Deneshia Simpson

Welcome Back Dr. James Hawkins, LPC, Certified EFT Trainer/Supervisor! We talked with James about therapy and Black Men. James shared light on how to encourage and support Black Men to take care of themselves by prioritizing their own mental health. He gave us so many tips on how to just be a more empathetic and understanding/supportive present for the Black Men in our lives! Share this episode with a Black Man you know and love. Remind him he is worthy of love, care, and support. Listen to him. Give him enough space to be strong and fall apart. Tell us how this episode helped you support a Black Man. Tell us about your story in the comments!

Tšhegofatšo Ndabane is a writer, podcast publicist for mental health practitioners, and Master of Arts in clinical psychology candidate at the University of Cape Town. Her words have been featured in various international publications including Refinery29, Well + Good, Life & Thyme, and APL Media, amongst others. Deneshia and Joi hopped on a zoom call to record this one! Tšhegofatšo shares her view of resiliency and belonging from a Black South African woman perspective. This conversation is ultimately led by the words of Dr. Maya Angelou who defines Belonging for herself. Dr. Angelou says in A Bill Moyers interview: You are truly free when you realize you belong nowhere, no place, but everywhere. Most importantly I belong to myself. I’m very concerned about Maya. This episode is an exploration of belonging to safe people, places and things. Tšhegofatšo, Deneshia and Joi share some research on belonging and personal loved experiences. What’s your definition of belonging? Where do you belong? How do you cultivate this? Share this episode with a friend! Share your thoughts with us in the comments!

Dr. James Hawkins, is a dear friend, colleague and something like a big brother to Joi and Deneshia. James is a certified trainer in EFT COUNSELING/Supervisor. He is the host of The Leading Edge Podcast for therapists and the host of a marriage podcast with his wife, called A More Excellent Way. Deneshia and Joi stopped by his studio to talk all about vulnerability in the Black Community. Together we share the definition of vulnerability and the function of this term. We understand vulnerability is risky. But we all agree it’s necessary. We know that the Black Community has good reasons for walking away from vulnerability and depending on others within our community and outside our community. Deneshia, Joi and James would encourage the Black community and society at large to take a risk on vulnerability. James drops some gems. We love recording in his fancy studio in his office. Tell us one thing you learned about vulnerability from this episode? Drop your lessons in the comments!

Tiara Hudson, LCSW, LISCW is a therapist located in NWA and seeing clients virtually! She stopped by to talk to us all about HEALTH AND PLEASURE. Tiara shared her story and journey with her own health. She redefines pleasure as the guide to her healthy living lifestyle. She says, she allowed pleasure to guide how she would change her lifestyle. For Tiara stress and mental health sparked some scary health concerns. This motivated her to find a routine that would work with her life. It wasn’t displined that helped her be consistent. It was her connecting to all her resources from work, doctors, personal trainers. And her success was led by what she really enjoyed doing in her body, like walking, hiking etc. Deneshia and Joi were so impressed by Tiara’s ability to ensure that whatever new habits she started would be sustainable overtime. Tiara dropped so many nuggets today! Tell us your fave ?!?

Nicole is the host of the Nicole Please Podcast streaming on all major platforms! Joi and Deneshia had the privilege of hearing more of Nicole’s passion and purpose. She shares why she started her podcast and more of her story of learning how to set boundaries and prioritize her own health. She talks about mental health, relationship boundaries, and speaking life from a REAL TALK perspective on her podcast. Joi says, “Nicole has a style of speaking that is relatable, inviting and challenging. You know she will keep it real with you and also want what’s best for you.” We hope y’all love this episode! Share it with a friend who needs some encouragement to start their own podcast! Tell us in the comments what how Nicole may have inspired you?!?

Shakira Eaksins, LCSW stops by the studio this week to tell us more about her journey with failure. We often consider failure to be negative or even life threatening. Shakira redefines failure as a way to help refocus one’s goals and aspirations. Her spin on failure helps us to tell a better story to ourselves and our body when things don’t go as intended. In this episode, Joi and Deneshia reflect on how failure is oftentimes a tool to help us reposition and refocus on what’s really important. Failure can bring clarity to what you need to prioritize and what you really want in certain seasons of your life. We are so glad Shakira came back for another episode! Share this episode with a friend who may also be struggling with failure! Tell us how this episode helped you!

Nicola Hawkins is a Licensed Associate Counselor who works at The Joshua Center in Northwest Arkansas. She is also hosting her own podcast called, Healing for Her, which is streaming everywhere! Deneshia and Joi really appreciated the authenticity of this interview. Deneshia says, “Nicola is one of those women who always drops little golden nuggets of wisdom.” This episode is not saying you have to do it all. But is a reminder that no matter how many hats you wear, you must slow down and ask “What do you need?” It’s a reminder for all of us as women and humans that it’s okay to have needs, it’s okay to care for self, it’s okay to dream. Let us know what sticks out to you! We would love to hear more from our listeners!!

Dequishia Prude Wheeler, the owner and founder of Prude Legacy Law Group PLLC. Prude Legacy Law Group is a premiere modern law firm focused on providing business and estate planning services to communities of color. She talks to us passionately about her practice and the importance for all of us to understand the basics of ESTATE PLANNING. This episode is for ALL OF US! Black, White, Asian, Latinx. This is for all of us! Married, Single or Divorced! Deneshia and Joi feel that Dequishia came to the studio to teach us so much about the importance of planning what happens to your body and your stuff when you die! Listen to this! Share with a friend! And if you need Dequishia’s services visit her website! She works statewide and nationwide! https://prudelegacylaw.comLet us know what your TAKEAWAYS are in the comments!

Gina is the founder and director of The Essie Justice Group is on a mission to harness the collective power of women impacted by mass incarceration and empower these women to help end mass incarceration. Deneshia and Joi were so grateful to talk with Gina! In this episode you will learn ways you can partner with the Essie Justice Group by nominating yourself or another woman who may have been impacted by mass incarceration. Gina mentions some research she did to further understand the impact that mass incarceration has on women and Black women. You can find that research here.We hope you feel as empowered as we did when we talked with Gina! This episode is about empowerment! Get connected! Get active! You are an important part of healing the world! Thanks for listening!Tell us your story! If you would like to share how this episode impacted you please message us on instagram @resilientblackwomen_org or email us here resilientblackwomen@gmail.comYou can learn more about the Essie Justice Group by following them online via instagram @Essie4justice

Happy New Year! This is the first episode of season 4! Deneshia and Joi make some space to identify how they feel about the New Year and how they are trying to tackle this year. One thing to note is that this is the only LIVE recording for this season due to Joi’s upcoming delivery of her 4th child. Pre-recording season 4 was done to help support Joi’s Maternity Leave. So we find our co-hosts excited to be sharing an IN REAL TIME episode for this season. You will notice some more authenticity from the cohosts. As they start discussing their list of IN’s and OUT’s they start recognizing how hard it is to identify the things they want to be OUT in their 2024 year. This is really good news because there is some hope for at least one or two more IN REAL TIME episodes for this season. So, share with us below! What’s the mindset you are bringing into your 2024? Which parts of this episode really challenged or encouraged you? Email us! DM us on Instagram! We can't wait to hear from you! Remember to give yourself GRACE, COMPASSION, and TIME. It is okay to have a slow starting year…