Ep. 75 - The Freedom to Just Be: Non-Toxic Beauty and Radical Self-Care with Bethany of Sainte Nel

Summary Description :

What does it really mean to be free? In this episode, Dr. Kristian Edwards sits down with Bethany, founder of Sainte Nel a non-toxic nail care and wellness company for a rich, soulful conversation about authenticity, self-advocacy, and the quiet power of reconnecting with yourself. Bethany shares how a years-long health battle and eventual Crohn's disease diagnosis reshaped how she thinks about what she puts on her body  and sparked the creation of a vegan nail polish line born out of personal necessity. From navigating a medical system that wasn't built with Black women in mind, to the radical act of simply being yourself at work, this episode is a reminder that your health, your freedom, and your peace are all worth fighting for. Bethany also gives us a sneak peek into her newest venture, Sainte Foot Sanctuary, a boutique spa experience rooted in the healing power of silence and stillness.

CALLOUT QUOTES

From Bethany:

"Do you want to be right, or do you want to be free? For me, the answer was free."

"I felt like slowly, every year, a little bit of me was getting stripped away by the expectations of everyone else around me — until I looked up and said, who even is this person I'm staring at in the mirror?"

"Nobody cares about your body like you do. That's a hard lesson I had to learn."

"I wanted to build something in my community where people feel like they can come, disconnect from the outside world, and have a little moment — a mini retreat — without having to leave the sanctuary of their city."

From Dr. Kristian Edwards:

"My authenticity will sometimes meet your expectations, it will sometimes exceed your expectations and sometimes it won't. And I have to be okay with that."

"It's not cutting people off. It's repositioning. When someone shows you who they are, it's your responsibility to reposition them in your life."

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

1. Freedom is the freedom to be yourself — everywhere. Bethany defines being free as showing up as your full, authentic self whether you're at work, in the grocery store, or at home. Code-switching costs you a piece of yourself every time.
   

2. Your health story is yours to tell — loudly. After three years of dismissed symptoms, Bethany was diagnosed with Crohn's disease. She learned that arming yourself with research, bringing a trusted person to appointments, and writing everything down before you walk in the door can be the difference between being heard and being overlooked.
   

3. Non-toxic nail care is accessible. You can bring your own polish to the nail salon. You can bring your own tools. You can wear a mask. Small choices add up, especially for those with autoimmune conditions or sensitive immune systems.
   

4. Silence is a wellness practice. Whether it's five minutes in a dark room, a car ride with no podcast, or a guided meditation — stillness resets the nervous system in ways we underestimate.
   

5. Presence is a skill you have to practice. Both Dr. Kristian Edwards and Bethany reflected on how easy it is to move through life on autopilot. Naming what's around you, noticing beauty you've passed a hundred times — these are small but powerful acts of grounding.
   

6. Repositioning people is not the same as cutting them off. Like moving sundresses to the back of the closet in winter, you can honor someone and still create space. Not every person belongs in every season of your life.
   
   

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:

• Bethany's opening mantra: "I am a fearless, joyful, wise woman who can do anything" — and the story behind why freedom is her guiding word
  

• The moment Bethany looked in the mirror after years of people-pleasing and asked: who even is this person?
  

• Her Crohn's disease diagnosis — and how it sent her on a mission to clean up every product she was putting on her body, starting with her nail polish
  

• Growing up changing her polish two to three times a week in middle school — and never losing that love, even as everything else changed
  

• Discovering a community of Midwestern housewives making vegan nail polish at home before it was ever a "thing" — and how that became Sainte Nel
  

• Why Crohn's disease wasn't even on her doctors' radar — and what that taught her about advocating for yourself as a Black woman in the medical system
  

• Dr. Kristian Edwards's tips for doctor's appointments: write everything down, make copies, and hand it over — so it has to be documented
  

• The Buddhist monk meditation that introduced Bethany to silence — and how five minutes of darkness and stillness became her go-to reset
  

• Both women discovering the same thing in the meditation: their minds went straight to nature
  
  The concept of repositioning — and Bethany's perfect metaphor: sundresses don't get thrown out in winter, they just move to the back of the closet
  

• The announcement of Sainte Foot Sanctuary, a boutique spa opening in Southern California — a brick-and-mortar space built around the idea of reconnecting through silence