Something to Offer

On this episode I talk with Lecrae Moore. Lecrae recently released an album, documentary and book all around the idea and story of his personal restoration journey. This episode has a TRIGGER WARNING as we openly discuss the topic of sexual abuse. We also discuss what it meant to grow up without his father, what it can look like to start therapy, life in a pandemic, Church Clothes 4 and so much more. If we could squeeze it in, we talked about it! This is my FINAL EPISODE for the season and I'm thankful you've followed along this journey. I hope this conversation is helpful. It felt like so much insight and free therapy from a person who walked a road so that you don't have to. I hope its beneficial. Enjoy!

Wellness... what the heck is it and how can I get some of it? On this episode, Danielle Anderson joins Dawntoya to talk about her journey from grief after losing her one year old son, to her present day practice of wellness. Danielle used the beginning days of quarantine to tackle her goal of becoming a certified yoga and fitness instructor as well as a doula! She has put in the work and has so much to offer. After graduating from Rice University, Danielle used her engineering brain in the IT world, but eventually chose to become a stay at home mom to raise and homeschool her sons. She has now taken that same fervor and engineering approach to wellness and mental, emotional, spiritual and physical fitness. She is a wealth of knowledge and information and shines a light on why a little wellness is better than none.

On this episode of Something to Offer, Dawn catches us up on the memoirs that she's been reading. In this episode she shares about how the stories of others and the influences that their parents had on them is shining a light on her own parenting. The common thread of all of these stories is how the subject was affected, trained and shaped by the good and or bad of their rearing. Dawn has 3 children ages 3, 9 and 12 and has been feeling the struggle to meet each of them in their exact phase, age and moment in their own lives while also being responsible for her own. She posed a set of questions to some of her friends about their own parenting journeys in hopes of finding some encouragement and commonality for herself and for others. This is the start of a conversation that will continue on throughout the life of the podcast, because we could all always use a little parenting help!

On this week's episode, Ashley Kaminski joins Dawntoya to talk about the reality of the pain that lies beneath the image of "black girl magic." Ashley is beautiful and loves everything "beauty" and all but personifies the image of "Black Girl Magic" on a regular basis. However, the woman who started the "Black Girl Magic" movement, CaShawn Thompson, never intended for the mantra to only represent the physical image. In this episode, "Beneath the Magic" Ashley shares a bit of her story and how the trauma of her childhood is only now gaining her full attention as she sees it rearing its head in her life. We discuss the trials of parenting, marriage and how difficult and nuanced it can be to navigate your past while having to be a mother, wife and thriving adult in the present. Ashley is on the cusp of her healing journey and talks about the road ahead.

Adam Thomason is back on "Something to Offer" to discuss his newly released book, "Permission to Be Black: My Journey with Jay-Z and Jesus." Adam and I discuss why he wrote the book and why he believes that black people need permission to be both themselves and followers of God. We dive into some of the book's interesting and funny stories that lead up to his arrival in "kingdom therapy" which changed his mindset and gave him permission to be his black self in all its nuances. It's a fun and informative conversation that challenges anyone of any background to be their full selves.

When I met Cristina Mineo in 2020 I left our conversation feeling inspired and like I should have been taking notes. She was new to Atlanta from a lifetime in New York and had already bought and began flipping properties to take advantage of the real estate market. She read books on her own and sought advice to get her start in a new venture. She had strong opinions and thoughts and the voice and knowledge to back them up. She doesn't shrink in a room or stand down in a conversation. She recently showed her acting chops in her husband Andy Mineo's Christmas variety show and killed it. I laughed at how confident she looked and how effortless it was. Whenever I'm around her I think, "Where'd you get this gumption?" In this episode we dive into Cristina's experience growing up as a Puerto Rican girl from New York and the life lived that created her confidence and gumption. We dive into the complexity of being a Latina in America and she helps break down why she and others identify as Afro Latina, a topic that many of us could use an education on.

We are near the one year mark of learning about Covid-19. As time has gone by we've seen our emotions and attitudes repeatedly change on how to live during a pandemic. In the beginning, we were all trying to play by an obscure set of rules, but now, it seems we are all individually living in ways that we think best. Lately, I've been trying to convince myself that everything is fine and that its just another day in a pandemic, but my body has been physically responding to the stress I feel on the inside. I miss my friends and the former relaxed ways of being with them. I feel cautious when interacting with people and  feel like I take an actual risk every time someone visits. We talk about the devastating illness, deaths and vaccine but I need to talk about the "feelings side" of Covid... the roller coaster of emotions on trying to be safe while longing for fellowship. Many of us feel stuck and alone and out of control. We want our life back. Some are taking theirs back and moving forward and some are still clinging to the locked down way of living and the combination is making it tricky to relate.

There is constant race related outrage in this country. The "storming of the Capitol" brought another chance for us to argue with misinformed people on the internet. But many black and brown women have been struggling with how to respond to white friends or former friends on issues of race because they confess to not having the words or not knowing history. Many black and brown women have been "white washed" and socialized in American culture throughout schools, workplaces and through the media at large. They weren't "born Angela Davis" so to speak and don't immediately posses her type of militant knowledge and power or like that of other prolific black forerunners and they feel shame around it. This has caused them shame in their current fight to take back their identity and speak truth to power. In this episode, Dawntoya talks about her unintentional "whitewashed" school days and encourages women like herself to combat the shame, find their truth and speak it.

This week on Something to Offer, Dawntoya is joined by her husband Adam Thomason. They discuss how 14 years ago at their wedding, they naively made a lot of promises that they didn't have the tools or guidance to keep.

Adam shares his journey into therapy to gain the new tools he needed to function in a marriage. He talks about the journey of discovering how dealing with his own personal emotions and traumas began the healing in marriage and offers listeners some of the tools his counselor gave him.

To learn more about Adam visit his Instagram or Twitter @redrev

Dawntoya Thomason Instagram @dawntoya

On this inaugural episode, Dawntoya introduces herself, speaks to the concept behind the podcast and its name and ponders a long held personal insecurity... "Is it ever too late to start?" Too late for that business, that goal, that class, relationship? We can make a lot of excuses for why we don't move, but is "too late" a myth or an insecurity disguised as something else?