Writing to Feel and to Fill a Need featuring Dr. Latoya Bosworth

This episode features our conversation with Dr. Latoya Bosworth, which was live-streamed on March 8, 2026 in honor of International Women’s Day.

Dr. Latoya Bosworth, who honors her paternal great-grandfather with the shortened “Dr. Boz,”  is an author, forever educator, and "your favorite life coach" who holistically helps others connect more deeply with themselves so that they may connect more deeply with others in their work & community.  Born Latoya Bosworth, she gave herself the pen name Brenda's Child at the age of 21, in honor of her late mother, Brenda Kay Swinton. Although she experienced early childhood and adolescent trauma, Dr. Boz attributes her healing and evolution to writing as an outlet, strong mentors, spirituality, therapy and giving back.

Since 2007, she has self-published more than 15 titles in the genres of poetry, fiction, memoir, and journals. Currently, she's writing on self-help and personal growth. Dr. Boz was a longtime contributor for the monthly publication, Springfield, MA-based An African-American Point of View Newspaper, where she wrote poetry and about issues specifically impacting women of color. Her parenting and self-esteem articles have been featured on Blackandmarriedwithkids.com and ForHarriet.com. She was also an original columnist for Lioness Magazine, an online publication for women entrepreneurs. 

Dr. Boz continuously spreads her message of H.E.R.S. - which stands for health, empowerment, resilience and self-worth in workshops, as a keynote speaker, coach, in print and on stage.

During this episode, we chatted about Dr. Boz’s latest books, Quiet Strength, Loud Confidence...Reflections and Realizations of a Free Black Woman and Joyworthy... The Little Guide to Experiencing All the Joy You Deserve.

Published in 2021, Quiet Strength & Loud Confidence is an anthology of Dr. Bosworth’s personal essays, poems, and personal growth practices, arranged to guide you through the internal and external work of becoming and remaining free. If you already consider yourself free, may this book be a reminder to celebrate that freedom. If you are becoming unchained, may this book be the North Star, the moss of the north side of the tree, the drinking gourd on your way to freedom.

You can experience joy every single day. That is, once you know what joy means to you. Published in 2024, Joyworthy... The Little Guide to Experiencing All the Joy. You Deserve will guide you through the process of asking specific questions that shift your perception and beliefs about what it means to create a joyful life. Each chapter highlights practices and ways of being so that even in the most difficult circumstances, there is still joy. Take it all in. You deserve it.

Learn more about Dr. Boz by visiting www.brendaschild.com.

Purchase Dr. Boz's books on Amazon here.

Find Dr. Boz on Instagram: @brendaschild

Find Black Writers Read on Instagram: @blackwritersread

Find Black Writers Read online: https://blackwritersread.com/

Support Black Writers Read on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/blackwritersread

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:07

As they grew, you know, you start to see what gaps are exist out there because turning 18 kind of sucks if you don't have resources. Because it's like you're an adult, but not really. You think you know what you're talking about? Can't nobody tell you nothing. But then it's like, somebody, please tell me what to do. And so my work started to follow that. So it's like I went from writing all these poetry books to like, hey, I have something to say as a teacher. So I wrote the right amount of sunshine to talk about my teenage experiences. And I used my diary entries and I talked about what I was learning in the moment about that being a teacher. And then as my kids kind of grew into young ladies and young men, I started seeing more gaps. And so then I wrote Girl to Grown because I'm like, what do we do at 1824 where there's no resources? So I wrote that. And then so as I've gotten older and my kids, my kids have gotten older, I've been kind of like writing for them along. And then also wherever I see the need, when I'm where I'm seeing, I'm like, oh, like there's something that happens to women in their 30s and 40s where a light comes on for many of them. And so that kind of has informed what write what I write. And then also I think a lot of my work I do feel is divinely guided. So sometimes I'm I'm told, like, write this in a meditation, or here's your story, here's your book, here's the chapters, here's what it's called. And so I think it's a combination of like being divinely guided, but also my experiences kind of guide me, and then the needs that I see guide me.

SPEAKER_01 1:42

Hello, and welcome to Black Writers Read. My name is Nicole Young Martin, and I'm the founder, producer, and host of this podcast. Thank you for tuning in for episode 20 of season six of the series. Launched on Juneteenth, 2020, Black Writers Read was created as a platform to showcase, celebrate, and honor the words, work, and traditions of Black writers from across the country, across genres, across experiences, and across the African diaspora. Black Writers Read is a behind-the-scenes conversation into the craft and what it means to create as a black author in today's society. Since starting the series during the summer of 2020, we've hosted almost 100 authors representing 15 plus genres from six countries and 27 states. This episode features our conversation with Dr. Latoya Bosworth, which was live streamed on March 8th, 2026, in honor of International Women's Day. Dr. Latoya Bosworth, who honors her paternal great-grandfather with the shortened, Dr. Boz, is an author, forever educator, and your favorite life coach, who holistically helps others connect more deeply with themselves so that they may connect more deeply with others in their work and community. Born Latoya Bosworth, she gave herself the pen name Brenda's Child at the age of 21 in honor of her late mother, Brenda K. Swinton. Although she experienced early childhood and adolescent trauma, Dr. Boz attributes her healing and evolution to writing as an outlet, strong mentors, spirituality, therapy, and giving back. Since 2007, she has self-published more than 15 titles in the genres of poetry, fiction, memoir, journals, and more. Currently, she is working on self-health and personal growth. Dr. Bosworth was a longtime contributor for the monthly publication An African-American Point of View, which is based in Springfield, Massachusetts, where she wrote poetry about issues specifically impacting women of color. Her parenting and self-esteem articles have been featured on BlackMarywithKids.com and for Harriet.com. She was also an original columnist for Lioness Magazine, an online publication for women entrepreneurs. Dr. Bosworth continuously spreads her message of hers, which is an acronym that stands for Health Empowerment, Resilience and South Work in workshops as a keynote speaker, coach in print, and onstage. During this episode, we chatted about Dr. Bos's latest books, Quiet Strength, Loud Confidence, Reflections and Realizations of a Free Black Woman, and Joyworthy, The Little Guide to Experiencing All the Joy You Deserve. Published in 2021, Quiet Strength and Loud Confidence is an anthology of Dr. Bosworth's personal essays, poems, and personal growth practices, arranged to guide you through the internal and external work of becoming and remaining free. If you already consider yourself free, may this book be a reminder to celebrate that freedom. If you are becoming unchained, may this book be the North Star, the moss of the north side of the tree, the drinking gourd on your way to freedom. You can experience joy every single day. That is, once you know what joy means to you. Published in 2024, Joyworthy, the little guide to experiencing all the joy you deserve, will guide you through the process of asking specific questions that shift your perception and beliefs about what it means to create a joyful life. Each chapter highlights practices and ways of being so that even in the most difficult circumstances, there is still joy. Take it all in, you deserve it. Learn more about Dr. Boz by visiting her website at www.brenderschild.com. That is www.brenas ch I L D dot com. I've admired Dr. Bozworth for a very long time. I've wanted her on the podcast for a while. It was just a matter of finding the right opportunity. International Women's Day came up, and I was like, boom, here you go. There's a big reason, besides me being a woman and loving her work, is her work specifically targets women and girls. Her work as an educator, her work as a writer, and her work as a coach. One of the many things that I admire about her work is how you can march through trauma to resilience and joy. All of those things can coexist. I uh I can't speak enough about her work. So I'm gonna go ahead and we're gonna dive straight into this conversation. And I really, really, really hope that you soak it in. After you soak it in, go to her website, buy her books, which are also available on Amazon.com, purchase copies for loved ones, and also make sure copies of her books are in your local libraries and at local colleges and universities. Thank you so much for listening to today's episode, and I hope that you enjoy our conversation as much as I did. Hello.

