Creating real-world impact through virtual spaces is the innovative work of S. Lynell, a visionary dedicated to empowering women through community and mental wellness. In this episode, S. Lynell shares her personal journey of resilience, moving from the constraints of a strict upbringing to founding the S. Lynell Group and The Aeslehc Rose Foundation. She discusses how she uniquely leverages the metaverse to host charity toy drives and support groups, blending digital connection with tangible philanthropy. Tune in to hear how she is breaking generational cycles and using her voice to uplift others. Whether you are seeking inspiration or a new way to contribute, her story offers a powerful roadmap for turning pain into purpose.
Music courtesy of Dealer’s Choice Sound Recordings, Inc.
Music artist: djezi
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Catalyzing Empowerment For A Better World With S. Lynell
All Things S. Lynell
We are so happy to have you here with us because this conversation is one you are not going to want to miss.
That’s right, Angela. Our guest is an entrepreneur, author, creator and community builder whose work is literally creating spaces, both in the real world and the virtual world that empower women, support mineral wellness and build community in the most meaningful ways.
She is the visionary behind the S. Lynell Group, VYBE’N for Change and the Aeslech Rose Foundation. She’s also the author of She Is: Built from Power, an empowerment experience designed to encourage self-reflection, strength and personal growth, which is what we’re all about.
Creating Spaces For Change
Welcome to the show, S. Lynell.
Thank you guys for having me.
We’re very happy to have you here and excited for the conversation. We usually like to start from the beginning like where did you grow up and how did that shake the woman that you are now.
Originally, I am from New Orleans. Born and raised in New Orleans. I grew up in a very religious household Pentecostal, Apostolic, both of my parents. I am the oldest of four. I’m a big sister all the way around. Since I grew up in an extremely strict household, it pushed me into independence, leadership and maturing way faster than you would typically believe or what to grow. Because of my surroundings and just the environment, I was very sheltered. I was homeschooled.
S. Lynell, were you in New Orleans like in the late ‘90s, early 2000? When did you grow up inNew Orleans?
I was born and raised in New Orleans in the ‘90s, 2000s. I didn’t leave New Orleans until 2006 right after Katrina.
You were homeschooled and you’re at church a lot.
I was a church kid all day, every day. It was church, home, and school. That was it. With that, it was extremely strict. Very like closed in. There were so many rules that caused me to be anti-social because all I knew was my siblings. I was isolated.
May I ask why you were homeschooled if you care to share?
My dad was very controlling. He was very strict. It was like, “My kids, my rules.” Anything that’s otherwise, I’m shutting it down. That’s how I grew up. I grew up with iron fists ten times. I grew up in a very firm and very abusive household where mentally, physically, and emotionally it was all about control. I ran away when I was fifteen.
That’s a scary time.
I’ve been on my own since I was fifteen. Against the odds, I graduated high school without my parents. I went to college without my parents.
Go back. I’m imagining myself at 15 and then my girls at 15. How did you navigate to graduate from high school?
Funny story. When I ran away from home, my dad disowned me because it’s about the outward appearance. He’s a person in the church. It’s all about appearance and what it looks like. When it came down to it, it was like, “She’s no longer in the house. How am I going to explain this to people?” He made up like all of these different things or whatever which the church believed. Honestly, my mindset was, “I’m going to prove you wrong and I’m not going to have to defend myself. I’m going to show you and people are going to know what’s the truth by my actions.”
Where do you think that internal fire or fortitude comes from? That’s grit.
My grandparents. I had two ideas of what family and relationship looks like. My grandparents have been married forever. My parents have been married forever. That’s a narrative. That’s been pushed in my household forever. You get married. You tend to your husband and all of the things. I saw what toxic looks like, but I also saw what love looks like. My grandparents, my papa and my grandma balanced it, so I had a choice. I could follow what would be the toxic version.
Everybody thinks it’s a flex that your parents have been married for 40 something years, but are they happy? Were they happy in the 40 years or is it just, “I settled because I’m married?” You don’t get divorce type of thing. Breaking that narrative was the hardest thing. Since the rumors already spread, they expected me to go back. I live in New Orleans. I could have done anything. What do you want? We could do it all.
