How Alex Branson, Entrepreneur, Spends Her Sundays | Tech Industry

Alex Branson decided to get serious about her idea for an inclusive music program for babies and toddlers “while under someone else’s parachute at someone else’s music class,” when she was working as a caregiver in London. Six years later, her company, Lavender Blues, is offering classes throughout six Brooklyn neighborhoods. A nanny for more than 14 years with a background in early childhood education, Ms. Branson, 38, prides herself on having cultivated a community of families (and bunnies, as she refers to the children). She lives with her wife, Toni, 36, the creator of Style Is Freedom, a genderless streetwear brand, and their cat, Betty, in Flatbush, Brooklyn.

MORNING YOGA On Sundays I sleep in, for sure. It’s the one day I don’t wake up with the alarm clock, but sleeping in only goes to like 8:30 or 9. I’ll do some yoga in front of the TV. It’s like my hour, hour and a half of peace and quiet and calm that’s just for me while Toni is sleeping. I usually do YouTube videos; I’m constantly looking for women of color and not skinny-skinny yogis, just to make it feel more real and relatable. I’ll lock Betty in the bathroom so she leaves me alone.

HOMEMADE BREAKFAST Then Toni will get up and make breakfast, and that’s nice — it’s nice to have somebody cook for you and be attentive to you. She is mainly the cooker, so that’s what she does. It’s usually pancakes and bacon, or eggs and grits.

PROMOTIONAL WORK We’re both entrepreneurs, so we’re constantly promoting ourselves. We might make a video. Otherwise, we go up to the roof and take pictures. Toni will take a bunch of pictures of me for Lavender Blues, we’ll take a bunch of pictures of me in her clothes for her brand, and generally just utilize the sunlight and the availability of our apartment ’cause it’s free. Then we might go on social media and post events that are happening, or create ads for Instagram and Facebook.

COMMUNITY We like to go to Blessings Cafe on Flatbush for an early dinner, late lunch. I love that place. I love the owners. Everybody there is really kind. As soon as you walk in, it’s a nice big hello. It’s more about the people than the food, although the food is divine. I just like going there knowing that it’s one of the places in Brooklyn where they know me. When you go and spend your hard-earned money in different places, and the people remember you, you know, it’s nicer. It’s a community feel.

BUNNIES IN THE WILD We usually ride our bikes through our neighborhood and then ride through Prospect Park, which is nice because we’ll usually get to see some bunnies and their families and they’ll say hello to me.

COUSINS NIGHT I have cousins that are in the tristate area, so sometimes we’ll meet up and we’ll have cousins night. We’re all female cousins — our male cousins are far away — and I’m the oldest. It’s like they all come to their big sister’s house because I have the furniture, the good food and the big TV. And Toni will totally let us take over the living room. She’ll feed us — she’ll make homemade chicken fingers and chili — and we’ll have drinks — the cousins will bring the alcohol — and we just laugh and talk. They know I want to be on TV, so they’ve been coming over and doing my makeup and skin care. One of my cousins works for Bustle, so she’ll tell me the latest skin care routine. They just keep me young, really, and in the know. Toni will go in the bedroom and watch sports while we do all that.

FAMILY DINNER As a kid, we always had Sunday dinner. But now, me, my wife, my aunt, who is like a second mother, and her son are the only ones still in Brooklyn. So we still have them, but now we have them at Patsy’s. I’m Italian and Haitian, and my zia is from Italy, and she really loves it because they know her there; it’s like a family establishment. And on Sunday nights they have live music, so it all just works out. It’s my Saturday night, because I don’t work Mondays, so we go, we walk in and everybody’s like “Oh, Teresa!” to my aunt. There’s kisses, we sit down, and it’s very much a time to eat long and slow and much. I get the spaghetti carbonara almost every time and tiramisù for dessert.