Photo by Inspire Marketing LLC.
“Use your gifts to build others up.”
The husband and wife team of Harry Watkins, Ph.D. and Arvat McClaine, Ph.D. work together to make their greatest ambitions come true. They met in Richmond in the ’80s, dated, got married and have been together ever since. Harry Watkins is a psychotherapist and political scientist. Arvat is a podcaster, author, and international motivational speaker. Together, they are advocates for continual improvement, preserving history and understanding how the past impacts our world today.
They are the owners of Bateau: A Coffee and Wine Experience located on Richmond, Virginia’s historic Canal Walk. The restaurant is inspired by the black bateaumen who contributed significantly to the regional economy by transporting tobacco and other goods across the James River. Harry stays busy creating additional opportunities to honor and acknowledge these men. “I’m working on a series of tributes (e.g. a state highway marker dedication and a Virginia General Assembly proclamation) to honor the contributions of the 18th-century black bateaumen of Virginia,” Harry says.
Bateau. Photo by Mindie Ballard.
Harry and Arvat also own a mental and behavioral health services agency, Harry Co. Harry Co. works with at-risk children and adults with mental health challenges. Harry Co. nurtures their clients through crisis, moving them to stability and then on to live healthy and productive lives.
In her book, When Black Women Speak, the Universe Listens, Arvat shares the tools she uses to help move her life from a place of despair to a life that she absolutely loves. “Once you start understanding the laws of the universe and how to work with them instead of against them, you realize the personal power that is our birthright to create lives of abundance, joy and love,” Arvat says. In her course, Do, Be, Have MORE, Arvat teaches these laws of the universe and helps her clients access the life of their dreams.
Harry and Arvat love seeing the world together. They have traveled to all seven continents and have experienced amazing adventures. In addition to the thrill and challenge of experiences like climbing up Mount Kilimanjaro and the Great Wall of China, the couple says that travel has expanded their perspective of the world and of who they are in it.
To learn more about Harry Watkins, visit Harry Co’s website harrycorp.com. To learn more about Arvat McClaine, visit her website arvatmcclaine.com and follow her on Instagram @arvatmcclaine or Facebook.
