> 00:39:12.230
The right people is what we said, your people, your community where you fit in, that share a common purpose, a common value, and a common goals.

00:39:12.389 --> 00:39:17.750
So it's then the right people are either you there's a fashion community or it could be the automotive community.

00:39:17.909 --> 00:39:26.069
For some people, their right people will be in the automotive community if their passion is in automobiles, that kind of thing.

00:39:26.309 --> 00:39:30.869
You know, I always say the right people are the ones that want to just come and sit next to me.

00:39:31.109 --> 00:39:31.989
Yeah, yeah.

00:39:32.149 --> 00:39:36.069
You know, authenticity is a polarizer.

00:39:36.230 --> 00:39:42.469
The more authentic you are, the more it draws the right people to you, and the more it sends the wrong people screaming and running.

00:39:43.109 --> 00:39:43.989
Yeah, yeah.

00:39:44.230 --> 00:39:50.869
And they may have their own type of people that appeal to them and their values and and belief systems and things like that.

00:39:51.190 --> 00:39:52.710
And that's okay.

00:39:53.349 --> 00:39:53.670
Yeah.

00:39:53.829 --> 00:39:56.789
Well, and and authenticity can free you as well.

00:39:57.029 --> 00:40:11.750
I mean, the to to get more at what you were talking about, if you tried so hard to be something that you're not, I mean, to the point that you actually own it, like that mask has is complete.

00:40:12.389 --> 00:40:18.389
Well, you may start attracting some people, but they're not your people.

00:40:18.629 --> 00:40:24.389
And there's a point where you won't you won't be able to sustain it, nor will you want to.

00:40:25.509 --> 00:40:28.309
Nor will it feel fulfilling, you know.

00:40:28.549 --> 00:40:37.909
It kind of widens the void inside, you know, because you just feel like it's not nourishing you, it's not nourishing your growth.

00:40:38.149 --> 00:40:41.109
And then there are the feelings of emptiness and isolation.

00:40:41.190 --> 00:40:44.389
Then people don't pursue things that they're passionate about.

00:40:44.789 --> 00:40:59.909
But um, that reminds me that, like when in the field that I was work that I'm working in, I'm sort of like this authority figure with this title, and I'm, you know, I'm like this, you know, professional person.

00:41:00.469 --> 00:41:03.909
But then this other side of me is completely different.

00:41:04.069 --> 00:41:05.670
That guard comes down.

00:41:05.909 --> 00:41:10.389
I'm quirky, I like laughing and enjoying myself.

00:41:10.549 --> 00:41:17.589
But it's that sometimes society has a certain view of how they they see somebody, you know.

00:41:17.909 --> 00:41:25.109
So I had to learn to become and and live out myself as I am, the authentic part of me.

00:41:26.069 --> 00:41:47.269
So, Sabrina, as you do that, as as your design and the people that you have met through the design industry and all have allowed you to really lean into just being yourself, how has that affected the you that you take into the mental health?

00:41:47.509 --> 00:41:48.869
Has it had an effect?

00:41:49.029 --> 00:42:03.269
Have you have you found yourself starting to let go of a little bit of the, you know, the professional mask and show your coworkers a little bit of your quirkiness and some of the the more real you?

00:42:03.429 --> 00:42:13.190
Or do you feel like it it you just can't do that and you have to maintain that very different you?

00:42:13.909 --> 00:42:23.029
Well, I would say it's made me a better person overall in every aspect of my life to live my authentic self and be myself.

00:42:23.349 --> 00:42:27.269
So my clients, uh, a lot of them already see that in me.

00:42:27.429 --> 00:42:41.190
And so they've been my clients for almost a decade because they keep coming back for that human factor, where it's not about a diagnosis or a label or a medication, it's about them and who they are.

00:42:41.429 --> 00:42:51.429
And so we talk about stories, we talk about the inner inner side of what's going on, and that is the reason they continue to come back, the human experience.

00:42:51.670 --> 00:43:03.269
And I think no matter what anybody does for a living, whether they're in tech or healthcare or whatever, we can't forget that there's a human experience happening with everything that we're doing.

00:43:04.389 --> 00:43:05.989
Say it again for the people in the back.

00:43:06.230 --> 00:43:13.989
Yeah, say that again for the people in the back because the the medical profession needs to have that screamed at them.

