The Letters and Layers Podcast

On this episode of The Letters and Layers Podcast, I'm talking about a Youtube video that prompted me to interrogate the limiting beliefs I have as a creative and artist. I share those limiting beliefs on the podcast, and encourage my listeners to identify where in their life they hold limiting beliefs that could be keeping them from the goals or success they are working towards. I hope you listen...

On this episode of The Letters and Layers Podcast, I jump right in and talk about a traumatic event that happened to me while away for a weekend last month in California. In order to successfully process the experience and prevent any debilitating impact, I employed some exposure therapy tactics to help rewire my brain and prevent the trauma from impeding my day to day life. I hope you listen to t...

On this episode of the podcast, I share three statements and affirmations that help with managing self-doubt and feelings of overwhelm and failure (11:29). Before I start the segment, I talk about some books I'm currently reading, giving back to the community and seeing amazing art from Black creatives at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. I hope you listen to the end. Black Creativity...

On this March 1st episode, I start by sharing some forms of creativity that have inspired me recently (6:43). I then devote my main segment to discussing ways to reconnect and honor the desires of your inner child, like reintroducing old activities and that brought you joy, and tools for facilitating the therapeutic process of healing any trauma or negative experiences from childhood into adulthoo...

On this episode of The Letters and Layers Podcast, I highlight two articles written last year by the Atlanta Tribune and The Black Women in Science Network discussing how inability to process feelings and emotions can increase the risk of auto-immune disorders among Black women. I share statistics, biological context, and strategies to help with reducing the likelihood of developing these conditio...

Hey everyone! Happy February! Coming to you after unfortunately losing my initial recording for today's episode, but I am leaning heavily on consistency, and have re-recorded the first part of what would have been published. I will re-record part 2 discussing Black Women, Anger Suppression, and Auto-Immune disorders for the February 15th episode. In this one, I talk about approaching 100 episodes...

Happy New Year! A lot has happened since the last episode, and I'm very excited to record again and hit the ground running for 2025. I begin the episode by sharing some highlights of my trip to Portugal, then continue by discussing my decision to delete my personal Instagram (14:55), and end with sharing 2025 resolutions (32:34). I hope you listen to the end. I started a blog! Visit ( www.thelette...

Hey everyone! Welcome to the final episode of the year! I'm really happy to get to this point and thank you all who have listened to this podcast, or found me this year and stuck around! I appreciate it more than you know. We will resume new episodes January 15th, 2025. At the top of the episode, I talk about making a list of your accomplishments. This can help put things in perspective when you f...

Happy December! With just a few more weeks in 2024, I wanted to share an essay I wrote for a competition that was not selected, but I love regardless, and felt many Black women could relate to (7:14). Before starting the essay, I talk a bit about how "rejection" can sting at first, but so often it is meant to push is in a new direction and open us up to opportunities we may not have even considere...

Hey everyone! A lot of us have gone through a myriad of emotions in the aftermath of the US Presidential election. I start the episode by reflecting on my thought processes over the last week, and how I plan to prioritize my mental health through the transition and beyond. Later on in the episode I talk about Megan Thee Stallion's documentary on Amazon Prime and some key takeaways from what she sh...

Hey Everyone! Happy November! I'm excited to come back with a new episode to start the month and kick off the holiday season. At the top of the episode I talk about some changes I've made to my appearance, like getting braces for the second-time and installing micro-locs. I follow-up with encouragement to prioritizing taking care of how you look if you feel moved to do so! When you look good, you...

Hey Everyone! I decided to take an impromptu break from recording, but wanted to highlight an episode from the Letters and Layers Podcast archives that I think is relevant for this time of the year. We're entering into the fall in the US and sometimes folks have some difficulty adjusting to the colder weather and shorter days. I thought putting a spotlight on a past episode where I discuss my tool...

Hey Everyone! Happy October! We are well into the fall season -- for many people, this is often a time of transition, which is also the case for me, as I've decided to transition my hair into microlocs, and begin the episode talking about getting to this point. The second segment of the episode focuses on chapter 6 of All About Love, themes of love and power, how that affects how we relate with ea...

