In Episode 15 for Season 2, I welcome Motivational Speaker Crystal Bell.

As a motivational speaker for over thirty years, Crystal's audiences have been enlightened and inspired to live life out loud—despite the obstacles. Whether she’s facilitating a workshop on vision and goal-setting, or she’s training corporate professionals to meet their organizational team goals, Crystal Bell leaves a positive impact and the minds and hearts of men and women that can’t easily be erased. Her extensive non-profit career with both local and national organizations has not only positioned her as an expert in community development, team-building and continuous improvement, but also customer service and retention—truly making her a force to be reckoned with amongst competitors. 

During Episode 15, Crystal shares stories of her joyful childhood. Her transparency lead us to explore the question of why #blackgirljoy is the normalized standard. What is it about our society that we can see a black girl full of joy and wonder 'what's wrong with her.' Crystal reminds us that protecting and connecting with others is what brings peace and helps seal in the joy.

To connect with Crystal email her at [email protected]. 

This week I welcome Weight Loss Advocate Ciara Hamiel back to the studio to share her journey.

Ciara began her weight loss journey with a starting weight of 450 lbs.  With hard work, dedication, and assistance of the gastric sleeve surgery, she have lost over 235lbs. Ciara knew she needed to do something with her life. In this episode she is candid about her journey and shares with me the things she both lost and gained on the road to a healthier self.

Motivated by the love of her two sons, Ciara hopes her story is an inspiration for other women fighting the same battle. Her weight loss journey, however, is not over yet. Ciara hopes to inspire more women along her way.

Tune in to her podcast launching July 2022, Fat Girl Confessions as she discuss her lifetime battle with weight loss and her new passion for a healthier lifestyle.

For more information about Bariatric Surgery check out:
Mayo Clinic
Weight Loss Surgery: is it an option for you

This week That Social Work Lady welcomes 30 year old Ciara Hamiel to the studio.

Ciara Hamiel is a weight loss advocate who wants to support other women on their pathway to weight loss success. In episode 13, Ciara shares her experience with community. She admits that as a young woman she did not have the confidence to build community solo, but is grateful for the ways she has been adopted into community. As a result she has found community at every point in her life and it has helped her fulfill the needs she has a parent of two sons.

Ciara is a dynamic optimist. The greatest part of her story is how she never gives up on herself or others - even when it would be in her best interest to let some people go. We appreciate her transparency about setting boundaries, and how her lessons in boundary setting have helped her grow.

For more information on programs Ciara mentioned during the show please check out:
Teen Infant Parents Services: https://mchsmi.org/teen-infant-parenting-services/
Catherine Ferguson Alternative High School

Episode 12 for Season 2 welcomes Sonseeahray (Sonni) Harvin back to the studio. This time we're talking purpose and generational wealth. 

After her first closing - helping a military family return home from Italy - she was hooked on helping with homes.  Sonni found her true vocation as a realtor and investor. After purchasing homes with other realtors, Sonseeahray saw an opportunity to create a different experience for buyers and sellers. One with an agent who cares and is who’s business is devoted to integrity, education and service. Further, Sonni feels strongly about empowering individuals to change the trajectory of their lineage through homeownership. She wanted to do work that made a difference in people’s lives while also providing & being available for her children. 

Sonni's background includes education & training, operations management, information technology, and digital marketing. She also attempted several entrepreneurial endeavors before taking on real estate as her occupational purpose. In our conversation she shares her knowledge about using home ownership to build generational wealth. She also finally demystifies for me 'land contracts' and so many other terms that have left me feeling less than intelligent in rooms where generational wealth is the topic of discussion.

In her spare time, Sonseeahray is passionate about self improvement - physical, mental and relational. She loves words, sleep, research and has recently taken up exercise.

Follow Sonni on social media @
Sonni Sells - The Real Estate Specialist
Sonni@YourService

And her website: https://sonnirealestate.com

This week I welcome Realtor Sonseeahray (Sonni) Harvin  into the studio.

