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Overcoming the Doubt and Fear of Others to Live Authentically
HERjourney with Sienna

“People operated out of fear – when I knew this was my path. All I did to overcome it was let people have their feelings, and know that it was my time to live my life. That’s all.”

—Sienna

doubt and fear 

Tell us about yourself!

I’m Sienna… or Sie to most… pronounced SEE.. because it’s what I do. My Tribal Name is Laaweewii Peepáxkwūleesh (Wild Flower). I am a Shaman by lineage, and a Metaphysician by trade. I am a wife and Mother located in NY… I’m born and raised here- it’s home. In 2017, I opened a Metaphysical Storefront Chester in Chester NY called Demure Lyfe. We sell crystals, candles, handmade incenses, Curios, and Sage as we specialize in Sacred Smoke.

I’ve been open for sometime now, and through the Pandemic I’ve evolved my store into more of a Healing Studio, where I teach classes and take clients as well.

How long have you been on a self-healing or spiritual journey?
I’ve always been a very sentient being, as was my Mother before me… and her Mother before her. From the womb, I would say I began this Spiritual Journey- being that is when my Soul incarnated here with this purpose. My Mother, who was very Intuitive, gave me all of the tools very early on in my life to understand that all Souls deserve Healing.

I come from the Lenape People, and with that I have always had an understanding that all life forces are connected, and to Honor the Earth as it is our True Mother.

What event, situation, or life circumstance sparked your journey?
I have always been on this path to embolden my Spirit, but I committed to it more seriously back in 2007, months before the passing of my Grandmother… she had appeared to me in a vision to tell me the exact day she would transition…and she absolutely did transition that day. I knew at that point I had a truly heightened awareness and I began to develop it.

What’s your primary practice?
My Primary Practice is to solely be Authentic and Honest on who I am, and what I am. I just try to Honor the Earth and it’s creatures deeply. I stay away from things that weaken me physically- like alcohol and smoking…and I try my best to give my children what they deserve: A healed me.

How has it benefited you mentally, physically/materially, and/or spiritually?
Staying true to myself and continuing to do what’s best for me has helped me to be a better Mother. Healing here, you are able to incorporate consistency and learn how to forgive in different ways… these are the lessons I share with my children.

What’s your top three favorite books?
My Elders have been my Living Libraries, I never really grew up reading much…but I love fiction…I love Terry McMillan! A Day Late and a Dollar Short, Mama, and Disappearing Acts are favorites. I named my Daughter Zora for the lead character in Disappearing Acts.

Have you faced any challenges since beginning? How did you overcome?
I would say that the only challenge has been others projections of doubt in my approach to things. Many people were concerned when I quit my job in 2015 and decided to work for myself as a Healer and Metaphysician. People operated out of fear – when I knew this was my path.

All I did to overcome it was let people have their feelings, and know that it was my time to live my life. That’s all.

Share one of the biggest winks or nods from God/The Universe that let you know you’re on the right path!
I receive consistent confirmation! I can’t peg it down to one. I would just say that I am shown through the Wind that blows the Chimes on my porch every time I internally know something to be true.

Advice or counsel for those looking to get started on the journey!
Don’t let anyone shift your perception to what they think is true and right for you. Know that each person’s Soul is their own, and it’s not a race. You don’t have to buy all the Tarot Cards, Crystals, and Sage…you start with your own gut intuition. The best ways to do that is to clean up your diet, let go of drugs and alcohol, and drink more water.

It’s amazing what happens to you when you stay consistent in those 3 areas. There are certain things you can’t learn in books- I would invest in a Mentor who is in alignment with what you would like to see in yourself. The right Mentor will teach you how to empower YOURSELF.

Keep up with Sienna on IG

How are you being authentically you? Tell us below!

What’s your story? Respond to the questions/prompts above, attach a picture, and submit to nikki@curlynikki.com using ‘herjourney’ in the subject line!

 

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curlynikki, Khareem Sudlow

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Outfit Details:
Tory Burch Cardigan, Rag & Bone Tee, Agolde Jeans, Mark Cross Tote c/o, Clergerie Oxfords

Over the years I’ve collected my share of basket bags, finally whittled down last year to a hand full of favorite styles.The texture and structure in these natural fiber bags compliment a variety of looks, especially during the spring and summer months. Woven totes, in particular, offer the room I need to carry everything for C, plus my own essentials when we are on the go. I also use straw bags in varying sizes through-out the house to store toys, books and small loose items in our closets. See my selection of weaved and woven bags below to add to your own collection.