Hey everyone! I started this episode by sharing a personal breakthrough I experienced last week around the relationship with my father (4:34). Then after, I took a deeper dive into some of the lessons from the last episode (22:09). I hope you listen to the end. I started a blog! Pay it a visit ( www.thelettersandlayers.com ) and subscribe to the newsletter at the bottom of the homepage. I'd love t...

Hey everyone! I am beside myself having reached this milestone and getting to celebrate 3 years with this podcast. Thank you so much to everyone who has listened to even one minute of an episode. I really appreciate it. I spend the first half of the episode sharing what this accomplishment means to me at this point and transition into sharing the list of 35 lessons I wrote for turning 35 (12:46)....

Hey everyone! I'm looking forward to sharing with you all my final thoughts on the last three episodes of Showtime's Couples therapy (12:31). Before this segment, I talk about visiting my family this weekend, and the ongoing work of reminding myself that my value is not dependent on my accomplishments or level of productivity. I hope you listen to the end. I started a blog! Pay it a visit ( www.th...

Hey Everyone! It's feels great to be back after taking a month of to celebrate my birthday and refocus for the second half of the year. In this episode I talk about my trip to Panama for my birthday, what it meant to me, and my thoughts on solo travel as a Black woman. For the second half of the episode, I talk about the next three episodes of Showtime's Couples Therapy, and how I see the impact t...

Hey Everyone! It is that time of year where I take a pause from the podcast with a short break! This means there will be no new episode on July 15th. I will be back with new episodes on August 1st. Coming back we will continue talking about Couple's Therapy on Showtime, and I'll devote a couple of episodes to my recent mini-project where I wrote 35 lessons for turning 35. We'll also get back to th...

Hey everyone! After I share my personal update at the top of the episode, I turn back time and share a journal entry I wrote over six years ago, where I detailed the things I wanted out of life professionally and how I am living that life now (09:18). Later on I discuss the first three episodes of Showtime's Couples Therapy, specifically my first impressions of the couples this season and how thin...

Happy June! We're just weeks away from the halfway point of the year and I truly cannot wrap my head around how fast 2024 is going. Nonetheless I'm excited to talk this episode about insights from my health challenge that I'm about to "end" (4:20), and my experience reading Thick by Tressie McMillan Cottom (16:36). I did not finish the book (!!!) and I talk about why in the episode, but regardless...

Happy Wednesday! Very excited to return to my listeners with new episodes thanks to my new podcast recording setup! I planned to begin my deep dive into Thick by Tressie McMillian Cottom, but while blogging this past weekend, I stumbled upon an essay I read two years that I still think about and felt moved to share. After providing a quick personal update, I read the essay Running Out of Gas By So...

Happy May! I unfortunately had some unexpected technical difficulties while working to record a new episode for May 1st, and wasn't able to make it happen in time. I'm working on getting back up and running, but regardless it's always a good time to listen anew or listen again to one of my favorite episodes on the book, What Happened to You by Dr. Bruce D. Perry & Oprah Winfrey. The book tackl...

It's an ongoing journey for me to process the mistakes I make in a healthy way, and not regress to a place where I emotionally punish myself because I feel I deserve it. For my listeners who struggle with this, I hope this episode connects with you, and maybe because of it you're able to extend yourself a little more grace. I start this segment at the 5:32 mark, and I hope you listen to the end. A...

Allowing myself to identify as an artist and creative feels unfamiliar, but the signs have been there since childhood and I wonder if this is who I've been all along. I talk more about this on the podcast this episode (25:13). Beforehand, I share a mental reframe I'm using to get things done when I don't "feel like it" (18:10), and talk about what I've been up lately, which includes going to a tat...

We're returning to our All About Love discussion series this episode with chapter 5 titled Spirituality - Divine love, where bell hooks highlights spirituality in the context of needing community (16:06). Before we dive in, I give a personal update on feeling overwhelmed the past couple of weeks and how I'm working on prioritizing what's most important. I hope you listen to the end. As always, ple...