On a moving trolley through Chicago’s Chinatown, this episode of Unfiltered doesn’t rush toward a conclusion. Instead, it slows down.
This is fitting for a conversation centered on intention, ritual, and remembrance.
In Episode 7, Can’t Pronounce It? Don’t Consume It, Michelle Brantley-Smith, founder of The Good Root Grove Co., invites listeners to rethink wellness not as a trend, a cleanse, or a performance, but as a return. A return to ingredients we recognize, practices our ancestors relied on, and rhythms that honor the body rather than exhaust it.
What began as Michelle’s personal journey through burnout and infertility evolved into a broader mission: to make plant-based healing accessible, enjoyable, and rooted in truth — without fear, guilt, or elitism.
From Burnout and Infertility to Purpose
Michelle’s path to herbal wellness was not born from aesthetics or social media trends. It began with questions.
After months of trying to conceive, navigating hormonal imbalances, fibroids, and the emotional weight many women silently carry, Michelle began researching how food, herbs, and daily inputs impact the body. Her legal background trained her to dig deep, question systems, and follow evidence — and that curiosity led her to Chinese herbal medicine, fertility teas, and plant-based rituals that had existed long before modern wellness culture rebranded them.
The teas worked in part, but they were hard to drink. They smelled strong. They tasted worse. Still, the lesson stayed with her: the body can heal, support itself, and rebalance when given the right tools.
After five rounds of IVF, Michelle welcomed her daughter and with that moment came clarity. Those early herbal lessons were not a detour. They were a foundation.
The Good Root Grove Co. was born from that realization: healing should be effective and enjoyable. Rituals should be sustainable. And wellness should not feel like punishment.
“If You Can’t Pronounce It, Think Twice”
At the heart of the episode is a deceptively simple philosophy: know what you are putting into your body.
Michelle explains that ingredients shape far more than physical health. They influence how we think, how we feel, how we show up in our lives and relationships. When ingredients are unfamiliar, unpronounceable, or poorly understood, they often disrupt hormonal balance, gut health, and long-term wellbeing, particularly in communities already burdened by higher rates of chronic conditions.
This isn’t about restriction or perfection. Michelle is clear that balance matters. She enjoys indulgences, believes in moderation, and avoids rigid labels. Instead, she advocates for accountability without shame; understanding how ingredients work together, how they absorb in the body, and how small daily choices compound over time.
One example she shares is turmeric. Widely praised for its anti-inflammatory benefits, turmeric is far less effective when taken alone. Without black pepper, the body struggles to absorb it. Knowledge, she explains, is what turns a trend into a tool.
“Wellness isn’t about doing everything,” she notes. “It’s about doing things intentionally.”
Wellness Beyond the Physical
Throughout the conversation, wellness is framed as more than nutrition. It is emotional, mental, spiritual, and communal.
Michelle speaks candidly about how Black women are often conditioned to carry everything — work, caregiving, leadership, advocacy — while placing themselves last. She rejects the idea that exhaustion is a badge of honor or that rest must be earned.
Instead, she reframes rest as responsibility.
To be a present mother, partner, judge, entrepreneur, and community advocate, Michelle prioritizes rituals that ground her: tea, plant-based nourishment, boundaries, and moments of pause. These practices are not indulgent. They are protective.
And they begin at home. In one of the episode’s most grounding moments, Michelle shares that her daughter encouraged her to turn her teas into a business. Wellness, in this telling, becomes modeled, shared, and passed forward.
Why This Episode Matters
This episode closes the season by naming something essential: wellness for Black women cannot be built on fear, guilt, or constant survival.
For generations, ancestral practices were dismissed, colonized, or stripped of legitimacy while communities were simultaneously over-medicated, under-represented in research, and underserved by healthcare systems. Can’t Pronounce It? Don’t Consume It challenges that disconnection.
Michelle’s work sits at the intersection of science and spirit. She does not reject medicine; she contextualizes it. She reminds us that accountability and education empower us to engage with healthcare as partners, not passive recipients.
In a landscape where Black women are disproportionately affected by chronic disease, infertility, and stress-related illness, this episode reframes wellness as remembering what nourishes us, what grounds us, and what restores joy.
Wellness, here, is not about glow-ups or optimization. It is about sovereignty.
Slowing Down to Truly Reflect
As one of the final episodes of the year, Can’t Pronounce It? Don’t Consume It feels intentional in its placement. After conversations about caregiving, grief, hydration, community, and survival, this episode offers a gentle but firm close.
Slow down.
Read the label.
Ask questions.
Honor your body.
Choose joy without apology.
Michelle leaves listeners with a reminder that resonates beyond the episode: prioritize yourself, your health, your rest, and how you show up in the world. Everything else flows from there.
Join the Conversation
What rituals ground you when life feels heavy? What ingredients — in food or in life — are you ready to question more closely? And how are you redefining wellness on your own terms?
Watch Episode 7 and catch up on the full NOWINCLUDED Unfiltered playlist on our YouTube channel.
Join the community conversation and continue exploring what it means to build health rooted in truth, intention, and joy.