Everybody thinks it's a flex that your parents have been married for 40 something years, but are they happy? Were they happy in the 40 years or is it just, “I settled because I'm married?” Share on XBreaking The Mold: Resilience And Independence
I was determined like, “I’m not going to let you mold what my future should look like.” Any consequences and any act. I’ve always been the person that, if it’s something that I choose to do, I’m ready to accept the consequences. When I ran away from home, I was like, “Where I think I’m going to swim is going to be my choice.” I came back the next day to try to get some of my things but my dad had put everything out on the curb for the garbage people and told me that I couldn’t get anything. I couldn’t get my birth certificate. I couldn’t get back. I got into school.
He was angry.
He homeschooled us and it wasn’t accredited. There was that type of control. I made sure I was teaching my siblings and who was teaching me? I was supposed to be a senior when I went back to high school. They tried to put me in the 9th grade, because it wasn’t accredited. I talked to my principal because you asked me how I got through. I was like, “If I go in and I finish the syllabus of each class, can I go to the next one for the next grade?” I like to test out, projects and everything. He was like, “Do you think you can do that?” I was like, “I can do it.”
I went in and I tested it out. Chemistry and syllabus in two weeks. Next is History and Biology. Let’s go. In senior year, I ended up finishing a year later than I was supposed to originally be scheduled because they told me I wasn’t going to get out of high school till I was 21 because of what happened with me being at home this whole time. I fought to the nail.
For my graduation, I invited my parents and my dad said, “We’re not going. Your mom’s and your siblings are not going.” It was very like, “I cut you off, off. I no longer have a daughter.” I wasn’t a bad child. I wasn’t a rebellious child. I was in fear. It was hurtful but it was like, “What’s next because you’re going to at some point want me to be daddy’s little girl? You’re going to want that from me at some point.”
This is a lot and I’m speechless because I can’t imagine. I thank you for sharing because someone out there has had an experience similar to yours. You mentioned your grandparents. I can hear that you had some example of love and somewhat of a nourishing type of relationship for you. Was there anyone else out there that helped you? How did you get from that point to becoming the woman that you are? Was there counseling involved? Were there other people involved? You have a tremendous amount of resilience and grit and moxie, as we say on this show. Anyone else or anything else that helped you through this?
Honestly, I always tell people blood is not always thicker than water. I feel like God has shown me mad favor. He’s put different people and they weren’t there throughout the entire experience. He put little people here and there to guide me and be like, “Are you okay? Maybe you shouldn’t do that.” There’s a college girl from Xavier.
Blood is not always thicker than water. Share on XWhere did you go to college?
I went to Miles College in Birmingham, Alabama.
How did you have the wherewithal to get to Miles College? You live in New Orleans. You don’t have supportive parents. It sounds like your grandparents are there but how did that happen?
After Katrina, I wasn’t living with my grandparents. My grandfather died in probably 2004-ish and grandmother died probably 2010 to 2011. I had her the longest. Miles was a hiccup.
A serendipity. A happy accident as we like to call it.
I always thought about going to college. I always wanted to go to college, but then you have to look at the situation being what it was. The reality is that my dad told me to drop out of school and get a GED. That was the narrative. He didn’t push for college.
Is it because you were a girl?
It was very sexist. At some point, you ought to want to get married and that was an area. It was like marriage and kids is the end all be all. I grew up in a church and that was basically the same thing that was pushed and looked. Women didn’t have a big speaking authority in that space, and then there’s my grandmother.
Is this your mom’s mother?
Understanding Generational Trauma And Cycles
That’s my mom’s mom. My dad could not stand my mom’s mom. He did everything in his power to do anything to spite her but he used me to do it. I was the first grandchild. It was like, “You can’t see her. She can’t go here. You can’t.” I was a pageant kid. My grandmother put me in pageants and stuff. Everybody was good until the attention was off my dad, and then it was like, “Let me reel that in.” It was all about control. That was generational.
I knew it was by the story that I heard but when I touched base with his mom a couple years before she passed, we didn’t have a relationship. We didn’t have a relationship. When I reached out or whatever. I sat down and talked to her. I asked her. I said, “If your dad did all of these things to you or your grandfather did all of these things to you. Why wouldn’t you believe that your son is following the same cycle?” She was like, “For real?”
I was like, “If it still hurts you, these people are gone. You’re crying now. You’re emotional. Why wouldn’t you think that it would hurt me? My father is still here. Your son is still here. Nobody protected me.” She just was into you. She couldn’t say anything. I didn’t look for an apology. I didn’t look for any. I learned a long time ago that is not what my family does.