00:43:14.309 --> 00:43:15.109
Yeah, yes.

00:43:15.349 --> 00:43:23.029
I mean, I'm at a point in my life where in spite of the fact that I'm really, really healthy, I I go to more doctors than I prefer to.

00:43:23.109 --> 00:43:33.109
And most of that is to remain healthy, most of it's um preventative maintenance, as they say, getting your car fixed before it breaks down.

00:43:33.509 --> 00:43:45.109
Um, but I certainly am in enough arenas where wow, that what you're describing is gone.

00:43:45.509 --> 00:43:49.029
You are a file folder with a name on it and a number.

00:43:49.269 --> 00:43:55.589
You're a number sitting out in the waiting room next, and they're just herding you through like cattle.

00:43:55.909 --> 00:43:57.109
Oh, Lord.

00:43:57.429 --> 00:44:00.629
Uh and I fight tooth and nail to avoid that.

00:44:00.949 --> 00:44:07.349
So I'm one person out there that'll always say, my client is my number one priority.

00:44:07.509 --> 00:44:11.589
However long they need me, that's how long they need me at that moment.

00:44:11.829 --> 00:44:19.750
And I don't, I, I, I don't really, of course, I follow all the rules and regulations, but my client will never get the backseat.

00:44:19.909 --> 00:44:24.949
When my client comes to see me, they're my number one priority.

00:44:25.109 --> 00:44:32.710
And so I have I have been that way for a very long time, and I'll continue to be that way because this is what I believe in.

00:44:32.869 --> 00:44:35.349
It's my the inside of my core.

00:44:35.589 --> 00:44:43.349
You know, it's it's that human experience and and people, they're my number one, my number one priority.

00:44:43.429 --> 00:44:44.949
I've never put that on the backseat.

00:44:45.269 --> 00:44:46.789
It has always been my philosophy.

00:44:46.869 --> 00:44:51.109
Now I wasn't in healthcare, I was a beauty professional for 40 years.

00:44:51.509 --> 00:44:56.789
But my clients absolutely came first above everything.

00:44:57.269 --> 00:45:04.069
And I treated them like family, and many of my clients were with me for 10, 20, 30 years.

00:45:04.710 --> 00:45:06.389
Yes, yes.

00:45:06.629 --> 00:45:11.750
And that says a lot about you, you know, and that, yeah, yeah.

00:45:11.989 --> 00:45:14.230
And that's fulfilling.

00:45:14.549 --> 00:45:16.230
That's what it's about.

00:45:17.109 --> 00:45:18.230
Immensely filling.

00:45:18.309 --> 00:45:19.349
I can't fulfilling.

00:45:19.429 --> 00:45:32.629
I I was having dinner with a former client last night, talking, re reminiscing and talking about my experience and how how blessed I feel to have been able to do something that I loved for 40 years.

00:45:33.589 --> 00:45:34.309
Blessing.

00:45:34.469 --> 00:45:34.949
Yes.

00:45:35.109 --> 00:45:36.069
And now this.

00:45:36.389 --> 00:45:42.469
And then and then blessed to finally be able to lay it down and be done with it, to move on to the next chapter.

00:45:42.789 --> 00:45:46.789
Yes, as a different version of you, but you learned from all of that.

00:45:46.949 --> 00:45:53.190
Oh, it connects you, the next version of you, which will connect you to the next version.

00:45:53.429 --> 00:45:59.429
And that's I I think I think I'm in a a little bit of a transition right now.

00:45:59.989 --> 00:46:02.230
That that new version is emerging.

00:46:02.469 --> 00:46:04.869
It's emerging, and I would say embrace that.

00:46:05.029 --> 00:46:05.750
Embrace that.

00:46:05.909 --> 00:46:08.549
When you have that feeling, just embrace it.

00:46:08.629 --> 00:46:10.869
And it's the greatest feeling, honestly.

00:46:11.109 --> 00:46:19.190
Could be some challenges, but it's the greatest feeling once you start to uncover some things about yourself that you're learning the new you.

00:46:19.829 --> 00:46:26.309
Well, and I'm I'm really blessed to have this little brown man right over here who supports me in every way.

00:46:27.190 --> 00:46:28.629
Yes, yes.

00:46:28.869 --> 00:46:38.230
There's nothing like having a support system and somebody that believes in you, and that's somebody who's there for you for every version of you.