The post My Favorite Basket Bag For Spring appeared first on Julia Berolzheimer.

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annika, Khareem Sudlow

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The Journey to Your Best Natural Hair Life- Stop Doing These 9 Things

by Tammy of TheHitchConcept

Not living your best natural hair life? One bad hair day turns into a week of bad hair days which leaves no good hair days. What am I doing wrong? What could I be doing differently? Natural hair is complex and there are so many factors that contribute to positive and negative outcomes. Most of us are familiar with the usual suspects; you need more moisture or you’re not trimming your hair often enough, just to name a few.

Here’s the 9 things you may be doing to block your hair blessings that you may not have thought of.

1. Using a rinse out conditioner as a leave-in conditioner.

All conditioners are not created equal. Conditioners have a role to play in your hairstory. Your hair is the star, the conditioner (rinse out) is the co-star, and the leave in conditioner is that of the supporting role. Each is important and they work well in concert, but their roles are very different. They each have their own script and deliver their lines accordingly. In other words, each is formulated very differently and each has a very specific purpose.

Conditioner is meant to close the cuticle after shampooing and provide softening and moisture. A leave in conditioner is meant to lock in moisture and provide added protection. They are not interchangeable. Will it be the end of the world if you do it once in a while, I would say no. However, I would caution against making this practice a part of your normal hair care routine. If you’re experiencing scalp/skin irritation or product build up, this could be the reason why.

2. Speaking of conditioners, there is such a thing as over conditioning.

When it comes to deep conditioning, if you are leaving it in over night or beyond the directions on the bottle, you are not providing “extra” conditioning to your hair. Deep conditioners are formulated to stop working once it reaches the maximum absorption point which has been pre-determined long before it is approved and distributed to the store shelf for consumers. What harm could it cause you ask? Over time, it will cause a change in the structural building blocks of your hair which will result in weakening the hair.

Side note – over conditioning can also occur if you are using a rinse out conditioner in addition to a deep conditioner. You only need one, unless directed to do so by the manufacturer. Think of it like following a recipe. If the directions include 1 cup of flour and you decide to add 2 cups, the entire recipe will simply not work. It’s an additional step that you simply don’t need.

3. Skipping deep conditioning treatments.

To continue the topic of conditioners, if you’re going to skip a step, don’t skip this one. After the battles your hair fights day after day, it needs and deserves the extra TLC just like you do after a long week at work. Intensive penetration, repair, and moisture retention are exactly what your hair needs to flourish and be prepared for the upcoming week. Deep conditioning is your way of rewarding your hair and the extra 20 minutes is worth it.

4. Not reading the ingredients.

You have a ton of products in your arsenal but don’t know which ones to use. This is a very common occurrence amongst naturalistas. A good place to start is reading the label to see what’s in it. If you don’t know what you are putting in your hair, how will you know what works and what doesn’t? If for example, the product contains a high concentration of isopropyl alcohol, your hair may experience dryness and frizz. The ingredient list is the single best tool at your disposal to determine if a product is a good choice or not.

5. Styles matter.

There are certain hairstyles, even those deemed “protective styles” that can add stress to your hair, causing wear and tear over time. My personal favorite, the bun, is a great example. Pulling your hair into a tight bun day after day, adds stress to the same spot and over time, you will experience breakage at the base of the bun. If the bun is your style of choice, loosening it up in a good solution to avoid stress.

6. Some things are better left untouched.

The playful finger twirl of the hair when you’re bored, the pulling and tugging when styling, twisting and re-twisting daily, all too much. Over manipulating your hair is going to lead to trouble, namely breakage. Sometimes the best thing you can do for your hair is to simply leave it alone. Opting for looks that last a few days at a time will do wonders for the health and look of your hair.

7. Not shampooing often enough.

I know there are some who have waged a war against shampoo and don’t deem it necessary. I, however, am not one of those people. I am a firm believer that hair and scalp needs to be cleansed and that adding other products to hair that has not been shampooed will only compound things. That being said, what is considered “often enough” varies from one curly head of hair to the next.

If you’re experiencing scalp inflammation, itchiness, dandruff and/or excess shedding, consider the possibility that it’s because you may need to up your cleansing frequency.

