Calm & Cultured Collective

GLP-1s and weight loss involve more than the conversation around “skinny shots.” In Part Two of our conversation on Calm & Cultured Collective, Tamika Bearden-Young, APRN, FNP-C, joins Deneen to discuss weight loss support, Black women’s health, and why medication is one part of a broader health plan. We share personal experiences and explore obesity, sustainable habits, and the importance of...

Black women’s health after 40 deserves more attention before a crisis happens. In this episode of Calm & Cultured Collective, Tamika Bearden-Young, FNP-C, joins Deneen for an important conversation about preventive care, family health history, menopause, hormone changes, and the symptoms women too often normalize or ignore. Tamika explains why “common” does not always mean “normal,” and why wo...

Church leadership requires accountability, empathy, and the willingness to make things right when people are hurt. In Part Two of this church hurt series, Pastor Nathaniel Simpson explains why pastors and ministry leaders must remember that many people arrive at church already broken, confused, wounded, or searching for something they desperately need. Deneen and Pastor Simpson discuss repentance...

Church hurt can leave deep wounds, especially when the place meant to offer healing becomes the source of pain. In Part One of this three-part conversation, Deneen sits down with Pastor Nathaniel Simpson of The Forgiving Church to talk honestly about church hurt, faith, accountability, forgiveness, boundaries, discipleship, and what healing can look like without losing your relationship with God....

East Cleveland revitalization is about more than new homes, development projects, and changing neighborhoods. In this conversation with Sheila Sharpley-East, we explore the past, present, and future of East Cleveland, Ohio—and what it will take for the people who love the city to have a meaningful role in what comes next. Sheila reflects on the East Cleveland she remembers: homeowners invested in...

Church hurt can leave deep wounds, especially when the place meant to offer healing becomes the source of pain. In Part One of this three-part conversation, Deneen sits down with Pastor Nathaniel Simpson of The Forgiving Church to talk honestly about church hurt, faith, accountability, forgiveness, boundaries, discipleship, and what healing can look like without losing your relationship with God....

East Cleveland history, Black homeownership, racial covenants, and historic preservation collide in Sheila Sharpley-East’s remarkable story of owning a Rockefeller-connected mansion on Euclid Avenue. Sheila shares how a house she dreamed about for years eventually became hers—and why preserving it became about much more than architecture. The historic Rockefeller-Rudd House was once home to Mary A...

What was it really like growing up in East Cleveland, Ohio before so much of the community changed? In Part 1 of this three-part conversation, I sit down with East Cleveland native Sheila Sharpley to remember the city that helped shape both of us, and to tell a story about East Cleveland that too often gets lost when the conversation focuses only on decline. Sheila remembers a community where almo...

In the final episode of this three-part Reclaiming Fatherhood w/ Bo series, Deneen and Bo explore how marriage shapes fatherhood, what children learn by watching a husband love their mother, and why emotional growth matters inside the home. Bo opens up about learning to become more emotionally aware, repairing parenting mistakes, moving from discipline to guidance, and refusing to be reduced to on...

In Part Two of Reclaiming Fatherhood , Bo opens up about learning manhood and fatherhood without having his biological father present. He shares how other men, church, military leadership, discipline, and life experience helped shape him as a father. This conversation explores Black fatherhood, blended families, bonus parenting, presence beyond provision, military transition, and what it means to...

In this moment from Reclaiming Fatherhood , Bo reflects on growing up without his father and realizing the weight of that absence after his grandfather passed away. He shares how sports, church, military leaders, pastors, ministers, and other men helped shape his understanding of manhood when his biological father was not present. This conversation is about Black fatherhood, father absence, chosen...

What Celebrity Estate Battles Teach Black Families About Protecting Our Legacy #duet #blackfamilies #malcolmjamalwarner The public estate disputes involving the families of Malcolm-Jamal Warner and Chadwick Boseman raise difficult questions about marriage, inheritance, trusts, prenuptial agreements and protecting the people we leave behind. In this episode of Calm & Cultured Collective, I shar...