00:46:38.629 --> 00:46:39.829
Yes, old in.

00:46:41.429 --> 00:46:49.429
Well, I'd love to hear a little bit more about your some specific things about your designs.

00:46:49.750 --> 00:46:58.629
I I kind of want to know what came to me when you were talking about the designs earlier was you made mention of drawings.

00:46:58.949 --> 00:47:07.589
Do you still design on paper with pencil, or you haven't switched to the graphic design on computer screens?

00:47:08.069 --> 00:47:14.629
No, I haven't because that's too expensive for me to buy all that software to do all those things.

00:47:14.789 --> 00:47:16.469
I'm a pen and paper person.

00:47:16.629 --> 00:47:19.989
I've all grew up in the 90s pen and paper drawings.

00:47:20.230 --> 00:47:23.750
So I still draw my designs and do my measurements.

00:47:23.909 --> 00:47:25.670
But I will say I have help.

00:47:25.829 --> 00:47:32.230
So, in order to get everything as sophisticated and tailored, I get help from seamstresses.

00:47:32.469 --> 00:47:35.589
So I get help to do some of the heavy work.

00:47:35.909 --> 00:47:38.789
Okay, Sabrina, million-dollar question.

00:47:39.029 --> 00:47:47.109
If money were no object and you could afford all of those big computers and programs and things, what do you think?

00:47:48.629 --> 00:48:02.389
Well, for you, it's going to be different for every person, but for Hugh, even if you could have all those, I kind of am having this sense that you would draw because there's there's something lost in the commute computer screen.

00:48:02.869 --> 00:48:03.909
I will draw.

00:48:04.069 --> 00:48:06.230
I still have about three or four journals.

00:48:06.389 --> 00:48:07.349
I still write.

00:48:07.589 --> 00:48:15.909
For example, like even when it comes to journaling, there's apps, there's people that can journal into phones and just I like writing.

00:48:15.989 --> 00:48:21.029
There's a power to the pen and the paper that I think is a lost art.

00:48:21.670 --> 00:48:22.710
Well, you're you're not wrong.

00:48:23.190 --> 00:48:23.829
You're not wrong.

00:48:23.989 --> 00:48:44.309
I I was reminded that there um were several notes from the late Steve Jobs that were lost because they were in there were several computers ago and they were just locked in that digital no man's land.

00:48:44.869 --> 00:48:51.429
Whereas in contrast, we can read the notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci.

00:48:52.789 --> 00:48:54.309
Any person can.

00:48:54.469 --> 00:49:00.230
When those are uncovered, they're there for you to read because he left that record.

00:49:00.710 --> 00:49:01.190
Yep.

00:49:01.429 --> 00:49:02.230
Yeah, yeah.

00:49:02.549 --> 00:49:06.549
So, Sabrina, what is your favorite thing to design in the way of clothing?

00:49:06.710 --> 00:49:15.109
I mean, it could be anywhere from underwear to lingerie to swimsuits to evening wear, but what is the thing you love to draw most?

00:49:15.750 --> 00:49:23.589
The most it's uh business wear for, you know, like tuxedo dresses and things like what I'm wearing now.

00:49:23.829 --> 00:49:33.109
It's combining some masculine, uh masculinity, which is the ties that men wear to feminine clothing.

00:49:33.429 --> 00:49:52.309
So that's that's the key of what sets my designs apart from everything else out there is that I'm combining masculine and feminine, and some things that we don't generally see on women, such as ties, I'm combining that fabric into the collars of most of the I love that.

00:49:52.549 --> 00:50:07.109
Yeah, so that women can and and and men can have the the this um enmeshment of who we are as humans, that one thing such as ties is not just for men, it can be for women as well.

00:50:07.269 --> 00:50:14.230
So these are actual silk materials that I'm putting, having the seamstresses put into my suit dresses for now.

00:50:14.549 --> 00:50:32.309
I think what you're doing is very symbolic, and maybe you did this on purpose or maybe not, but I have done my share share of studying feminine energy versus masculine energy, not male versus female, feminine versus masculine.

00:50:32.629 --> 00:50:44.389
And I I clearly understand now that our greatest strength and and humanity will will not be whole until we integrate those two energies.

00:50:45.349 --> 00:51:04.069
Our real strength comes from when we create balance by utilizing both energies, feminine and masculine, because in any given moment you get to choose which energy you draw on, given the situation that you're in.

