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This is a podcast for anyone feeling stretched thin by work, activism, caregiving, or just surviving under systems that weren’t built for our thriving. On Balm in the Burnout, we speak with artists, organizers, and community builders about what’s helping us stay grounded and resourced in the face of burnout. Together, we reclaim our right to soothe, heal, and make hopeful, sustainable action.
[00:00:00]
Megan: Welcome back to Balm in the Burnout. I'm Megan Hadley, and today I'm so excited to have fellow neighborhood entrepreneur here. So I have Brenna Wernersbach, the owner of MoonStone MPLS, or MoonStone Minneapolis, which is literally four blocks from my house, and I just can't wait to talk to Brenna, so I'm gonna share Brenna's bio and then we'll dive in.
Brenna has always been driven to help people understand and accept themselves and connect with others. Creating spaces for these processes has been a lifelong journey through avenues of education, psychology, and community engagement. Brenna is also a collector of tools [00:01:00] and artifacts that connect them with self and nature, and curating a shop filled with these has become an avenue for cultivating a community of people with similar interests and values. Brenna, tell me, how are you today?
Brenna: I am doing great. It's a rainy Wednesday. I like a rainy day, so kind of taking a slower pace and recalibrating on Wednesdays I often. I'm reflecting on how things are going and doing more admin stuff and trying to pull out of that to do more bigger visioning, and so I enjoy my slower paced Wednesdays.
Megan: Yes. Oh, we call that CEO time in my world,
Brenna: yes. That's it.
Megan: and the rain has been so good, so nourishing.
Brenna: Mm-hmm.
Megan: I would love to launch in and just hear a moment recently when you felt really present in your life.
Brenna: The rain has contributed to that [00:02:00] as well. So, I currently live up in the Bryn Mawr neighborhood and I'll be moving back to South Minneapolis this summer. But we have a neighborhood cat that. Well, we have a few neighborhood cats and one of 'em seems to be maybe getting the brunt of being picked on a little bit.
And so we've kind of made friends with this cat and I recently let him into our porch because it's rainy out and the other cats are giving him a hard time and it's only a matter of time. I think before this is my cat. Things have to fall into place, but it's been really, mindful for me to have this cat come into my space and we're in the porch.
'cause I have a house cat and we can't intermix them. But I find that when I'm just sitting out there with this new friend. I noticed that he feels safe. He's not watching his back anymore. He's able to like have a little meal and then he has a little bath, and then he lays down and he has a nap. And being with [00:03:00] this cat that's like a new friend, sort of a stranger to me, and providing this safe space where he literally feels safe enough to have a bath and a nap, has been a chance for me to just like slow down.
I'm not checking my email, I'm not doing other things. Just with this little guy. And so those have probably been my most present moments lately is porch time with Georgie, we're calling him.
Megan: Georgie, thanks for sharing and bringing a mystical cat into the space as early as possible.
Brenna: Love cats. They find us, you know?
Megan: They really do. Oh, I love that. I could feel the example of that sacred space you're creating for another being and how that space gives you a chance to also breathe and
Brenna: Yeah. What feels really special about it is that he chose us like this. Cat's been in the neighborhood for a long time and my partner gave him some wet food during a rainstorm and it like flipped a switch and now this cat is [00:04:00] like ready to greet us at the start and end of our days. And recently there was another fight in the neighborhood and he came to our door, so like he's coming to us as a sanctuary too. It feels so special to be chosen by a cat that's got options.
Megan: Yeah. Yeah. What a gift. You're obviously putting out some good energy to vibe with Georgie. Oh... tell me what health and wellbeing means to you. You know, in my work we always chat with people about just what it means and it means something different to everyone. And you know, I think wellness culture can be a little tricky to navigate.
So what does it mean for you?
Brenna: For me, it really means having balance in my time and my relationships and how I'm using my energy. Being my own boss and having my own business, having the flexibility to open a little later if things aren't going well or open a little earlier if I do have the energy [00:05:00] is a important piece for me of being able to attend to what's going on in my life and the lives of my loved ones.
So that flexibility with my own schedule. One of the things that I've mentioned is that before this I was in psychology, and so having that. It's very important for a psychologist to be on time for their appointments and to have the energy to be present. And I found that that was often a place that I struggled.
I would have some social anxiety about meeting new people or I'd be really worried about the outcomes for my clients or patients. And then that worry of course, would be exacerbated if I needed to take time off. I'd feel guilty for canceling. Because they deserve that consistency. And so for me, curating a space that is available to people and other people can utilize has improved that boundary of I can be flexible and it doesn't leave somebody else without a resource that they were counting on.
