"What interested me in becoming a therapist was my life experiences as a child growing up and knowing where I was, I didn't want to be there so I got lost in books. When I got to college, I had no earthly idea what I was going to major in. My professor pulled me aside and was like, “What do you like to do” and said I like to meet with people. I like to talk to people. So I majored in sociology and it took off from there.

 

One simple thing that people can do is take breaks away from social media. Social media has a way to cloud our judgment, but on the flip side of that, people only post when they want you to see, so it creates this false sense of reality. If we take time away from social media and become intentional about spending time with people who are close to you or in close proximity with you and being present in the moment, it will allow you to not only feel your feelings, but be able to share empathy with other people.

 

Oprah was my first role model. My mom used to clean houses and when I would go with her, Oprah would be on and she would interview everybody, but she also looked like me and I knew if Oprah could do it, I could eventually do it.

 

My favorite artist is Meek Mill. When I hear Dreams and Nightmares, it’s the balance in which we try to figure out life. There will be very high highs, but also very low lows and we have to be able to manage the low lows in order to appreciate our high highs.

 

What I see now in athletes is that they need to always be on go and be on performance level. The reality of it is, that you can't live like that. It creates this internal anxiety for a lot of athletes, and young children because they are then seen as somebody who “does” and not seen as somebody who has purpose, takes up space, and has a life to live outside of what they do.

 

I know I have found my purpose, but I haven't reached my full purpose potential. My full purpose potential is to work with those not only leadership, but those who have access and decision making because how we shift and view mental health starts from the top and trickles down to the bottom."