Today we’d like to introduce you to Britni McCotter.
Britni, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
It all started… in June 2016, I underwent my third heart surgery.
I am a congenital heart disease (CHD) heart warrior, having had two prior surgeries when I was a little kid. At 28, I started experiencing Atrial Fibrillation, irregular heart rate, that ended me in the hospital. The doctors recognized my Mitral Stenosis (narrowing of the mitral valve) to be a potential cause of my a-fib and encouraged I undergo a balloon valvuloplasty to help open up the valve. A month after surgery, I ended up back in a-fib feeling defeated, depressed, and sad.
With the encouragement of my cousin, I started to see a nutritionist to explore my lifestyle, habits, relationships, and career to evaluate if I was living my authentic truth. I wasn’t.
This experience was profound. It was better than therapy. I noticed a change in my attitude, passions, and interests, and I felt better, stronger and happier. I took control of my health and did not let the doctors or my past experiences define me. It’s been an ongoing journey and has inspired me to help others.
Throughout this experience, I was energized and empowered to pursue my 200 HR Yoga Teacher Training and share the practice that I love.
My goal with Ocean and Arrow is to empower others to create healthy and mindful habits that inspire change. By focusing on what we eat and how it makes us feel, we can be more mindful and open. I believe that we are put on this earth to create change, to learn and to grow, and to prioritize our health to inspire the world around us. By being the best version of ourselves, we inspire our communities, relationships, friends and family to be their best version creating a ripple effect.
Has it been a smooth road?
The biggest challenge is building a business – selling yourself and learning to trust yourself along the way. As a practitioner, I am also constantly balancing boundaries. Energetically, I have to show up for myself and for my clients as my best version. This is how I am able to be their accountability buddy in making life changes and new habits. My advice for other women is to never doubt your gut instinct, it is always right. Be sure to establish a day of self-care or unplugging weekly, so that you are able to set space and create time for yourself. It’s most important as we show up for others!
We’d love to hear more about Ocean And Arrow.
Authenticity. With social media, it’s easy to perceive everyone in this space as having the “ideal” dream life. My mission is to change that through vulnerability. Being open about the tough days or life stuff that is thrown our way reminds others of our humanity. Shared struggles and experiences with anxiety, grief, and shifting perspectives are most helpful. I’ve been helping a lot of others through my writing. These are mostly musings from the soul and are the message that speaks to me thematically each week. When I get the urge to write and share, I have to do it then. I’ve been working through grief after losing my best friend tragically in March. It is not an easy road, and grief is not linear. This year has been a year of losses, but also, a year of grit, tenacity, and resilience. The power of the human spirit is that it is just that, we can fall, scrape our knees and get back up determined to try again, perhaps a different way.
So much of the media coverage is focused on the challenges facing women today, but what about the opportunities? Do you feel there are any opportunities that women are particularly well positioned for?
We’re seeing a shift among women thought leaders, creatives, athletes and executives that encourages women to speak up and step up. I think we’re starting to see the beginnings of the Feminist Revolution 2.0. More women are going to university, working in high power jobs, pursuing an education in STEM, and are doing wonderful things. We need more of this. We need women to counteract the idea that in order to succeed you have to be a man. It is very much a mans world, but we have a ton of fearless women driving the ship and taking charge. I also believe that more women are coming to recognize their independence, whether financially, personally or even through their education. This independence should be celebrated not frowned upon. We need previous traditional generations to accept that the world is far different than 30 years ago and that the trailblazers just go for it, paving the way for more greatness.
Pricing:
- 40 Days Rise to Reset program is $400, it comes with weekly check-ins, I’m available via text/email, an outstanding curriculum, recipes, newsletters and more
Contact Info:
- Website: oceanandarrow.com
- Email: oceanandarrow@gmail.com
- Instagram: britnim_
- Other: insta: @oceanandarrow
Image Credit:
Chelsea Francis
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