Many families do. It sounds like perhaps there has been some therapy or some mental wellness along your journey. Can you talk about how you got to that?
My history is everything. She’s on my phone. I’ve had several.
When did you first go to therapy? How did you know you needed to go to therapy? I believe in therapy for all people, but tell us your specific reasoning.
The first buy-in was when I came up to Virginia, and there had been a lot of things that happened up here. I got here in 2014.
You finished college. You have moved from Birmingham. Now you’re in Northern Virginia.
My parents were up here. I haven’t lived with my parents since I was fifteen. I got married without them. In Birmingham, I met my ex-husband. We have been married for eleven years. We’re college sweethearts. We were expecting my first child. For some reason, I felt like it’s been fifteen plus years since I’ve been around my parents, around my family. They don’t even know what my life is like or anything.
This is a new chapter. I got a baby on the way. She was planning. I’m excited about this. All of the things, and I told my parents. I called him and I told him. He seemed so excited and so open arms. I’m like, “Maybe things have changed. They say time heals all wounds. We’ll see.” Maybe this is like the thing. A new baby, a new family thing. Let’s start over.
Without any conversation. No rehashing of the past, any of that occurring?
No. It was like, apparently, we’re not going to have this conversation. We’re not going to touch base on what happened. Every time that there’s a hiccup, every time that there is something, you’re always bringing up the past. You always want to talk about the past and I don’t.
We’ve moved on.
You got to leave the past in the past so we can move on. I’m like, “There’s no accountability.” The thing is, I didn’t ask for it. At some point, I just stopped expecting it. I just wanted to acknowledge that I am your daughter. I am your child and at some point, you should want to have a relationship with me. I am living my life without you. I am experiencing things without you. My first everything since I love has been without. I asked my grandmother.
I made my ex-husband ask my grandmother for my hand in marriage. That type of thing. We drove down to New Orleans. We spoke with her. We spent the weekend with her. My parents didn’t even meet my ex-husband until after I graduated from college because they came to that graduation in Birmingham. They met him then. We had been married for like five years at that point.
You have a lot in your history. It’s quite impressive knowing you now and the things that you’ve done from what you came from. We’re going to talk about your book in a little bit, but is some of this narrative or some of this history in your book?
No, but it will be in the new book. I am writing a novel called Carrying the Myth. It’ll be out in 2027, hopefully. At least that’s the schedule.
I feel like we could have three episodes based on how you navigated your life to this and so far, it’s quite impressive. For me, it’s distressing knowing what it’s like to be a teenage girl. It’s distressing knowing how families and particularly families in our communities can sometimes go through trauma, and then sweep things under the rug and keep it moving. That’s continuing to pass on the generational misogynistic. All these types of behaviors without addressing it. I’m assuming with all you’ve done and with your therapy, that you’re trying your best to break that type of cycle for your daughter.
Turning Personal Pain Into Purpose: The Athletic Rose Foundation
My daughter passed. I lost her right after childbirth.
I am so sorry.
That’s why I founded the Aeslech Rose Foundation. Giving back to the community is my superpower. In the worst situation, I gravitate to giving back because it helps me not sitting because it’s just me. I can’t afford to be in a headspace of depression because the world doesn’t stop. As hard as that sounds, I have my moments. I screamed to the top of my lungs and that was the biggest pain I have ever felt in my entire life with no support from my family. My family wouldn’t even say her name because the rule is, if any bad things happen, we don’t talk about it. They never happened.
Can we say her name?
Her name is Chelsea. The Aeslech Rose Foundation, my grandmother, was one of my biggest. I love her to pieces and she’s no longer with us. My daughter’s name was Chelsea Rose Marie.
Your grandmother was Rose?
Aeslech is Chelsea spelled backwards.
I wanted to do a fund where we support mental health as well as school and education. There’s forms on my website VYBE’N for Change where you can sign up and fill out the form and if you will pay for so many sessions for you to start therapy. The same thing with the scholarship fund. If you fill out the form, we try to keep it with the HBCU because I want to support HBCU. Happy Juneteenth. We’ll at least try to give some money to the school right out of high school to try to get them more interested in going to college. Any little bit can help. I know it wasn’t encouraged for me to go to school. I ended up with a music scholarship.
