In My Shoes Stories from Women of Color

It's Season 3! I can't believe it!

This was like talking to an old friend ya'll! Karen Derrico was a joy to interview and their show is a breath of fresh air. No drama, no mess, just a family trying to make it work every day.

Listen as she talks about her daily routine and how she handled the question "You pregnant again?!" And even those who tried to discourage the couple from doing the show.

I promise you, after listening to Karen, you will want to watch the show and learn more about the Derricos.

You can watch episodes on TLC and catch the new season each Tuesday at 10 p.m.

It's another REWIND episode with foster and adoptive mom Keia Jones-Baldwin. She and her husband have four children including a son who is White.

In this episode she talks about the crazy questions she's received over the years, including people calling the police when they are convinced that she must have kidnapped her baby boy.

May is Foster Care Awareness Month and this conversation with Keia is the perfect way to celebrate that.

Follow Keia on Facebook to find out more about her family: https://www.facebook.com/raisingcultures/

ALSO, don't forget you can still help me celebrate my birthday by donating to the non-profit arm of IMS and help us give away journals FREE to girls and women of color.

https://bit.ly/IMSDONATE

Be Blessed!

May is Mental Health Awareness Month!

Hear NAMI Hillsborough's Executive Director Natasha A. Pierre tell her story of discovery after she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. She will talk about the stigma she has faced, what happened when she was first diagnosed and the day she decided she was going to go public with her diagnosis.

NAMI (the National Alliance on Mental Illness) is the nation's largest grassroots mental health organization. The goal is to build better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness.

To learn more about NAMI go to: https://www.nami.org.

AND... It's my birthday! Don't forget to help me celebrate with a donation to our non-profit so that we can donate journals to girls of color starting their senior in high school, as well as educators of color dedicated to making a difference for children.

Please Donate Today! https://bit.ly/IMSDONATE - Thank you!

It is my birthday ya'll! Normally I don't celebrate all month, but this year I have something really big to celebrate. For my birthday, help me celebrate with a donation to our non-profit, Sisters Empowering Women, Inc.

We are relaunching the non-profit and we could use your help. SEW's mission is help women and girls of color to find their voice and speak their truth boldly and unapologetically.

A donation will go towards giving journals to girls going into their senior year in high school as well as a journal/planner to educators of color working every day to help our babies on this journey to adulthood.

I hope you would consider donating today: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=7BLHME9UM95CW

KD French said a few years ago, when she discovered an app that allowed her to record all the vocals of a song with her voice, she started putting her creations on social media.

The more she posted, the more popular they became. And then one day she posted a funny story about her struggles to stay away from the fridge as the pandemic dragged on and boredom set in. The song was a hit and she's been on Good Morning America, the Kelly Clarkson Show and even a game show!

Find out what life has been like since her song went viral.

Follow KD French: https://www.facebook.com/khristie.french

It's just me this week. April 18-24 is National Infertility Awareness Week. I wanted to use this episode to share my own journey and let any woman struggling with infertility know that you are not alone.

Infertility was a part of my story very early and I wanted to share what it was like for me. Although I chose a different path and if you follow me, you know adoption was always a first choice for me, I did learn a young age that if I wanted to get pregnant, it would not be easy.

I hope listening to my story encourages you and reminds you that you are not the only one that has been in the struggle. Be Blessed.

Learn more about National Infertility Awareness Week, visit: https://infertilityawareness.org/about-niaw/

The Black Beauty Business rakes in billions of dollars each year, but there are only a handful of companies owned by Black Women with a store selling the products that are targeted almost exclusively to our community.

Meet Pam Thompson of My Shade and Texture. She was tired of not seeing people who looked like her as the owners of beauty supply stores that were marketing and selling exclusively to Black women.

Find out more about her store, how she was able to remain successful during the pandemic, and the scare tactics competitors, with a stronghold in the market, tried to use to keep her from opening.

Visit the store's website to learn more about Pam and how you can place an order from anywhere: www.myshadeandtexture.com

Listen to this powerful and important conversation with Dr. Jasmine Marcelin, an Infectious Disease Physician at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Dr. Marcelin, a TEDxSpeaker, will talk about the vaccines, how researchers were able to make them so quickly, why she believes there is so much mistrust in communities of color and why it is important to seriously consider getting vaccinated.

She will also discuss how the vaccines are made and tackle several of the myths and misconceptions many have about the vaccines.

Hanging out with my girls on this episode! As we wrap up celebrating our one year anniversary, this is another group in my tribe talking colorism, one year later, the “angry Black woman syndrome” and our hopes and dreams for the rest of 2021.

Listen to my girls Ginain Grayes, of Cook Pray Slay and Maureen Green James of MGJ Speaks and Wyllow Caraballo-Pasani as we hang out as girlfriends do and talk about whatever comes to mind. It’s a party while we celebrate one year of In My Shoes the podcast!

Check out Ginain at: https://cookprayslay.com/

Check out Maureen at: https://mgjspeaks.com/

Listen to Dr. Erin King-Mullins, a colorectal surgeon in Atlanta and founder of Corona Mamas, as she discusses colon cancer, what can be done to catch it early, why family history matters and why people of color, and African Americans in particular, need to learn all they can.

March is Colon Cancer Awareness Month. To learn more, go to:

https://fascrs.org/

https://www.cancer.org/

https://www.cancer.org/