SPEAKER_00 7:32

Hi.

SPEAKER_01 7:34

So one of the things that I wanted to mention to folks before I turn it over to you, you to read, is you recently just returned from the motherland and you look like you just returned from the love of the motherland.

SPEAKER_00 7:49

You want earrings, yes, and glow from the from the motherland, that equatorial sun, yes.

SPEAKER_01 7:58

I love that you were able to do this trip for yourself, and I hope many of us, especially me, I got 90% DNA from Africa. I hope to one day return to the motherland myself.

SPEAKER_00 8:13

So it's so more accessible than we think it is. It feels like this far away abstract thing. And now that I've gone, I'm like, like, oh, we could do this, we could do this again when we're going back. Like it's that, it's that easy. I think it's just what we hear and like all the things that like all these misunderstandings about it, but it's such an accessible uh trip. Much like if you're able to do places like the Caribbean, then you're able to go to Africa. I'll say that.

SPEAKER_01 8:42

Nice, and with my proud 33% Nigerian ancestry.

SPEAKER_00 8:47

I hate to get 29 over here. Oh wow, yeah.

unknown 8:54

Nice.

SPEAKER_01 8:56

So I'm so excited to have you to have you and listen to you read. Thank you for being on for International Women's Day. I'm gonna turn it over to you to read and I'll be back to chat. So a happy reading.

SPEAKER_00 9:07

Wonderful. Thank you. I'm going to start with reading from Quiet Strength, Loud Confidence. I'm going to read the purpose statement, um, or what other people would call an introduction. There are way too many of us living in cages, some literal. For many, it's self-imposed confinement. We allow the society to become judge and jury, guilt and shame to be our warden and guards, restricting our movement. We lock away our true selves for fear of further condemnation. Quite frankly, swack. It took me close to 20 years of adulting to realize that a majority of my aspirations, marriage, home ownership, college degrees, were in fact not my dreams. Instead, they were expectations and goals of others. I totally get it. Just four generations ago, my maternal ancestors were emancipated from slavery and given freedom to work as sharecroppers and maids. For centuries, they had been restricted in their movement, action, and speech, their appearance and body language police. They prayed for a better life for their descendants, which included what they had been so long denied. Education, land ownership, generational wealth. Freedom is more than just an amendment to the Constitution, more than political power. Freedom's scope is undoubtedly more than acquiring material possession. It's not just about having the money to do what you want. Freedom is autonomy. It's exercising your right to live a joyful life. It's not allowing social and religious constructs and outdated traditions to dictate that joy or what you do to feel that joy. It's showing up the way you were meant to in this world. It is living your truth and knowing through growth and acceptance, this truth changes. Freedom is jubilation, and jubilation is an active choice. As I write this, I can feel the celebratory energy of my ancestors surrounding me. They are uplifting me because despite society still trying to confine, police, and restrict and bite off this black girl magic, I am their wildest dreams, a free black woman. If you consider yourself to be free, may this collection of essays, strategies, and poems be a reminder to celebrate that freedom. If you are becoming unchained, may this book be the North Star, the moss on the north side of the tree, the drinking gourd on your way to freedom. Love eternally, Dr. Boz. So that is the introduction. I'm going to read from Joyworthy. I'm going to read from the chapter that is entitled Joy in Times of Sadness. In the darkest time, joy has served as a form of resistance for my African and indigenous ancestors. They were stolen and robbed of their homeland, and their resources continue to be stolen today. Our children, our elders, our rights, our religion, all stolen, our culture, exploited, vilified, and appropriated. But through it all, our joy has remained. Our joy is both spontaneous and deliberate, quiet and loud, in public and private, in solitude and in community. Sometimes it's exuberant and in celebration, and sometimes it's laughter or feelings of gratitude through tears of sorrow. To the outside world, it can look inappropriate to make eye contact and giggle in unison at someone's less than stellar singing during a funeral service. Or catch a glimpse of ourselves crying in the mirror and laugh at how dry our lips may be. To us, it is survival. Experiencing joy through pain is our protective factor. Actively seeking joy in times of grief can feel misaligned. There is a threat of judgment from others and ourselves. We've been told that we should be sad because if joy and laughter exist, then the grief we feel is invalid. But more than one thing can be true at a time. A more recent example of this in my life was the day that my paternal great aunt transitioned. It was surreal, out of body. Her passing was impending, so it wasn't a shock I was feeling. It was re-experiencing previous trauma. It was November, and my great aunt had ovarian cancer. Exactly 30 years before, my maternal grandmother, who had been my caregiver since I was four, was also dying of ovarian cancer. The last Thanksgiving she was alive was the first one she hadn't cooked for since I could remember. She would transition a month later on Christmas Day. Although I was at my great aunt's house, I was taken back to being 12 years old, watching adults comfort each other and gather in the kitchen to reminisce, to shift from moments of heavy silence to outbursts of laughter through watery tears. Except I wasn't 12. I was a grown woman who had become a witness, an observer of my experience. Taking it all in, I noticed my little cousin, who was about 10 years old. She sat alone in the living room quietly sobbing. I saw my younger self and her. The adults in the room were comforting each other, consumed with their own grief. And I saw a moment to make her grief experience different from mine. When my grandmother transitioned, I also experienced adults comforting each other with company, conversation, and laughter. And then I saw them move on abruptly in what was an attempt to normalize Christmas morning. My grandmother died at 9:30 a.m. and by mid-afternoon, we were opening presents like we hadn't all been unanchored by the loss of our matriarch. I wrote about those feelings in my 2010 memoir, The Right Amount of Sunshine, Cultivating Little Girls into Young Ladies. I remember I got a diary that Christmas morning. This would be the first time I would begin to put my thoughts onto paper. It was one of those small diaries with the flap that locked closed with the set of gold keys. I don't know whatever happened to that particular diary, but I remember its first entry. It was angry. I remember writing that I wanted to scream at all the adults in the room. She's dead, she's dead. Stop pretending to be happy. The following holiday season, we began exchanging gifts on Christmas Eve, and everyone did their own thing on Christmas Day. There was no conversation or explanation of the shift, just a shift. What I took from that was that emotional pain, sadness, grief, fear about what was next was something you kept to yourself because it makes people feel uncomfortable. I kept them inside for years. More than 30 years later, I saw an opportunity to give my little cousin something I wasn't afforded. I held space for her, acknowledged her grief. We took a walk outside. I listened to and affirmed her beliefs about what happens when we die. She would still have a relationship with her great-grandmother, but it would look different. She would send her signs to let her know she was still around and still loved her. On our way back to the house, she found a leaf on the sidewalk. It was heart-shaped. She picked it up and said, You think this is a sign from her? I said, Absolutely. I couldn't erase all the pain. She will forever have moments where grief overwhelms her, but she'd also have a soft space, soft, safe space to share her emotions. Later that day, I held my grandmother's hand while we carried my sister, while we while they carried her sister's body past us down the stairs. I couldn't help thinking, what a full circle moment. Grandmothers are usually the ones who comfort their grandchildren to make them feel safe. But I was blessed that she was alive and healthy enough for the inevitable role reversal. And while I held her hand, I continued to witness. I watched my cousin. He was my aunt's last born child. She was there when he took his last breath, and he stayed until she took her last. As he cried, one of his sons placed his arms around his shoulder and became his strength. Another full circle moment. Through my own grief and re-experiencing trauma, I was able to soak in the beauty of that moment. In challenging times, we are encouraged to lean on our faith and knowing that something better is to come. I encourage you to go one step further and to find this beauty, the gratitude in the moment. Ask yourself, where is the beauty in this moment, even if it is only temporary? What can I be thankful for in this difficult moment? Joy in the midst of sorrow isn't about pretending we aren't experiencing it or ignoring our pain. It is surrender. It is a reminder of the brevity of life and the many beautiful moments we get to experience when we allow ourselves to be present and give ourselves permission to feel joy, even in the midst of death and transition. Joy in times of sadness.

