My name is: Desirée Pais.

I’m known for being: The girl with the bangs! Also, the founder of Benshen.co, an online platform offering various tools and practices for a visionary life. Our most popular offering is our Benshen Course, a month-long virtual empowerment program with hundreds of women joining from around the world. 

I'm talking about: Our immersion! We’re hosting our first in-person Benshen Immersion this fall after two years of only teaching our program online. We have an amazing weekend planned with workshops, as well as incredible guest speakers like Hani Avital of Shelaah (a certified sexologist and sensual embodiment teacher), Thomas Jones of Paradox Process (the genius behind the process of getting what you want) and a 360 sound experience with renowned violinist Andrei Matorin. We also have a panel with leading women in the beauty and wellness industry: Gilah Elul of Muri Lelu, Shauna Faulisi of Soul Wellness Method, and Crystal Greene of Crystal Greene Studio.  

You can find it at: September 24th-26th at the XX Venue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. We’ll also have online streaming for those who are unable to attend in person.

Before I created this, I was: I created Benshen Course first and foremost because I had all the tools personally to change my life, but realized how challenging it was to stay on track. I had finally found a group of likeminded friends a few years ago, and we decided to hold each other accountable for a month to daily practices. It was then that I realized the power of support and accountability, daily. We started with 30 women in the course two years ago and this month we have 300 women from around the world. We’re also passionate about shifting how women show up for one another and creating a community where each person feels supported and elevated—none of that gossip, jealousy, etc. that we are taught from a young age. We’re reimagining the way women support one another. Watching the community take this and run with it has been absolutely one of the greatest joys of my life. 

What inspired me to launch it was: We decided to launch the Immersion after doing the course for two years in order to have a space for all the women to meditate together and meet one another. 

How it works is: It is a daily practice, literally. We have morning livestreams every day with the meditations for the month. We break the group up into pods of five to six women and they hold one another accountable every day after, creating a vision and action steps for the month. We also have evening classes and workshops. It’s essentially a full-stop coaching course and yoga/meditation studio. 

What makes it special is: The daily livestreams, I think. The team and I are there everyday! And also the community! It’s amazing to see how it’s grown and to watch the growth of each participant each month. 

One thing you can’t miss is: The daily accountability. I haven’t really seen a program like this. Each member has the option to join others and hold one another accountable daily, learning how to bring their visions to life, practice conscious communication, unravel limiting beliefs and step into their power, knowing they always have a place to return to when in need of inspiration or support. 

My favorite secret detail is: How well our team gets along. It’s not really a secret, but it’s such an important detail! Every single person on my team is passionate about what we are creating and they are all so talented and incredible to work with. A strong team helps to build a strong business. I once read a quote that said something along the lines of, build a team so strong you don’t know who the leader is—which means, everyone is a leader. I feel like we have really done that and it’s incredible to witness and be part of.

For me, what it means to feel grounded is: To be able to feel and be graceful no matter what life throws at me. Being grounded begins with making sure I’m taking care of my body and my mind every single day. 

Grounding is so important because: If you’re not grounded, you’re going to have to work even harder to make life easy. For example, if you’re tired and frazzled and say yes to going to an event you didn’t agree to, you’ll have to work harder just to feel okay there and have a good time. Being grounded actually creates more space for connection and joy in life.

This can help you live your process (and get grounded) because: Without having enough energy from grounding and taking care of ourselves, we won’t be able to live our process fully. But when we take care of us, we can show up in the world ready not only to live our process, but to shine while doing so. 

Photography by Carolyne Loree Teston.