What would you never know about someone if you only met the person, they are today?

Ebony Skillens is now a Licensed Professional Counselor-Supervisor, trauma therapist, Executive Director of Skillz on Wheelz, wife, mother, grandmother, and community leader. But there's a part of her story she rarely gets the opportunity to tell: Ebony was an adolescent mom.

In this episode of Just Tell Me Half of It Then, Ebony takes us back to being 15 years old, a freshman at Booker T. Washington High School, and discovering she was pregnant. Fear kept her pregnancy a secret from nearly everyone, including her mother, until she was seven months along. She shares the painful moment her mother learned the truth, a trip to Kansas that changed the course of what happened next, and the decision that led her to spend the final months of her pregnancy at the Oklahoma Baptist Children's Home.

Ebony also reflects on becoming a mother while still trying to understand who she was, the support she found in unexpected places, and the young relationship with Leon Skillens that would eventually become a 36-year partnership and 26-year marriage.

Today, Ebony describes herself as a woman who is still becoming. A leader who is willing to admit that sometimes she is scared, but has learned she can "do it scared."

This is a conversation about teen motherhood, fear, family, faith, resilience, leadership, and what can happen when the story people expect for your life isn't the story you ultimately live.

Because we hear plenty about the stereotypes surrounding teen parents.

We don't hear nearly enough from the ones who made it.

And sometimes, knowing just half of their story changes everything.

What happens when strength is no longer about winning, but about learning how to survive loss, ask for help, and keep growing?

In this episode of Just Tell Me Half of It Then, Alisa Bell sits down with Leon “Coach Skillz” Skillens III, a therapist under supervision, longtime case manager, husband, father, grandfather, deacon, and advocate for Black men’s mental health.

Leon shares how losing both of his parents within three years changed him, challenged the way he understood strength, and deepened his faith. He and Alisa also reflect on young parenthood, breaking generational cycles, investing in yourself while raising children, the importance of modeling what we expect from the next generation, and why helping people sometimes means walking beside them instead of telling them what to do.

Their conversation moves beyond titles and accomplishments to the experiences that shaped the people they became. At its heart is a shared belief: our past may influence us, but it does not have to determine where we finish.

This is a conversation about grief, faith, fatherhood, mental health, core values, personal responsibility, and becoming the example you want your children to see.

Sometimes understanding just half of someone’s story changes everything.

Michelle, an Oklahoma House Representative for District 72, educator, and former teen mom. Michelle describes herself as genuine, empathetic, and driven by legacy and the sacrifices of those before her, sharing family history in North Tulsa and reflections on traditional gender roles. She recounts becoming a mother at 15 in 2003, navigating unstable housing, a religious children’s home, Margaret Hudson, earning her GED, working full time, and securing an apartment at 16. She explains how early sexual abuse shaped her commitment to age-appropriate sex education and frank conversations with her children about safety and contraception. The discussion critiques Oklahoma’s inadequate systems for young parents—childcare, healthcare, mental health, wages, and school supports—and addresses accountability and support for young fathers. Michelle explains she entered politics out of anger at anti-teacher rhetoric and to bring lived experience with public assistance and education into policymaking.

At sixteen, Carol was pregnant, navigating trauma, and trying to finish high school at the Margaret Hudson Program in Tulsa.

What staff saw in her wasn’t her circumstances—but her resilience, her determination, and her desire for something more.

Nineteen years later, her story is still unfolding.

In this episode of Just Tell Me Half of It Then, Carol shares her journey from adolescent motherhood to becoming a Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine, acupuncturist, master herbalist, and founder of Happy Healing Holistic.

Her work focuses on what many overlook—the connection between trauma and physical health—and the importance of healing at the root.

This episode is also a full-circle moment for host Alisa Bell, who attended Margaret Hudson 45 years ago, and a tribute to the legacy of a program that has changed generations of lives.

Tremayne became a father at 21, stayed present though he was living a destructive lifestyle, and describes surrendering his life to Christ in 2004 after his life crumbled and he faced serious legal consequences, later receiving a suspended sentence. He shares lessons from being a girl dad, the importance of respectful co-parenting and giving grace, and guidance for young women and men around health, vision, finances, and community. Tremayne discusses loving his wife through daily action as “priest, prophet, and king” of his home, defining legacy through values and financial security, and how losing a corporate job in 2013 pushed him into entrepreneurship, growing multiple businesses and emphasizing seeing and nurturing children’s gifts.

Rashel Hudson, now a single mom of five and owner of a kombucha brewery, shares becoming pregnant at 17, choosing a closed adoption for her first child, and later raising stepchildren through divorce. She discusses growing up with detached parenting, losing her mother at 18, and using grief to become the mother she wished she had while ultimately leaving domestic violence. Rashel reframes success from a rigid “box” to self-trust, crediting faith, mindset, and determination. She explains founding her business in 2020 from elderberry and fermentation-based products, attracting private investors in 2024, and expanding toward nationwide growth.

Dr. Curtis reflects on growing up during school desegregation, experiencing racism and isolation, and the values modeled by her parents, church, and reading. She shares how her definition of success shifted from perfection and fairytale stability to wholeness, self-trust, and a satisfied life with less drama. Dr. Curtis recounts the emotional toll of motherhood, postpartum fears, and the pivotal moment during her divorce when she was suicidal, prayed, and rebuilt her life through careful planning, self-care, and support from her village. In her workforce lens, she explains what society gets wrong about career readiness for 18–24 year olds, emphasizing self-knowledge, core values, and celebrating rites of passage. She also discusses raising her son, Monroe Nichols IV—who became Tulsa’s first African American mayor—highlighting lessons about accountability, academics, faith, and the importance of not trying to be both parents.