This...I...Do...For...Me: Over 50, Black and Fabulous!

Quilts by Khristel Johnson 

In this episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing Fiber Historian 

Khristel Johnson, who in her own words says:  

“As a student of life, mother of two, and educator for over 30 years, I have always celebrated learning. I mastered my subject matter during my years as a teacher and engaged in retelling the story of American history as presented in the assigned textbooks. While I often questioned the universal narrative, I complied with teaching mandates. It would be years later when I was faced with a significant racially motivated challenge as an administrator that I began to seek comfort through the stories and history of my African ancestors.  I learned far more than I could have ever imagined. What began with a single discovery about "Pit Schools" quickly transformed into a series of unplanned fabric squares that I later constructed into my first 3-part series entitled, From the Plantation to the White House. 

Driven by a growing hunger for knowledge and a desire to answer plaguing questions about American history, I embarked on a journey of self-discovery and personal growth. The more I knew, the more I wanted to know.  Soon this singular self-serving mission broadened as I began to share the often-omitted experience of African Americans from the pages of textbooks used in classrooms across America.   This was the unplanned beginning of quilts by Khristel Johnson.

Utilizing authentic African fabrics and beads I began experimenting with colors and designs meant to be visually inviting.  My acquired knowledge and the integration of three-dimensional handmade art furthered this objective, resulting in a collection of 60 quilts.  

It is my sincere hope that I can in some way inspire others to embark on their personal journey and seek amore inclusive, accurate and comprehensive understanding of the African American Experience.”

NAMES OF QUILTS KHRISTEL HAS CREATED:

2020 African Americans Applique African Diaspora Art of the Steal American History Black Cowboys 1 Black Cowboys 2 (lg) Black Excellence Black Experience (plantation to WH) Black Lives Matter Black Minds Matter (BMM) Black Power (Past, Present & Future) Black Veterans 

ote (V) Blacknificant Buffalo Soldiers Change (Plantation to WH) Chickasaw Family Qlt Connections Descendents of Greatness Family Tree Freedom Riders Good Hair Herstory Honoring Our Ancestors (V) Hope (Plantation to WH) In My Lifetime Institutional Racism (BLM) Malcom X (Past, Present & Future) Red Summer of 1919 Ghana-Footsteps of our ancestors Quilt Codes (6/1/24) Black Farmers (5/1/2024) What have you got to lose? (Voting Series) We Are One (Gullah and Geechee)Tuskegee Airmen Tree of Wisdom Middle Passage Transatlantic 3/5th The Truth (BMM) Historical Reckoning Student Voices Strange Fruit A Stolen People (slavery) Stay Woke (BMM) Stevenson Family Quilt Resistence (Slavery) Power and Privilege (BLM) Plantations (slavery series) A Different PerspectiveMarketing of Human LivesMandelaHerstoryVote (part of Black vote series)Adinkra (small)

To view Khristel’s work, please visit her website:

Quiltsbykj.com

Email: [email protected]

Tameka is a certified trauma-informed yoga teacher, having trained under renowned teachers like Seane Corn and Catherine Ashton. Her vinyasa flow yoga classes challenge students to express their intentions as they work toward inner healing and empowerment. Her work has been featured in over 20 media publications, including People Magazine and The Doctors TV show. She is also a United Nations Delegate to the Commission of the Status of Women conference. But above all, Tameka is proud to be a mother of her four amazuping children Christopher Jr., Joshua, Ziya-Angeline and Elijah-Michael.

INSTAGRAM PAGE/LINK FOR RESTORED HOPE

https://www.instagram.com/restoredhopeorg?igsh=dnVsdWR5NW1mMnNw&utm_source=qr

WEBSITE FOR RESTORED HOPE

Sharon Ehrlich (ERR-lick) is proud, Bronx-raised native New Yorker. 

Sharon’s business career started in the health care industry where she spent nearly a decade in hospital administration at a major NYC hospital.  

A love story led to her permanently relocate to Austria. With this move she pivoted her career to IT working for IBM for over a decade and led teams throughout Europe, Turkey, and Russia.  

Sharon followed her passion for educating future leaders and spent 14 years as an Adjunct Professor of Business Management at a local university.

Sharon’s interest in professional development resulted in a career shiftto Sales Readiness and Enablement where she provided strategic leadership for large multinational organizations at both the European and global executive level.

Sharon is a passionate advocate for female empowerment, diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging and has been invited to share her views and lived experiences as a keynote speaker, podcast guest and webinar panelist.

Sharon is the founder of Living While Leading, a premier executive coaching service which focuses on supporting women IT executives in their quest to optimize their lives so that they can live and work authentically and in alignment with their priorities and values. 

She also hosts the Living While Leading Podcast, a weekly podcast which focuses on topics related to women in leadership and female empowerment. 

Sharon resides in Vienna with her husband and has an adult son.

