Hey QueenSiS, for the next few episodes, I will be highlighting the brilliant, talented, thoughtful, innovative Black Women contractors behind this DDQ project! Episode 51 features Geronna Lewis-Lyte, a highly skilled designer and art director who turns complex ideas into powerful visuals.

Her extensive experience across industries (technology, travel, publishing, real estate, finance, fashion, beauty, B2B, luxury, entertainment, food, and non-profit) give Geronna insight into cultural context, deep branding expertise, adaptable design style, and an ability to create compelling narratives through design. Working for start-ups, large corporations, and small design firms enables her to detect unexpected patterns, inspiring team members to take a unique approach to work outcomes and processes.

Geronna is currently an adjutant professor at CUNY's Hostos Community College. She also co-founded a design studio centered around small to medium-sized community organizations, and volunteers for nonprofits focused on the arts and activism in the greater New York area.

Learn more about Geronna and her work at this link: https://geronna.com/

Hey QueenSiS, for the next few episodes, I will be highlighting the brilliant, talented, thoughtful, innovative Black Women contractors behind this DDQ project! Episode 50 features Dorneisha Batson, Artist and Co-Owner of The Golden Verge Art Collective

Dorneisha M. Batson is an abstract artist and fashion designer who holds degrees in business management and fashion design. Her vibrant paintings, drawings, and sculptures celebrate beauty, joy, culture, and family. Dorneisha's art centers on celebration and storytelling, using bold abstraction to translate personal and collective histories into visual forms. She is highly recognized for her upcycled community art projects, such as creating award-winning sculptures from marine debris and soda cans.

Learn more about Dorneisha and her work at this link: https://justdorneisha.com/ and "Just Dorneisha" on all social media platforms!

Hey QueenSiS, for the next few episodes, I will be highlighting the brilliant, talented, thoughtful, innovative Black Women contractors behind this DDQ project! Episode 49 features Elisha McGhee, Owner – Page Eleven Paper Goods

Page Eleven Paper Good's journey began with wanting to help connect individuals with their higher purpose; inspiring people to live with intention through God. Elisha is on a mission to bring clarity to those with big ideas by helping dreams become reality through various organizational tools. That’s why we believes happiness starts with a sheet of paper! Elisha is a self-proclaimed master organizer with a knack for doing good. She is a seasoned entrepreneur who is passionate about encouraging others to live an intentional lifestyle through goal-setting, planning, and task management.

Learn more about Elisha and Page Eleven at this link: https://www.pageelevenpapergoods.com

Hey QueenSiS, it is a joy to share this episode with you! Lean in to find out how growing up Gullah was simple yet sophisticated, how peace proceeds productivity, and how it feels to be your own biggest fan!

Gullah Joy, Latrese Bush is a performing and recording artist whose soulful voice has taken her around the world. Her original music has climbed to the top of the UK Soul Chart and earned high placement on the Jazz Billboard Charts.

She has shared the stage with musical greats including Grammy Award winner Gloria Gaynor, funk and soul legends The Bar-Kays, jazz icon Roy Ayers, and pop superstar Justin Bieber.

Still, Latrese holds her Gullah Geechee heritage closest to her heart.

A proud native of Bluffton, South Carolina, she is the founder of the Fish and Grits Music Festival—an annual celebration of Gullah Geechee culture returning to Hilton Head Island on October 3 at Lowcountry Celebration Park. Since its launch in 2023, the festival has welcomed thousands of visitors from across the country.

Latrese’s sound is a vibrant blend of gospel, soul, jazz, folk, and R&B, all grounded in the Gullah Geechee gospel traditions that shaped her.

Get ready for a true Gullah Geechee good time!

**Before listening to this episode, you may want to listen to Episode 18: Holding Space - Honoring, Loss, Longing, and all Forms of Mothering**

Mother's Day Special - revisiting the 2025 Mother-Daughter Series.

Hey QueenSiS, before we step into our next season of the Dayclean Devotion Queen Podcast, I want us to take a moment and look back. Because what we experienced together during our Conversion Conversations season… wasn’t just a series of interviews. It was a remarkable, beautiful pattern being revealed. We heard from dynamic women at different stages in their life journeys, who left, learned, and returned to re-imagine, redesign, and remake the systems around them.