8. Abrasive shampooing.

Speaking of shampooing, proper shampooing is equally as important as the act itself. If you’re too rough during shampooing, you could be causing serious damage to the hair follicles. Cleansing your hair by using your finger nails as opposed to finger tips, can cause inflammation and damage to your scalp. Although it feels amazing, nothing good can come from it!

The constant friction not only causes damage and frizz, it opens your scalp up to infection. Gently massaging with finger tips and the palms of your hands, focusing on the roots will save your hair and keep you on the path to reaching healthy hair goals.

9. Hair tools need love too.

Germs and bacteria grow and breed on surfaces and your hair tools are no exception. Think of all the products and residue left behind each time they are used. How often they should be cleaned and sanitized is dependent upon how often you use them. To give you some perspective, a group of scientists, tested 30 hairbrushes and found that they contained more bacteria per square inch than a toilet seat. (Source: The Mirror). Now think of how often you clean your toilet and compare that to how often you clean your hair tools.

If any of these things sound familiar, you may have figured out the solution to living your best hair life!

 

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curlynikki, Khareem Sudlow

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Every Sunday before school, my mother would sit me down and braid my hair in cornrows. I would wear the simple, straight-back braids for a full week, until the next wash day rolled around. My story is similar to many young Black girls, but even though cornrows have been around for centuries — way before hair color fads and over-the-top Instagram styles became a thing — the classic braided look continues to evolve.

Cornrows are frequently misconstrued, misrepresented, and appropriated on runways, in magazines, and IRL, but when done right, the style is both fashion-forward and culturally significant. And thanks to tons of talented hair braiders and stylists, there are endless iterations with intricate patterns, bright colors, and fun accessories.

The great thing about cornrows is that they're super practical, no matter how you style them. You can wear your braids for weeks with minimal styling, protecting the hair from damage and maximizing growth. If you want your next protective style to involve cornrows, there are many different designs to consider. Ahead, we've rounded up some of our favorites to take to your stylist or DIY.

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In late January, Olivia Jade made her much-anticipated return to YouTube following the 2019 college admissions scandal. I devoured the entirety of her first daily vlog within minutes of its drop but was left thinking about one single element specifically, long after the 15-minute video had ended. It wasn’t her mention of the Red Table Talk interview she’d done a month earlier. Nor was it her mint-green pajama set — though I did covet it. No, instead, the image that wouldn’t leave my mind was the up-close shot of the most unsightly salad I have ever seen. According to Olivia Jade, the salad is something she orders a lot. Composed of lettuce, avocado, celery, and gnarled tendrils of pale, shredded chicken, the limp-looking salad was served with lemon-olive-oil dressing on the side. 

If I’d come across this green-and-gray salad in its brown biodegradable takeout container in real life, I likely wouldn’t have batted an eye. Yes, it would still have been undoubtedly ugly, but it would have just been any other salad. What do I care how it looks? Seeing it through my laptop screen, though, its appearance hit differently. Social media is a space that’s generally filled with highly curated, expertly edited images that display only the most glamorous depictions of people’s daily lives — so the fact that this very famous, hyper image-conscious, and much-followed vlogger shared an unstyled shot of sickly ribbons of chicken left me delighted. 

As someone who was deeply invested in the era of peak food-blogging in the mid- to late-aughts, I have, in the past, enjoyed many an artful photo of moist cake slices or runny-yolked eggs. Styling these images to pop on Tumblr or Instagram takes real, undeniable skill. But, it’s only recently that I’ve realized that I have moved beyond those specific visual pleasures. After nearly two decades as a social media user, I’ve grown tired of how images, specifically of food, are often presented — that is, perfectly. 

Now, when I see a photo of someone’s immaculate brunch spread, my mouth doesn’t immediately start watering; those stacks of fluffy French toast or dishes of crispy bacon strips just don’t inspire daydreams anymore. Instead, I’m distracted by the thought of more mundane things, like that one friend, holding their phone high up above the food, making everyone else wait to eat so that the syrup bottle can be positioned just-so. This isn’t a dig — on many occasions, I have been that person. And, trust me, I am not a traitor to my generation so I’m not saying there’s something wrong with putting the perfectly arranged food shot on Instagram, I just don’t get the same thrill out of it as I once did. The magic is gone.