Megan: Yeah, and some [00:06:00] people don't think about that when they think what line of work to go into or how to be. Well, you know, that rhythm of the day and how much flexibility there is. So you finding that opportunity that. It didn't only help you show up for yourself, but help you show up for the community you're serving in a consistent way.
Brenna: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. The boundaries were also very different for me as a therapist compared to just a community member. So one thing that's been on my mind a lot lately is outness and openness. At MoonStone, we've curated a space where we have queer affirming merchandise and authors and individuals in our store all the time to the point that it's not something that we think
I haven't had to introduce myself with pronouns in a really long time. The people who know me use they them pronouns with me or correct other people around me. And so it's not even on my radar. But I [00:07:00] recently started a CEO development program and it's been so incredible in terms of the content that I'm learning.
But I was suddenly confronted again with this idea of coming out where. I don't feel like I have a something secret about me, but there's something that other people assume about me that I either have to correct right away, or it starts to build this tension. And so creating this space at MoonStone, where I call it a queer centered space or queer normative space where we just assume.
You know, you are who you are, you love who you love, and we're not gonna put any labels on. That is actually pretty rare and pretty special. And so being confronted with having to choose when and how to come out, what to self disclose, was totally off the table in a lot of ways as a therapist, especially at the time that I was doing my training.
And now has become something I take for granted and is still something that is difficult in a lot of different places in the world and [00:08:00] different settings we find ourselves in.
Megan: Yeah, so you're cultivating this space that's supportive for you and everyone you're serving, and it feels so normal when you're there. And so great, and to be in that bubble and recognize, oh, there's other work that happens in other bubbles
Brenna: mm-hmm.
Megan: and the energy it takes to, be not centered and recognize those spaces aren't created everywhere.
Brenna: So for me, wellness looks like having a life where I can be authentic about how I'm doing and what time I need, or who I am or what's important in my relationships. To just create a space where it's safe to be authentic, contributes to my mental health and balance and my overall wellness.
Megan: For sure that authenticity is huge for one's own capacity to have that self-awareness and dive deeper into the depths of what needs to be healed. So you are speaking such truth right now. I'm so into it. You've [00:09:00] talked about your shop and just what all you're about. How did you get into all of this?
Brenna: I got into this by. Stumbling into little magic shops, right? I grew up watching Buffy and so it was really exciting to find spaces like that and shop at them. I've always liked odd and unique stores. Vintage shops. And when I got together with my current partner about eight years ago, she taught me how to pick agates.
And so once I started collecting superior agates, now that was the type of store that I wanted to go to. I wanted to go into crystal shops. And I'm a natural collector, so I needed one of everything. So first it was a tiny one, and then it was a little tower, and then it was a bigger tower. And so, kind of the combination of those interests quirky little shops and being a collector and the beauty of these stones led me to work at a store called The Eye of Horace in Uptown.
And so I had worked with them since [00:10:00] 2019. I got a lot of mentorship there about understanding the types of products and services that these shops provide, and I started diving more into not just the metaphysics of crystals, but some of the geology and chemistry, the science of crystals, what gives them their color?
What lets light through or absorbs light. Or reflects light, those scientific properties. Really map onto the metaphysical properties. A stone that lets light through, moves energy through a stone that reflects it away reflects energy away, right? So what I found was that we have two camps. We have the metaphysical camp that thinks that the scientists are snobs and nonbelievers, and we have the scientists who think that the metaphysical people are, you know, dreamers, and have a hard time taking that seriously. But what I found is that they absolutely dovetail and learning about one enhances your utility with the other. And so that [00:11:00] is what I brought into MoonStone as a store. We're not just a metaphysical shop. We're bring in a lot of science of the nature and science of the magic.
Because I think that they are different ways of getting at the same truth. For me, holding a stone is an easy way to just get lost in space, what's in there, especially ones that have a lot of caves and like weird stuff inside of them. It's kinda hard to get this to focus, but I like ones that people would consider imperfect.
But I think it's the imperfections that make them really interesting. I also can get lost on like a gravel road looking for agates for hours until like my neck hurts or I have a sunburn. And so connecting with nature, it can even be in the city in a parking lot, right? But we're, I'm suddenly very present and mindful and connected to something that the earth created.
To me that's magical.