Sonni was born and raised on Detroit's west side. She is an alumna of both Renaissance High and Emory University where she received both her undergraduate and graduate degree. Currently, Sonni lives with her three children (2 in college and 1 in middle school) in Oakland County, MI.

In this candid conversation, Sonni shares that after her multiple sclerosis diagnosis in 2010, she  began to see the necessity of community. After living most of her young adult years in survival mold focused on rearing her children and finding her occupational footing, Sonni learned through her diagnosis that without having a  community to hold her up, she was not going to be able to maintain the life she had worked so hard to build for her family.

So...setting aside the myth of Superwoman, Sonni rolled up her sleeves, committing herself to structuring her life so that her health and the care of her children became center. From that basis she then restructured her view of what community should be.

Whew! To learn more about multiple sclerosis and how you can advance treatment and services for individuals navigating this illness please check out National Multiple Sclerosis Society or Walk MS.

Follow Sonni on social media @
Sonni Sells - The Real Estate Specialist
Sonni@YourService

And her website: https://sonnirealestate.com

I'm in the studio solo dolo for this episode and I'm talking about Bruno!

Every family has secrets. Some of those secrets are merely private things that truly aren't anyone's business outside of the family. But there are other secrets that are truly damaging and traumatic. There are secrets that hurt, harm and kill. 

Watching Disney's Encanto brought home to me the impact that generational trauma has on families, particularly Black families. Many family members carry the shame of their generational trauma without zero understanding of the origin of the trauma and why they function the way they do in society.

Brene Brown, TED talk famous social worker and renown shame researcher says, "I define shame as the intensely painful feeling or experience of believing that we are flawed and therefore unworthy of love and belonging—something we’ve experienced, done, or failed to do makes us unworthy of connection."

Bruno, a character in Encanto, embodies his family's shame. The shame is directly related to their trauma. Bruno is the hidden secret. The crazy thing is millions of families across America have a Bruno! In our families Bruno can be male or female. They may be a drunk or someone with mental illness. At the end of the day, however, Bruno holds the family shame and because he holds the family shame the rest of the family can 'function' in the larger society.

Whew!

So that's what we diving into in Episode 10.

For more information on Brene Brown's shame research check out:
https://brenebrown.com/articles/2013/01/15/shame-v-guilt/

Also check out the book: You Are Your Best Thing edited by Brene Brown and Tarana Burke

If you want to raise free black children into adults who can stand in their own birthright as humans worthy of love, you have to operate from the grounding principle: Love Does Not Abuse.

Gentle Parenting is the 'new' trend in parenting techniques. In Episode 9, I share ideals researched and popularized by bell hooks nearly 30 years ago. Her ideals expound on the Kingian idea that to build the beloved community we must eradicate militarism.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was both a theologian and philosopher. His theories on building the beloved community through nonviolence is an entire curriculum worth of study and discussion. I share more of Dr. King's theory in Season 1, Episode 31.

Episode 9 of Season 2, I dive deeper in the ways in which we have internalized militarism, especially as it relates to parenting. Gentle Parenting, at it's core, eliminates domination as a primary parenting principle. A parent’s assertive superiority rejects a child’s autonomy and even fails to recognize their rights. Hence, coercive measures in parenting become detrimental to a child’s growth. Therefore, domination in parenting counters a child’s rights.

So by it's very nature Gentle Parenting is feminist, anti-white supremacy, and when done right will in fact smash the patriarchy.  For more information on bell hooks' ideas please see the following resources:

https://feminisminindia.com/2021/09/16/the-parenting-philosophy-of-bell-hooks-there-is-no-love-without-justice/?amp

https://rlstollar.com/2020/12/06/love-does-not-abuse-the-parenting-philosophy-of-bell-hooks/?fbclid=IwAR04dDTuvxt_DnH2GdYotBHXefEmkwtn7dd9WceBrqM4yVgx6zYstYTejxs

What is Gentle Parenting

Season 2, Episode 8 I welcome back to the studio Engineer Maurita Mussawwir!