SPEAKER_01 18:26

What drew me to your work when my mom passed in like the during like 2015, and I think someone mentioned that you've experienced a whole lot of grief throughout your life, and I reached for your work. I and ironically, today, I finally watched some of the eulogies that folks gave at Reverend Jesse Jackson's funeral. And many of them were saying, like, how not to forget people and all these other things once they've passed. And I'm so glad that you've carried the women. And this is one of the reasons why I wanted you on International Women's Day, um, because of how you continue to carry the women in your life who have become ancestors.

SPEAKER_00 19:30

Absolutely. Everything from the tattoos that I have on my body to my stage name of Brenda's Child to creating stories about them, writing poems sort of like in their honor sometimes. And just pretty much what I was taught by them. Like I, even though I experienced a lot of grief, um, I was loved like so tremendously and what I say ferociously, that it really laid a foundation for who I am. And so a lot of what I'm driven by is I want other people to feel that validation and love, um, you know, internally. Like, so it was external additionally, but it became something internal.

SPEAKER_01 20:09

And that's what I want for everybody. Yeah, and it's this constant question that I ask myself, and then we can go into the questions for the interview because I know we're gonna get into a lot of this, is it's like, how do you, especially when you lose your foundation, like someone who raised you, and in your case, you lost them so young. It's like the heavy load of how do you carry on? How do you carry on your own mission? And then and this is this isn't a question, but it's just a reflection on your work, because I didn't write it down as a question, but yeah, but like, how do you it's like it's like multi-prong. It's like, how do you continue with the mission that you were put here for? How do you continue in the ways that they've raised you? And then also how do you pass it to others? Because that's one of the other reasons why I wanted you on for International Women's Day is because of how you've taken your personal journey, illustrated it through your writing, and teach and mentor others how to step into their own grace, into their own power.

SPEAKER_00 21:22

Yeah, um, I think I was doing it like blindly, like knowing I was doing it. So, first of all, um, yeah, lost mom at four, raised by maternal grandmother because my father was um, my father's paralyzed. He was paralyzed in a car accident when I was like one and a half. And so who's gonna raise toddlers, right? Like he's uh he was unable to. So my maternal grandmother raised us, but then she unfortunately died after about close to 10 years. And so, really, I I really did feel like I lost two mothers. Like I didn't feel the loss of my first mother until until I was probably a teenager when I like late and later on in life, as a young woman, I absolutely felt the loss of both, but like. Because my grandmother was so great to me, like I didn't feel it as a as a young, young, young person. It wasn't until she passed away and I became a teenager. And then you throw in like hormonal changes and the whole experience of being a teenager and all the changes. And so I did not cope with it. Well, so first of all, I did not. I had a whole lot of issues. Um, teenager, I was good at hiding my stuff. But one thing that anchored me the entire time was writing. Writing anchored me the entire time. Like, like I said in the reading, like getting that diary was like having a place to say all the things that I probably would have gotten in trouble for or that seemed inappropriate. Like that is what anchored me throughout the years. And so I think I started off like teaching like poetry workshops, writing workshops. Um, I became an English teacher. So I I used English language arts as a way to really have my students tap into um those deeper questions, like in asking about themselves and writing. So I always found that that was a tool. And then as I developed other tools, you know, through therapy, through going to school, through life experiences, as I developed sort of like my toolbox, I started to uh basically share it with others. So as I learn and continue to grow, I share with other people. Like Maya Angelo said, when you give, get, when you teach, when you what is it, when you give, get, when you learn, teach. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:18

Yes. And I'm up here just coughing like crazy on you. So I want to continue today's conversation by starting with when did you discover your gift as a writer?

SPEAKER_00 23:33

Yeah, that question I was like, ooh, ooh. Um, because I think gift has so many different like meanings to me. Like, you know, um, I always think about that. And so for me, I knew I wanted to be a writer when I was eight. Like, I have a book that our English teacher like had us write, and she like laminated it, and we had to type it on a typewriter because this is like the early 80s, and then we had to draw pictures on the page, and it was called The Night to Remember. And then at the end, you she did our little bio in the back. So it was just like LaToya is you know eight years old, and she lives with her grandmother and her aunts, and she wants to be an author and an illustrator. And so I always wanted to be a writer, so that was one. Um, but I didn't know it was a real necessarily a gift. I felt like once I got into teaching and I started working with other students around using writing as like a tool, I realized that it was a gift for me. Like it was a gift to me. Like being given a diary was bigger than just the diary itself. It was a gift because it was like, wow, you have a place to put your feelings, you have a way to artistically say things. Um, and there's this freedom that comes in that. And so I don't think I realized it was a gift to other people, probably until I um started writing for an African-American point of view. Um, so I was writing, yeah, I just was, I mean, I felt like I was good at it, but I didn't realize it could be a gift for other people in the sense of like, like when people read this, you you your words have power to move them, right? And and it wasn't until I started writing for them, because every month I'm publishing poetry, and now people are like, that poem about this, I really love that. And so once I started getting that sort of feedback around it, that's when I was like, oh, okay, like this is not just something I like, I like to do for me, but this is something that can also impact other people.

