Dose of Duality

What happens when you are the story and are telling the story?  Gerren Keith Gaynor, White House correspondent and Managing Editor of Politics for The Grio, covers the current state of politics as a journalist.  As a black queer man he has had to balance what that means in reporting the stories of our country and world while processing them personally in real time.  Upon his graduation from Moreho...

Entrepreneur, wellness leader, philanthropist and media personality, Tai Beauchamp, like always delivers gems with a gratitude filled tone.  Join us on this throwback last recording before Deja’s maternity leave where we discuss how to use burnout for your benefit.  Tai is on a quest with her movement, Morning Mindset With Tai, to elevate the wellness of black women.  We discuss burnout and how it...

Join Alicia and Alechia, Triggered AF Podcast cohost, as they discuss why picking your partner is the most important decision and how dating is not trash, but how we date is trash.  Learn more about the playbook they’ve created for meeting potential dates (airport lounges y’all!).  Sometimes the act of forgiveness helps us reconcile with a trigger and sometimes the act of forgiveness is directed t...

Today we sit down with marketing professional turned viral cooking sensation, Alex Hill.  From instant Cafe Bustelo, to apple cobbler to jollof rice, food tells the stories of our lives and Alex realized early on how food is so closely tied to emotions.  Inspired by her mom’s cooking from an early age, Alex’s experimentation turned into flavorful, comforting (and sometimes spicy!) meals made with...

We need a minute y’all!  As we explore healing this season, we may need a few pauses, deep breaths and “run that backs” as we get into these profound conversations.  It was our honor to sit with Jonathan Jones and learn more about how he developed his personal journaling practice and how it helped to give him space to remove the imposed boundaries within the pages.  Jonathan is the creator of the...

Yerp or Yert.  Out Of Pocket or For Real For Real.  Death and life is in the power of the tongue. The lingo and the language of our people has been scrutinized and judged by other groups and cultures against their “norms”.  In this powerful conversation we discuss the nuances in languages, labels, perception, culture and community.  Marvin Malone’s compelling TED Talk on Speaking to the Crowd insp...

We’re back!  Season 3 kicks off with a healthy conversation about the topic of healing.  We’ll be focusing on healing of all types this season.  And as our new intro says, it might get a little messy.  But the learning, the healing and the beauty lies in the mess.  From when to break up with your therapist to our take on Love Is Blind, this episode has a little bit of everything.  Deja and Alicia...

Season 3 is here!  As we get ready to drop Season 3 and for Deja to bring baby Izy into the world, we are excited about our Dose Of Duality family growing in every way.  This season we will be diving into healing.  This is not a light topic.  It requires holding the mirror up and dissecting traumas, behavior patterns and flaws.  Often messy and sometimes painful, healing is necessary for those who...

Grief, doubt, fear . . . . growth.  The life experiences we and our guests have endured are masterclasses in evolution and growth.  As we prepare for Season 3, we bring you a Dose Of Growth.  We know the only constant is change.  And we know the only way to become stronger is on the other side of the breakdown.  Hear excerpts from our episodes with Kayla Jeter, Nikki Kimbrough, Matt James and La S...

Identity.  Are we born with it or is it shaped?  Does society define it for us or do we define it for ourselves?  Join us as we bring you the first Dose Of . . . Episode where we flashback to meaningful conversations we’ve had around one specific topic.  This episode centers around identity.  From a lover and a storyteller to a boundary-breaking integrator to a queer, Catholic Nigerian to a self-p...

“I am an anxious, overthinking, autistic entrepreneur who is a husband and a father.” Mic drop with that statement to close out our second season with vulnerability and uncomfortable truths shared by special guest Michell Clark.  This season we went deep into the duality of relationships.  Relationships with self, romantic partners, friends, coworkers.  We’ve been inspired by Michell’s view of the...

From dancing at a fraternity party and being pointed at as the only “approved” person to sing the expletives to having to educate your romantic partner on cultural differences and norms, frankly it’s STILL exhausting being a Black woman in America.  Sure we’ve made progress and 2020 shined a light on the micro and macro experiences we’ve endured, but there is still a long way to go.  We are thrill...