00:51:04.309 --> 00:51:11.589
And you're creating clothing that is the symbol of integrating those energies.

00:51:11.909 --> 00:51:13.829
I love that.

00:51:14.230 --> 00:51:19.190
Now, the bottom of that is that is that a onesie, or is it is it a dress?

00:51:19.349 --> 00:51:20.230
It's a dress.

00:51:20.469 --> 00:51:30.869
Okay, I love it, but that could have just as easily been a fabulous pantsuit, what like a a one-piece um coverall, basically.

00:51:31.269 --> 00:51:31.750
Yes.

00:51:32.069 --> 00:51:45.429
So I wanted to um add on to that masculine and feminine, that when I throughout my just career and my life, when I saw men in power, I saw men wearing ties.

00:51:46.069 --> 00:51:56.230
So whether they were in the White House or whether it was just a CEO of a company, the way that men dressed with ties, I found that to be a powerful symbol.

00:51:56.309 --> 00:51:59.829
And this goes back decades, ever since I was a young child.

00:52:00.069 --> 00:52:02.629
So the tie was fascinating to me.

00:52:02.789 --> 00:52:07.269
And so I would put on my father's ties when no one was looking.

00:52:07.429 --> 00:52:12.789
I would put them around my neck just to feel that power, power of a tie.

00:52:13.109 --> 00:52:20.149
But it's something that is still, even in today's society, um, more geared toward masculine figures.

00:52:20.309 --> 00:52:24.069
Women don't wear ties, but there was this this the fabric.

00:52:24.230 --> 00:52:28.549
I would touch the fabric, I would feel the fabrics, I would put them around my neck.

00:52:28.710 --> 00:52:32.309
I would try, I looked up videos on how to tie ties.

00:52:32.789 --> 00:52:36.389
So I had this fascination of the power aspect of ties.

00:52:36.949 --> 00:52:43.750
And when I started to design, I knew immediately what I wanted to design right off the bat.

00:52:43.989 --> 00:52:50.549
It was combining that tie material so it can be around my neck and I can feel that.

00:52:50.789 --> 00:53:05.429
And then obviously the the rest of the garment itself, but still, like even when I'm touching this, to me, that that that's a lot of like masculine energy power, it stands for something, it's a symbol.

00:53:06.469 --> 00:53:08.309
I like that a lot.

00:53:08.629 --> 00:53:16.069
You know, I think that I thought I I was a wardrobe consultant way back there and early in my career.

00:53:16.469 --> 00:53:26.149
And I realized that um what we wear plays a big role in our energetic presence and how we show up in the world.

00:53:27.029 --> 00:53:38.549
And part of our authenticity and our power is dressing in a manner that exemplifies and expresses who we are on the inside.

00:53:39.829 --> 00:53:57.670
And it's it's very, very powerful when you put on the right clothing that really you really resonate with and you you feel that expression, it it brings you forth in a manner that you're not present without that attire.

00:53:57.829 --> 00:54:01.269
Clothing is way more power powerful than most people realize.

00:54:01.429 --> 00:54:08.069
Hairstyles, makeup, shoes, jewelry, it's all very, very powerful.

00:54:08.230 --> 00:54:37.349
And it can completely sabotage you and it can completely um like make you yeah, and it's it's interesting though the way that you um just drawing on on what you said, I'm I'm made to think back to a time in my life from 1998 to 2002 when uh I had my clothing choices uh prescribed.

00:54:37.589 --> 00:54:45.829
Like I um I was enlisted uh in the army and we had specific uniforms.

00:54:46.710 --> 00:54:52.469
We we did not have uh choices in how it was that we appeared.

00:54:52.549 --> 00:55:03.429
Uh and the uh the appearance was actually uh codified in I don't know I can still remember, Army Regulation uh 650-1.

00:55:04.629 --> 00:55:37.029
And it just it described exactly how it was that uh that you were supposed to look, the length of your hair, the length of your nails, uh the um way that garments could uh garments could lay uh against um you know certain hem lines and uh the sleeve length and uh each each of the uniforms had laid out in detail exactly how they had to look.

00:55:37.190 --> 00:55:50.069
And mind you, uh this was to accommodate all of the the variances in body type that you might encounter because you uh the the army is vast and large.