What’s your instrument? Do you sing or do you play?
I was in the choir.
The S. Lynell Group, VYBE’N for Change and Aeslech Rose Foundation are all connected by your work around mental health. It also sounds like philanthropy around giving children opportunities to go to college. Is that correct?
Yes. The S. Lynell Group is an umbrella of all of my brands. I have a coffee company called Élevé Rose. I have all of these things under the S. Lynell. My VYBE’N for Change is my non-profit. That’s a whole other thing. Aeslech Rose is in the non-profit along with other initiatives like 1st Heart Beat, which is a support group for women who lost infants. VYBE Against Violence, which is a support group for domestic violence victims as well.
We try to get resources. I am not a therapist, but we try to make sure that we do have a strong sisterhood and a strong bond because I know what it was like to go through the loss of my daughter with no one to understand and ran across a private group on Facebook and didn’t know how often this happens.
Very often.
They don’t understand. I can’t show my daughter’s picture after she is born because I have to explain it to people. I have to worry about other people’s feelings. I have to worry about what they are going to say. I’m going to have to explain this, but I showed her picture in this group for the first time and I can feel their embrace through the screen. It made me want to provide that same thing and I started that group in the metaverse.
Exploring The Metaverse: A New Frontier For Community And Philanthropy
This is a fantastic transition. The metaverse. For those of us who don’t know what the metaverse is, where it is, or how to get there. Is it safe to be there? Can you give us a remedial explanation as to the metaverse?
The metaverse is basically your digital virtual reality space. You would think of it as a gaming system.
Do I need those glasses to get to the metaverse?
They do have the glasses.
The virtual reality one.
There are some like attachments to Xbox or something like that, where you can get on a plane or in a game. I have the Oculus and as I said, my superpower is giving back and trying to figure out how to get back in different spaces. I went in just to see what it was about. I wanted to watch 3D movies and somebody introduced me to one of the apps that had this whole social scene. I was like, “These are a lot of grown people in here. What is going on?” There’s clubs and adult clubs. They got fake drinks and all of the things. It’s like a whole like vibe. If you are introverted and you want to choose your social scene, this is the thing to do because you get to control.
If you are introverted and want to choose your social scene, the metaverse is the thing to do because you get to control. Share on XYou can be completely anonymous in this space?
You have an avatar. You have a screen name. People will know you buy your avatar and your name there. I have Instagrams that separate my IRL stuff and then my VR stuff. My VR people do not come to my IRL side. That is a no-no. That’s how I got monetized by Meta because I bought charitable initiatives there. I started my first toy drive and I partnered with Shriners.
In the metaverse but then you they are actual physical toys for Shriners in real life.
Yes.
How does that translate?
My mind is blowing, so please.
Think of it as people. You have people behind the headset. People behind the headset have money. In the headset, it’s all about keeping people’s attention, keeping them entertained. Especially throwing events. You can throw events in there. You can make money there. Maya threw a concert there when she came out with her last album when she was trying to come out again. She was in the metaverse.
Do people pay for it to sit on my own with Oculus headsets on?
Yes. We have events like Winter Jams, where people are paying $10. I threw Spring Bling in there. I did a Spring Bling there and a Freaknik there.
Are you using an avatar?
I am. I go in. I build the world and a whole bunch. We saw over 300 people there. We had a DJ. I built the world. Everybody popped in. I went to a skating party.
You’re not skating. The avatar is skating.
The imagination.
Does the avatar fall down?
In the avatar, we put skates on them. We spawn them. When they spawn into specific worlds, it’s a whole skate ring and the floor rotates. You get on the floor and you rotate.
I’ll look like Usher in there doing my thing.
It rotates. We throw little skates on them and everything. That was for the Shriners event. We threw an ice skating ring where everything looked like it was on ice. We had a party. We had a DJ. We saw about 200 people. I had all the information on the wall as to how they can donate. I build the world, and I put a flyer up just like you would if it was a party out here and then people come like, “At 10:00, it’s going to be at the Astro Skate e-Ring. We’re partying with a purpose or we have a ‘90s party. Make sure you change the avatars and come in with your afros and all of the things.”
