Who's Your Ma Honey?

In this episode of Who’s Your Ma Honey?, Teri Williams and Suzan McDowell welcome Trabian Shorters, who breaks down the concept of Asset Framing and why the stories we tell about ourselves shape everything. This conversation goes beyond mindset. It’s about identity, narrative, and the hidden ways we’ve been conditioned to define ourselves by struggle instead of strength. Trabian explains how stigm...

After a bounced check for $87.26, Sheena Meade found herself arrested, booked, and carrying a record that would follow her for years. What began as a single mistake became a barrier to housing, employment, education, and even volunteering at her son’s school. In this conversation, Sheena shares the story behind the arrest, the moment she revisited the case while preparing for a TED Talk, and how t...

Today, Sheena Meade (CEO of The Clean Slate Initiative) joins Who’s Your Ma Honey? to share her story that changed everything, from being arrested over an $87 check to how that single moment exposed a system designed to keep people stuck. It highlights the millions of people living with records, stigma, and barriers that have nothing to do with who they are today. With this, Sheena’s conversation...

In this conversation, CEO of Black Ambition Prize Felecia Hatcher shares why high achievers often struggle to internalize their success, how shame causes us to shrink in the moments we're meant to lead, and why confidence has less to do with certainty and more to do with trust. Felecia offers a powerful reframe that may completely change the way you think about imposter syndrome, self-doubt, and t...

In this episode of Who’s Your Ma Honey? Felecia Hatcher, CEO of Black Ambition, shares how she went from being a C student without a clear path, to helping entrepreneurs raise over $300 million in funding. Felecia opens up about imposter syndrome, undeserved shame, the pressure to measure yourself by someone else’s standards, and the mindset shift that helped her stop shrinking in rooms she had al...

Marc Morial joins Who’s Your Ma Honey? for a powerful conversation on legacy, race, leadership, and the moments that shaped him long before public office. Born into the civil rights movement and raised in segregated New Orleans, Marc reflects on being seated in the back of the classroom at five years old, learning to navigate two worlds, and turning the pressure to prove himself into purpose-drive...

In this episode of Who’s Your Ma Honey?, Teri Williams and Suzan McDowell sit down with Marc Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League, to unpack identity, expectation, and the pressure of navigating spaces that challenge who you are. Marc shares what it was like growing up in environments where he was often one of the only Black students, facing moments where his presence was questio...

In this episode of Who’s Your Ma Honey?, Teri Williams and Suzan McDowell sit down with Congresswoman Frederica Wilson to unpack identity, resilience, and the early moments that shaped her bold, unapologetic leadership. From being teased as a child and made to feel like an outsider to becoming a lifelong advocate for the voiceless, Congresswoman Wilson shares how those experiences didn’t break her...

In this episode of Who’s Your Ma Honey?, Teri Williams and Suzan McDowell sit down with Congresswoman Frederica Wilson to unpack identity, resilience, and the early moments that shaped her bold, unapologetic leadership. From being teased as a child and made to feel like an outsider to becoming a lifelong advocate for the voiceless, Congresswoman Wilson shares how those experiences didn’t break her...

In this segment, Sybrina Fulton reflects on the strength it took to speak publicly after Trayvon Martin’s death, the moment she packed her bags to speak on his behalf, and why she refuses to give haters the reaction they want. She opens up about being guided by her mother, her pastor’s words that “trials and tribulations don’t build character, it reveals it,” and the generations of women who shape...

In this episode of Who’s Your Ma Honey?, Teri Williams and Suzan McDowell sit down with Sybrina Fulton, mother of Trayvon Martin, to unpack grief, public perception, and protecting her son’s legacy. Sybrina shares what it was like to navigate loss while watching the media reshape her son’s narrative and place blame where it didn’t belong. In the face of unimaginable pain, she chose not to retreat,...

In this deeply personal segment, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava reflects on growing up in a household shaped by emotional bullying and the complicated role she played within it. She shares how identifying with her father, rather than defending her mother, became a source of quiet shame, and how that experience stayed with her long after childhood. But instead of avoiding it, she examines it...

What if the moments that made you feel like you didn’t belong… were actually shaping who you were meant to become? In this episode of Who’s Your Ma Honey?, Teri Williams and Suzan McDowell sit down with Miami-Dade Mayor Daxniella Levine Cava to unpack how early feelings of loneliness, disconnection, and not fitting in became the foundation of her leadership. From being an outcast as a child to nav...

In this emotional segment, Addonis Parker opens up about the lie he carried for years. He shares how rejection, pain, and self-doubt led him to believe he wouldn’t make it past 25, and how that internal narrative shaped the way he saw himself and his future. But instead of letting that lie define him, he chose to confront it.   This conversation is a powerful reminder that the most dangerous stori...

What happens when the thing you’re called to be… is the very thing the world tells you to hide? Today, Teri Williams and Suzan McDowell welcome the world-renowned artist Addonis Parker to unpack identity, masculinity, and the cost of suppressing your true self. From hiding his creativity as a young athlete to being told how his art should look, Addonis shares the internal battle of trying to fit i...

After being told her work was “not up to par” and getting fired early in her career, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Karen Hunter was forced to confront rejection, self-doubt, and the realities of navigating spaces that weren’t built for her. But instead of folding, she doubled down. From calling the newsroom every day to outworking everyone around her, Karen turned that moment into fuel and wen...

In this episode of Who’s Your Ma Honey?, Teri Williams and Suzan McDowell sit down with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Karen Hunter to unpack identity, origin, and the stories we tell ourselves about who we are. Karen shares powerful stories about her upbringing, her mother’s resilience, and the mindset that helped her navigate spaces where she wasn’t always welcome. From being told she wasn’t...

What do you do when you feel disconnected from yourself… like you don’t fully belong anywhere? In this powerful segment from Who’s Your Ma Honey?, Dr. Delvena Thomas shares practical tools for navigating shame, self-doubt, and the tension between who you are and who you’ve been told to be. This isn’t surface-level advice. It’s about doing the real work: Learning how to stop ruminating on your past...

Shame doesn’t start with you. It’s learned, internalized, and carried until you decide to confront it. In this premiere episode of Who’s Your Ma Honey?, hosts Teri Williams and Suzan McDowell sit down with Board-Certified Psychiatrist Dr. Delvena Thomas to unpack the psychology of shame and how it silently shapes identity, confidence, and success. Teri shares the moment she realized she buried her...

Welcome to Who’s Your Ma’ Honey? Hosted by Teri Williams, President and Owner of OneUnited Bank, and Suzan McDowell, President and CEO of Circle of One Marketing, this podcast opens a conversation most leaders never take the time to have. It all starts with one question: Who’s your Ma’ Honey? Each episode creates space for high-achieving leaders, founders, and changemakers to go back to the moment...

Welcome to Who’s Your Ma’ Honey? Hosted by Teri Williams, President and Owner of OneUnited Bank, and Suzan McDowell, President and CEO of Circle of One Marketing, this podcast opens a conversation most leaders never take the time to have. It all starts with one question: Who’s your Ma’ Honey? Each episode creates space for high-achieving leaders, founders, and changemakers to go back to the moment...

Welcome to Who’s Your Ma’ Honey? Hosted by Teri Williams, President and Owner of OneUnited Bank, and Suzan McDowell, President and CEO of Circle of One Marketing, this podcast opens a conversation most leaders never take the time to have. It all starts with one question: Who’s your Ma’ Honey? Each episode creates space for high-achieving leaders, founders, and changemakers to go back to the moment...