By Hywania Thompson | Photography by Hillary Schave
Carla Williams knows what it feels like to have a lack of support and access to resources when dealing with anxiety and burnout. As founder of The View From Here Wellness Collective, her business that offers a wide range of programming to bolster Black women’s wellbeing, she works to ensure that women are uplifted.
The idea for the collective came about in 2021 during the pandemic when Williams would connect with family and friends virtually. She started with launching a podcast, “The View From Here,” which eventually expanded into the full-blown collective.
“The major thing we try to do with The View From Here is … figure out where the women are and go to them, whether that’s [through] a virtual or in-person meetup, the podcast, [my] blog, [a] curated event — whatever makes the most sense in terms of supporting women on their wellness journey,” Williams says.
Williams also hosts Glow and Gather, an annual event where Black women connect and engage in self-care experiences as well as give back to the community in some way. She plans to build on that generosity by creating a nonprofit which will establish a self-care fund. The fund will help women access mental health and other wellness resources.
“I know firsthand what it means to experience homelessness, so providing clean, eco-friendly products and wellness resources is deeply personal and central to our mission,” says Williams.
Having Black women leave her events feeling encouraged, supported and armed with resources they can apply to their everyday lives is at the root of what Williams does.
“If in 2026 at least 80 women could say consistently, every month or throughout the year, that they had some sort of support from The View From Here Wellness Collective, and it enriched their lives, that would be the goal,” she says.
What’s the most pressing health issue facing Black women right now?
“Accessibility in all aspects. Whether that’s through disability [accommodations or] food, job or housing access — the consistent issue to me for Black women … is accessibility.”