SPEAKER_01 25:24

How does your work as a life coach inform your rating, especially as a black woman with a vast amount of lived experience?

SPEAKER_00 25:36

Right? Oh, so I feel like I feel like my my life has informed my my trajectory. Like so, as I journey, I'm really taking people along. Um, when I started working in sort of human services, my first like job outside of college or in college was working at community centers and working with young people. And so a lot of those people who I met when they were like nine, 10, 11, when I became a teacher, I started working with court involved students. Some of them unfortunately ended up in my classroom. And so now I met you at nine, and here you are at 14 or 15, right? So I'm learning about all of these systems and how they work and how they don't work. And then some of them, when I moved on to a different um alternative setting, I came across again, right? So now this time they were 14, now they're maybe 18. And then when they would graduate, because I had such a strong relationship with them, I stayed with them. Like to this day, I am still Facebook friends with so many of my former students. I am inboxing them. We are we are working out things in terms of job interviews, uh, you know, sometimes it's, you know, whatever resources or what have you. And so as I worked with these young people, and particularly young girls, um I had a youth program that I did for from 2006 to 2018, where I worked with girls uh exclusively gifted Diva Showcase, and we did a lot of self-esteem building, boot camp type stuff. And as they grew, you know, you start to see what gaps are exist out there because turning 18 kind of sucks if you don't have resources. Because it's like you're an adult, but not really. You think you know what you're talking about? Can't nobody tell you nothing, but then it's like somebody please tell me what to do. And so my work started to follow that. So it's like I went from writing all these poetry books to like, hey, I have something to say as a teacher. So I wrote the right amount of sunshine to talk about my teenage experiences, and I used my diary entries and I talked about what I was learning in the moment about that being a teacher. And then as my kids kind of grew into young ladies and young men, I started seeing more gaps. And so then I wrote Girl to Grown because I'm like, what do we do at 18 to 24 where there's no resources? So I wrote that. And then so as I've gotten older and my kids, my kids have gotten older, I've been kind of like writing for them along. And then also wherever I see the the need, when I'm where I'm seeing, I'm like, oh, like there's something that happens to women in their 30s and 40s where a light comes on for many of them. And so that kind of has informed what write what I write. And then also I think a lot of my work I do feel is divinely guided. So sometimes I'm I'm told, like, write this in a meditation, or here's your story, here's your book, here's the chapters, here's what it's called. And so I think it's a combination of like being divinely guided, but also my experiences kind of guide me and then the needs that I see guide me.

SPEAKER_01 28:27

See, this is exactly why I wanted you on today. Because like we lift as we climb, and I'm learning a lot about you today. Like, I knew you were an educator, I didn't realize you worked with the populations that you did. That is really cool.

SPEAKER_00 28:43

My jam, those are my babies. Like, that's that is like, and again, I feel like I was not, I won't, I will not say I was a troubled trouble. Well, I was let me stop running. Oh my goodness, like I said, I knew how to cover it up well. Like I got really good grades. Um, you know, I came home on time, but what I was doing before I came home, hmm, you know what I mean? And so there was a lot of abusive things, like there was food abuse, so there was some eating disorder stuff, there was some alcohol abuse, like really like hiding and sticking liquor into places as a young a lot of maladaptive behaviors that I realized and learned. And so that gave me an end with the kids, and also staying in the community I was raised in. You know, these kids are living in neighborhoods that I was born and raised in or that I lived in for a period of time. So I had that connection to them of like, yo, I get it. Like this, this sucks. Like, and so that was like my way of really connecting with them. And again, I feel like it was definitely being divinely guided, like when you run into the same kids again, or when you are like put on this path where they're like, hey, we're gonna open this school, um, never before school, nobody knows about this school. Where we're gonna, there's gonna be court-involved kids, and it's gonna be the school system, and you'll be the only teacher, and we're gonna put you in this classroom with these kids, and you have to figure it out. And it was just like, okay, like cool, like I like kids, I'll do it. And so everything I just feel like happened exactly how it was supposed to happen.

SPEAKER_01 30:08

And this leads so nicely into my question. Um, my next one, and it feels like these two books, you may not have intentionally did it, but these books, you could put them so well into conversation with one another. Like reading Quiet Strength, Loud Confidence first, and then Joyworthy next. And I also love too, like how it sounds like a lot of your writing was informed by a lot of your experience that you had in smaller communities, and you want your writing to reach others, and this is why you publish your work and publish, I don't like to call them field notes because it does feel like that. Yes, I like that. Okay, that's cute. Which I learned that you have a very which makes sense now, a very important ancestor in your lineage.

SPEAKER_00 31:05

And I'm like, right? Field notes, the sociologist in me, right? Like it's wrong, it's wild, yeah, totally wild. Like it is field notes. I love that. I'm going to I am going to claim that moving forward. So thank you for saying that. Like the field notes. And it it really essentially is um, like I said, a lot of writing I felt called to do. I felt like it was put on me. Like, you need to share this. You have this, you have this personal knowledge. I think as I became more scholarly, like, you know, obviously spending a lot of time in a doctoral program will have you looking for information differently and writing differently, like going from creative to academic is a big, it's a big difference. And so um a lot of things I knew I knew how to do intuitively. Like there were just things that like this is what I'm gonna do. And then later on, I'd find some science to back it up. And I'm like, oh shoot, look at me. I was on point the whole time. And so, as I wrote more recently in these other books, I have uh started to reference, you know, other writers or you know, reference a little science behind that. Because I also understand that you when you are trying to reach different audiences, some people are gonna soak up everything you say because they know you, some people are gonna soak it up because it's what they're looking for, and some people are like, where are the facts? Says who, right? And so I've learned to like kind of give a little bit of everything and to be very forthcoming about what I feel I know to be true versus here's what the science says, here are what studies say, here is what we know, you know, based on you know, these these uh scientific-based evidence. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:41

Nice. So, with that said, what inspired you to write Quiet Strength, Loud Confidence, Reflections and Realizations of a Free Black woman and joyworthy, the little guide to experiencing the all the joy you deserve, especially given that they were released only a few years apart, one being in 2021 and being in 2024.

