Hey there beautiful. My name is Leah. I consider myself a magickal woman and I help other woman proclaim their magickal selves and live from an audacious heartspace.
What does that mean in real life?
My mission in life has always been to help people live a more on purpose, holistically fulfilling and audaciously happy life.
These days I specifically light up working with dancers, helping them to dance from that place within them that innately knows their worthiness and value. I equip them to be able to rise up, rawly and beautifully expressing it every time they step on a dance floor or even just out the door for the day.
I do this because I know both sides of that coin. I know what it’s like to love yourself and your life so much, that you refuse to believe that it’s NOT getting better. And I know what it’s like to be so void of hope and filled with internal pain and conflict that you believe you are fighting a losing battle and that life will never be or feel better.
I’m on the high side of that coin these days, knowing what it takes to keep going, to keep expecting the best and to actually start getting it too. I have many shortcuts in my medicine bag that cut down the long path I have taken and I use these to show you how to do the same.
I call it Dancing on the Ashes. let’s dance <3.
Stuff you Might Want to Know About Me:
1. I’m smart 😊. I have a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering and I am a true chemistry and quantum physics nerd. Love it.
2. I refer to God as the Universe often. I have very specific reasons. Want to know what they are, reach out!
3. I’ve struggled with depression and anxiety my entire life. I didn’t realize that depression was a thing and had a name until my freshman year in college. Up until then, I just thought there was something wrong with me. I didn’t realize that I’d been experiencing panic attacks all my life until my late 30s. I attempted suicide in the Fall of 2008. I can now, with conviction, say that I’m on the other side of this struggle and depression and anxiety no longer run my life.
4. I am an initiated Green Witch of the Wise Woman Tradition. That is one of my most cherished experiences and roles.
5. I’ve been reading Tarot cards since 2002 when my labmate Kathy Rizzo (where are you girl?!) introduced me to them. I’m so grateful to her for that. It gave my psychic energy a focus and a way to practice and embrace something that no one else in my world besides Kathy could help me with.
6. I started the coolest non-profit organization Soulistic Sanctuary in my early 20s. It’s mission was to educate lower income and minority communities on holistic lifestyle principles. The hope was that empowering them to change their inner environment would inspire them to change their outer environments as well. Social justice full circle!
7. I have my esthetics license. I studied esthetics because it was a way to work with people one on one and it gave me the permission to be more hands-on in consultations than being an herbalist did. My side bonus was that I found that I love skincare. Total nerd for it as well.
8. I’ve been dancing salsa professionally since 2004 and all together since 1999. I can’t imagine my life without dancing, specifically salsa or one of the latin dances on some level. I’m one of those people who will be dancing to the grave and beyond.
9. I love teaching. I love the ahas. I love sharing knowledge. I love breaking things down. It gives me a crazy high. I get just as much as I give 😊.
10. Chocolate and Coffee are my favorite anti-depressants 😊.
11. I meditate every morning – yep, I really do 😊.
12. I’m a chakras, crystals, numerology and incense kind of girl 😊.
13. I am a Double Aquarius (Sun/Moon) with a Cancer rising. A.k.a super weird chick with a bleeding heart :-D.
Join my email list and as a special thank you, I will send you my completely free breakdown on how you can stop spinning your wheels with disappointment and actually start achieving those goals you've set out for yourself.
The official stuff...Check out my bio below:
Leah Patterson is a woman of many hats: makeup artist, holistic esthetician, professional salsa dancer, and host of Soul of the South’s Great Gospel Morning, but that doesn’t stop her from looking forward to new challenges daily!
She began her professional life as an engineer, graduating from Howard University with a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering. She then worked as an engineer for 3 years, conducting research at the National Institute’s of Health’s Cancer Institute and overseeing validation protocols at Merck and Co. After this, her interest in holistic medicine and community building lead her to establish the non-profit organization Soulistic Sanctuary.
Through Soulistic Sanctuary, she taught wellness, herbal medicine, and natural product-making classes to various groups around Chicago and created programs to introduce these principles to economically disadvantaged communities. She started a for-profit company Soul Revival at this time as well, and eventually began Etniq Mineral Cosmetics in March 2007 to provide women of all colors non-toxic cosmetics with lasting power and versatility.
In December 2014, she founded MOVE Makeup, a natural, sweatproof makeup line for active women. Leah is a licensed esthetician and makeup artist that strives to inspire women to embrace their natural beauty.
Leah Patterson has also been dancing salsa professionally for over 11 years. In that time, she has become internationally recognized for her smooth and sensual styling and dynamic stage presence. She’s performed and taught all across the world. As a principal dancer of the well known dance company Descarga Caribe for many years, she shared her charisma and love for dancing with salsa enthusiasts in China, England, Spain, Italy, Canada, California, Washington DC, Texas, Chicago and countless other places.
Her style of dance has often been described as sophisticated, sharp, precise, imaginative, and even spiritual. One of her last performances with Descarga Caribe included the 2006 ESPN Salsa World Championships in which she helped place the team within the top 10 of the world.
Leah has been privileged to choreograph and perform with many amazing dancers including Sekou McMiller (Chicago/NYC), Darlin Garcia (Philadelphia), Del Dominguez (Chicago), Will Pagan (North Carolina), Betto Herrera (North Carolina), and most recently Amanda Cardona (Austin/New York). She also began North Carolina’s first all female dance team, Femme Finesse and expanded that team to include two additional chapters in South Africa and Arkansas. Currently she teaches in Little Rock, AR and is the founder of Leah’s School of Latin Dance. Through LSLD Leah directs the amateur couples' performance team Rock City Elite and the all-female student team Las Toiticas. Dance is her greatest passion and she thoroughly enjoys spreading this love through continuing to teach and perform wherever it takes her.