Megan: Oh so magical and that you found your way to this through a [00:12:00] particular medium. I mean, I think going with what gives you, lights you up and interests you, and thank you so much for bringing, that mashup between the metaphysics and the science. You know, I think there's such synergy that happens and you gave such good voice to this.
We do this work all the time in the health coaching world, is just, you know, we have these integrative ways of supporting our health and wellbeing. We have western medicine, and when you understand the more of both, you do understand how they can work together and one language informs the other
Brenna: Mm-hmm.
Megan: and you as the individual get to decide. What's empowering, what the meaning is for you and kind of how to make it all sync up.
Brenna: I think a lot of this fits too with kind of my perspective as a non-binary person. Pretty much when I'm presented with something that's black and white or either or, my eyebrow's gonna pop out, that seems suspicious to me because it's not usually a zero sum [00:13:00] game. It's not this or that. These things work together, and when we can allow that to exist without feeling afraid of an apparent contradiction and get curious about it, I think it just really enriches the way that we think about things and engage with other people.
And so for me, I wanna create a space where anyone who's curious is welcome, and if there's stuff in here that you don't really vibe with, that's okay, because probably there's something else that you do. And talking, even noticing customers talking with each other has been really fun. The relationships that are forming within the store that I'm not even a part of has been really rewarding because I see people connecting and growing and learning, and that's kind of the point.
Megan: Yeah, I kind of see like that expansive space of your porch being like a part of the store too. People just get to be and let down their guard and get to know each other and have these really open conversations, and [00:14:00] I've definitely had those at your shop. I just have to say I love all of the children's books.
You know, I have a three-year-old and so. Introducing these kinds of ideas and these themes from a young age to support that overall curiosity about how the world works and it's, you just have so much good, good
Brenna: Yeah, it's been great. So, uh, MoonStone originally opened in uptown in December of 2023 in the former Eye of Horace space, when the original owner made the decision after 20 years to retire, which is an incredible time to operate a small business. She had moved it to many different settings. She went through incredible personal changes throughout that period, and so I learned a lot from her and I was really grateful to open in this space that did have a reputation, but that was also two-sided because it meant that mostly we got people who were coming to see how the store had changed and not to see a new store [00:15:00] altogether.
And since we've relocated to Longfellow, we're getting far more people who are coming in with a totally blank slate to see what is the store about. And so, not a lot of people are bringing their kids to uptown to check out the metaphysical shop, but far more families are coming to Longfellow to do some shopping, to have lunch next door at Sonora.
And so it's been really fun to see kids engaging with these things. Kids love rocks. Kids are really interested. In the stuff that we have. And I also noticed that the parents that come with their families are really engaged with their kids and they're talking about what these things mean. And it's just been really fun to see those relationships and those shifts in our client base, the expansion in our clients.
Megan: Definitely , and such a different energy, like you said, to just be in a new space and invite new people in and see who shows up and then cater to them. I'm curious, you know, you've done a lot in a short period of time. What do you think burnout looks like in this [00:16:00] field?
Brenna: I think I was burning out a lot more when I was working for other small businesses because I saw so many things that I wanted to tinker with or tweak or try to improve, and it wasn't my call. And so moving into being my own final decision maker has. Reduced a lot of kind of the interpersonal conflict and some of the ways that I felt like I didn't have control over my own reality or control over my income.
Now I am owning my own business and I still don't feel a lot of control over my income. I've invested a lot and I'm trying to recoup and grow this but it is very grounding for me to be the person who makes those decisions. I've got. One employee who is incredible and is so easy to work with.
We really gel and I've got one contractor that helps me with my social media. And having that team that really sees and supports my [00:17:00] vision has been really helpful. Burnout for me looks like not having as much fun doing the things that I used to do. Resenting having to come in, feeling overwhelmed when usually the things I'm feeling overwhelmed by are exciting to me. Like when we bought all the new crystals and it was time to get 'em on the floor, I was like, oh man, I gotta figure out the bowls and the arrangements. I used to love that when I was the hourly employee and now it's hard to slow down and make time for those activities and enjoy them as much.
So it's one of my goals to continue to grow our revenue, to be able to support growing our staff so that I can delegate. Those types of tasks and get back to the things I used to enjoy, like teaching classes or facilitating book clubs. Right now I'm in the space of offering that space to other people for them to be able to host those events, but at some point I hope to have the energy to lead them myself again.
Megan: For sure. So it sounds like the different phases of business, you know, [00:18:00] so like you're kind of in the startup phase, but you've been around for a while. You've got an employee and a contractor, and so there's benefits and limitations of that
Brenna: mm-hmm.
