The Colored Girl

Tori speaks with Ronetta about being a mother of 2 amazing trailblazing children, domestic violence survivor, she overcame being paralyzed on her right side for 1 1/2 yrs after suffering from Lyme's Disease and Guillan Barre Syndrome at 21, Then she served 13 years in the USAF, Single mother and now an Entrepreneur focusing on Inspiring, Empowering, Cultivating Women entrepreneurs within the military community while being affected by Fibromyalgia and other health complications. She refuse to allow it to hinder her.

Tori dives deep with Melissa about being a mama, a lover, a photographer/filmmaker with an empathetic heart. After a years of ups and downs, including homelessness, depression, anxiety, and low self esteem, She's finally at a point in her life where she feels...whole. One night, when her daughter was 5, she felt like she had reached her lowest point. She was working a low-wage job and barely had enough money to scrape together a dinner. When her daughter asked for more, which there was none, she gave her what was on her plate. She ate happily, but Melissa cried herself to sleep that night. She vowed to never again be in that position. She prayed for and attuned her spirit to abundance.

Tori chats with Chiara about her mother and her being survivors of domestic violence. Despite suffering from the same mental illness as her father (the abuser), She's grown (in her opinion) into a compassionate woman who is currently in law school hoping to specialize in human rights and refugee law.

Tori talks with Tamara about being a military kid, awesome upbringing and opportunity for culture and traveling. Watching her Mom as a soldier made her independent and observant. The story she think needs to be shared is managing the pandemic alone. She had recently relocated to a new city for a new job, but going weeks at a time without face to face options was unbearable even as an introverted adaptable professional.

Tori chats with Ottavia about her whole life being an open book. She not only shares her successes via social media but her pain and discomfort as well. She's struggled with homelessness and abuse to name a couple but when she was on the brink of a nervous breakdown she turned to meditation. And now she has a business built and birthed from her pain to wellness. She's a certified sound therapist, mindfulness teacher, reiki master, tarot reader and ancestral advocate.

Tori chats with Nina about growing up in Canada and being mistreated and bullied because of her skin color and hair. She now uses that as fuel to fight for Black Lives to Matter and human rights. 

Tori chats with Kenya about being a graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Master’s in Dance Education from the Arnhold Graduate Dance Education Program in May 2020. As an emerging choreographer, Kenya is committed to cultivating new methods of reclaiming, and retaining, the legacy of the African Diaspora.

Tori dives deep with Keisha about being married to a professional athlete, divorced at 26, single mom, lost EVERYTHING 2 times and she means EVERYTHING, was on public assistance, a product of domestic abuse, made it through! Come from the typical AA family that doesn’t talk about their sh$!, so she met her fathers family for the first time a few years ago and they didn’t know who she was.

Tori chats with Janelle about being a 24 years old still in college trying to figure out this adult thing. She admits she needs some more training lmao.

Tori speaks with Dr. B Lynn about being a multifaceted, multiracial woman of color that was raised with divergent religious and cultural beliefs and values, in addition to having to flip flop between both “sides of the tracks“ so to speak. So, “code switching“ was learned from elementary school. Traversing the exclusivity of upper class white privilege prep schools and country clubs and not looking and acting white enough and all the hate and racism that went along with it was overbearing to say the least. This was juxtaposed with being with her extended family in the projects and not being “black enough“ on “the block“.

Tori dives deep with Deepti about being an Indian born makeup artist raised in Elmhurst, nyc. Growing up in a single mother home in an environment that didn't know or care that she existed. And she's not just speaking about the schools she went to, or the neighborhood she grew up in. It also included her home. She was the second born girl in her family - the unwanted child. Her oldest sister was the important one and younger brother, the golden child. Her mother wanted to switch her at birth with her male cousin, a story her aunt told her when she was a teenager. This aunt also took the time to tell her she was born a nothing. It took Deepti a long time to reconcile the nagging feelings of feeling inconsequential to her family, feeling like the useless one while her family tried to convince her otherwise.

Tori chats with Carolyn about her experiences with suffering from heart surgery, Hasimoto Disease, broken heart, broken bank accounts, miscarriages, dealing with corporate racism, self-doubt and coming through it all . Falling in love with herself , making peace with her past and accepting her flaws.

Tori speaks with Breaunna about what it was like being married for 13 years to an abusive (narcissistic) man who tried to hold her back from pursuing her dreams. He held finances from her, lead a double life and even got them evicted from their home only so that she could be dependent on him.

Tori dives deep with Trish about being a 48-years old Jamaican woman who grew up in Hollywood, Florida. Shes worked her entire career in entertainment television and digital media. she left Jamaica when she was 8-years old after her Mom sent for her. She'd been away from her since she was 2-years old. She left her with a couple she thought were her grandparents but found out later on, they were friends of the family. The wife physically abused her and she was essentially the family’s indentured servant.

Tori speaks with Tanika about being a mother of two but more times than she'd like to admit she's coasting through this journey called motherhood and figuring it out as she go. She is a trained birth and postpartum doula because, after her own personal experience, she is a firm believer that women of color deserve to have access to quality, empowering, and awakening birthing experiences.

Tori dives deep with Shamina about her experiences with assault at the age of 9 by a family member. She felt ashamed and afraid to tell anyone as she thought it was her fault. It went on for years until he finally penetrated her. She still didn’t tell anyone and this is when she discovered she was a poet.

Tori speaks with Oshyn about being a young 22 year old black woman that doesn’t normally fit in with the cool kids. Through forced isolation , she learned the importance of self love which then turned her “isolation” into putting herself first and learning about the girl that looks back at her when she stares in the mirror.

Tori talks with Nyla about being a resilient Black woman. But pick one of us from a crowd, aren’t we all? Everything she is today is because of every unfortunate situation she lived through. She lost her mother at age 11 to an aneurysm. Was then raised by her hardworking older sister who had four other children. So she became the oldest after being the baby. She met her father for the first time, to her memory, while I was in high school.

Tori chats with Marsha about being the middle daughter of deceased parents, the only one to graduate college among her four siblings (to date), a divorcee, single mother, homeowner and burgeoning entrepreneur. It’s has taken a lot to overcome the loss of her parents.  While dressing to graduate college she pulled strength from God, her siblings and the looks in her daughters eyes.

Tori chats with Marqueeta about what is was like having an alcoholic step father - born out of sexual abuse - experienced physical and verbal abuse throughout her childhood until she eventually ran away from home. She then moved from house to house up until her two timing boyfriend almost got them killed and she decided to enroll into fashion school. Since then she has experienced a lot but she is now living in Dubai going towards her dreams and recently launched her footwear brand.