Unapologetically Grown

Gray divorce is rising, and Black women over 50 are leading the conversation.

In this episode, divorce attorney and mediator Kimberly A. Cook joins Unapologetically Grown to talk honestly about why more Black women are choosing themselves later in life, from 8% in 1990 to nearly 40% today, and what it really takes to do it well.

Kimberly breaks down the pressures so many of us know too well: family expectations, church, community, and the fear of starting over, and she gives practical, grown-woman advice on legal and financial preparation, including prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, why "quiet quitting" a marriage and delaying legal action can cost you, and how to plan early for life after 50.

We also talk about faith, stigma and shame, social media and public perception, the emotional and mental health side of ending a long-term marriage, and how to have open conversations about money, divorce, and freedom in our community.

If you are thinking about it, going through it, or supporting a sister who is, this episode is for you.

"You will be okay."

Follow Unapologetically Grown, share this episode with a sister who needs to hear it, and let us know in the comments: what did you need to hear before you could choose yourself?

Grown women pulled up a chair and told us the truth about starting over, taking care of themselves, building businesses, and finding their voices after 50. Now Audra Madison and Val Royal are looking back at what stuck.

In this recap, we share our biggest takeaways from the guests who shaped this season: the health wake-up calls, the leaps into entrepreneurship, the self-care that finally put us first, and the lessons that turned obstacles into opportunities. If you've been with us from the start, this is a chance to sit with those conversations again. If you're new, it's the perfect place to catch up.

Grown women's wisdom deserves to be passed around. Like, share, and visit unapologeticallygrown.com to catch the full episodes and join the mailing list for early access and show notes.

Fitness after 50 isn’t about punishing your body or trying to become the woman you were 20 years ago. It’s about getting stronger for the life you’re living now.

Audra Madison and Val Royal sit down with Trish Andrews, CEO of TAF, LLC and founder of Trish Andrews Fitness, for a real conversation about what fitness looks like as our bodies and our lives change.

Trish shares how she reinvented her own career, leaving banking and corporate America to build a fitness business, and why she now trains women with longevity in mind. They get into strength training after 50, menopause, nutrition, injuries, proper form, emotional eating, confidence and why quick fixes rarely create lasting results.

And if the scale has been determining whether you think you're making progress, Trish has something to say about that, too. Progress can show up in your energy, inches, confidence and consistency, not just pounds.

Whether you're already working out, trying to find your way back, or wondering where to begin, this episode is a reminder that your body may need a new plan-not punishment.

Episode 11: Fitness After 50: Stop Punishing Your Body and Start Training for Longevity

Listen, share it with a girlfriend, and keep the conversation going.

No sugar coating. Zero apologies. Just grown women truth.

What if eating healthier didn’t mean giving up the food you grew up loving?

Dr. Monique May is proving that plant-based eating can still have flavor, culture and a little bit of Grandma in it.

In this episode of Unapologetically Grown, Audra and Val sit down with Dr. May, a physician turned food entrepreneur known as The Physician in the Kitchen, for a conversation about food, health and what happens when your expertise leads you in an unexpected new direction.

Dr. May takes us through her journey from practicing medicine to developing her own plant-based food products—and she gets into the realities behind it all. We talk about the protein question that always comes up with plant-based eating, why changing the way you eat starts with your mindset, and how to make healthier choices without trying to overhaul your entire life overnight.

She also opens up about becoming an entrepreneur, developing and bringing a food product to market, and navigating an industry where being a Black woman can come with its own set of assumptions and obstacles.

And if you're thinking plant-based means bland food and giving up the dishes you love, Dr. May has something to say about that: “You can eat grandma’s recipes veganized.”

This conversation isn't about being perfect. It's about making choices that work for your life, being willing to start small, and recognizing when the thing you've learned along the way might be the very thing you're meant to share.

In this episode:

• The truth about protein and plant-based eating
• How to start eating plant-based without changing everything at once
• Keeping culture and tradition on the plate
• Turning professional expertise into a new business
• What it really takes to develop and market a food product
• Navigating entrepreneurship as a Black woman
• Why community matters when you're building something new

If you've been thinking about eating differently, starting something of your own, or simply wondering what your next chapter could look like, this conversation is for you.

No sugar coating. Zero apologies. Just grown women truth.