In this episode, Sharon highlights and expounds on how she works with executive women who want to either transition to a completely new area of their existing careers, move from corporate work to the nonprofit sector or those who would like to become more impactful and present as it relates to their increased inner satisfaction.  Through her work with executive women, Sharon has noticed a recurring theme — that women universally have a habit of putting everything and everyone else ahead of themselves. These are all areas that Sharon can assist you in addressing so that you are maximizing joy, comfort, advancement and self-awareness. She does this primarily through her 5-month Living While Leading Four Step System. 

During the interview, Sharon provides several examples of she has done this herself, along with identifying and exploring new areas that ultimately brought her new growth and fulfillment opportunities, both internally and externally. 

If you would like to connect with Sharon through an exploratory session, she can be contacted through her website www.livingwhileleading.com or via email [email protected]   

In Episode 60, I interview Regine Rousseau!! Regine T. Rousseau, wine and spirits expert, writer, presenter, and media personality, focuses on making wine knowledge accessible to people at all levels of proficiency. She is recognized as 2022 Leader in the Wine Industry by Wine Business Monthly, a nominee of 2020 Wine Enthusiast Wine Star Awards, Wine Educator of the Year, a WSET Level 3 with Merit, an International Sommelier Guild Level II, and Executive Bourbon Steward, Stave and Thief. She received the 2021 Alumni Achievement Award from Knox College. Regine has traveled around the globe sharing her wine and spirits expertise. She has authored or been featured in articles in the The Drop, New Yorker, Wine Enthusiast, Pix Wine, Black Enterprise, Black Food and Beverage, Wine Spectator, the Zoe Report, Forbes, VinePair , Afar and Chicago Tribune. Regine fell in love with wine while studying abroad during college in Besançon, France and began her career as a salesperson for a wine distributor. While in this role, she noticed a disconnect between wine professionals and consumers. Making wine approachable became a central premise of Regine’s work. In 2013, Regine established Shall We Wine, a wine and spirits experiential marketing, event planning, and education company. Working with national and boutique winemakers, distilleries, importers, and distributors, she increases brand awareness, reach, and revenue for clients through innovative and traditional approaches. These include in-person and on-line activations, events, sponsorships, videos, media and social media services, and speaker and influencer marketing. She and her team are masters at translating complex terminology into language that individuals of every level of wine expertise and interest appreciates. Regine’s speaking, keynote, moderator and panelist engagements include South Beach Wine and Food Festival (2022 and 2023), Blacks in Wine Symposium, Wonder Women in Wine, I.E.E.M Conference - Pinot Grigio delle Venezie, SoloCEO Summit, www.tastings.com, and Association of Writers and Writers’ Programs. She is columnist for Pix Wines and a blogger on shallwewine.com, has served as subject matter expert for VinePair, has been interviewed on You & Me Chicago, WGN Chicago, Windy City Live, and Great Day Washington. Regine was the virtual event moderator for Gallo International Women’s Month (2021 and 2023). Regine is a regular contributor for WGN’s Daytime Chicago television show. Language is integral to Rousseau’s work as a poet and published author where wine and written word are often interwoven. In her book Searching for Cloves and Lilies: The Wine Edition, Regine illustrates the dynamics of personal relationships while pairing each poem with wine that echoes the mood of her writing. Regine is recipient of the Wine Bloggers Conference Ethnifacts Diversity Scholarship, grants from McBride Sisters Collections and Allies for Community Business, and Knox College’s 2020 Alumni Achievement Award. She is fluent in French, Haitian Creole, and English. She has a BA from Knox College, studied at L’Université de Franche Comte and Centre de Linguistique Appliquée.

In this episode, I interview Susan Millender, who shares with us information about a rare brain malformation (primarily diagnosed during pregnancy and sometimes diagnosed after birth). She wants us to know that her organization Families for HoPE is the only organization whose mission it is to support the entire family impacted by this disease.  She works, along with a dedicated Board of Directors and with volunteers to meet the direct service needs of the Holoprosencephaly community. Susan has always had an interest in community service and working in environments that have a strong mission to help ameliorate anxiety and isolation. 

Susan is currently the Executive Director of Families for HoPE, Inc., an Indianapolis based nonprofit serving children diagnosed with Holoprosencephaly and related rare brain malformations.  She is the first person to fill the role in the organization’s 17-year history.

Susan was born in East Chicago, IN and grew up in nearby Gary. She attended Ball State University and graduated from Calumet College, Whiting, IN, with a BA in Mass Communications.

Susan has worked as a health advocate in nonprofit settings in the Pacific Northwest for more than 30 years, specifically among children and families struggling to gain and maintain well-being and resilience.  She is a member of the National Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health. Previously,she led Seattle-King County Washington’s Guided Pathways nonprofit family support organization as Executive Director. She has served as Program Director for the American Diabetes Association of Washington and Northern Idaho, and directed marketing communications programs for Seattle Counseling Services, Sound Generations of Seattle-King County, and Seattle’s Bloodworks.

