Podcast Summary: Keep it Positive, Sweetie — "Be The Hero In Your Own Life w/ Kellie Bowman"

Host: Crystal Renee Hayslett
Guest: Kellie Bowman ("Nurse Kelly")
Producer: The Black Effect & iHeartPodcasts
Date: August 10, 2025

Episode Overview

This heartfelt episode brings on Kellie Bowman, daughter of the iconic Dr. Sebi and founder of Sabi’s Daughters, to discuss holistic wellness rooted in ancestral wisdom, the importance of being proactive about health—especially for Black women—and how diet and self-knowledge intertwine for healing. Through candid, uplifting dialogue, the conversation explores Kellie’s upbringing, the legacy she's fostering, practical steps to reclaiming health, women's wellness, and her approach to natural products. With transparency, humor, and vulnerability, the episode is a roadmap for participating in your own rescue: being the hero in your own life.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Dr. Sebi’s Legacy and Kellie’s Upbringing

• [03:07] Kellie reflects on her unique childhood in Compton, learning lessons directly in her father’s garden as her “first classroom... first masterclass.”
• Her father, Dr. Sebi (Alfredo Bowman), was radically honest, connected to nature, and committed to teaching through presence and lived experience.
• Quote: “I don’t know what it’s like to feel any emotion without nature attached to it.” — Kellie [03:22]
• She witnessed her father’s health struggles—diabetes, hypertension, impotency—and his journey to healing which became foundational for the Bowman family’s diet and values.

Building Sabi’s Daughters and Personal Identity

• Kellie founded Sabie’s Daughters to honor her father’s legacy, blending ancestral wisdom with her perspective as a woman.
• Quote: “He made vegetables more than just something to put on the plate… it became my medicine, my healer.” — Kellie [07:13]
• She speaks about making health part of her DNA and ministry, seeking always to represent her family’s values in the products and advice she gives.
• Emphasis on shaping young people to see their future in the everyday conversation and nourishment they receive.

Women’s Health, Menstruation, and Hormone Balance

• [08:27] Kellie shares how Dr. Sebi, though from Honduras and unconventional, was the first person she told about getting her period. He immediately brought her to the kitchen for herbs (red raspberry, etc.) to manage hormones.
• She advocates open dialogue about feminine health, early preparation, and normalizing conversation about cramps, fibroids, and endometriosis.
• Quote: “Every time I had a question, it was a walk and an herb… and some good information.” — Kellie [09:30]

Food as Medicine: Childhood Diet & Plant-Based Wisdom

• The family fridge mirrored the garden: “Zucchini, squash, everything grown, and maybe a couple extras like juice.”
• [13:34] “Be the hero in your own life, participate in your own rescue.” — Kellie’s guiding principle from her father’s journey.
• Top 5 “Celebrities of the Garden”: Okra, zucchini, avocado, tomato, mushrooms.
  • Mushrooms: She refutes anti-fungal arguments—“That’s not his [the critic’s] consciousness… what I try in nature is up to me.” [15:00]

Alkaline Plant-Based vs. Standard Vegan Diet

• “Alkaline means eating Indigenous, seeded foods God made—where disease can’t live. Vegan isn’t always healthy.” [16:14]
• Many vegan foods are processed and can still contribute to diabetes and disease.
• Quote: “The biggest relationship we fail on is our relationship with our food and ourselves.” — Kellie [17:34]
• Recommends knowing yourself: keep a journal, track your cycle, and observe how food affects mood/cravings.

Practical Tips for Transitioning Health Habits

• Don’t attempt drastic dietary changes overnight—meet people where they are, identify emotional triggers, and replace habits gradually.
• “It’s not about taking away; it’s about subtraction and addition. Replace candy with berries—nature’s candy.” [19:03]
• Encourages self-discovery: “The book of you is what matters.” [18:52]
• Track what makes you well during your cycle; have a personal playbook for managing symptoms with ginger, red raspberry, water, etc.

Navigating Modern Food Challenges

• Food security and food deserts: Support local farmers, learn to garden (even small), and utilize tools like the Yuca app for food sourcing. [22:12]
• Advocate for reading vegetable barcodes and being proactive as food and seed quality changes due to regulation, vaccines in food, and processed ingredients.
• Quote: “There’s a war on food… it makes no sense for you not to take a proactive effort in your own health.” — Kellie [22:57]

Proactive vs. Reactive Healthcare

• Only going to the doctor when something is wrong is living reactively. Be proactive about learning your body and habits.
• “When I go to the doctor, I’m checking in on what I’ve done.” [24:15]

Women's Health: Perimenopause, Menopause, Fertility, and Mood

• For perimenopause/menopause: first remove processed sugar, salt, carbs, alcohol, fried foods—“Notice I didn’t say meat first.” [30:04]
• Herbs for hormonal balance: chickpeas, burdock, valerian root, papaya, red raspberry; activity/movement is critical.
• Emotional balance and calm (“womb health”) must come first before any supplement; being in supportive, loving environments impacts fertility.
  • Quote: “How do we get you calm? I never go with herbs and stuff first. What makes you calm?” [32:47]
• Elevated cortisol/A1C block fertility and increase inflammation.