SPEAKER_00 33:03

So I to be honest, the 2021 book, The Quiet Strength, Loud Confidence, um one, it's based on a poem. So there's a poem called Sisters Are Dope that I that was published in my 2026 poetry book, self-titled. And there's a line where I say we are quiet, strength, and loud confidence. And so that's where the book came from in writing about black women. But honestly, I had just started my coaching business. And, you know, um, I had also like it was during the pandemic, and so virtual opportunities were coming in the door. Um, and it and it offered me an opportunity to reach audiences that weren't local. And so I'm like, you need a follow-up, girl, you need a buy-in, like you need to you need to be able to sell these people something when it's over. So to be honest, that was my initial thought was like, what can I have people buy from me when I'm done? What inspired it was some of the readings I did because having time during the pandemic, you know, you start rereading stuff, and I just started thinking about like the people who I read the most. And I'm like, look at how many ways Maya Angelo has told some of the same stories but differently, right? In all of her sort of memoirs and collections. And then I thought about like that. I have more than one Langston Hughes poetry collection and how some of the poems are repeated, but then there's new ones. And then um, I was reading one on Tony Morrison, it was a like a collection of her essays, and I was just like, girl, you have been writing forever. You got four poetry books already that you could pull poems from. You already have these articles that you've been writing for the point of view, because my my column shift to got hers, and I'm like, it's there, it's already there, like the stuff is there. So then, like the title and everything, like I said, that came to me more so in a meditation. And then I like that question came up of like, what's the bigger purpose? Like, yes, you want to be able to have something, right, that will create a funnel for you financially. And what is the bigger point? And the bigger point was really to um elevate like the black women, the experience of black women. And so the book is for anybody, but I was just like, there's some things that only we know. Um, and that's why in the first chapter of the book, I'm saying, like, you are the forethought, like you are not, you are not this little edition, you are not this little section that I commonly read when I'm reading doctoral things or or scholarly articles or whatever, where it's like, oh, this is the part about black women. I'm like, nah, put you right in the front because this is important. And so the chapters really came together without me thinking. It just like that was one of those things that I'm laying on the floor, and then I get up and I'm like, oh shoot, let me write these down. This is the truth, you know. So um, it was yes, it was a little bit of both. It was initially like, yeah, we need something to sell because you're gonna be coaching, you got to give people something. And then the other piece was like, no, this is important. Like, there are so many people who are constrained, like, and a lot of times they're doing it themselves because we want to follow expectations or we put these timelines on ourselves that don't even exist. Like, who said that? Nobody did. You just you you went with it and you ran, and so it just became this urge of like free, like, please, like free yourself, whatever that means. I want people to feel free to be exactly who they are and to and to do what really makes them feel like joyful, not happy, but that internal joy. And so that was that was my motivation for um the first book. I will say for Joy Worthy, similarly, that was the same. So, like Joy, get joy is one of my coaching programs, and um, you know, people don't initially buy into that, they're usually like coming for something else. But I'm like, where's the joy? Whether you're getting goals, whether you're doing this, where's the joy? And the inspiration for the book really came to me when I was on the turnpike, stuck in bumper to bumper traffic. And I'm an observer, like because I'm such a calmer person now, like I'm I'm just super observant. So I'm just like watching people, and people are upset. I mean, they're like banging on the stairs. Where are you, why who are you tooting at? We're not going anywhere. And you got people who are angry, you got people who are on the phone angering, people who don't who want to not let people over. And I'm just like, wow. And then I think Whitney Houston, I want to dance with somebody came on, and that turned into an all-out concert because I was like, this is my jam, I'm not going anywhere. And then I was just like, wow, that was fun. Like that totally lifted my mood. And that's when it clicked to me like the the beauty of being present, like, like and and focusing on what we can control. I'm gonna be stuck in traffic for half an hour. But do I have a playlist that's gonna let me sing at the top of my lungs and move my body and feel excited? Yes. So let me stop focusing on what I can't control, let me focus on what I can control and let me be present because I can't get these 30 minutes back. So am I gonna spend them being miserable and tooting my horn or angry, or am I gonna spend them, you know, going like this in my car? Which one is it? And so that is really what inspired the joy worthy.

SPEAKER_01 37:58

Which, by the way, thank you for bringing up the Mass Turnpike, because y'all. So I live in Connecticut and I work in Western Mass, but I lived in Western Mass for a long time. And what's funny is there's like because I have people watching from everywhere, but Western Mass, there's a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot of nothing. And what cracks me up on either 91 or the so the Mass Pike as you're like leaving Worcester, I can understand why it's getting crazy there because it's greater Boston, but out here, like west of Worcester, to the bird, there's like nothing. And when I see people getting angry, because I'm stuck in traffic all the time going to work, and there's always an accident every day on 91. And people get angry. Like, I hate when like people are honking their horns, traffic's back, nothing's moving. And people get so angry they drive the shoulder. And I'm like, what are you doing? And I love that Whitney Houston came on because I'm just like, you realize people, when you get angry, it's your blood pressure, it's your health getting impacted. Right, shooting all through your veins for what? Right. Whereas you're up here, like, I'm singing me some Whitney Houston, my cortisol is going down, and I'm like, and now I'm in a good mood when I get when I do get off the turnpike.

SPEAKER_00 39:20

Like now I'm like, huh, let me go home and like actually make dinner now. Because I was gonna call order out. Like now I'm rejuvenated. So that that's what really got me to just, you know, really think about that, and just like there are so many opportunities to experience joy. It does not have to be this super big thing all the time. Like, there are so many little ways in which we can experience joy. And and if we're willing to focus on that and to do the work, then we can experience that.

SPEAKER_01 39:48

Yeah. So I would love to know because both of these books, especially in this one, there's a chapter on navigating systems, and that chapter really spoke to me because of the places that I've worked and the places where I exist. I would love to know who the ideal reader is for each book and why.