She counts travel and reading among the leisure-time activities she most enjoys.

Susan can be reached directly through [email protected]

In this episode, I interview Jarrie Brown, who is a lover of Israel and all that she learned about this exciting country during her travels there.  She shares when her love of Israel, especially Jerusalem, began and why she and her mom took the journey there to honor her father’s memory. She encourages us to travel there not only because of the spiritual significance, but as a place that is highly livable, safe and enlightening. 

Jarrie L. Brown is an Ethics Compliance Investigator with a local Government Agency in Chicago, IL. A Graduate of DominicanUniversity and a Former Ebony Fashion Show Stylist (Ebony and Jet Magazine).  

As a Stylist, she’s traveled extensively throughout the US, Canada, Hawaii, the Caribbean and Europe.  And during her spare time, she is an artist, seamstress and the loving grandmother of two. 

Jarrie has been traveling since the age of two, but her accomplished travel includes a tour of the Holy Land, Jerusalem, Israel (College studies and tour of the United Kingdom, France, and Rome, Italy).  

“America is my Country, but Jerusalem Israel is my home”, says Jarrie!

If you would like to reach out to Jarrie regarding travel to Israel, you can email her at [email protected]

In this episode, I had the exciting opportunity to interview a wonderful community artist.

Antonia “Toni” Ruppert is an Illinois artist who has been creating for over 25 years. She creates paintings that tell a story.

Ruppert fell in love with art as a child upon seeing her Dad draw after coming home from work at Brachs Candy Company. The oldest of six siblings, she recalls drawing horses and people on tons of pink paper that was gifted to her by the dentist office. Now creating on canvas, panels and paper using all kinds of paint, she is inspired by stories of faith, hope and love.

Ruppert was the 2021 Invest South/West Artist in Residence for Chicago’s Austin community and the 2022 Artist in Residence for the Addison Public Library. Ruppert is an honoree of the Peggy A. Montes Unsung Heroine Award for Cook County. Ruppert has been featured in the Museum of Science and Industry Black Creativity Exhibition, Moraine Valley Community College Regional Showcase and the Dupage Art League’s Best of the Best Exhibition. Her favorite paintings and murals can be found in numerous regional venues including the Berwyn North District 98 elementary schools. Other commissions include:

University of Chicago Hospitals, Chicago Public Library, Acorn Public Library, Addison Public Library, Austin Childcare Network, Chicago School of Professional Psychology, Forest Park Park District, Elmwood Park Public Library, Grand Prairie Services, Living Springs Community Church, Markham Public Library, Near North Montessori School, Oak Forest Park District and the Oak Park Area Arts Council.

In 2021, she collaborated with the Office of the Mayor of the City of Berwyn and the Award Winning Junior State of America Morton West Debate Club Chapter to commission and speak at the first Juneteenth Commemoration held in the city.

Ruppert is thankful to God for her gifts and is currently illustrating a children's book —“The Place Where I Belong” by Candice Klopfenstein due out later in 2023.

Ruppert is on the board of Sarah’s Inn, a domestic violence awareness and prevention agency and is well known at the frontlines of the activist community and as a notable artist.  Ruppert seeks to uplift her entire community with creative expression.

You can connect with Toni at [email protected]

In this episode, I speak with Karen Gilliam, who is in alignment with her assignment, and she wants others to be also.  She helps others to put their dreams to the test by working with you to execute the six “Es” — Encourage, Empower, Enlighten, Educate, Elevate and Escalate. She shares that although she lost her husband to cancer, she emerged as a Queen Warrior versus a widow, who functions in a world of isolation, poverty and sorrow.  

Karen, aka Coach KG, is a seasoned mentor, coach, entrepreneur, trainer, and speaker. She is the CIO, Continuously Inspiring Others, of Destn2bme By Design with Karen Gilliam.  Her career spans over four decades with her mission being the same in any capacity. Her personal and professional mission statement is to encourage, empower, enlighten, educate, elevate, and escalate people from a life of default to a life by design and being the best version of themselves. 

Karen’s strengths are positivity, winning others over, maximizer, empathy, and communication. To sum up these strengths, Karen is a strong communicator who positively sees the best in others and maximizes their belief in themselves by believing in them. 

Karen recently added author to her hats by publishing her first book to be released this fall. The book covers her journey of caregiving for her husband of 43 years and how to live her life after his transition as a “Queen Warrior” and not a “widow”.

Coach KG resides in Vancouver, WA, surrounded by her loving family of three adult children, their spouses and 11 grandsugars (because they are sweet as can be). She enjoys reading, trivia, cooking and traveling.

After hearing her, you will realize there is nothing you can’t do!  MOST INSPIRING! Contact her at [email protected]