While the featured guests were truly unique, across every conversation I feel like we moved through the same powerful journey in many ways! I’ve had the pleasure of facilitating, and then re-listening to each conversation so I could pull clips and quotes for the DDQmmunity. The blueprint was clear, and once I saw it…I couldn’t unsee it. I had to take some time to really acknowledge the power of this pattern. So in this recap episode, I revisit each episode so we can intentionally honor the wisdom that was shared.

Dr. Keonda Grant-Taylor is an intergenerational financial trauma advocate dedicated to helping Gullah Geechee communities and people of color heal their relationship with money, power, and legacy. With over 25 years of experience in finance and accounting, dual bachelor’s degrees in finance, an MBA, and a doctorate in organizational leadership, she blends technical expertise with trauma-informed financial insight.

As the founder of Granting Gullah and visionary behind Gullahnomics, Keonda focuses on breaking cycles of generational financial trauma—particularly within the Gullah Geechee corridor—by merging economic strategy, cultural awareness, and emotional healing. Her work sits at the intersection of wealth building, legacy preservation, and financial sovereignty.

Link up with Dr. Grant-Taylor here:

Sea Islands Heritage Academy Founder & Executive Director, Alana finds her heritage in Gullah culture. The proverb "mus tek cyear a de root fa heal de tree,” roughly translates to “you must take care of the root in order to heal the tree.” As an experienced educator, Alana knows that students’ “roots” must be firmly planted in order for them to exercise agency and access the opportunities available to them. Alana holds fast to the belief that community-centered schools are the cornerstone to achieving educational equity.

Previously, Alana worked at Coney Island Prep in Brooklyn, NY, where she served as dean of students and as vice principal, managing teacher and curricular development. Prior to this, Alana spent a number of years as a classroom reading and writing teacher at high-performing public charter schools across New York. Alana received her master’s in teaching from Relay Graduate School of Education and holds a bachelor's in English literature from Middlebury College. She is a wife, a mother, a consultant, a community champion. Get connected with Alana and the Sea Islands Heritage Academy at these links:

https://www.seaislandsacademy.org/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alana-jenkins-marchel-47134469/

In this deeply thoughtful and powerful conversation, I sit down with Attorney Ajua Hawkins — private attorney, public defender, educator, and truth-teller — to explore what it means to live and practice law with integration, integrity, and courage.

We talk about leaving home and returning transformed, about navigating multiple legal spaces, and about who the law is truly meant to serve. Ajua reflects on reclaiming her voice, intentionally using social media to demystify justice, and choosing honesty in spaces where silence is often expected.

This episode is a meditation on purpose, truth-telling, womanhood, and coming home to yourself QueenSiS!

Get connected with our favorite counselor at the links below:

The theme for our first season of 2026 is Conversion Conversations. Not conversion like somebody trying to recruit you to a new religion QueenSiS! But conversion like a soul changing directions. This season is for the women who left old versions of themselves and walked straight into who they are meant to be for such a time as this.

Today’s featured guest is an amazing change agent in the field – literally! Keisha Rainey is a food systems leader and the owner of Roots & Rain, LLC., a firm dedicated to supporting organizations, women, and historically impacted farmers through training, collaboration, and access to critical resources. She holds a degree in Business from Newberry College and is a graduate of Clemson University’s Palmetto PLEAF program, where she deepened her expertise in agricultural leadership and food systems development.

Keisha has trained more than a thousand producers on USDA food safety standards, guided hundreds through successful audits, and developed food safety plans and value-added product curricula that help farmers build sustainable, consumer-centered operations. She is a true leader and advocate, serving as Vice President of the South Carolina Black Farmers Coalition and helping shape policies that advance equitable access to land and resources across the palmetto state.

Keisha brings deep expertise, a justice-centered lens, and a genuine love for family and community into her work. It is a joy to share this podcast episode with the DDQmmunity! Get connected with Keisha at any of the links below.