6 Questions with Barbie Beltran and Jose Guerrero of Sacred Society, the Whole Health Bodega
Read Time: 4 min
By Sophie Braker
This article is from an interview with Barbie Beltran and Jose Guerrero. If you want to learn more about their story, watch their videocast episode BSP372: Barbie Beltran and Jose Guerrero of Sacred Society, the Whole Health Bodega.
In the middle of a mental health crisis, at the end of a two year pandemic, Barbie Beltran is working to create a solution. Her dream? A Whole Health Bodega called Sacred Society focused on elevating peoples’ health in body, mind, spirit, and soul. It will be a one stop shop for convenience and building healthy habits. Jose Guerrero joined her to manifest that dream into reality. Working together has changed Jose’s outlook on meditation and cutting added sugar. Read more about their journey to better health and opening Sacred Society below.
What’s a food / drink you always have on hand at home?
Barbie: Arnica and cornflower. Arnica is a must have because it helps with inflammation and bruising. With kids it’s good to have in the house.
Jose: Galangal. It’s in the family of ginger and turmeric. It's called Thai ginger. It's part of the Thai trinity. The first time I learned about it was with Royce in Cherry Creek with his Gyro Asian Hawaiian cuisine. I like to do everything with it. I like to shave it, I like to pickle it, I like to julienne it. I like to steam it. I like to eat it raw. It’s intense but it’s like a ginger chew. People don’t heal because they can’t tolerate being uncomfortable. You have to challenge yourself. After a while you just build this tolerance for it. In my opinion it’s just delicious. I’m getting older. I get inflamed. It helps your breath. It cleans your teeth.
What’s one food whose health benefits most people don’t know about, but should?
Barbie: Chamomile. Everyone knows it as a sleep inducer but it can also help anxiety and it can also increase the neurotransmitter activity in your brain. Like serotonin, dopamine, and noradrenaline.
Jose: White foods. Everyone is always on the kick of red and green. But when you think about onions, garlic, cauliflower, people forget those. Cauliflower is high in Vitamin C. These are things that people don’t realize. I like to see people using cauliflower because people bastardize the concept of white foods. You have couscous and you have risotto. Those are rice based or beige not white. It’s not the same thing. Cauliflower is so fun, playful, and versatile. There’s all sorts of new ways to cook it now but most of the time people are still disappointed by it.
What’s one food you’ve cut out of your diet? Why?
Barbie: I cut added sugars because it makes my brain foggy and it makes my ADD worse. It’s just not healthy for you. Sugar is so far down the line of what gets cut out. Usually it’s gluten, dairy, and red meat. It’s addictive and hard to cut.
Jose: I would have to say the same as Barbie. Since I met Barbie, I cut it. I was getting really bad headaches and confusion going on. I studied this microbial genetic information. Basically it’s the way our makeup is affected by different foods. The idea is to understand the impact of foods on your body. Sugar was the source of it. I was so glad it wasn’t milk because I love milk. I love all milk. But it ended up being sugar. I’m a snack food ninja and by ninja I mean I do it alone, out of site, and in the dark. It gives me imbalances.
What’s a practice that hospitality professionals can use to support their mental health?
Barbie: I think having rituals and routines. Getting into a routine of doing meditations. Listening to things at night that help you practice mindfulness. Once you start learning what mindfulness is, you start treating people differently. Their anger or frustrations or emotional issues aren’t bothering you because you’re in a different mental state. So instead of turning on Netflix, people should be listening to self guided meditations before they go to sleep. Making sure that you create these rituals and incorporate them into your routine is going to support your mental health and wellbeing overall.
The Sleep Learning Series is great. It’s so old but I got everyone on staff into it. They have different categories of things you can work on. There’s one for quitting smoking. You have to listen to this every night for one week straight. Meditation is medication. Your brain is still functioning while you’re asleep. It’s the best time for you to learn. It’s the best time for you to come up with healthy habits. I’ve been doing it for two years now.
Jose: The Sleep Sanctuary stuff is amazing. For me, I think it's eliminating rumination, holding on and reliving. Your brain doesn’t know if you’re thinking about it or if you’re actually going through it. Building scar tissue around that thought and creating this myelin around your nervous system. It almost puts you into that Pavlovian effect where you’re just triggered by the smallest thing. Be open to everything and attach to nothing. No matter how hard you try, you can’t change it. You can only adapt, pivot, and ultimately make a better decision when you’re confronted by that scenario. A book that I read is the Five Levels of Attachment. That was really helpful with work on attachments.
What is a Whole Health Bodega?
Barbie: Sacred Society is a whole health wellness convenience store. I don’t want to say the healthy version of 7/11. I love the convenience of 7/11 but I don’t like what’s served there. It’s making healthy choices easily available. Giving people the option to choose something that’s healthy right at their fingertips. It’s sustainable, healthy, good for your mind, all under one roof.
Jose: It’s Barbie’s vision and dream. I love that I’m on this ride. It’s changing me. The progress I’ve made in the last few months would have taken me years on my own.
It’s a spiritual boutique that specializes in manifestation which culminates in a clear mind, a fluid body, a free soul, and an extroverted spirit. It might be a little out there. It’s a one stop shop for transparency for your mind, body, spirit, and soul. You don’t have to think if you’re making a good decision. Because of our partnerships with like minded people, we’ve made it so that every choice you make in Sacred Society is a good one.
Why is it important to you that Sacred Society bring whole health into people’s homes?
Barbie: We are in the middle of a mental health crisis. Everybody’s going through something. If anything, Sacred Society is there to make things easier for people. It’s helping people make healthier habits, healthier choices. When you look on GrubHub or UberEats, it’s all unhealthy options. We want to give them the option of feeding healthy things to your children, to your parents. I was thinking about the single mom who gets home from work and needs to feed her kids. She doesn’t have the time, energy, or money to make a healthy meal. I’ve been there. Sacred Society has the convenience and a different price point for people to have easier access to bring the healthy stuff home.
Barbara Beltran is a Latina entrepreneur based out of Denver, Colorado. Her areas of focus include alternative mental health, wellness, and sustainability. Barbara’s background in the beauty industry gave her the idea to mash up a high-end spa, and meditation garden with a health-conscious cafe.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Barbara saw a need for change in the way society handles mental health. She saw an opportunity to bring forth a concept that encourages others to unlock the power of their mind by awakening the soul and becoming the first step into the journey of self-discovery. Her passion to bring awareness to mental health and the importance of consuming natural foods led to the creation of Sacred Society. A place dedicated to reinvigorating you from the inside out.
Barbara believes in community and mindfulness and is committed to providing a relaxing space for all who seek and all who desire to make an impact on the soul.
With over 20 years of experience in restaurant hospitality, Jose Guerrero has been a leader in brand development throughout Denver, Colorado. Jose has been committed to defining a sustainable pathway to local farmers and craftsmen. Throughout his career he has had a simple approach to business. “When you lead with love you win.”
