As a businesswoman, Nina Westbrook only stands by ventures she is passionate about.
Empire
Over the years, the mother of three has learned to embrace the natural progression of life, which has led to the creation of her own empire.
Children's Apparel
In 2018, she introduced her children’s boutique, The Little Ark. It was located in Oklahoma, where her husband — NBA player Russell Westbrook — played at the time until 2019.
The boutique offered gifts, home decor, and gadgets, among others, according to BET.
As Nina expanded her vision in retail, she pivoted her focus to Minibrook, a sustainable children’s apparel line in Los Angeles, CA.
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“I think the natural progression from owning a clothing boutique is owning the product that you sell in it. I got a lot of inspiration from other brands, but I noticed that there was something missing. I wasn’t quite getting all that I wanted for my children’s clothing. So that sparked the birth of Minibrook,” Nina told AfroTech in an email interview.
According to the company’s website, the line is thoughtfully created to consider growth and movement to meet the frequent needs of families with small children.
Licensed Marriage And Family Therapist
Additionally, Nina doesn’t have her hands tied within one industry. She has also maintained her title as a licensed marriage and family therapist.
People reports she obtained a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a minor in English while attending University of California, Los Angeles. She then went on to pursue a master of arts in clinical psychology with a specialization in marriage and family therapy.
While Nina maintained clientele, working in community-based counseling centers, inpatient facilities, and an inpatient psychiatric program, she couldn’t continue her involvement due to her husband’s busy schedule.
“Having a husband in the NBA meant we relocated multiple times and it became clear that I wouldn’t be able to go back to practicing therapy, but I was missing the work I did around mental health,” she told VoyageLA.
However, she didn’t put a stop on her purpose. Amid world shutdowns in 2020, she wanted to continue her work centered around mental health and well-being.
She then created digital platform Bene to make wellness more accessible. The platform offers several mental health e-workshops including “How To Mentally Thrive As A Competitive Athlete,” How To Set & Maintain Healthy Boundaries While Working From Home,” and “Are You Ready For A New Perspective.”
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“My hope for Bene by Nina is to share mental health and wellness information in a more digestible manner,” Nina explained. “I want people to understand that mental health is so much more than diagnoses, it is a part of our daily lives. The decisions that we make daily impact our mental health, and Bene is sharing tips and tools from me, and other leading experts in their respective fields. Destigmatizing mental health remains one of my main goals, and to me, that means sharing informative information regarding mental health in a very relatable way.”
What's Next?
In addition to Bene, Nina is still finding news ways to foster dialogue around topics that are near and dear to her heart and are important to make differences in everyday life. She will be launching her first podcast, “The Relationship Chronicles with Nina Westbrook,” to help individuals navigate “everyday struggles” relating to friendships, family dynamics, and dating.
Listeners can tune into the podcast — produced by Gotham Production Studios — on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. They should expect special guests, including Kevin Hart, Gabrielle Union, and more.
“Selfishly, I love talking to experts and people who have managed to figure out a way to gracefully and successfully navigate all of the crazy dynamics of everyday relationships. As an LMFT [licensed marriage and family therapist], chatting about relationships happens to be my specialty, so really this is just fun for me,” Nina said.
“I’m just grateful to have some amazing guests trust me enough to come on my first season and share some of the trials and triumphs of their personal relationships, along with tips on how to successfully navigate some of our own. It’s one of the things I’m most proud of thus far,” she concluded.