We had a good time. I usually throw about a two-hour party, but they are trying to go all the way in and I am not about that life. As long as they’re having fun, then it gives me a chance to talk to them about Shriners and how to donate. Some of them are like, “Can I just give you the money?” I’m like, “No.” It’s because I didn’t have my 501(c)(3). I had a rule. I was like, “I’m not going to take any monetary donations in this space,” because I never want it to come back later. It’s like, “I gave her money and we don’t know where it went.” I did all of the leg work. I partnered with the director of charitable initiatives for the Shriners in Philly. Her name was Joy. I told her what I was trying to do and she didn’t believe me.
I was like, “Think of cartoons. It will be fine. We’re going to get you guys toys.” When I showed her the advertisement of us skating in there and it’s saying, “VBYEN’ for kids toy a time because that’s the name of it. She was like, “It’s like a bunch of little avatar people.” That first year, we got over 500 toys for Shriners in Philly.
That’s huge.
For sure. In 2026, it will be year four. The second year, we did two. I got a little over the top. We did Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. and Shriners in Sacramento, California. We got over 1,500 toys for the hospitals. In 2025, I didn’t go to a hospital. I went to a children’s home. I did homes and arts for youth in Maryland and we got over a thousand for their orphanage, which is toys and supplies. All of that came mainly from the metaverse. I still advertised in the IRL space in real life. For the most part, all of these avatars.
The same thing with my school supply drive. I went to two schools in DC. One school was an elementary school and they had just had a shooting. When I talked to the school board, they asked if I could take on two schools. They asked me if I could do one elementary school and one middle school. I was like, “I don’t know how I’m going to pull this off, but we’ll see.” We ended up with over 3,000 school supplies for both schools.
Metaverse Explained: How Listeners Can Start Their Virtual Journey
That’s meaningful work. S. Lynell, this is a lot for. I know it’s a lot for me. We’ve talked before and I’m just now conceptualizing this metaverse because the first time, I was like, “What?”
Angela and I got off the phone, I was like, “Girl, I don’t know anything that’s happening.”
It’s great information and a lot of it is fun. This is meaningful work that you’re doing in this space. Let’s say my readers are like, “This sounds like something I would get into. How do you enter this metaverse space?”
Meta is over the Oculus. That’s why we call it the metaverse because it used to be the Meta Oculus whatever. You can go in. You can go into apps like Meta Horizon. You can go into apps like VRChat. At the moment, everybody’s gravitating to VRChat which is more detailed, but it’s like a gaming app.
Go in and check it out. Someone on my team just got an Oculus and she was so excited about it. She’s like, “I bought myself an Oculus for Mother’s Day.” I was like, “Cool. We can have meetings there if you want.” She was like, “Meetings?” I was like, “Yes. I can log into this app. It’s a conference room. I can show you my screen. I can share my screen and we can talk you through.” She’s in California and I’m in VA, so they work.
I’m going to ask because I have a hard enough time navigating through my life in this universe. Why wouldn’t I just do a Zoom call or Zoom meet?
It’s because it’s done in the avatar form. Honestly, it doesn’t feel like work. That’s the thing. That’s the key. When you’re out in the IRL space, sometimes you just need a break. You need to get away. It gives you a good balance. My avatar might have pink and blue hair that day or I might have a cute little outfit on and we’re joking. Since it’s so animated and because your mind is in a playful state, it doesn’t feel like work.
When you're out in the IRL space, sometimes you just need a break. You need to get away. The metaverse gives you a good balance. Share on XBriefly, I worked in utilization management. I was in a space where we did have these meetings and we could use an avatar. You’d have glasses on. We would annoy our boss and switch to the avatars. The heads would be bobbing and it did bring humor. At the end of the day, they didn’t like it, so we had to take it down. I can conceptualize that part. Do you think that in this space that you’re in, there are more people your age and younger?
No.
It’s a Gen X.
There are all ages. You’ll be amazed. I did run across so many different age groups and ethnicities all over all over. I was talking to someone from the UK. It’s an amazing space for you to have a diverse atmosphere like meeting people. People you wouldn’t probably even consider out in the open in IRL spaces especially with the environment than what it is. It’s like all of that goes to society. Don’t get me wrong. Everything has its bad spaces and stuff like that. You do need to make sure that you are careful. Don’t be giving your personal information to people and all of that. Keep the fantasy alive.