This makes sense. By now, most of us have seen numerous articles revealing the food styling secrets that go into making food look “good” in ads and even cookbooks. Glue is used in place of cereal milk, vaseline is smeared on the rim of a margarita glass to make it glisten, microwaved wet tampons are stuffed into a dish to create the illusion of steam. Once you know about these tricks, the food itself loses its appeal, because you’re reminded that aesthetics were prioritized over tasting good or even being edible. What’s the fun in that?

What gets me going lately are snapshots of sloppy, thrown-together sandwiches on plates smeared with errant blobs of mayonnaise and crusty monochromatic casseroles still in the dish, sitting under atrocious lighting. These photos make me think about the actual food and not the background production that goes into making it look good. Whoever posted the picture simply wanted to share what they were cooking or eating as quickly as possible and then get down to the most important part: eating it.

To my great pleasure, I’ve been seeing these types of food photos on social media more and more, and according to Jill Warren, content marketing specialist at Later, this step away from highly stylized images doesn’t only apply to food pics. “There’s been a major shift in the type of content people share on Instagram over the last few years, moving away from oversaturated, picture-perfect photos towards more authentic, barely edited, real-life content,” she explains. “This makes a lot of sense, especially when you consider how much Instagram has evolved. In the earlier days, it was a simple look-book for sharing filtered images — remember Clarendon? Now, the app has become a place for connection — whether it’s between brands and customers or influencers and their communities.” 

After a year of connecting almost exclusively through social media, this trend has become even more prominent. “Creators and brands who are willing to ‘lift the curtain’ and share their authentic selves benefit from a deeper, more meaningful relationship with their audience,” Warren says. “Arguably, being relatable is far more powerful than being ‘perfect’ in 2021.”

When I see an unedited photo of food, placed however haphazardly onto a plate or still in its takeout container, I also see a genuine love for eating, something I have in common with the photo’s poster. I think, wow, I bet that tastes good, and am happy that the person got to enjoy whatever dish they shared. It feels like a pure exchange between two people, even if the interaction is virtual or one-sided. 

A few weeks after Olivia Jade returned to vlogging and implanted the hideous image of her favorite salad in my brain forever, she posted a “What I Eat In A Day” vlog. In this one, she ordered it again. “I had this in another blog, and everybody was saying it looked bland,” she shared unapologetically, as she removed the take-out container’s lid, and prepared to dive in. It was as if she were looking straight at her 1.86 million subscribers and saying, “Yes, I know this salad doesn’t look sexy, but I love it and I am going to continue to order it anyway.” If only she’d been as authentic on her college application, she could have gotten in anywhere.

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Olivia Harrison, Khareem Sudlow

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Why I Left: I Can’t Trust Him Anymore

As Told To Veronica Wells-Puoane of NoSugarNoCreammag.com

We met when I was really young. I had just started working in the entertainment industry at 19. I was taking college classes but I needed a job that was going to be easy money and keep me in the know. So I went and started working at the Bel Age Hotel in West Hollywood.

My husband was the director of engineering there and was in charge of all this renovation. So that’s where we met. We were friends first. We weren’t really coworkers because he was on the executive board where I was a new entry type of person.

The dating experience was good. It was really good. We dated for almost ten years before we got married. I had actually stopped keeping count because I wasn’t the chick who was like, ‘I need to be married.’ I had everything else with him. We had a strong courtship, a strong friendship, we had bought property together. We were living together.

He went through the rain, the lightening, the thunderstorms, everything with me because he was eight years older than me. He had already been married once. He had a kid already. He was already in that mode. He wanted to continue that and I wasn’t interested in having kids or necessarily being a wife right then.

I always wanted to be a wife and mother but I met him when I was so young. So I thought, ‘By the time I’m 25, I’ll be ready…By the time I’m 28, I’ll be ready.’ I had this timeline in my head.

I wasn’t the chick who was like, ‘I need to be married.’

But all in six months my life changed. My grandmother was diagnosed with cancer in December and by May she was dead. And this was the person I loved the most in the world.

My husband and I were on a hiatus at that point. We had broken up because he had given me an ultimatum about being married and starting a family.

I just wasn’t there. Mainly because I thought I was going to have to be perfect in my marriage. There was an image that I thought that a wife and mother should be. I got these messages pulling apart what I saw on tv, what I saw my mom do and not do, what my favorite auntie did, pictures in a magazine. All of these things told me lies of what I had to be in order to be her, instead of just being her.

Ultimately, when I realized that life could change that quickly, I thought, ‘I can’t keep on waiting another two years for this to happen or another two years for that to happen. If this man loves me and I love him and we’ve been living as so, then we might as well make it so.’

