Kristen Williams

Hometown: Baton Rouge

Age: 34

Artistry: Owner/creator, Unapologetic Healing wellness products and workshops

Online: @unapologetichealingstudio on Instagram

Arcing her black brush over the crisp white paper in dramatic curves, Kristen Williams confesses her feelings with every motion that finds the elusive face of a woman she only calls Dark Feminine. Few really see her minimal watercolors. These works are for her, an act of connecting with herself and exploring her emotions. “It teaches me to let go of things,” she says.

The licensed trauma therapist has spent the past year encouraging others to make their routines more resonant and their quiet, alone moments, like her painting, more powerful by focusing on the present moment and tuning in to what their bodies are telling them.

Called somatic therapy, it is the heart of her new wellness, bath and body brand, Unapologetic Healing.

“Our self-care routines are opportunities to subvert the process of losing yourself in your role or in whatever goes on in daily life in order to actually maintain a strong sense of self and take time to focus on you in a healthy way,” says Williams, who has created a line of artisan perfumes, body bars and bath soap shots she offers at arts markets and Local Supply in Mid City. “It’s about discovering yourself and being intentional.”

There was a time when Williams was not unapologetic in her own healing. She had to flee the confines of a church organization she found oppressive and navigate workplace bullying early in her career.

“I really didn’t advocate for myself,” she says. “I hadn’t found my voice.”

After months of experimenting with recipes at home, last summer Williams launched her brand of products and now hosts regular “signature scent” workshops in Baton Rouge for others to discover which aroma ignites a connection between their body and mind. Her most recent event, Perfume & Prosecco, was a huge hit at the new Origin Hotel downtown.

Though her watercolors are a private practice, Williams has self-published Expressions of Her, a collection of poetry, through Amazon.

“It feels liberating and a bit exposing to allow others to peer into my soul this way,” Williams admits of her introspective writing. “I have held nothing back.”

Pulling a lot of knowledge and passion from her therapy career into her brand, Williams is hyper-aware of roles and the dangers of defining oneself within a narrow set of actions and expectations.

“Don’t limit yourself,” she suggests to anyone wanting to explore themselves and their creativity. “In fact, challenge the limits you’ve been taught. Systems will tell you that you’re doing it wrong and that you need them, and you don’t.”