You are an avatar. Don’t be telling people all your business. You can definitely create some cool connections. You can start up some things. I started the 1st Heart Beat in there. I did a private member’s only space and we had a therapy session. A support group session every Tuesday, where it’s members-only. They wrote to me on Instagram telling me that they want to be a part of the group. On Tuesday, when I go in, it opens it up to the people that are attached to the world. They come in and the ladies sit down and we support each other.
They talk about their loss and what they’re feeling that day. It might be a good day. It might be like us just sitting around and chopping it up. I built the world to where it looks like a therapy room. It looks like a support group. We’re all sitting around and on the wall, there is suicide hotline numbers, text numbers, emergency support numbers. All of that, so that they know that there’s actual resources here because again, I’m not a therapist, but I want to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to get the resources.
S. Lynell, tell us how you knew or had the inkling that the virtual space could also be used as a space for a real connection and healing? I would imagine many people want to monetize it and have fun, but you were like, “We can have a connection. People can have a pathway to healing.” How did that happen? What was your inkling about that?
Healing In The Virtual World: From Accident To Community Connection
Again, my go-to is always if I’m going through something, if I’m dealing with something, I always try to go to help someone else. When I first got on the headset, I wasn’t walking.
I’m sorry. Come again. Every few moments, you just drop a little jewel.
I got introduced to the headset because I couldn’t walk. I was in an accident. I slipped on ice and I gash my head open on concrete. I injured my head, shoulders, and lower back. I have permanent nerve damage.
You’re walking now. Thank God.
That’s a whole other story. It took four years.
At what point in that four year rehab story did you get introduced to the metaverse?
It was probably somewhere the end of the first year of me not walking. I’m already an introvert, but I like to choose when I can be around people. I build up a lot of energy like, “I can hang out. I can do it.”
You have to go in and get out recharged.
It’s different when you don’t have a choice. No one rose to the occasion to come and help me. It was an unexpected help. It was a person that I met that we became friends with. She stepped up and was there for me. In that space, it was like, “I want to watch 3D movies.” There we go. I’ll get the headset or whatever and then when I get introduced to this other whole world, it was cool. I was club hopping just like everybody else. I was going to the parties and like, “This is crazy. We are here. There’s a game where it’s very immersive.”
I was like, “This can’t be it.” You can only party so much. Somebody taught me how to build and I built a daiquiri spot and I was like, “Now what? I’m not going to be here every day,” because I don’t like people like that, even in virtual space. I was like, “What are we going to do?” I wanted people to think that we’re in this space, but let’s not forget that there’s things going on outside of here. Let’s make sure that we keep that somewhere in there. I get it. We leave the IRL space so that we can have a break from it, which is great. Wonderful, but when you are in here and people are still in there. They’re in there all day, every day. Sleeping in there like the headsets on. All the things.
A complete escape from reality.
I’m looking at the people around me. Everybody wants to do the same thing. We’re going to clubs. We’re going to this person’s party and that person’s party. I’m like, “How do we get them to do something more? We need to make a difference in this space. I wonder if I can pull it off.” I was like, “I can pull it off.” I started doing some research and I was like, “I want to do a toy drive in here.” I built Santa’s Workshop the first year, with the huge snow globe for Shriners and the Shriners are there.
We did a little commercials and all of the things. I filled out the paperwork for Shriners making sure everything was good on my end. We pulled it off. I was like okay, so then people started to ask like, “Are you doing another toy drive?” I was like, “We’re going to keep going until the wheels fall off. Let’s go. Let’s do this.” They were more so open to what I needed. If there is an event or if there is an initiative or if there’s something there’s like, “You got a fly. Do you want me to put it in my world? I got a party coming up this week or whatever. Can you take care of that for me?”
It was relationship building, but in the virtual reality space.
Yes.
Empowerment Through Tools: Books For Self-Reflection
Very cool. We could listen to you talk about this for probably three more episodes, but there’s more to you than just this. We want to share with the audience some of the other things you’ve done, in particular your book, She Is: Built from Power. From what I understand, it describes an empowerment experience. What makes it different from a traditional book?
It is not a traditional book. It’s an adult coloring book. It has a journal page. It has words of affirmation and quotes from famous Black beautiful women like Cicely Tyson and all of the above. I wanted to empower. I was going through a hard time. Again, when that happens, my brain is like, “I got to do something different. How do I help somebody else? How do I make this turn this around? How do I make this not what it is to me but something different for someone else?” I started thinking about it and I was like, “What would be encouraging?” Quotes. I love quotes. I love to journal. Let’s see how this pans out.