Cassandra shares her journey through divorce, heartbreak, faith, boundaries, and rebuilding her life with hope. In this Calm & Cultured Collective episode, we discuss Divorce Care, the stigma divorced women face, and what it means to reclaim joy after divorce. If you are interested in support: Divorce Care : https://www.divorcecare.org/ #DivorceCare #LifeAfterDivorce #HealingAfterDivorce #Fait...

In this episode of Calm & Cultured Collective, Deneen sits down with Donna Fox for a deeply honest and faith-filled conversation about grace, surrender, shame, healing, and becoming the woman God has called you to be. Together, we discuss what it means to stop performing, release the burden of people-pleasing, surrender the shame of the past, and trust God enough to believe Him for every promi...

In this episode , I sit down with my son Jordan for an honest mother-son conversation about the gap between knowing better and doing better. Together, we talk about young adulthood, discipline, emotional maturity, faith, self-respect, accountability, social media, military life, and the process of letting go of old identities. Jordan shares what he is learning about becoming his own man, navigatin...

In this episode, I sit down with author Taisha Ryan to talk about her beautiful coming-of-age novel, Brown Silk , a story that follows Tianna Harper, a young girl uprooted from Georgia and transplanted into the fast pace and complexity of Brooklyn. As the conversation unfolded, I found myself thinking less about the plot and more about the emotional weight of our journey into womanhood. How our en...

In this episode of In Her Honor, I’m honoring my grandmother, Willa Mae, a woman whose life was marked by loss, faith, sacrifice, and an extraordinary determination to overcome. My grandmother was born in 1928 in Alabama, in the heart of Jim Crow. She later made her way to Cleveland in the 1950s with her husband and only an elementary education, carrying little in the way of formal opportunity but...

In this heartfelt episode of In Her Honor, Marcia shares her experience caring for her mother through dementia and the emotional journey that came with it. She remembers her mother as a quiet woman who loved her grandchildren, took pride in being a housekeeper, and was deeply loved by everyone who knew her. As her mother’s health declined, Marcia faced the painful reality that she could no longer...

Today’s episode of In Her Honor is one of the most tender conversations in this series. Ashreal shares what it has meant to lose her daughter to SIDS at just two months old, a loss that sent her life reeling and left her trying to find her way through unimaginable grief. As she spoke about her daughter, her whole face lit up. You could feel the love, the memory, and the connection that still lives...

Today’s episode of In Her Honor features Cassandra as she honors the life and legacy of her mother, Virginia , my aunt ,who passed after living with dementia. As Virginia’s youngest daughter, Cassandra reflects on a woman who was strong, loving, hardworking, and unforgettable. Virginia was the oldest of 11 children: 9 boys and 2 girls, and that alone says a great deal about the kind of responsibil...

In this episode of In Her Honor, Lynn shares the profound journey of loving our mother not only as a daughter, but also as a caregiver and a friend. What unfolds is an honest conversation about grief, sacrifice, resilience, and the quiet strength it takes to care for someone through illness while trying to hold yourself together. Lynn reflects on her mother’s long battle with breast cancer, the de...

Today’s episode of In Her Honor is a tender and powerful conversation with Doreen as she honors the life and legacy of her mother. After living with Alzheimer’s for 20 years, Doreen’s mother passed during COVID, just two days after her husband. And even in the midst of so much loss, Doreen remembers her mother with such warmth, grace, and love. In this episode, Doreen shares memories of a woman wh...

In this first episode of In Her Honor, I’m sharing my own story. My relationship with my mother was difficult, and I wanted to be honest about that while still honoring the woman who shaped me. My mother raised me to be strong, and I am. But if I’m telling the truth, there were also times I needed softness, affirmation, and a hug. This episode is my reflection on grief, strength, hindsight, and th...

I am so excited to welcome my personal trainer, Brittany Moore, for a beautiful and deeply meaningful conversation on healing through movement, sustainable fitness, self-care, consistency, and women’s wellness. This episode is personal for me because Brittany is not just a trainer I admire, she is MY trainer. I have experienced firsthand the safe, encouraging, and healing space she creates for wom...

I’m sitting down with Fliria for a conversation that is especially close to my heart: code switching, corporate culture, authenticity at work, and what it really costs Black women to survive and succeed in professional spaces. This one is for my corporate girlies. The women who know what it feels like to measure your tone, rethink your words, adjust your appearance, and carry the unspoken pressure...