Who told us intimacy had an expiration date? Not us. This week, Dr. Jeannelle Perkins pulls up a chair to talk about what real connection looks like after 50; the emotional kind, the physical kind, and everything grown women actually want but rarely say out loud.

We get into it: How the culture we were raised in shaped the way we love, why your attachment style still shows up in your relationships, and how menopause and change can crack us open instead of shutting us down. Dr. Perkins keeps it honest about her own journey - mental health, self-awareness, and the work of knowing your own needs before you invite someone else into your life.

If you're building something new, rebuilding something old, or just done settling for less than you deserve, this one's for you.

Listen now, then share it with a girlfriend who needs to hear it. This is grown woman truth no filters, no apologies.

Black women face hysterectomies younger, and more often, than their peers. Monica Wood joins Audra Madison and Val Royal to get real about hers: the decision, the surgery, and what nobody talks about after - the grief, the identity questions, the mental health toll.

Monica breaks down the different types of hysterectomies and why informed decision-making matters, but this conversation goes deeper than the medical side. It's about what real support looks like, how to show up for someone you love through a health struggle, and giving yourself grace to heal on your own timeline.

This one's about breaking the silence.

Carla Truitt joins Audra Madison and Val Royal to share how she traded a career in the music industry for founding Eight Royale, her high-end women's footwear brand built for women who refuse to choose between style and comfort.

Carla walks through the moment a broken heel in Manhattan cracked open a whole new path, and why that experience shaped her mission to design shoes, including her signature foldable flats, that let women move through their day without sacrificing either.

She talks candidly about listening to her "tribe" and letting that shape everything from product design to brand voice, the challenges she faced building credibility in a new industry, and why vulnerability, not polish, has been the real engine behind her growth. Carla also gets into mentoring other women entrepreneurs and what storytelling means for a brand trying to stand out.

This is a conversation about reinvention, about finding your voice in the middle of starting over, and what it means to stop shrinking and start owning your story.

Ashunta Kendricks returns with Audra and Val for a conversation about what beauty actually looks like after 50, and who gets to define it. They talk through the evolution of beauty standards, the racial dynamics that still shape the beauty industry, and practical skincare advice for women navigating this stage of life with intention.

This isn't a conversation about chasing youth. It's about embracing individual beauty on your own terms, and understanding the systemic challenges that have historically left Black women out of the beauty standard entirely. Ashunta shares real skincare tips and product insight, alongside personal stories about what self-love actually looks like in practice, not just in theory.

This is the episode for the woman who's ready to stop measuring her beauty against a standard that was never built with her in mind, and start defining it for herself.

Ashunta Kendricks, celebrity makeup artist and cultural architect, joins Audra and Val to explore the rich history and cultural significance of Black beauty pioneers, and why giving credit to those who paved the way still matters. Ashunta shares her own journey into makeup artistry, her pivot to entrepreneurship during the pandemic, and the story behind building her Magnetized lash brand.

At the center of this conversation is Hip Hop Beauty, what Ashunta describes as a cultural ecosystem born to honor the bricklayers who helped build hip hop itself. She and Audra talk candidly about honoring pioneers like the late Roxana Floyd, often called the mother of makeup, the late Quietfire, and the late Reggie Wells, alongside Mamie McDonald and Sam Fine, whose combined influence shaped an entire industry.

They cover industry gatekeeping, how social media has changed transparency and storytelling in beauty, and the ongoing work of recognizing Black innovation that's too often uncredited or appropriated.

This is a conversation about giving flowers to the people who built the foundation, some of whom are no longer here to receive them, and what it means to carry that legacy forward.

Audra Madison sits down with Dr. Paula Orr, MD, to talk menopause, specifically what it looks like for Black women. Dr. Orr breaks down why Black women reach menopause earlier than their peers, why hormone therapy is so often withheld or avoided, and how fibroids, medical mistrust, and the "strong Black woman" stereotype all shape the care women actually receive.

This conversation covers real ground: symptoms and diagnosis, the benefits and misconceptions around hormone therapy, fibroids and surgical menopause, and the physical changes that come with this life stage, including sleep, intimacy, and hygiene. Dr. Orr is direct about what's at stake medically, and just as direct about what it takes to walk into a doctor's appointment prepared and advocate for yourself.

This is the episode for arming yourself with real knowledge, so you can move through menopause confidently and without shame.