I know that everyone's story is different but let's keep it real, homeschooling is WORK and if you're in it or thinking about starting to homeschool you want to hear the truth about what it's all about.  I have an ensemble of four beautiful, brilliant women who all homeschool.  These ladies are in the trenches eerrr day homeschooling in large families with seven kids to smaller families with two school-age children, with a diversity of grades/ages.   They share their stories about what life is really like homeschooling.  In Part 2 of this episode, we talk about outside criticism, skepticism, and opinions (that we didn't ask for! LoL).  These ladies get candid about their personal experiences with dealing with familial and friend criticism for their decision to homeschool THEIR children. We also discuss the "uglies" of things we would absolutely rather not do when we homeschool but sometimes have to "take one for the team" and do it because it needs to be done, for me that's art projects. I'm not crafty and I'd rather not but I swear I'm always at the table helping my daughter glue, paint, glitter, or cut something!  Finally, we share insight into what it feels like to be a homeschool mama and how we have learned or are learning to find a means of taking care of ourselves as we serve our family. 

I know that everyone's story is different but let's keep it real, homeschooling is WORK and if you're in it or thinking about starting to homeschool you want to hear the truth about what it's all about.  I have an ensemble of four beautiful, brilliant women who all homeschool.  These ladies are in the trenches eerrr day homeschooling in large families with seven kids to smaller families with two school-age children, with a diversity of grades/ages.   They share their stories about what life is really like homeschooling.  In Part 1 of this episode, we talk about what we enjoy most about homeschooling, our personal struggles with finding time for ourselves and self-care and we start to get into parental and public criticism and skepticism of families that homeschool (stay tuned for next week's Part 2).  

These incredibly gifted, beautiful, funny, fun, sexy, sweet, and sassy women are my sisters by blood or by water.  They have all crossed over the milestone of turning 40. Now, it's my turn.  In January I turned the big 4-0!  Let's Turn Up....but like you're 40 with two kids and a hubby so don't go too crazy. Lol.  I'm looking forward to this next phase of my life and I have happily leaped and landed into this new year with joy and anticipation.  I am a student of my experiences, I have gathered profound lessons along the way from the life I've lived however, it has been the wisdom and stories shared by other women that have kept me from many pitfalls and showed me how to regain my balance and get back up when I willingly or unwilling met my valleys. In this episode, I am surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses who testify of their own lessons learned along the way.  Meet me in the circle of wise women who share their stories and offer words of wisdom and resolutions of womanhood.  

The Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey reported that since the start of the pandemic, there has been a significant percentage increase in households reporting to homeschool their school-aged children, from 5.4% in April-May of the 2019-2020 school year to 11.1% in September-October of the 2020-2021 school year.  More relevant to this episode, for black families reporting to homeschool, it is the fastest growing among all other race groups identified in the survey.  It's grown fivefold in the same timeframe, from 3.3% to 16.1%.  In this episode I speak to three homeschool moms who, like me, have made the decision to homeschool our children.  All of these beautiful women of color have multiple children, some working jobs, running in-home businesses all while educating their children, their way.  I have wondered why black families are leaving public and private schools and choosing to educate at home.  Is it the pandemic or was the pandemic just the catalyst to the deeper reasons why were are experiencing a boom in black homeschooling and an exodus from public schools? If you're considering homeschooling and exploring alternative options to educating your school-aged children, this episode is informative and entertaining.  

I’m interested in speaking to women who are bravely stepping out and starting companies, and building these businesses from the ground up with one very important ingredient…Passion.  How do I take my God-given gifts and my passions and build a business that serves others, creates jobs, and builds personal wealth?  Danyelle Jones, the creator of Mindfully, Inc., started her company only a year ago amid the pandemic and she built it from a place of understanding what her God-given gifts are and how she can use those gifts to create and grow a company that serves the needs of our beautiful brown children as well as generate passive income for herself while still working her 9 to 5 as a Chicago public school teacher. Let’s find out what her company is all about and how she discovered that her God-given gifts were given to bless her life and serve a greater purpose. 

I continue my conversation with Author, Ticora Davis.  Ticora published a book in 2019 called “Planted To Produce: 7 Shifts To Activate Your Creative Soul”.  In the next half of the episode, Ticora discusses the why and how we should create boundaries and protect our dreams and visions so that negative influences do not take root and destroy our seeds before they can grow and produce fruit.  This is a conversation for the women in pursuit of their purpose. From some of the key points in her book, Ticora reveals the spiritual roots of procrastination, fear, imposter syndrome, and perfectionism, and the steps you can take to gain victory over those things that stifle our ability to produce and create.  

I have often battled with overthinking, procrastination, fear, and perfectionism.  I am not alone, many dreamers and visionaries are in a battle with their mind. It’s a battle between reaching your greatest potential, pursuing your God-breathed dreams and visions, or surrendering to those silent enemies that choke and kill the purpose-seeds sown in our lives.

Attorney and Author Ticora Davis published a book in 2019 called “Planted To Produce: 7 Shifts To Activate Your Creative Soul”.  I read her book and felt activated.  She is a dear friend of mine and when I started this podcast I knew she was one of the guests I had to have on this platform.  

This is a conversation for the women in pursuit of their purpose. From some of the key points in her book, Ticora reveals the spiritual roots of procrastination, fear, imposter syndrome, and perfectionism, and she reveals the steps you can take to produce God's greatness inside of you.

Code-switching, in the social context, is the adjusting of one’s style of speech, behavior, appearance, and/or expressions when interacting with other groups depending on the social context and the audience.  I often have to ask myself, how frequently do I code-switch?  Am I code-switching when I am in professional spaces behaving professionally?  I’m sure everyone puts their best representative out there when they’re at work, at professional networking events, at school, etc.  But this conversation is really about “US”, people of color...and specifically, women of color.  When in certain settings and among certain groups, most of "Us" have done it masterfully. Do women of color still need to code-switch when in mostly white professional circles or can our cultural differences be celebrated and valued? Can we look for the opportunities to be the “tie that binds” our cultural, ethnic, and even individual differences rather than conform? My friend and a woman of color shares her wisdom and experience with code-switching.  This is a HERStory Lesson that I found enlightening and made me really examine the question: To Switch Or Not To Switch.  So, friend, get your glass of wine, your coffee, tea (or all of the above) and get comfortable...this is Kristy O.’s HERStory Lesson.