00:55:50.230 --> 00:55:54.309
Uh uh everyone had to adhere to these standards.

00:55:55.909 --> 00:56:01.349
And you you have very little room to express, very little room to have choice.

00:56:01.750 --> 00:56:06.869
And as you know, the the intake process for that, they they take that to the nth degree.

00:56:07.029 --> 00:56:09.509
All of the men have their heads shaved.

00:56:09.909 --> 00:56:15.909
And you know, the the grooming and appearance standards for women are are pretty uh prohibitive.

00:56:15.989 --> 00:56:19.349
They want everyone to look as much as possible the same.

00:56:19.909 --> 00:56:21.589
Well, they're removing all identity.

00:56:21.670 --> 00:56:26.230
I think that's what the school sisters have done in having kids wear uniforms to school.

00:56:26.309 --> 00:56:31.429
They want to remove the identity part of it, uh, which I have mixed emotions about.

00:56:32.869 --> 00:56:33.509
Yeah.

00:56:33.750 --> 00:56:34.149
Yeah.

00:56:34.309 --> 00:56:40.710
And so, like, do I when you first received the uniform, how did it feel?

00:56:41.269 --> 00:56:43.029
I mean, I'm just curious.

00:56:43.909 --> 00:56:46.789
You were given this uniform to put this on now.00:56:47.190 --> 00:56:48.149


Oh my goodness.00:56:48.309 --> 00:56:53.509


Well, um there's there was uh one luxurious aspect.00:56:53.589 --> 00:56:56.149


Uh that it was my first experience.00:56:56.389 --> 00:56:59.829


I remember uh getting fitted for class A's.00:56:59.909 --> 00:57:02.789


It's like it's the fancy, the dressy uniform.00:57:03.349 --> 00:57:07.029


Uh it was my first time to have an experience with a tailor.00:57:07.829 --> 00:57:13.190


So that was uh different, and I was intrigued.00:57:13.349 --> 00:57:14.230


It was unique.00:57:14.309 --> 00:57:23.750


Uh, but of course, they went about it in a way that the only the Army could, because you're being pushed through with hundreds of other people at the same time, and everything's quick, quick, hurry, hurry.00:57:23.909 --> 00:57:31.909


And uh but the the end result, uh it it was a a point of pride to be able to wear that uniform correctly.00:57:32.549 --> 00:57:46.230


Like it was uh in a sense, you you still got to express in that you got to do your best to wear that uniform in the best way that you possibly could.00:57:48.309 --> 00:57:48.949


Yeah.00:57:49.909 --> 00:57:55.509


Wow, we do become what we wear once we change into you know different garments.00:57:55.670 --> 00:57:57.509


Yeah, we do completely.00:57:57.670 --> 00:58:03.269


And and speaking of become, that's my I guess that's my next and probably maybe our final question.00:58:03.429 --> 00:58:04.789


We got to wrap it up here.00:58:05.029 --> 00:58:08.869


So um let's talk next steps.00:58:09.029 --> 00:58:12.389


I mean, what is it that no, not not what?00:58:12.549 --> 00:58:13.670


That's a different story.00:58:13.909 --> 00:58:18.710


Who is it that you are in process of becoming right now?00:58:18.869 --> 00:58:21.989


The the next pit stop, the next goal.00:58:22.469 --> 00:58:36.469


The the next goal is for me to um gain my brand to gain more popularity across the United States, because there's one thing I didn't get to mention, which which was the philosophy behind the brand.00:58:36.710 --> 00:58:40.389


As you know, a lot of people name brands after their own name.00:58:40.710 --> 00:58:48.469


I actually didn't want to name a brand after my own name because I wanted the brand to have a certain philosophy.00:58:48.789 --> 00:58:55.349


So praxis human is the brand, and praxis is a philosophical term.00:58:55.750 --> 00:58:58.710


So what it means is it's an act.00:58:58.869 --> 00:59:04.230


It's an act of becoming an act movement, is what praxis means.00:59:04.389 --> 00:59:08.230


The opposite is apraxia, which is no movement.00:59:08.469 --> 00:59:13.750


So, praxis human, what it means is the movement of humankind.00:59:14.309 --> 00:59:17.670


We are moving together and progressing together.00:59:17.829 --> 00:59:27.750


And the brand stands for diversity, equality, inclusion, the progression of humankind as we are and moving towards the future together.00:59:28.069 --> 00:59:36.469


