When was the last time you took a deep breath? A true deep breath where you fill your lungs to full capacity. How about resting? Not the rest where you’re laying down and scrolling, but the kind where you sit in stillness and simply breathe. Omi Bell has a new purpose in making sure all ambitious women take more advantage of the healing power of breathing.
You may recognize Omi Bell from her initiative Black Girl Ventures, whose mission is to create access to capital, capacity, and community for under-resourced entrepreneurs. As mentioned on their website, “BGV funded over 450 women of color, held over 50 BGV Pitch Programs across 15 cities, and served over 10,000 founders. Our pitch alumni are collectively generating over $10M in revenue and supporting over 3,000 jobs.”
After tremendous success, Omi found herself severely burnt out. She decided to take a 3-month sabbatical to relax and travel. During her time in Morocco, she found herself breaking down with eyes filled with tears in her hotel room. She knew something had to change.
This moment was a breakthrough that birthed Boardrooms & Breathwork, her bold initiative to spark a wellness revolution in corporations, entrepreneurs, and the lives of working women everywhere. Today, Omi Bell is certified in Yoga Nidra, a special breathwork that reclaims rest, and has trained hundreds since 2024 through her new keynote Boardrooms & Breathwork.
Her Agenda had a moment to catch up with Omi to learn more about Boardrooms & Breathwork, resting, and achieving success without sacrificing your wellness.
Her Agenda: Who is Omi Bell? When you wake up today in this new space, physically and mentally how would you describe yourself?
Omi Bell: Yeah, it’s a great question.I am a boss fairy (haha) – part CEO, part mystic.
Her Agenda: What inspired you to start Black Girl Ventures, and how has your sense of community shaped your journey as an entrepreneur?
Omi Bell: I’m all about community. It’s a big thing for me. I started Black Girl Ventures because of my love for the community. I grew up in a large family in the South, so yeah, I’m communal. I actually had another company, printing T-shirts. It was doing well. Then I realized it was very lonely.
Her Agenda:You had a t-shirt business and then you started BGV. It sounds like you’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit within you. How did that pivot into creating BGV?
Omi Bell: I’ve done a lot of things. I’ve lived a lot of lives, and I’ve never been happy with any job. For seven years, I was a K-12 educator. I also worked in workforce development and at the Patent and Trademark office. My degree is in Computer Science. At one point, I was a nanny — when I say I run the gamut of what it means to pivot!? Absolutely. That has been me.
I had my first child at 17, my second child at 21, and my third child at 33. I had to think about everyone and what I wanted to accomplish, too. That mindset, plus being a computer scientist, an artist, and communal births BGV. At that time, Black and Brown women were starting businesses at six times the national average, yet receiving less than 1% of venture capital. And my thought was, what could I do? I’m just crazy enough to say I can do something about that. The artist side of me thought about hosting a poetry slam, and the business side of me thought about Shark Tank-style pitching. I put these ideas together for a brunch at a house in Southeast DC, and there, Black Girl Ventures was born.
Her Agenda: What did it take to grow BGV into what it is today?
Omi Bell: So we’re currently nine years in. Next year, BGV will be 10 years old. We funded over 550 founders directly, but we supported and impacted over 20,000 people across about 64 countries. I traveled internationally, teaching women about confidence, how to pitch, and for women in tech, I taught them about how to develop their pitches to think deeper about the technology they’re building. And then that leads me into this new work. I was doing all that hardcore, heads-down work. Then in 2022, I found myself hitting a wall. I decided to take a break.
Her Agenda: Tell us more about this break that turned into a breakthrough in the way you work.
Omi Bell: I didn’t value rest as much. Everything I had done was built on moving efficiently and getting it done. ‘Getting it done’ was my execution style. I decided I was going to go on a two-week break – I ended up vacationing for one week. But then I found myself hitting a wall. I knew what we do at BGV was way too important for me to just shut down and to allow my body to shut down. I decided I need to take a break. So I went to my board, and they told me that I need to take a three-month sabbatical.
