In Her Words

Carline Watson was born in London, raised in Jamaica and educated at Columbia University in NYC. She and I and her wonderful husband Walter Ray were in the same seminar taught by the late great Charles Ogletree who knew Barack Obama at Harvard Law School. But enough name dropping. The most fascinating stories in her rich beautiful voice speak to the simple joys of growing up in Jamaica, going to the market with her mom. You can practically taste the mangoes! A delicious listen! Treat yourself.

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Maura Sullivan took out equity from her home. Then she sold it. All to pay for two sons with profound autism. She went to the statehouse as part of a grass roots movement to get insurance to cover needed services for autism. They asked lawmakers for help. And they got it. Tens of thousands are benefiting from this law. With distrust of politicians running high, Maura’s story offers hope.

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Amy and her sister each won little Miss Ashe County NC so of COURSE their mother moved them to NYC for careers as child actresses. She did a pudding pop commercial with Bill Cosby and a film for Gary Marshall and a film with Matt Dillon. Then she moved home. Amy and I bond over stories of WRAL and our crush on CBS’ Jim Axelrod. (We’re both big fans!) Amy had quite the career in radio in Chicago. She once almost punched out Andrew Dice Clay. We wind up talking about feminism, political tags and how neither of us like them.

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Allison Modafferi is a great daughter, sister and mom who took the helm at Be Yoga Collective and applies it’s principles of movement and breathing to live a peaceful life in a loud world. She is a delight, the daughter of a teacher who went on to become a teacher herself. Listen and learn! I know I did.

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Larissa Miller Honeycutt had a fundamental problem. A great career at the Billy Graham Evangelical Association but she knew in her heart she was gay. 

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Lashelle Bolton bonded with the daughter she gave birth to at age 14 by taking her deep into the Sahara Desert in north Africa. She says she felt the presence of God. As she looked at waves of endless sand stretching out in all directions she thought, “The same Creator that made all this made me.” It was a long odyssey for the Bronx woman who found out she was going to be a teen mom in a Long Island group home. A mystical experience that left her feeling as small as a speck, yet inextricably connected to the cosmos.

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Euralis Figueroa was a girl who never heard the word college. She’d never even thought about it. An amazing mentor changed all that and now she’s paying it forward by mentoring Latina girls just. like. her! Wanna feel better about the next gen? Just listen to this pod.

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Growing up between Tokyo and California/New Jersey, Mayuko Fukino was bullied in school, a small girl slung around by her backpack. No wonder she grew up to become a Karate instructor! It helped her four kids navigate middle schoo.l (No small feat for the best of us!)

A deeply spiritual and mystical person, Mayuko speaks about her gifts and deep love of nature which brought her from the dense urban community of Tokyo all the way to the suburbs of Rock Hill SC. Quite the journey.

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Becca Shell celebrates 20 years of sobriety this month. The mother of two got her Masters Degree in Counseling to help many others recover from addictions. Her story contains both laughter and tears and serves as inspiration of a whole new life after putting aside the bottle. CONGRATS BECCA! Honored to call you my friend.

BTW I owe my sobriety to a wide, wild community of 12 step fellowships as well as professionals like Tammy Bell and Kim Honeycutt, both of them previous guests on my IN HER WORDS podcast. I’m filled with gratitude this month as I celebrate 30 continuous years of sobriety.

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You can pass by Walkers Ferry Road a hundred times and never once wonder: who was Walker? Lorraine Walker Carpenter knows. He was family. On solving mysteries and connecting to the ancient chain to our ancestors. It’s a pleasure to hear her sweet voice tell such meaningful stories.

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