Megan: Continuing to project your goals that you have so that you can get to some of those things that you wanna do, and delegate a little more.
I mean, I think that's every entrepreneur's dream, right? Is to like, pass off the things you no longer need slash want to be doing and really do what lights you up.
Brenna: Yeah, and I want to cultivate that for people too. So one of the things that's important to me about MoonStone is the back third of the store remains empty and available for community classes, weekend maker markets. I'd love to host things like death cafes here for people to talk about difficult topics or book clubs and discussion groups around non-traditional topics.
Things like sustainability in businesses queer resources locally. [00:19:00] Having that space is really important to me because that's how I got started. Offering workshops as a counselor in training at universities allowed me to hone a lot of my ally and, advocacy skills teaching classes at the metaphysical shop to help me be able to grow my knowledge and grow my connections.
And I used to be like addicted to book clubs. I was in so many, and then I created some of my own. And so offering that space to community so that they can grow feels like a natural. Way of both looking forward to where I'm going and back to where I came from. And so I envision not just delegating those things, but being able to offer some mentorship and helping people when they're at those beginner stages too.
Megan: Absolutely. And what a better place for collaboration and connecting. I mean, the fact that you've saved that square footage for other people to come in and collaborate with you, that is so huge. I keep talking to my colleagues that I [00:20:00] collaborate with around the grief around our land usage, our stealing of land, and the loss of all the cultural approaches to using the land in the healing environment.
So now we have privatized land and the public land doesn't necessarily feel safe enough to do ritual either. And it's just this hard balance around, yeah, where's my porch? Where we can relax and, and take a bath together.
Brenna: yeah. Where I can let my guard down and just be present and rest, or connect or reflect.
Megan: Yeah. Yeah, it's so important. So thank you so much for providing that service. You're in my neighborhood, literally, so I can't wait to see all the collaborations that I know you have so many incredible things happening this summer and all
Brenna: Mm-hmm.
Megan: the time. And you run into lots of our neighbors all the time.
So tell me what you think people are alchemizing these days with all these supports they're gathering from your shop.
Brenna: I am [00:21:00] seeing people connect with one another in sharing resources. I had someone who needed a car and someone who was looking to get rid of a car, and that solved a problem for both of them. So a lot of times it's these smaller ways of people meet at a pop-up and then the next thing I know, they've gone out to lunch together and they're seeing each other regularly in friendship and in community.
And so, I'm excited too. We've got a community posting board here, and so anybody in the neighborhood who has events that are, I mean, we don't really have any qualifiers for them. We see people sharing things about energy services, reiki services, party services, face painting services, and so just having a place where people can leave their information or connect with somebody else has been a cool avenue to watch, develop, and grow.
Megan: Yeah. And again, another huge grassroots form of connecting with people. You know, I've gone out and poster to [00:22:00] different places and just seeing some of them. You don't wanna mention anything around spirituality or religion or it has to be. Within the next 30 days or you need to live in the neighborhood.
And so the idea that you have just an open board for anyone to connect is honestly super helpful as a local entrepreneur that really bases a lot of my in-person workshops based on word of mouth and just who's around town.
Brenna: Yeah. Part of my philosophy is as well, that like small businesses are not in competition with one another, and so I am happy to refer people to other metaphysical shops, to other stone shops. Like if somebody's looking for something and we don't have it, I am excited to tell them what stores I would check with because these are my comrades. These are my peers. I admire them. I spend my time off going to their shops too. And so we are in competition with far bigger We are small fish in a school together, and so I don't [00:23:00] mind at all advertising other people's services or classes that are hosted at other venues because. I also hope that they'll offer it at my venue as well.
We don't know where people feel comfortable and so to me, accessibility means having it everywhere, not having things be exclusive or again, this is the non-binary thinking. We don't have sides, we don't have teams. We're all in this together. So you going there doesn't mean less for me, us being connected means more for all of us.
Megan: Yeah. Ooh, that frame is so grounding and healing. Thank you so much for speaking to that. Oh, I'm curious, just for you personally, what is one small way that you use to reduce your own risk of burnout on the day to day?
Brenna: I made a big change when we moved to Longfellow, and that is that we're closed on Wednesdays. And in scarcity mindset it feels like don't ever be closed. Like what if somebody stops by the restaurant, next door is [00:24:00] open, you know? But that means that I've already been closed twice as many days this year as I was in the entirety of last year.