Excellence.  Excellence in Education.  Black Excellence.  When the phone rings and the President of Morehouse College is on the other end saying you are the best woman for the job, you answer the call. In part 2 of our conversation, Dr. Nina Gilbert discusses how her role as the Director for the Center of Excellence at Morehouse College allows her to not only elevate the careers of Black men, but...

It’s profound to change the life of one person.  Even more so to change the lives of several.  But today we’ll listen to the story of Dr. Nina Gilbert who has been able to change the lives of many by giving them education, opportunity and promise.  And she comes from a long line of educators making impact before her.  She did not grow up thinking her path was to follow in the footsteps of her pare...

From sulfur in the St. Lucia body scrubs to questioning if there is sulfur in Perm, we get nostalgic in this episode.  Coming off the baby moon, Deja and Alicia do a run down of the Caribbean islands.  Deja discusses her adaptability and Alicia examines why creatives need boundaries to remain their most creative.  She also prompts us to ask ourselves “What are you pretending not to know?” Get read...

It’s an actor’s wildest dream to be working regularly on a popular series on a major network.  But what happens when the residual checks you receive from streaming can’t even buy you a bottle of water?  Along with your fellow actors, you strike.  While this form of resistance and demonstration isn’t new, it’s been more than half a century since SAG hit the picket lines.  Bernard Gilbert aka Suede...

How does a Nigerian, Roman Catholic, homophobic young woman evolve into a fluid, queer, limitless ethereal being?  You’ll have to listen in on this special conversation between Deja and Tochi Fatima to find out.  We journey through her early years living across Africa, Europe and the Middle East and how she learned to question the boxes she was being placed in by her family, religion and society. ...

In this episode, alongside Dr. Amber Thornton, Clinical Psychologist, we will explore the boundaries that support you in navigating friendships, dating, and family life. As we know from this season, Deja is actively practicing setting boundaries and we discuss the implications for not adhering to them as well as the incentives for placing them in your life.  Throughout the episode we dissect codep...

In this episode, alongside Rebekah Bashorun from Organize For Love, we explore how our physical environment affects our emotional landscape and our  emotional dependence on possessions. We’ll learn not only how important it is to create a home that is reflective of the vibration you want to attract but we’ll get a sneak preview into the type of “homebody” each of us are.  Spoiler alert: One of us...

Masculine or feminine.  Strong or weak.  Protector or nurturer.  Powerful or powerless.  The duality within these words and concepts has been shaped by our circumstances, society and culture.  What does it mean to be a Black man in America?  What are the expectations put on us by our families and those who raise us?  And how do we have these tough conversations that provide insight into how others...

What about your friends?!?  Channeling our best TLC over here.  In this episode, we join Alicia and Deja as they delve into the importance of community care and the role friendship groups play in their overall self-care journey. They introduce two of their close friends, Killian Lewis and Sara, who are PR mavens with extensive experience in the sports and beauty industry. Alicia and Deja share the...

We catch up after two weeks of powerful conversations to talk about what is going on in life and introduce you to our newest team member.  It’s been a journey and we can’t wait to take this next one together.  Aliens or nah?  Tune in to see who is on what side in this duel of duality.  And calling all Strong Friends out there, how do you navigate historically being “the strong one” when it’s not p...

Sex, spirituality and selfishness, oh my!  You know it’s going to be a spicy episode when La Shell Wooten sits on the couch with us.  We knew from the moment we met her that La Shell would bring the wisdom and she did not disappoint.  How do we as women, partners, mothers and community members look at communication, not as we’re told we should, but truly rejecting on our relationships and construc...

How does care translate to community?  Especially our community?  Percell Dugger has been on a mission to answer this question.  As the founder of Fit For Us and the Care Community, he’s been pushing the boundaries, and the margins, of these conversations within the wellness industry and with far reaching impact beyond.  How do you stay true to a greater mission while also allowing flexibility to...

It's a brand new flavor, a brand new feel! OFFICIALLY we, Deja Riley + Alicia Ferguson, have joined forces as the co-hosts of DOSE OF DUALITY and we couldn't be more excited to be on this journey together with all of you! In this episode, we will tease the topics of this sensational season and update you on what's been going on in our worlds. We are setting the tone so that every we...