Meet Justine Sierra | Community Leader, Event Curator, Herbalist, Studying Yogi, Mindfullness Teacher & Mom

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

Hi Justine, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
My thought process was always to make a positive mark on the world by helping people. Originally my brand was named The Medicine Cabinet and I was selling sea moss, elderberry syrup and loose leaf herbal blends. When i was going through the process of getting incorporated I couldn’t go with the name for legal reasons. So I meditated on how I should rebrand. It was very important to me that I was providing more than just a product you can buy. I wanted to provide remedies for the mind body and soul. Metta means positive energy and kindness towards others it’s a type of loving kindness meditation that just fit so well. It gave the brand purpose and direction. The Metta Cabinet.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My creativity and drive has always been inspired by how I can help people and make them happy. The first thing I ever did was throw an adult prom that was originally supposed to be a cute themed potluck for my friend that had never gone to prom before. But when i told my partner at the time who was an event curator himself he told me I had to do this on a larger scale or he would steal my idea LOL that was all i needed to push me. Seeing the outcome and success of that one event I found my way and what i was really passionate about. People, Community and helping create and carve out memories that last forever. From curating and executing experiences pre pandemic to developing my wellness brand and then a wellness collective to provide information and natural products to our community when we were all in fear of our health and future. My super power is identifying what my community needs and working with them to make it happen and i’m extremely proud of that. My most recent accomplishment is launching a STEM curriculum where I’m teaching children about herbs, natural remedies, mindfulness tools and exercises. Taking your ideas and turning them into brands, products, curriculums etc is not easy. It takes time, focus, effort and faith. Life is hard and expensive so when you’re faced with real life problems it can be hard to stay on task and believe it’ll all pay off. My biggest challenge has been finding a way to tie in all of my ideas and make them all work simultaneously. At a certain point I found myself drowned out by all of the collaborating I was doing. There was a little bit of Juthy everywhere but i didn’t feel like any of it was mine. After I found that balance things have gotten better and better. Being solution based has gotten me where i am and will get me where i’m going. There’s always going to be problems that arise but staying focused on what you can actually do about them is the key.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
This is actually my favorite thing to do! Staten Island has the worst reputation of being a place that has nothing to offer and I am the person that will prove you wrong. A weekend in my city starting with Friday night would look like. Taking the ferry in from a manhattan and stopping at The Badass Bootcamp a wellness hub owned by Hala Maroc that I helped curate and manage ( you can find Metta Cabinet products for sale here) Friday nights you can find me there Wining Down with DJ Girl on the rocks for a weekend pregame. After that we’d head down bay street stop at the taco truck on Victory then head to Wave street and party some more at Hub 17!

Saturday morning we would start with a coffee and smoke at The Lyfe Shop Cafe
then head to Fort Wadsworth to hike through the army fort to my favorite meditation spot right underneath the Verrazano Bridge. For lunch we would hit up VODEGA a vegan vodega for a legendary plant based chopped cheese and go next door to shop at Richmond Hood a dope skate shop that sells sneakers, vintage apparel and local brands. For dinner we are heading to Kotens a black owned caribbean restaurant with some bomb rum punch and jerk shrimp.

Sunday morning we would do brunch at wynwood check out the lighthouse museum and then a facial from Eva at The Badass Bootcamp. & before the day is over stop we would at Penn & Perry for “That’s My Word” my word a therapeutic spoken word event they host every Sunday.

The art, food, people and places will definitely have you coming back for more of the forgotten borough STATEN ISLAND

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are so many books that I read and loved ones that believed in me abd inspired me to follow this path. However there’s one that sticks out to me the most when it came to getting The Metta Cabinet up and running and that’s Mike Newkem owner of The Culture Pivot a wellness and lifestyle brand. When I was ready to start this I called my long time friend and wanted to buy sea moss from him in bulk. He was more than happy to help me and extend free game. We come from Staten Island and out here when you’re trying to do something similar to someone else a lot of times they will try to gate keep. But Mike sold me sea moss and after a few orders put me on to where I can find everything I needed to grow my brand and I have so much love and respect for him for that. Coming where we are from it’s rare to find that genuine helping hand. So shout out to Vegan Mike, I wish him all the success and love he deserves.

Instagram: _juthy & themettacabinet