It was featured on the Times Square billboard. It’s about to be a year in July 2026. I love it. I think it was good for the first draft. At the moment, I’m working on the second. She Is: Growing in Power, which is targeted toward teen girls. This one is a little bit more detailed. There’s more journal spaces. There’s questions for girls to reflect on because I want it to be a tool. I was never taught about therapy. It was always, “You got an issue, pray about it.” We love God. However, God made a therapist for a reason. I feel like we’re in a space where people are open. Our community is more open to getting help in therapy. Trying to talk their feelings out and reflect.
If I think about, what part of this trauma came from, what part of my life and how can I get past this? How can we stop this cycle? I honestly feel like she is in power. It’s for women to encourage them and empower them, She Is: Built from Power is to teach the younger generation how to reflect on how to go through and like break down. What am I feeling, how am I feeling in the moment and get that encouragement then? Understand that there are different tools that you can use so that you don’t end up later on down the line trying to figure it out, which is the hardest thing.
If you haven’t been introduced to therapy and help and all you know is go pray about it. You have all of these different traumas and feelings locked up inside that you don’t know how to release. Since you’ve been taught to hold it in for so long, do you know how difficult it is when you are introduced to a therapist to even break that first layer? It’s because you don’t know how to express yourself. I feel like if we try to get a tool to the younger generation so that they know. If you are a writer, then write. If you like the color just to get your mind clear, there’s a coloring page for that. There are words of affirmation for each page for the new book.
It’s way thicker because each word has a coloring page, but it has a word of affirmation, a quote and then it has one free write page but it has two word questions specific pages. The page has a question based on the word that you just went over like becoming. What am I becoming? I want them to reflect. Everything is detailed, even the border of whatever words you just finished reading has become. She is coming all the way around the border. That’s what the goal is.
That is going to be fantastic. You certainly have turned your pain into purpose at a very high level. We know that requires a lot of energy, both psychic and physical energy. What does your self-care routine look like?
Defining Legacy: Self-Care, Gratitude, And Future Impact
I’m a nail and a spa girl. Give me a spa, a pedicure and a vacation on a beach. I love vacations. I’m going on vacation by myself. I went to Paris and Greece in 2025. I enjoyed it. I want to reflect on Greece. I went there and I was like, “I know I don’t have to go all the way to Greece, but I’ve never been.”
If you can, why not?
It’s the number one on my bucket list.
I had a boat day and it was just me, the captain and the chef. I was in heaven. I reflected. I bought my journal out there. I enjoyed it. I didn’t have an itinerary. It was just like whatever happens, happens. I prayed and I was like, “God, I thank you because I wanted to be in a space of reflection.” I had a hard year. I just literally came off of a cane the year before. I honestly wanted to be in a space of gratitude because I want to see what God created outside of your everyday thing.
It’s nothing like being on the water and being in a space that you wouldn’t have thought you would be in. Taking it in and saying, what, “God, I appreciate everything that you’ve done for me.” I always say that He has been my constant. I am not overly religious because of how I grew up. I don’t even go there, but I tell people all the time, my relationship with God is only because He has proven himself to be constant in my life. No matter what situation it was, no matter who or whatever. I know either, I got out of it because of God. The blueprint is just there. The map is there and I’m like, “It couldn’t be anybody but You, because I’m out here by myself.”
My relationship with God is only because He has proven himself to be constant in my life. No matter what situation it was Share on XTaking it in when I went to Greece and then when I went to Paris, I saw Beyonce. The atmosphere was beautiful. Again, in 2025, I came off of a cane. In February, they told me I wouldn’t be walking by myself. I worked and I was like, “I want to see everything. I want to experience everything.” In 2026, it’s all about work because I did a lot in 2025. We got to buckle down and get it together but I’m still in such a grateful space.
Speaking of which, the next question is, for you, S. Lynell, what are you building towards? What is on the horizon? What are you imagining? What are you dreaming of?
My goal is that my non-profit is my legacy. I want my footprint to have an impact. I prayed about it and I was like, “That’s what I want.” If I sit down and think about it and I’m like, “I have Élevé Rose, which is a coffee company. I have all of these things. I have the book. I love the fact that it’s empowering women but I want impact more than anything.