Six weeks after my grandmother died, I was pregnant. On purpose. We got back together and it was like no more turning back.

You just know when you know. It was time to make some real life decisions, grow the hell up and stop running from the thoughts of being perfect, or traditional, or being anything else than what I am.

Still, after I got married those pressures didn’t go away. But he had a forgiving, understanding, and a patient love. I realize now in hindsight, I probably took a little advantage of that love.

I’m not confrontational and neither is he. We would both kind of be like, ‘I’m cool if you cool.’ And that was to a fault.

There were days when I put pressure on myself. I’m not a celebrity but I have celebrity clients and I have been on tv. We filmed in my house. We had children on tv. My last son was born on television. So there were whispers in my ear from my subconscious. But the real me would stand up for that girl and say, ‘Well, no she doesn’t. This is real. And there’s somebody else living just like this or worse or somebody wishing they could get to this level. You don’t have to be, do, and say.’

A lot of it was for the outside world and not necessarily what mattered to he and I.  If I have to be honest with you, I might not have shared my struggles with the pressure I was putting on myself. He also didn’t share his expectations of what he thought our marriage should have been. We didn’t have the dialogue. I think that dialogue would have saved us from where we ultimately ended up.

I’m not confrontational and neither is he.

After over a decade of marriage, he left. That was two years ago now. There was no announcement. There was nothing. When he walked out the door, I had no idea that was the last time he would be in the house. There was no conversation about it. It wasn’t like we had some turbulent marriage, where we were arguing and he didn’t come home at night.

That’s what I mean when I said he wasn’t confrontational and I wasn’t confrontational. And if we had spoken more about the pressure of what society says a marriage should be and balance that with what we say we really want, if we were vocal about that, I would have understood a little bit more about where he was coming from before we got here.

I didn’t understand where he was, to the point where I was oblivious to the fact that he was unhappy. I think that he didn’t know how to process his unhappiness either. And his only answer was I’m walking out this door and I’m not packing anything. I’m not taking a tv off the wall, I’m not going to make it a big deal.

When I talked to him eventually, he didn’t know it was going to go that far. He didn’t know if he was leaving to clear his head for the day or whatever. It was just a regular Sunday. He left with what was on his back.

When he returned 12 days later, he wasn’t coming back to live. He came back because my son had gotten sick and was in the hospital.

When he walked back into our home, he was not wearing his ring. I asked him, ‘Where’s your ring?’ He said it was in the car. That’s when I knew, I knew, I knew.

There was no announcement. There was nothing.

Over the course of those 12 days he was gone, I was angry. I had a son that was here sick. I couldn’t move the way that I normally move. So I thought, ‘What the fuck is up with my life equity? Where am I valued? What’s happening? He gets to go and keep moving while I am stuck?’

My husband leaves. My son gets sick and it changed the whole structure of my life. I had to take care of my son 24 hours a day. And now my husband has bailed out. He can still work, still socialize with his friends. But I’m a nurse and a mother 24 hours a day and still dealing with the debris of my kids not knowing what the hell was going on with me and their dad.

The first couple of days, they didn’t know anything. He would go out of town for work pretty often. But as time went on, they asked, ‘Where is dad? When is he coming back?’ I’d tell them, ‘He’s going to come back.’ Because I didn’t know what to say at that point.

Then I just created my own narrative. I started telling my girlfriends, ‘This MFer left.’ I didn’t even want to hear what the hell he had to say. Because if you can do this, then ain’t no telling. Where is the reasoning behind this?

I’m a mom and I’m stuck and you get to run away. So I couldn’t see or hear what he had to say. And it made it worse. Because when a woman’s scorned…

I went to the mountain top and started telling all of our friends and some of our family. That made it even harder for him to even think about coming back because now he’s embarrassed. But I didn’t care at that point.

He never wanted to go too much into why he left anyway. He thought we could just move on and start talking about how we’d co-parent.

I told him it doesn’t go like that. I’m here with the kids and I’m still your wife. We made a promise to each other.

If you can do this, then ain’t no telling.

At one point, I feel like he was trying to say he wanted to maybe come back home but I was making that hard because at that point, it was a trust issue. I thought if you can just walk out like this, you can’t just come back whenever. You did this to me in my forties. You can’t do this to me when I’m in my sixties, the kids are grown and I’ve given you that much more of my life.