SPEAKER_00 40:14

Oh, okay. So, so absolutely quiet strength, loud confidence is for women. I'm just gonna say women. And like I said, I center black women in the beginning. Um, there are multiple essays about black women, and I already kind of explained the purpose, but I think it's for women for sure, because even though black women have we have our own set of things that we deal with, like that piece about systems, it's super important for women to understand. The the chapter about um sexual identity and sex is is important. Like all of these things are are uh things within the patriarchy that have destroyed us, like on the inside, and have us, you know, holding on to these beliefs that we know don't feel right. Like we're feeling them in our body, that it doesn't feel right, but yet we're still doing it because we're going along to get along or because we're afraid. So I think that book is for any woman who's who feels constrained in whatever capacity. And the great thing, the reason why I wrote it in thematic chapters was because I understand that like sometimes you're just not in the mood to read certain things. Like, and you you know, you might pick up something you like, whatever, and you put it down, but then later on you need that. And so there's it's chapters. The first half is the internal work. So the quiet strength is what we do when nobody's looking, that internal work, that consistent work, that's ugly, hard work. And then the quiet, the allowed confidence is now that I've done the work or now that I'm doing this work, how do I step out and make a difference in the world? So that quiet, that uh loud confidence piece is what am I doing now, right? Like, how do I make sure that other women feel that same sense of freedom? How do I make sure other women feel seen and respected? So, women for sure for the first book. Um, I think joy worthy can be for anybody. Like, and that's a thing. Like, I wrote it and I did write it in mind with not thinking specifically about women because I have men who like follow me and make jokes like everything's for women. And I'm like, Yeah, it's who I love. Yeah, it's what I do. Um, but I also want everybody to feel joy because it's contagious. I think it's important because again, if I'm feeling joyful and I spread that energy, then the next person feels joyful. And like that's how we slowly create these ripples of change, too, is when people start to realize that they're worthy of feeling joy and that they can be present and that they can they can feel they have that freedom to do it. So they're definitely could you could read them back to back, you can pick them up and read them. But yeah, quiet strength is definitely for women. Um, no matter your color, if you identify as a woman, this one's for you. And uh Joy Worthy is for anybody.

SPEAKER_01 42:55

And then since you are a poet and I know you as a poet, how did you go about select while writing and selecting the poems that ended up in the books?

SPEAKER_00 43:06

Honestly, I just kind of went back to my poetry book. So there's some certain poems that I know. So obviously the title, The Sisters Are Dope, was was one piece. Um, I actually did write one a new one for that. So that was that that I did write one new poem, and that was that's the very first poem in the book. Um, it is hashtag Corinne Gaines. Um, and that one was just because her story like just destroyed me like emotionally. And so I did write a new piece for her. Um, but the rest of them it was me kind of going through my catalog, and I had already had the essays together, like of how I wanted it to be arranged. And I'm like, which poems talk to me and talk to women, which poems talk to black women, and that's kind of like how they were selected.

SPEAKER_01 43:53

So I'm curious too. Besides the curation of the particular poems, essays, and exercises for each of the books, can you share a little bit more about the writing process? Like how long did it take for you to write each book? How many revisions that you go through? And also, too, you're very vulnerable in each book because I love it's not one of so one of the issues that I have with a lot of self-help books is, and this is where one of the earlier questions came from. I'm like, how are you giving this advice when you don't know how to walk the walk? You've walked this walk multiple times. And so you center before you go into the exercises, you center your own experience and talk about how you went from A to Z, which I love. And this is why your books are so important. So I would love to hear a little bit about your process in terms of like how you inserted the I and like and that vulnerability in each of the books.

SPEAKER_00 45:10

Yeah, because some of those, some of the, I will say for quiet, strength, loud confidence, especially the loud confidence part, some of them were pieces I had never shared. So there are some that were articles that were published publicly, um, particularly the ones around sex, um, were not. Um, and so it was, yeah, like that, you're right, vulnerable is correct. Like there were times that I would be like, am I sharing too much? Like, yikes, what are other people going to think when I share this? But then also it was just like, nah, like this has to be told. Like, because somebody needs to needs to needs to feel you, me too. Or, oh my goodness, it's not just me. I'm not alone. And so it became a responsibility that, like, oh my goodness. And there's times that I'm literally writing like this, like, but I'm also like, I have to tell, I have to tell this. And I think you're right about the um piece of sharing. So there's a there's a there's a bit of both of that, right? Like, I'm sharing my personal experience, and I'm also letting people know that just because that was my experience doesn't mean it has to be yours, right? Like, so so I do try to emphasize limitations of what I'm sharing, right? Like this is how my experience, this is what I know. And again, this is what what science or what we do know about this particular thing tells us around, you know, like enjoy worthy. I talk about connecting to nature, right? Like there's so much information available about the benefits of nature, everything from waterscapes to being in the grass to all, like there's so much that that can support that. And so I want to give people, like I said, the science piece, but I also I want to share the vulnerability piece because I think for me too, self-help books do get a bad rap, right? Because a lot of times there are people who are like, here's the answer if you do this exactly. I try to let people know, like, there's not an exactly in that you could read my book, but you also might need to call me and let me coach you through some of these because some of this it has to be more personalized. So I try to be vulnerable, but also leave that space for like my way isn't the only way. And this is a start. Like, you reading the book is not gonna fix everything. However, you reading this particular chapter might give a foundation for you to start practicing mindfulness or for you to try something new. So it's almost like a springboard, I think, for people if they really want to access it. And when I'm writing and I'm thinking about the process, I really don't put it together necessarily. I kind of write what I feel like in the moment and then put it together. So I might outline, like, okay, here are my chapters, like I want to write about these things. But because I'm writing from such a vulnerable place, I often need to write like what I'm feeling in the moment. So I'm like, okay, yeah, I know I want to write this chapter about like, you know, clearing your throat and conscious, and I ain't in the mood to fit to write like that. So let me go. What am I in the mood for? So sometimes it's that, sometimes it is intentional writing. Um, because again, I give my own self a deadline. Nobody said anything was due by then. But sometimes it's stuff like where I have to put a note in the bathroom mirror that says, but did you write today? And sometimes the answer to that is no. And and I have to tell myself, if I'm not ready to write for the book, but did you write in your journal? Did you write something? Did you write about why you can't write? Like, so gentle reminders and sometimes not so gentle. At one point, I think um for Joy Worthy, I did have a bigger deadline um for myself because I had booked the the place for and everything, and the book was mostly written, but there was a so I'm just like, girl, what you what you doing? You gotta write. Um, and then the writing for me, I'm a handwriter. So I need the old classic like composition book or like the through the notebook, three subject notebook to write my stuff in first. Um, because that is just how it comes to me. Like, right, there's there that connection, and again, there's science about that too, right? Like that hand connection is you're tapping into parts of your brain that you normally might not if you type things. And so for me, I love to hand write. Um, sometimes I'll do it intentionally and say, I'm going to write for an hour. And then other times it was my son has track practice, and so I'm gonna walk the track for 30 minutes, and then for the next hour, while I'm waiting for him, I'm gonna put my headphones on and I'm gonna bring out my book and I'm gonna write on the grass, and whatever comes to me, comes to me.

SPEAKER_01 49:27

And thank you too for like giving permission to us writers because so many people are like, you have to write, you have to write every day, every day, every day. And I'm just like, okay, how can we fit it in? And I love that it's you fit it in, but it's also too you gave yourself permission to be more organic about it. Like it doesn't necessarily have to be you're sitting at a desk with your teeing, your candle. You're like, my son is doing this, I can do this while he's doing this. So thank you for that.