I want um everyone to understand that the brand stands for something more than just the garments.00:59:36.710 --> 00:59:43.509


They're wearing something that's a philosophy of becoming and continuing to progress as a human.00:59:43.829 --> 00:59:44.549


It has meaning.00:59:44.629 --> 00:59:46.230


Yeah, that's beautiful.00:59:46.549 --> 00:59:49.269


So you said the goal was to build the brand.00:59:49.829 --> 00:59:52.069


Now, that's the part where I want to know.00:59:52.149 --> 00:59:58.469


So, who is it that you will need to become to build that brand, that inner stuff?00:59:58.629 --> 01:00:02.549


Because we're kind of talking a little bit about external stuff here, more the inner stuff.01:00:02.949 --> 01:00:19.269


The inner stuff is still going to require me to meet many people in life of various different levels, whether they're strategic partners or marketing, but it and and whether it's just people in the community.01:00:19.670 --> 01:00:23.589


That that is part of my becoming is knowing.01:00:24.309 --> 01:00:29.670


People and getting to and um having people help me become.01:00:29.909 --> 01:00:35.750


I learn through people, I learn through energies, I learn through discussions and conversations.01:00:35.909 --> 01:00:37.190


That's how I grow.01:00:37.509 --> 01:00:46.309


So I will continue to meet people, I will continue to network, and that's going to eventually become the best version of me.01:00:46.549 --> 01:00:50.069


The experiences and the human experiences that I continue to have.01:00:50.230 --> 01:00:55.989


It'll be part of my evolution and becoming the best version of me.01:00:56.389 --> 01:00:57.589


Beautiful.01:00:58.149 --> 01:00:58.469


Thank you.01:00:58.869 --> 01:00:59.750


Beautiful.01:01:00.069 --> 01:01:01.989


What a what a fun conversation.01:01:02.149 --> 01:01:04.949


I just have to say, I've totally enjoyed this.01:01:05.429 --> 01:01:07.029


Yeah, so did I.01:01:07.829 --> 01:01:09.429


I love your philosophy.01:01:09.670 --> 01:01:16.069


I love your way of articulating your philosophy and your knowledge.01:01:18.869 --> 01:01:19.429


Thank you.01:01:19.589 --> 01:01:20.629


Thank you very much.01:01:20.789 --> 01:01:24.389


I think it was our human experience together.01:01:24.629 --> 01:01:29.429


This hour of the day on this Friday was our experience together.01:01:29.589 --> 01:01:31.909


And this is now a part of us.01:01:32.230 --> 01:01:32.710


Yes.01:01:32.949 --> 01:01:33.829


We have two of us.01:01:34.149 --> 01:01:34.629


Yes.01:01:34.869 --> 01:01:41.190


Thank thank you for sharing your story with us and our listeners.01:01:41.509 --> 01:01:42.309


You're welcome.01:01:42.469 --> 01:01:45.190


It was really an honor to meet both of you.01:01:45.349 --> 01:01:47.909


And let's continue to stay stay in touch.01:01:48.230 --> 01:01:49.349


We definitely will.01:01:49.509 --> 01:01:50.710


I would love that.01:01:50.949 --> 01:01:51.589


Thank you so much.

Sabrina Labvah Profile Photo

Sabrina Labvah

Desginer/Mental Health Provider

Hello!
I am Dr. Sabrina AKA "Dr. Sabrina the model" (based on my instagram handle).

Here is my bio:

Dr. Sabrina is a psychiatric mental healthcare provider who also became a clothing designer for the brand Praxis Human. During the pandemic, Dr. Sabrina was providing extensive mental health care services to patients struggling during tumultuous times. She began to pursue her passion in the fashion industry as an outlet to utilize her creativity in a healthy way to alleviate her own stress and focus on personal growth. Through this journey, she has grown both personally and professionally, establishing herself as an emerging designer in Dallas.

As a newcomer from the Dallas suburbs, she was warmly welcomed into the fashion community and has continued to evolve over the past several months. Her rising reputation has even earned her a spot as a featured designer at Austin Fashion Week.

Her brand philosophy for Praxis Human centers on the resilience of the human spirit-the determination to keep moving forward despite life's challenges. The brand embodies diversity, equality, inclusion, and progress toward a better future.