I didn’t like him. I was mad. So unless he was coming to really kiss ass and make this right, then no.

I never wanted to be in a situation where I had to second guess the man that I was with. I trusted him and he had earned my trust over the years. But the day that he left and everything else fell apart, I had to rewind, inspect and investigate. So, until I can get past that, I was going to be investigating moving forward. And I didn’t want to do that. I’d rather be by myself and have peace of mind than to be chasing behind somebody.

That’s just what the truth is, no matter how hurtful it is. I’m not going to be the one checking up. I just can’t.

I already did that. I hired a private investigator. That’s how I learned he was seeing someone else. And he ended up telling me, ‘I was talking to her as a friend about some things that were happening here at the house.’

You weren’t even talking to me about the issues that were happening at the house! Did she tell you to come back and talk to your wife? What was she telling you for two years? And you got so comfortable where it was so easy for you to get up and leave. So she served her purpose, right?

But I don’t fault anybody but he and I. Whoever he’s seeing now, whoever he was seeing when he first left, bottom line they didn’t lay down or make a promise to me. It was on us. Our bad.

I’d rather be by myself and have peace of mind. I can’t trust him . I can’t trust him . I can’t trust him I can’t trust him I CAN’T TRUST HIM I can’t trust him I can’t trust him I can’t trust him I can’t trust him I can’t trust him I can’t trust him I can’t trust him I can’t trust him I can’t trust him I can’t trust him I can’t trust him I can’t trust him I can’t trust him I can’t trust him I can’t trust him I can’t trust him I can’t trust him I can’t trust him I can’t trust him I can’t trust him I can’t trust him 

Now, he comes around to see the kids. I never changed the locks on him. I wanted him to see the kids. He doesn’t take them to his house. They don’t visit with him. Not because I’ve said so. I’ve packed bags. But, he don’t do that.

Wherever he lives, it’s peaceful or whatever. He’s living his life. For a while, I looked at myself like I was the side chick with the babies. But I’m like no, I’m not going to feel that vibe anymore because I’m not the side chick. I am the wife. My children were planned. They are loved. And from the womb to the tomb, I am their mother. So he doesn’t have to take them with him. I just want him to see them.

He comes here three times a week. But our relationship is non-existent. Our house is big enough for him to be in one part and me to be in another. I stay out of his way for the 3-4 hours that he’s here.

I still haven’t made peace with what’s happened. I didn’t want any parts of it. I want my husband and my kids in the same house, us tearing down statistics, and building a legacy of what real love, life, and lessons look like. Now, I don’t have that opportunity currently. That’s the reason why I don’t speak to him.

I tell him still, throughout everything, I love you. I just don’t like you. I may come and give him a kiss on the forehead, go back in my room and not speak to him for another three weeks. The truth of the matter is, I really still do love him. I’ve had him in my life for 26 years. That’s not going anywhere. He is my only husband and the only father of my kids and I always wanted him to be that.

In my head and in my heart, that’s still my husband. But I know I have to get past that.

I think that if I ever really worked on the marriage, we could reconcile but do I ever want to be that vulnerable again? I would have work on myself and then work things out with him. And that’s just too much work to think about right now.

Would I like, in some fairy tale land, for us to get back together and live out our golden years, him die in my arms, and all that bullshit? Yeah, I would. That’s the honest truth. But there’s so much work to be done that I might just be too stubborn.

Do I ever want to be that vulnerable again?

Right now, I’m focused on my healing. And my healing looks like helping other women. I want to teach entrepreneur women how to build a business that is profitable and able to secure the bag so that if they hit a road bump in life, they can still support their family and community, without a husband. That’s my calling and my why because it happened to me. So I’ve developed courses and bootcamps to help women do that.

We all have lost love at some point. And we all should be self-sufficient.

When all of this was happening with my husband, there was one time I went to Target and I couldn’t do a purchase that was $23. I was trying to buy stuff for my kids and I had less than $7 to my name when I was used to having six figures in the bank. Assets were frozen. There were things we couldn’t touch initially. So I had to create other streams of income and I want to teach other women to do that.

In terms of my relationship with him, ideally, in the future would be me healing and getting to a place where we can be taking vacations with our new significant others and it’s all cherries, peaches, and plums. I’m okay with that.

You can learn more about Monique Jackson and her courses for female entrepreneurs via her Instagram page, @moniquejackson1 or website www.moniquejackson.com

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curlynikki, Khareem Sudlow