Community Highlights: Meet Stephanie Lauredent-Diasio of SLD Wellness

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Lauredent-Diasio. 

Hi Stephanie, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I graduated college with a Broadcast Journalism degree from Temple University in Philadelphia and started my career as an editor for a local newspaper. In college, I always had a pull to want to do something that helped others and make a lasting impact in their lives. As a reporter in college, I would always be drawn to work on stories that focused on health. While I was at the newspaper, I wanted to lean into marketing and decided to start working for a nonprofit. 

Dealing with workplace and racial trauma at the nonprofit was an eye-opening experience for me. My body started to react negatively when I would work in toxic environments and I was pushed to prioritize myself. At that point, I realized that I wanted to work for myself but I wasn’t quite sure what would make sense to focus on. 

From there I started working in higher education and had a VP that would mistake who I was with another Black woman that was 20 years old than me. I didn’t feel seen and started to have anxiety attacks for the first time in my life. I decided to leave higher education to get my MBA at Temple University because I knew that deep down, I wanted to work for myself. 

After I finished business school, I moved across the country from Philadelphia to Denver with my family and started to work in internal communications for a corporate yoga company. While I was there, my anxiety attacks amplified as I started to work 7 days a week around the clock. I would fall asleep with my phone on my face, get constant text messages from my boss on weekends asking me to work on my days off, and I kept bending over backwards even when I felt like I was exhausted. 

The final straw for me was when I had an anxiety attack on a weekend while meditating. I knew I really needed to put my health above everything else and everyone else, above a paycheck, and above the opinions of others in toxic places. 

I decided that it was time for me to put steps in motion to start my dream of working for myself and began working as a birth + postpartum doula and energy healer that helps others have empowering births and heal past wounds. When I left toxic environments behind for good and was in a much happier and calm place with significantly less anxiety, I started to have people reach out to me to find out exactly how I walked away from toxic spaces and that’s when my business SLD Wellness was born. 

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has been far from a smooth road, but I’ve learned from it at every step! Along the way, I had to confront racism and workplace trauma head-on. When I was the only Black person in a workplace or one of a few, I encountered so many struggles of having to protect my health while also not showing work how much the trauma from there was impacting me. 

Being the only Black person at work at the nonprofit, the only person who was yelled at in a room alone with the VP, and dealing with the workplace and racial trauma there was an eye-opening experience for me. My body started to react negatively in toxic work environments. 

When I worked in higher education, I had a VP that would mistake who I was with another Black woman that was in my mom’s age range. We were the only two Black people who worked there, and very clearly didn’t look the same. I didn’t feel seen and started to have anxiety attacks for the first time. 

Because I had to shield my pain so often, my body would take the brunt of the pain. While I was working with a smile on my face at the corporate yoga company, I was dry heaving at my desk, having panic attacks in the office next to my boss as I was typing, throwing up before work because I was so anxious about the toxic space I was in, and having panic attacks while meditating on weekends that I wasn’t supposed to be working. 

I really had to prioritize my health in order to work through the anxiety and trauma that I was confronting daily. 

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about SLD Wellness?
SLD Wellness is a wellness company that is focused on birth work and energy healing. It’s a space I created so that people can prioritize themselves, heal, get out of toxic spaces, and have more control over their lives. 

I’m specialized in and known for reiki healing, yoga, coaching, meditation and I bring it all into my doula services. 

For people who are looking to heal and gain clarity, I also offer reiki restore sessions that include meditation and tarot to get to the root of what they are struggling with. 

I am most proud of being able to add energy healing into everything I do for the brand. As a doula, I provide reiki healing to the pregnant person in prenatal visits and during birth. During postpartum visits, I provide reiki to them, their baby, and their partner. 

In my podcast SLD Wellness, which is available to listen to on Spotify and iTunes, I talk about birth work and energy healing. Each episode includes a sound bath meditation. 

What sets me apart from others is that I’m very open about the trauma I faced in the corporate world and how it inspires me to help others heal. It’s truly been the driving force that has pushed me to help clients have empowering births, create boundaries and start new careers. 

Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs, or other resources you think our readers should check out?
My favorite books are The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz and All About Love by bell hooks 

My favorite podcasts are Soul Calling an Urban Buddha Podcast by Reena SenGupta, she’s truly magical, check her out on iTunes and Spotify! I love Lemme Tell You Somethin’ by Wista Gelin on iTunes, SoundCloud, and Spotify, her take on pop culture is hilarious. 

Contact Info:

• Email: stephanie@sldwellness.com
• Website: https://sldwellness.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sldwellness
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sldwellness/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHyEYosTtIme3ayco3DjNkQ/videos
• Other: SLD Wellness Podcast: https://anchor.fm/sld-wellness

Image Credits
Sara Garcia Plett