Meet Brittany Friedman, | Author/ Sociologist/ Intuitive Herbalist & Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Brittany Friedman, and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Brittany, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking.
In a society that often rewards conformity, being your authentic self is the biggest risk you’ll ever take.
We are raised in a society where we learn in our schools, families, and ethnic cultures that we must follow a set script dictating your path in life. For example, how many of us were too afraid to speak up in class for fear of what the other kids might say? Or how many of us have felt the pressure to meet the love of your life in college, get married not too soon after graduation, and pop out a couple of kids?
These life scripts are also marketed to us by the media, politicians, and thought leaders, adding more evidence to the message that we must conform.
If you do not follow these scripts, we learn at a young age that you risk being labeled weird, pushed out as an outcast, belittled for your ideas, and perpetually misunderstood.
This is typically a painful experience that first leads to a period of loneliness and isolation, and then a crossroads where you must choose: will I conform to other people’s expectations and shrink myself to be accepted, or will I go out on my own and trust that those who are meant to be in my life to support my vision will find me?

I am here to tell you that once you gather the courage to follow your vision and embody your authentic self, you’ll be in for the most rewarding ride of your life.
Every milestone in my life was preceded by a major crossroads where I had to choose between my vision and other people’s expectations. Looking back, the times where I felt the most held back and bitter occurred because I had chosen to shrink myself down and do what was expected of me, rather than follow my heart. Our hearts and intuition have a vision for us to follow. As every human being is unique, we all have something to contribute to the collective evolution of humanity and the seed for what that is resides inside of us.
At every stage of my career, I have taken significant risks where I have followed my own unique vision to go in the direction of my true-life purpose. Along the way I may have lost people and resources, but what I gained in return were aligned opportunities perfectly tailored for my gifts and innovative ideas. Any door that was closed, I now see was a redirection toward the community, places, and fertile ground meant for me to thrive.
For example, if I had followed the script laid out for me and listened to the people who called my ideas “stupid,” “out there,” and “impossible,” I would not be standing here now with my new book (Carceral Apartheid: How Lies and White Supremacists Run Our Prisons) which is now on display at the Oakland Museum of California, an over $1.5 million-funded research lab (Captive Money Lab), numerous scientific articles, a domestic and international book tour for 2025, and co-producing credits on two upcoming documentary films: one on the legendary Toad’s Place directed by Andy Billman and the other on earth stewardship and climate change, directed by Maris Curran.
Everything I have ever created and will create, comes from me following that little creative push inside of me and having the courage to walk away from what’s not aligned, knowing that everything I need to birth these ideas into material form will flow to me.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
As a child, I always wanted to be a writer first and foremost, and submitted my first poem for publication in elementary school. Now, as an author, award-winning sociologist, and professor at the University of Southern California, I get to write for a living. Storytelling is my passion and I have cultivated a reputation as an expert in non-fiction storytelling, the art of narration, and basing your craft in original social scientific research.
What I am most proud of is the confidence to write in my own unique voice, something that developed with time and experience. For me, the purpose
of writing is to tell the truth. To express ideas and thoughts that might not otherwise see the light.
While an exercise in clarity, if you’re lucky, writing is also a bridge to connection. When I first met Anthony (pseudonym), it was abundantly clear that he had read more books than anyone else I had ever met. I feature Anthony’s life story in my new book Carceral Apartheid, as we shared several conversations and got to know each other very well over the course of many years. We talked for hours about books and writing. His eyes were kind and spirited, excited to share many of his insights with me.

I recently reconnected with Anthony as the January 7, 2025 publication date of Carceral Apartheid approached, and as soon as I saw his face, I once again felt the purpose of writing clear as day. To write is to express that which has been suppressed, confused, or hidden. There is freedom in writing that many artists will tell you is only comparable to a paintbrush or a charcoal pencil.

I write because I believe we must use our voice and there is something our spirit wants to share with the world. I often ask people: What does your voice yearn to share?
Non-fiction writing is also what drew me to the world of documentary filmmaking. I put the wish out there in the world to work on documentaries and once I started out in the realm of technical advising, I couldn’t get enough. Film is a place where my creativity blossoms and now, working as a co-producer is an absolute joy, helping directors to shape the story through research-based facts is what I love.

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.
We are definitely starting off the week with a meal from Malinallii Superfoods in Whittier. In addition to my writing and producing, I am an intuitive herbalist & artist, so I do my best to eat clean and try to cultivate a serene state of being from within. Malinalli Superfoods has a beautifully fresh menu, a homey vibe inside, and is rooted in generations of ancestral knowledge.
We are lucky to have such a place in our city and I love to share it with my friends. For a drink, one should never pass up Nativo or La Cuevita in the Highland Park/Eagle Rock areas. There’s also a cute bowling alley and bar called Hollywood Bowl that is a local favorite.

I absolutely adore live music, and for this reason I am always recommending the Echo +Echoplex or trying to catch a show myself!
If we are nearby, we are popping into Wood Coffee Co in Long Beach, and in that same area, I recently tried brunch at Panxa Cocina with some chosen family and everything we ordered from the quiche to blue corn pancakes was divine.
And because all of my friends are writers, creators, etc., we are probably making at stop at Skylight Books.
The week will be complete once we go hiking at least once –Whitney Canyon and the Vasquez Rocks are two of my favorite places in LA County.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
When I was in graduate school completing my PhD in sociology, I gained a reputation as someone who thought outside of the box and paved their own path. One of the biggest impacts on my success was the mentorship of Drs. John Hagan, Mary Pattillo, and Aldon Morris. Each in their own right has become a legend in the field of nonfiction storytelling and as mentors, always told me to follow my ideas in search of where these ideas wanted to take me. Their support and encouragement was one of the first times in my life that people in positions of authority did not try to shrink me but instead, they spoke life into my dreams, pushing me to trust myself and offering guidance on taking steps in the direction of following my ideas.
Each time I would say “this is my idea!” They would respond “Okay let’s talk through it and make a plan.” Everyone deserves mentorship like this and in my current role as a mentor for aspiring writers, students, and creatives, I try to pay it forward. I will never forget the mentors that came before me and even still, I sometimes rely on their guidance. I have so much respect for what they have accomplished, will accomplish still, and their prolific legacies.

Website: https://www.brittanyfriedman.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/curlyprofessor/

X: https://x.com/CurlyProfessor?mx=2

Apothecary: https://liberationapothecary.com/

Other: https://truthtellerspeaks.substack.com/about; https://bsky.app/profile/curlyprofessor.bsky.social

Image Credits
Book Display at Oakland Museum of California – April D. Fernandes
Personal Photo, Witches Hat at Vasquez Rocks, and Truth-Teller Speaks Substack Logo – Brittany Friedman