Disease, Acidity, and the Power of Alkaline Foods

• Disease thrives in acidic environments: focus on pH-balanced, seeded fruits/vegetables.
  • Examples: seeded watermelon (from Georgia-Florida line), limes (alkaline vs. lemons, which are acidic), and less-sugary foods. [37:30–39:00]
• Sugar as a destructive force: breaks down enamel, feeds cancer, in virtually all processed products. [40:00–40:41]
• Mental health is interconnected with ultra-processed foods; COVID exacerbated poor diet and mental health. [41:23]

Fasting as a Healing Modality

• Three-day “reset” fast is Kellie’s favorite: gradually reducing from solids to semi-solids to liquids, ending with water. [44:50]
  • “We are the sum of our experiences. Your brain needs you to go from one state to another with some ease. Love yourself enough to say, I’m going to get in this journey in a way you understand.” [46:02]
• Advocates community fasting for deeper creative connection and as a form of spiritual and bodily reset.

Sourcing Ingredients & Product Creation

• Kellie sources 90% of her products from Honduras; also uses Saint Lucia.
• Everything is intentionally and prayerfully made, inspired by her family’s traditions and personal healing journey (e.g., rose shea butter takes 5+ weeks, uses organic rose petals, sound baths, and prayer over every batch). [52:13–54:00]
• Usha Village in Honduras: family still operates this original healing center, open for visitors, where volcanic alkaline water runs through the village.[55:09]

Legacy, Impact, and Living Authentically

• The episode closes with gratitude, Kellie’s mission for “impact”—to be a resource of love, knowledge, humility, and progression for others; to heal the healer in everyone.
• Quote: “We are all healing, and we are also healers… that’s the impact I want to make.” [59:26]

Memorable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• "I don’t know what it’s like to feel emotion without nature attached to it." — Kellie, [03:22]
• "Be the hero in your own life. Participate in your own rescue." — Kellie, [13:34]
• "You don’t want to end up with me in the ER. You don’t want a nurse to keep injecting you with stuff because you didn’t get it right." — Kellie, [23:49]
• "The book of you is what matters." — Kellie, [18:52]
• "We are the sum of our experiences, whether it’s trauma or joy." — Kellie, [46:02]
• "Your health is not a luxury. It’s your foundation. And you deserve to thrive." — Crystal, [66:49]
• "Healing the healer is my biggest thing… If I had to pray for something, that’s it." — Kellie, [59:26]
• "Processed foods are distractions…Once you take that away, who really are you?" — Kellie, [48:03]
• "You can’t buy character in a bottle. You can’t shoot it in your arm. Character is built, and you build it through your diet and knowing yourself." — Kellie, [37:04]
• "Who are you without the internet? … If I’m not a better Kelly today than yesterday, then I’m wasting time." — Kellie, [51:32]

Timestamps for Important Segments

| Segment | Time | |----------------------------------------------------|-------------| | Introduction to Kellie & Dr. Sebi’s legacy | 00:00–04:20 | | Kellie’s childhood, learning in nature | 03:07–07:42 | | Launching Sabi’s Daughters, identity, women’s health| 07:42–10:41 | | Food/diet: Growing up, “celebrities of the garden” | 11:24–17:34 | | Alkaline diet vs. vegan; practical transition tips | 15:49–20:09 | | Modern food challenges & being proactive | 22:06–24:42 | | Proactive vs. reactive care, kitchen table talks | 24:00–27:39 | | Perimenopause, Menopause, and hormone regulation | 28:29–33:49 | | Womb health, mood, environment, and fertility | 32:19–34:01 | | Fasting as healing/reset | 44:35–48:03 | | Personal journey, product sourcing, legacy | 52:04–57:08 | | Closing: Impact, self-care, using Sabi’s Daughters | 58:32–66:49 |

Tone, Style, and Takeaway

The episode is imbued with warmth, assurance, “sister talk” humor, direct (but loving) truth-telling, and a heavy emphasis on self-kindness. Both Crystal and Kellie lean into radically honest conversation, practical anecdotes, and actionable wisdom—balancing deep experience with relatable advice.

Actionable takeaway:

• Know yourself and your relationship with food. Small, mindful changes compound into a new reality.
• Be proactive; participate in your healing and rescue.
• Seek support and knowledge for women’s health issues, from hormone changes to fertility.
• Use food as medicine—prioritize whole, alkaline, seeded, and local foods.

Final Message:
"Our health is our birthright—the goal is to thrive, not just survive." (Paraphrasing Crystal [66:49])

For Listeners Who Haven’t Tuned In

If you want inspiration to reclaim agency over your health, to understand wellness through a cultural and ancestral lens, or simply crave a relatable and healing conversation about the journey back to self, this episode fills your cup and your toolkit. Kellie Bowman’s lived experience, practical tips, and spirit-centered encouragement provide a powerful call to be the hero in your own life.