I just switched from 1st Heart Beat from being just in the metaverse to a group on the outside now. There’s a connection there. I’m building a community there and VYBE’N for Change has been approved to be a 50(c)(3). I want impact more than anything and genuine connection. I’ve met like a couple of people and I don’t ever get celebrity struck, ever but I want genuine connection. I want people who are like-minded that can see beyond their own issues and problems. Not that there aren’t issues and problems with but here’s something more and something greater to contribute to and to add to and pour into.
Watch how you impact someone else and you put good energy and good vibes out in the world, come back to your situation and soothe your soul and your spirit. What’s next for me? As I said, the book Carrying the Myth will be out, hopefully, summer of 2027. She Is: Growing in Power will be out by Christmas along with the digital journal for She Is.
I love all that.
How To Connect: Where To Find Her Work And Upcoming Books
Where can people find you on social media and in the metaverse, if you care to share that? Where can people get their hands on your book, She Is: Built from Power? Where can they find your worth coming books?
She Is: Built from Power you can find on AffirmHerPower.com. That’s my bookstore. Anything that’s book related, merch related because there is merch for the book as well. You got to give this positivity out there. You can find me on Instagram @AllThingsSLynell. You can follow my non-profit VYBENforChange.org. Anything that you want to know about S. Lynell, it’s AllThingsSLynell.com. You’ll see everything from upcoming initiatives, to events that I might be popping up at to whatever you want to know about my coffee company. Anything that’s coming up, you’ll see on @AllThingsSLynell. I try to separate my non-profit from all things from All Things S. Lynell. My non-profit does have its own website, which is VYBENForChange.org.
I’m speaking for myself. I can tell you I was not expecting all of this. I’m so impressed with all that you’ve done in your life. When you do things intentionally to help others and you’re thinking of others, good things come to you for sure. I love that you were just so open and honest, because I know parts of your story resonate with all of us, but certainly some of the harder things that you talk about, definitely resonate with people.
I love that you have this space in the metaverse and open in what I call it reality but in the real world and IRL, as you say. I see the value of being a provider that takes care of women and having spaces where women can talk about. Some people don’t want to share but, oftentimes, if I can convince them that there is a group out there or something.
There are people that have lived what you have gone through and may be able to help. It tends to crack open that part of your heart where you can say, “It’s not just me.” Thank you so much for sharing. This conversation has been such a gift to Sylvia and I, but definitely to our readers. We thank you for showing up with your whole heart, sharing your story, your mission and your vision with our community.
You certainly are doing work that we know does matter and connecting with people exactly where they are. We are grateful for you for sharing your story on the show. To our audience, please go and find S. Lynell. Follow her, grab her books and plug into everything that she is building.
To our readers, thank you for being here every episode. If this episode moved you, share it with a woman in your circle who needs to hear it.
You can find us wherever you tune in to. Please like, listen, share, and subscribe. You can find us on BossLeapPodcast.com and also on YouTube.
Until next time. May you be well.
Important Links
- S. Lynell on Instagram
- S. Lynell on YouTube
- S. Lynell on TikTok
- S. Lynell Group
- VYBE’N for Change
- Aeslech Rose Foundation
- She Is: Built from Power
- Élevé Rose
- 1st Heart Beat
- VYBE Against Violence
- Shriners
- Meta Horizon
- VRChat
About S. Lynell
S. Lynell is an entrepreneur, author, creator, and community builder dedicated to creating spaces that empower, inspire, and create meaningful change. As the visionary behind The S. Lynell Group, VYBE’N for Change, and the Aeslehc Rose Foundation, her work focuses on women’s empowerment, mental wellness, and creating opportunities for healing and growth within communities.
Known for blending creativity, technology, and purpose, S. Lynell’s work extends into the metaverse, where she has created experiences and environments designed to bring people together, encourage connection, and provide safe spaces for expression and community. She is also the author of She Is: Built From Power, an empowerment experience designed to encourage self-reflection, strength, and personal growth.
Driven by both personal experiences and passion, S. Lynell believes some of the things that help us heal can also help others. She openly embraces using creativity, connection, and purpose as coping tools during difficult seasons and has transformed those experiences into initiatives, conversations, and communities that uplift others. Whether through entrepreneurship, charitable work, or authentic dialogue, her mission remains the same: to inspire change, encourage healing, and empower people to walk boldly in their purpose.