SPEAKER_00 49:56

I used to love that, I love that though. When I used to see people and they're like, here's my writing, here's how I write, like how my Angelo used to go to her room and like write. And I'm like, I want a ritual, but I'm like, but you ain't got one. Like, it's not like the ritual is is that you write like when you feel like so there's some processes. Like, I do love to sit on the floor when I write or to lay on the floor. Sometimes I'll just put my yoga mat out in the living room and just like lay on my belly, and I'm like, you know, multitasking, like you're getting some belly time. Tell me time in your writing. So, but I yeah, there's no, I don't have necessarily a ritual for that, you know. Give me a good pen that writes really well, and again, a composition book or what have you. And then it's like get it out. I'm a get it out person first, and then piece it, piece together the puzzle later on. And I might write it and it might stay somewhere forever, and then I pull it out and I'm like, come here, you you you need to be in this book, or I'm gonna do something with you today.

SPEAKER_01 50:52

Nice. So I want to transition a little bit. I would love for you to talk about hers, which for folks who are just joining us is an acronym for health, empowerment, resilience, and self-worth. So I've had an opportunity to work with you through this organization. I would love for you to share with us some programs that you provide under this platform, and then how does it extend your reach as a life coach and writer?

SPEAKER_00 51:19

Sure. So multiple. If people visit my website, they'll see they're taking in like several directions. Um, primarily I do a lot of workshops, and so workshops can be for um mostly again, my focus, I love women, and I also still love young people. So I love to work with organizations that work with young people or that work with women, whether that is those facilities that are more restrictive or whether it is, you know, a community program. So that is that is what I absolutely love to do. And I do that um even um in the school system. So I do professional development for educators around the how, right? So, because you can learn how to teach, but like what is the how? What is how do we connect to ourselves again? So we can connect to our students more deeply. I'd work with human service organizations and training their staff as well. I also do um group coaching if folks allow. Um, next this month, actually in a couple weeks, we have our permission to blossom retreat, which is a retreat for women that I'm hosting in the Berkshires. Uh, I'll be hosting eight women for a weekend, and we are going to be doing some group coaching and some other sessions. And the the purpose is for them to blossom either a new idea, a new habit, or a new activity. And so aligning with the spring equinox, we are going to be springing into action. And then I'll be hosting another one in the fall, which I haven't released the details yet. But um that one is called the fall reset retreat, where we sort of take inventory and start that pre-planning process for what we want the next season to look like. So um, those take place often and they kind of book really quickly. And then I also have the She Got Hers conference. I think that's how we kind of came to know each other mostly via email. And that one is a full-day conference, which also can be broken into something smaller for young women 18 to 24 who are just trying to navigate entry into adult life. Um, again, a host of just different workshops. And I pretty much kind of cater them. I think my expertise as a former special education teacher has basically really helped me with every single way. So when I'm delivering workshops, I'm thinking about all the needs of everybody in the room. I'm thinking about making it interesting, I'm thinking about all the different types of learners. I feel like that has really helped me in teaching teachers and teaching social workers, um, even as an adjunct professor, because I spent some time doing that, like has helped me to create interesting content for my classroom. So yeah, I offer a variety of programming. And the best way to, you know, see that is to check out the website.

SPEAKER_01 53:59

Yes, which is um her website is www.brenderschild.com. Please look her up and hire her. Absolutely. Yeah, so I have a couple more questions for you. Prior to having our guests on Black Runners Read, we asked them why they write. Here's what you offered. When I started writing intentionally at 14, it was as Maya Angelou said, and you mentioned earlier, because there is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside of you. As I have lived, I resonate more with a quote by Nikki Giovanni. We who write one hopes are directing the heart and soul. Writing is a gift, and our gifts are our responsibility to share with the world. As a writer, I am creating an archive of what it means to be black, woman, human. I love that those are separated. I am giving language to experiences and feelings that sometimes feel like there are no words for it. I am making sense of life on this earthly plane. What would you like your legacy to be?

SPEAKER_00 55:20

Yeah. That's I don't deep question. When I saw it, I was like, oh, ah, oh. It's actually a good question. I think is something I want to write about. Like, not necessarily again for publication, but I really actually want to journal that. Like when you wrote that, like because a lot of times in the moment I know what I want to do, right? Like in the present. In the present, I'm like, I need I need to do this because this is gonna serve so and so, or this is gonna do this, right? Like with that immediate like goal. But when I think about legacy, like it's such a strong word. I think I want my legacy to be that I was someone who like, like, here's an example of a woman who consistently challenged herself, who was consistently vulnerable, um, who understood the importance of her voice for future generations. Um, so yeah, I think that's what it is. I just want to be an example. I want to be somebody that people look to and are like, wow, like she was writing about that then, or like, you know, somebody whose writing definitely coincided with the time, right? So, like that legacy of like archive and history, but also somebody who people look back to in the very way that I look back to some of the people who I love to write and are like, wow, she was right about that then. And also me too, yeah. Like, so that's what I want.

SPEAKER_01 56:45

And you just bring me back to your dynamic reading that you did at um Olive Tree Books and Voices when we did the Nikki Giovanni event. I this is sorry to throw this question at you. Absolutely fine. I'm good, I'm enjoying this. But I would love before my last question, given that my Angelou and Nikki Giovanni are ancestors, their work, I feel like it's even more pertinent now because of the things that we're experiencing as women, as black folks, and as black women. What is a piece from each of them that is your favorite and why?

SPEAKER_00 57:28

Oh, yeah. So, first of all, Maya Angela's poem, Grandmothers, is my favorite, favorite ever, ever, ever, ever, ever. Like ever, ever. And I think it is because it is such a black woman story. Like the way she tells it and she goes through time telling the stories of black women and that line, I shall not be moved, and then that line about she stands in the classroom loving children into understanding. Like, I've always resonated with that line. Um, so that is my absolute favorite. But I also love the story, and I share this often when I'm working with people who work with um populations that people consider challenging. And it was, you know, not just her story as in like the things that she lived, because people sometimes are fascinated when they don't know that she was a sex worker at some point in, you know, in some of her trauma. But she talks about the conversation that she had with her mom one day when her mom, mom used to come over and cook dinner sometimes for her when she was a single mom. And then her mom basically told her she was great one day and was just like, you know, I think you're great. She was like, Mary Bethune, she named some other people. I can't remember if the quote exactly, but she was like, but you're great too. And she said, like her that her mom wasn't necessarily a nice woman, but like if her mom said that, like there had to be some truth to it. And if she was great, maybe she needed to start acting like it. And so I love that story because it truly speaks to the power of words, right? Like the words that we tell ourselves, but also when we speak life into people, how it can be such a transformative thing. So that's my favorite. Absolute, absolute. Um, I think with Nikki Giovanni, it's harder because I love all her stuff. I think her Tupac poem is perhaps one of my favorites because um, again, I worked with so many youth who people said such horrible things about. Like, unfortunately, I've lost a lot of youth. And so, like, you know, you would go online and see the things, horrible things people said about them. And so, like, I don't know, that piece stuck with me because she just talked about like that he was this beautiful soul and that he deserved to be honored just like anybody else. And also, like, he was a truth teller, and you know, like he was a prince. And so all the things that she said about him, I absolutely love. But uh, Nikki Giovanni, I could never pick a favorite, favorite because I'm I'm in love with her love poems, like absolutely. Um, of course, ego tripping is you know top tier too. Anything that's gonna big myself up, I'm gonna love. But I think that Tupac poem, something about it hits hits home every time for me.

