Meet Broderick Armbrister: Entrepreneur & Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Broderick Armbrister and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Broderick, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Mindfulness is something that I have recently learned and started practicing. This changed my life so much that it propelled me to work hard on the mindfulness journal/planner product launch. Both of my parents are entrepreneurially inclined. After learning through experience in life about the importance of self-care and self-discipline, I found myself finally ready to have my own business. The process itself was a little scary; the legal documents, the future worry about taxes, etc., had me a little nervous, but luckily I was into the business with some trusted companions.

What should our readers know about your business?
A Better Today is a collective of those aspiring to grow and improve their productivity, happiness, and overall wellness. We focus on mindfulness and self-development and exist to share what we learn and know with those who are getting introduced to living more mindfully. Our biggest differential characteristic that sets us apart from others is how we approach educating and easing people who are not yet familiar with goal setting, organizing, or constructively reflecting on their lives. To get here being vulnerable with you, a lot of growing and maturing had to have been done. In the beginning, I did not know anything about mindfulness and learned a lot about it and the important facets of one’s well-being. I actually took an online certification course from Yale during the peak of Covid last year that went over the psychology involved in our wellness. It was a delightful course that involved a good amount of reading learning, and it was so influential in my life that it led to our first product, which is our wellness planner/journal. Creating the product and getting it to launch was not easy. Launching a product takes time, effort, and money. Having various long phone calls and video calls, working on the designs remotely with the designer, and working through language barriers and different timezones with important contacts working with us were challenging. During all this investment, I was also a leading figure in my family, responsible for my 5 younger siblings between the ages of 4 and 10. During the pandemic with just one kid was enough for many families, so I had my fun with 5. The lessons I learned from this experience were amazing. The first one I would say is to make sure you are surrounded by people who are focused on something important and disciplined. My business partner encouraged me greatly and inspired me to work hard. We can’t do everything by ourselves, and during this process, I had to learn the importance of outsourcing. Even though I was capable of designing the journal by making the layout, taking the product images of it for Amazon, and all these other things, it helped out to have just a designer work on the designs and my team’s help with the content and the other moving parts of launching a product. I definitely stress getting help when you need it and using the resources you have available to you. With this business, my goal and desires are for the world to know what the word mindfulness means and have a definition for themselves to stick to and know. I know this way of living changed my life and my approach to living. Our mission is to encourage others to live more intentionally and healthier emotionally, mentally, physically, socially, environmentally, occupationally, and spiritually.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Oh, this is a fun question. Let’s say a good friend came to visit for 3 days. Most importantly, we would need to stop and get some breakfast. I would start it off with some First Watch on the first day. After that, immediately, we would hit up the beltline for a nice walk and show them around Ponce City Market while losing some of those calories we gained from the meal. Of course, we don’t want to lose too many calories (yes, I just like to eat), so to offset that, we would definitely grab some ramen at Ton Ton or Hop’s chicken depending on their dietary restrictions. After that, I would take them to the High Museum to experience one of their Jazz nights. On the next day, I would like to support a black-owned business, so the breakfast would most likely be at Atlanta Breakfast Club. After that, since we are in the area, we would hit up the coke factory and take a walk around Centennial Park, then head over to Cabbagetown for some coffee or tea. A hidden gem that I love very much is Red Phone Booth, so the night we would go there for dinner and a drink. On the last day, I would most likely cook breakfast because we most likely spent up all our money going around the A. After breakfast, we would need to hit up the Martin Luther King center for a couple of hours to remind ourselves of the beautiful people that sacrificed themselves and fought for our rights. Honestly, I would close off the day hitting up Slutty Vegan because I hear so many great things about them but never went. I would take them back my neck of the woods on the Northside, and we would try PJ’s coffee, which is another black-owned business, and maybe take a walk around downtown Alpharetta. That would be my ideal way of showing a good friend around the area. Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
This shoutout is definitely dedicated to my team, A Better Today, and all the great things we are doing to spread mindfulness’s importance.

Website: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08W3SMHXG?ref=myi_title_dp

Instagram: @Abettertodayplanner & @mr_armbrister

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/broderick-armbrister/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/A-Better-Today-Planner-105557954754266

Image Credits
Model: Olympia Papageorgiou Photographer: Broderick Armbrister Amuse Imagery