Her Agenda: Now, you’re prioritizing health and wellness. Can you share more about that new venture you have?
Omi Bell: After my sabbatical, I felt so rested. I’ve been practicing breath work for a while, but on and off. During the sabbatical, I really got dedicated to it. I also started mentioning my sabbatical in conversations with other leaders, and they were so shocked. They’re like, ‘Oh my God, you took a sabbatical!? How did you do that? What did you do? How did you do it? Where did you go?’ And I’m like, oh my God, people need rest. So I started doing a bunch of research on how I can help people get rest, especially super busy people, and help them to rest quickly.
I found Yoga Nidra and started practicing it. It’s a yogic sleep, and studies show 20 to 30 minutes of Yoga Nidra is the equivalent of two to four hours of sleep. I got certified in Yoga Nidra and then breathwork. After getting certified, I launched the Sabbatical Lounge and Boardrooms & Breathwork, which is targeted at professionals.
Her Agenda: What is the Sabbatical Lounge?
Omi Bell: The Sabbatical Lounge is a group experience. We did one in DC and had a tea sommelier come in for a tea testing. We also had foot washing, which is an ancient ancestral practice to welcome people into a space. Then people found their mats, and we did breathwork, Yoga Nidra, and a sound bath.
Her Agenda: What’s been a significant moment in this new chapter that stands out as confirmation for you?
Omi Bell: Recently, I had the opportunity to reimagine a keynote. Typically, at a keynote experience, a speaker talks to you for 45 minutes. Well, with California’s Child Care Providers Union, we had the opportunity to reimagine what a keynote can be. We had three events overall, a total of over 300 participants. We did breathwork and a sound bath as a keynote experience. These are childcare providers. The people who care for America’s children on a daily basis, who never get to rest. I’m looking out at them in the audience, realizing a lot of them have never experienced breathwork or been to a sound bath before. And to see them get relaxed and doing the breathing work, we do some laughter, laughter is clearing. And to see them just engaging in this experience was amazing. It was so transformational for them.
Her Agenda: I was reading your article. You had a really good stat. It read that burnout costs the global economy $322 billion annually through lost productivity, absenteeism, and turnover. So now that burnout is affecting the economy, are you seeing in any way or form, how companies, or even the government, is trying to embrace rest more?
Omi Bell:We’re at the beginning of the wellness revolution. Some companies caught on early; now other companies are starting to adapt. These stats about burnout also are new. Now that folks see how it is affecting the economy, I think we’re at the beginning of people starting to increase wellness benefits. I’m hoping more people will engage in true wellness practices like breathwork and managing our days better.
Her Agenda: Can you tell us more about Boardrooms & Breathwork?
Omi Bell: Boardrooms & Breathwork is an opportunity to marry both sides of me. My corporate/CEO experience, and knowing exactly what it means to need rest. So College Track is an organization I just recently worked with. I did a half-day retreat with them for Boardrooms & Breathwork. The team had already worked all week on their KPIs and goal setting for their upcoming season. I came in to host a half-day retreat. We worked on communication skills, and then did a sound bath, Yoga Nidra, and breathwork. Also under Boardrooms & Breathwork, I’m urging other conferences to incorporate a moment to breathe. So I’ve been talking to multiple other organizations, like NASDAQ and Black Men in Tech, to incorporate a moment to breathe at their conferences.
Her Agenda: Why do you think you were led to breathwork?
Omi Bell: Because as a woman who is super busy, I realized the one thing you always have with you is your breath. Sure, you can run or go to the gym, but these activities don’t settle the body to bring about mental clarity. I’m more committed to bio-hacking and having people realize that no matter where you are, you’ll always have your breath as a tool to help you relax. This helped me as a busy CEO, and I want to show others how to use it.
Her Agenda: What’s the main lesson you want people to take away from your journey?
Omi Bell: I want people to reframe their belief in what creates success. At one point, I thought working harder was it. I thought productivity only looked like active working, thinking all the time. I realized the best thing I could do was get a good night’s sleep.
[Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]