SPEAKER_01 59:58

Yeah, and thank you so much for mentioning the Tupac poem. And one of the things that I want to say, because um a lot of the populations I teach are I like to call those that higher and forget. Oh, I have to give a shout-out to somebody. Nzima Hutchins, current um poet laureate for Infill, Connecticut. She was on the podcast. Hi.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:22

And in our show, Father Manilogs too. Yes, had to give her a shout-out.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:26

Yeah. Um, I just lost my train of thought because she's also an amazing poet.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:32

Um, Nikki Giovanni, too.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:34

Yes. Thank you. I I these populations of folks, I like to call them the folks that people forget. Because especially through a lot of the programs I teach for, and I teach for a lot of programs that are meant and designed for communities that higher ed doesn't want to acknowledge, and just a lot of the gems and a lot of the knowledge, and a lot of a lot of the like wisdom. Like, I don't want to, of course, I can't give the student story away, but I have a student who will be graduating from one of the programs that I teach for, and I am so proud of her. She went from how to put it being a hoodlum in the hood to now she, I hope that she goes towards her doctorate. And and writing her letters of recommendation to transfer to four-year institutions because one of the places I teach, a lot of places I teach where they award associates, it was so much for me to write her letter because I needed to keep it contained. I literally was like, I am one of her biggest fans. And and she's someone I'm I I miss working with. She hasn't graduated from the program yet, but um, I've had her for a couple of classes. I don't have her for the semester, and I miss her so much. And I really hope that the rest of society realizes and acknowledges the beauty, the wisdom, the knowledge that exists in many of these communities. They do. They absolutely do. Yeah, and for many of them who have been incarcerated at some point or had some punitive action, realize that many of them who did the action was for survival. So people think about that. Like people don't, yes, there are some people who commit crimes, you know, but there are folks who are doing it for survival. Also, before I forget, I have to give a shout out to another guest. And there's so many people saying hello in the chat. I don't want to not acknowledge y'all, but there's been some people watching today who have been on Black Writers Read. And this particular person, we both know very well, she's been on Black Writers Read, and I believe she's your very close friend.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:12

Oh, yes, Crystal Center Brown. Yeah, that's my god baby mama. Yeah, hi, Crystal. Yeah, or I'm her god baby mama, whatever you want to call it. She's my son's godmother.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:22

So yeah, and Crystal has been on the podcast before. And so thank you. Also, too, I want to give a shout out to um some regular, some regular folks who are watching right now, who's putting a lot in the comments. Thank you so much for joining us this evening. So I'd now like to close this out, and I hate that we're ending our time together, but also we're both in the same region and we got to connect more offline.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:48

Absolutely. Absolutely. We do. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:53

What is next for you, and how can a Black Reduzria community support you on this journey?

SPEAKER_00 1:03:58

Who I think the well, first of all, I'm gonna say the best way you can support me is to recommend my services because I guarantee you there's something on my website that people need, right? So it's it could be buying bulk of books for people or for a group. And I have, like you said, various genres. It could be recommending me to come do professional development at a school or human service organization, or it could be somebody who needs a keynote for an organization. So that is one. Um, or you and your crew can get together and get group coaching with me as well. So that's one way you can support. I am working on, so I have a couple things that are like um back burners, but um, and don't have like release dates for. So one book I'm working on is called Um Masectomies, Motherhood and Memories. And that is telling my maternal side story in battle with gynecological cancers. Um, so sort of telling my mother and my grandmother and my and my aunts, plenty of my aunt's stories, but also my own story to have prophylactic um you know, surgery and like just how I dealt with all of that. So that's one piece that I've been working on for a while, but I put it down, I pick it back up because it seems like every time I pick it up, there's like a new cancer diagnosis in my family. So um it's one that I'm slowly working through, but like it's there, and I know I put it out there, so it's coming out one day. Um, and then this other thing I'm working on, and I haven't even shared that with anybody, but I am working on a book that is inspired by my Angelo's grand the grandmother poem. And I started writing poems about women who I have been obsessed with. And so some of these women are um women in history, but some of them are women in my own family. And so I it's something again that is I'm writing poems and I'm writing poems, and then they're slowly coming together. Um, I will say that I've written one already about Ida B. Wells, because that's my boo thing. There is one about Nikki Giovanni, there is one about Maya Angelo, and then there's also one about my maternal and paternal grandmother already. So there are just yeah, so those are the two I'm working on. I don't have a deadline for them because I'm um again focused really on alignment and like right now, spring is a really big season for me in terms of guest speaking and in retreats and coaching. Um, and so pacing myself, but it is on the to-do list, both of them.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:31

Nice. So it was uh I had to take that minute, like just you are Dr. Boss, you are just so phenomenal. Thank you for being you, thank you for being so vulnerable. Thank you too for pinning your stories because there's so many of us who can really benefit from your words and your work.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:00

Thank you. I will receive that. Thank you. It's it's it's sometimes it's good to hear because, like I said, when you're the person, you're the hype person for a lot of people, like as a coach. Um, you know, I'm also somebody who, you know, hypes herself up pretty well too. But sometimes it's good to hear from other people um, you know, the the importance of something that is very dear to you. So I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:22

Yeah, and it sounded like as we were talking that you were writing like 90 dissertations as we were talking today, like just the brilliance that comes from you as you're freestyling. It's just I'm like, uh thank you. Thank you. I enjoyed today. This was great. Yeah, this was amazing, and thank you so much for being on for International Women's Day. Like it meant so much to have you on today.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:47

Yes, and happy International Women's Day to all the listeners and to you.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:51

Yes, thank you. Thank you so much for joining us for this episode of Black Riders Read. Black Riders Read is available on all platforms. Please be sure to subscribe to Black Writers Read wherever you listen to your podcasts to receive each new episode once they are released. And after you've listened to this episode and subscribe to the podcast, I would appreciate so very much if you could also leave a review as your feedback helps me to curate the series and it helps others to find us. I hope that you are so moved and encouraged to take your support of Blackwriters Read one step further and join us on Patreon. Thank you for championing this work and helping to sustain this award winning, independently produced virtual platform. To learn more, please visit BlackWritersRead.com. Thanks again for your support and for ensuring that Black Writers continue to matter.