And what I see is that we're still maintaining, right? And so, I am reclaiming that excess energy that I put in to doggy paddling to do things like vision about my business or just have the day off and play a video game or watch a show or cuddle with my pet, or you know, having that flexibility built into my schedule still has like the back of my mind like, oh, but what if somebody wants to be the, oh, what if you were open?
I'm here for the long haul, right? And so, especially in uptown, there's a real survivor mentality, and I don't fault anyone individually for that. That's kind of the, the vibe is you gotta work really hard just to stay with what you've achieved. And my goal in moving to Longfellow was to have that same [00:25:00] amount of energy, get me further.
And for now, what that means is. Reclaiming some of it and building up those reserves to be able to be here for a really long time.
Megan: Yeah, and what a great example of finding that balance and flow, you know, in alignment with that value of having time and space for yourself and just seeing, you know what, actually this works for the business and I have more energy to do things, and maybe there's one person that cares on a random month that you're not open on a Wednesday, but how much more important it is
Brenna: Mm-hmm.
Megan: you and your staff in the whole shop.
Model that balance for everybody.
Brenna: Yep. Yep. And so one of our goals this summer is to improve our web store, in which case that'll be open on Wednesdays, you know, and, and we're here a lot of the time. So another thing I've noticed since moving is, just a lot of patience. Sometimes people go to the uptown store first and they're like, oh, we didn't realize you moved, or, it took us forever to get our address updated on a Apple [00:26:00] Maps.
It was fine on Google, but Apple Maps was still sending people to the wrong store. But people would get over here and no one complained or was grouchy about it. They were all like, oh, we love that you have a parking lot. Like they came in and there was just a shift. And so I notice more patience and that the people who have a desire to connect, have a desire to connect.
And so they're not put off by an inconvenience or a false start. They're gonna try again and we'll connect and we'll build something together.
Megan: Yeah. Such a good lesson for that physical space, and instead of saying like, oh, I need to honor the legacy of this 20-year-old shop in this neighborhood. You can find the intention that fits for you and your goals and your dream for your business; the right people who come along will come along.
Yeah. Well, I'm curious as we close up, if there's one takeaway that you hope listeners could hold with them, what would it be?
Brenna: In some ways [00:27:00] it's a cliche, you know, the thing of like, put on your own oxygen mask first. But I would say the takeaway is that self-advocacy isn't selfish. Taking the time. To create the space that you need to ask for the respect that you deserve is something that I still struggle with. I will be a champion of creating that space for someone else or advocating on behalf of someone else, but it feels uncomfortable to center myself in those ways.
And so I'm really trying to recognize that doing this for myself. Creates the space for others as well. And so I would say advocate for yourself. Be yourself. Create the space to be yourself because you never know who's watching, and that's giving them permission to do the same. It's not selfish to thrive.
It provides a model for the people to follow and to be self-actualized as [00:28:00] well.
Megan: It's such good medicine. Thank you, Brenna, and I can't wait to share in our show notes all the ways that people can connect with you in your shop.
You're on Instagram at MoonStone MPLS and your website is MoonStone mpls.com. And for our listeners, you can save 10% off your next purchase with MoonStone.
Just mention " Burnout podcast" in store or use code BURNOUT at the checkout online.
Brenna: We also have links on both our Instagram and our website to our Google calendar. So you can see who's coming for our popups, what classes we have on the calendar and get involved with what we are trying to facilitate in that community way.
Megan: Totally. I am just stunned at the number of events you have every month. I mean, it's definitely a part of your business model, and I'm working on getting in your calendar for later this summer, so I'm excited about that. But their physical location is at [00:29:00] 3304 East Lake Street in Longfellow South Minneapolis, right next to Sonora Grill and across the street from Soderberg's Floral.
So Brenna, thank you so much for your time today. It was just very inspiring to speak with you and everything that brought your shop to life, and I can't wait for our listeners to hear about it and check it out.
Brenna: Well, thank you so much. I really appreciate the opportunity to share this more with other people because we're new here and we want people to come in and give us a shot, and so anybody who recommends us to a friend or brings someone along makes a huge difference to a small business in this early stage.
Megan: Absolutely. So share, you heard the call to action from Brenna themselves. Share their shop and step on in if you're local.
Brenna: Thank you so much.
Megan: Balm in the Burnout is a listener -supported podcast made possible by my work at Harvest Health and Wellbeing. If you'd like to support this project or contribute to a community [00:30:00] scholarship, you can leave a tip on Venmo at HHW-LLC. Thanks for listening and see what you can restore and alchemize today.