The Starting Line

This week felt different. And I couldn’t tell you why.

No big announcement. No milestone. Nothing major happened. I was just happy — genuinely, deeply, jittery happy. And it started on Monday and never left.

This podcast exists because I stopped waiting to be ready. Subscribe free and come along for the journey.

In this episode I’m talking about the difference between thankfulness and gratitude — because they are not the same thing. Thankfulness is a response to something good. Gratitude is a lens. And when it’s strong, it changes everything you see, everything you hear, and everything you attract.

Plus — I got a check I’ve been waiting on for two years. And it showed up in the middle of the most grateful week I’ve had in a long time. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.

You cannot receive with a closed fist. Gratitude opens your hands.

In July I made a commitment to do at least 30 minutes of yoga every single day. I teach yoga. I love yoga. And I still had a night where I did not want to get on the mat.

But I showed up anyway. And what happened in those 45 minutes taught me something I had to share.

This podcast exists because I stopped waiting to be ready. Subscribe free and come along for the journey.

In this episode we’re talking about restorative yoga, the yawning exercise I do in my Sunday class, and why you don’t have to feel like it first — you just have to invite it in. Because here’s what I know: your body will move to wherever you invite it to go.

The mat reveals what the day conceals.

How do you know who to listen to when everyone around you has an opinion?

Your friend says one thing. Your family says another. Your inner circle is weighing in. And the more voices you add — the more confused you become.

This podcast exists because I stopped waiting to be ready. Subscribe free and come along for the journey.

In this episode I’m taking you into two biblical stories that answered this question better than anything else I’ve found. The story of Job — a man strong enough to stand in the middle of his worst season and tell the people closest to him: your perspective is not my reality. And the story of Hanun — a man who absorbed everything people fed him as truth, with no still place to filter it through.

Two men. Two responses to outside voices. Two very different outcomes.

The answer to who you should listen to isn’t who you think. And it starts with stillness.

Plus — stay until the very end. I came back with one last message you don’t want to miss.

Have you ever thought a relationship was completely lost to you? Maybe you never knew your father. Maybe you never connected with your mom. I caught myself feeling that way my entire life.

I have been taking care of my mom since I was 14 years old. Medicine. Therapy appointments. Advocacy. For decades it was a job — not a relationship. There was no space for a mother daughter bond when survival was the whole mission.

This podcast exists because I stopped waiting to be ready. Subscribe free and come along for the journey.

But something shifted. And I wasn’t expecting it.

In this episode I’m sharing the full story — the misdiagnosis, the decades of caregiving, the accident that forced a different kind of presence, and the morning my mom gave me advice I never thought she would be able to give me.

Forty something years in — and I finally have my mom.

If you have written off a relationship you thought was gone forever — this one is for you. The bond you’ve been grieving might still be available to you.

In episode 17 I told you I was going to do a photo shoot. I was going to build a team, plan everything perfectly, and challenge myself until I became comfortable.

Well. It wasn’t perfect. But something beautiful was created anyway.

This podcast exists because I stopped waiting to be ready. Subscribe free and come along for the journey.

Here’s what I learned: the breakdown is not a failure. It is the price of growth. And no amount of planning, preparation, or support is going to help you avoid it — because the only way through the insecurity is through it.

In this episode I’m talking about what actually happened that day, what triggered the breakdown, what solitude did that support couldn’t, and why the smile changed everything.

I didn’t stop. Even when I got upset — I kept moving. And that’s the win.

Bonus: Photoshoot Footage

This is a real PSA moment — so prepare yourself.

I lost another classmate. A heart attack. And every time this happens it’s the same call with the same friend asking the same question — are you good? Because life is short is not a saying anymore. It is something I am watching happen in real time.

This podcast exists because I stopped waiting to be ready. Subscribe free and come along for the journey.

People our age are not dying in the streets. They are dying from health problems. And on some level — health problems are preventable.

In this episode we talk about heart disease, blood clots, stress, and why managing your mental health is just as important as what’s on your plate. I also share what I’m doing personally to better my odds — because I am not preaching to you. I am preaching to myself.

Nearly 1 in 4 deaths in our community is from heart disease. Black people are 3 times more likely to have a fatal blood clot outside of a hospital. Those are not small numbers.

I need us both to make it.

I’m not saying I’m the catalyst. But there are a lot of beautiful women around me soaring right now — and they keep saying I inspired them.

Honestly? It’s humbling. Because I feel like I ain’t did nothing. I’m just moving in my own space, being obedient, showing up for myself.

This podcast exists because I stopped waiting to be ready. Subscribe free and come along for the journey.

But then I remembered a poem: “Don’t allow anyone to dim your light — because when you shine, you give others permission to shine.”

Here’s what I know now. My showing up didn’t give them anything they didn’t already have. I just refused to dim my own light. And when I stopped dimming it — other flowers started blooming.

This episode is for anyone who’s been playing small, waiting for permission, or watching everyone else bloom while standing still. Your journey was never just about you.

Live out loud. Not for them. For you. And watch what happens.

My cousin shared a dream with me and immediately I was ready. Let’s write it down. Let’s build the milestones. Let’s make it real.

But here’s what I know — a two year goal is a long road. And on that road, distraction is guaranteed. Not possible. Guaranteed. So the real question isn’t how do you stay perfectly on course. The real question is — what pulls you back when you fall off?

TThis podcast exists because I stopped waiting to be ready. Subscribe free and come along for the journey.

In this episode we talk about vision, alignment, and why forgetting your goal is more common than you think. Plus the one thing you can build today that keeps bringing you back.

You don’t have to be perfect. You don’t even have to be consistent. You just got to keep coming back.

High blood pressure has been following me since my mid-30s. And for a decade — yes, a decade — I ignored it. Don’t judge me.

When the symptoms started getting worse and I finally found a primary physician, I walked into that appointment ready to accept medication if I had to. But when she asked me if I was ready — I couldn’t do anything but cry.

This podcast exists because I stopped waiting to be ready. Subscribe free and come along for the journey.

She said reduce your sodium. I walked out hardheaded and determined to prove it was something else entirely. Spoiler: I was right…kinda.

This episode is about stress, overstimulation, nervous system regulation, and what it actually took to get my blood pressure from 156 over 100 down to 120 over 84 — in two months.

Small consistent acts of stillness are medicine. Not weakness.

I am over 40 years old and I am still fighting my sleep. Sound familiar?

This episode started with a nap I didn’t want to take and a conversation with my line sister who felt stagnant — even though I could see her milestone clearly from where I was standing. She called it a cocoon. And I realized — she was fighting her sleep too.

Thanks for listening to my podcast! Subscribe for FREE to support me in this endeavor of challenging myself beyond my comfort zone.

We’ve normalized being so overstimulated that stillness feels like failure. But what if the cocoon isn’t stagnation? What if rest isn’t the absence of progress — but the requirement for it?

Whatever season you’re in right now, whatever you’ve been fighting — this one is for you.

The cocoon is not the end. It is the becoming. peace.