Maurita is a native Detroit, a mother, a graduate of Central State University and an engineer. She has been in the field of engineering for more than 20 years. During this episode, she shares stories about her love of math and science. You see Black girls love math and science too. Maurita is living proof of that fact!

Of course, most of us learned this lesson a few years ago when the movie Hidden Figures came out. Maurita's love of math and science is what lead her to pursue an engineering degree from Central State University. Now more than 20 years later, she remains less than 5 Black women engineers to work within her department. Although she knew she was an outlier, Maurita didn't realize she was also a way maker.

In her years as an Engineer, she has been mentored by other Black women and has now been able to pay it forward by mentoring up and coming Black women in engineering. Maurita's main advice for others is to make sure that they join organizations that will support them professionally and personally. Because they will feel alone and that will chip away at their confidence.

As a proud alumna of Central State University, Maurita shares her experience as a student at a Historically Black University and College. She believes that much of her professional confidence came from attending a school that expected her to succeed. You will see Maurita sporting her maroon and gold around the city promoting both her alma mater as well as science and math education for Black girls.

Want more information about the groups and organizations Maurita and I discussed during this episode, click the links below:
National Society of Black Engineers
Central State University
DAPCEP
Black Girls Code

Episode 7, I welcome Ms. Maurita Mussawwir to the studio. Maurita is the perfect example of why #blackwomenstoriesmatter. 

She is so unassuming in her mannerisms. You'd never know that she is parenting two different generations simultaneously. In our conversation, Maurita gets candid about her experience navigating potty training for one child and driver's training for the other at the same time! That alone is a major feat but in addition to parenting, Maurita is a full time engineer, volunteer, active member of Zeta Phi Beta sorority, and more!

In our conversation we reminisce about our common experiences as Detroit girls. We reflect on the close knit communities of our childhood. And we recognize the ways we have both crafted communities to meet our children's unique needs. Children are for sure our greatest teachers. It is because of them that we are more intention about who we have in our lives and how we move in the world we inhabit.  

Our childhood communities may have shaped us into the women we became but our children have redesigned the way we move in the communities we now inhabit. Maurita Mussawwir speaks a lot about her daughter's fearlessness and her son's ability to 'read a room.' Like many moms, she doesn't want to take credit for the unique ways her children's strengths have developed. But she agrees whole heartedly that she set the foundation from which they will build their own worlds. Just like the foundation the community of our childhood built for us. 

Ms. Mussawwir is a native Detroiter, a Cass Technical High School graduate and alumna of Central State University (the midwest Historically Black College). She is a black women in engineering. Maurita is also a believer in community and defines community at it's core as people coming together to look out for each other.

I welcome Lisa Lipscomb back to the the studio for Episode 6.

This time we dive into Lisa's passion - Something New. What began as a challenge from her father who told her "for the rest of your life you will be learning something new" morphed into a practice that grew into a business. Lisa Lipscomb not only intentionally seeks out novel experiences, she teaches others how to incorporate 'something new' as a practice to reinvigorate their  life.

She teaches others how to get out of the rut of routine. Her goal is to help other build a bridge from the life they have to a life they will love. So far, Lisa's Something New Series have offered corporate training, and daily inspiration for her social media followers. She's even written a book on how to incorporate novelty into your day on purpose.  Her bestselling book Do Something New: 7 Steps to Recharting Your Path & Creating a Life You Love is currently available on Amazon as a eBook and paperback.

Lisa earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan-Dearborn, National Board Certification in Literacy: Reading & Language Arts, a Master in the Art of Teaching from Marygrove College, and a Master of Learning Technologies and Instructional Design from Utah State University. She is a Detroit native where she attended St. Mary's and is a graduate of Redford High School. She is a veteran educator. Working in public schools for nearly 3 decades.

Learn more about Lisa's initiative by following her on social media:
https://www.facebook.com/LisaLipscombLLL

And check out her website: Something New!