Tokashemia Grady-Carter, BSN, RN-BC, is a mother of four beautiful girls who resides in Houston, Texas.
She is the owner and founder of Girlrillus LLC; a small athleisure wear company created and centered around her daughters. Her athleisure wear inspires women to embrace their health and to promote wellness.
Ms. Grady’s energetic and untiring accomplishments also includes the publication of Reaching Back which outlines her own story of a struggle and successful outcome of a physical illness that attempted to ravish her body and livelihood.
Her approach and commitment to battle and overcome the illness that plagued her body was demonstrated throughout the pages of the book, while prompting good health factors, simultaneously.
​
Ms. Grady’s is a part of the largest nursing minority organization nationally, Black Nurses Rock and is the Director of Social Media for local chapter Black Nurses Rock Houston. She hosts a weekly radio talk program on thenursesstation.net, where Ms. Grady serves as a subject matter expert on spirituality related to Praise as she delivers a 30 minutes’ presentation entitled, Uninterrupted Praise.
​
​
Lashawn "Suga Ray" Marston, a Queens native, was born on March 14th, 1984. Lashawn began high school at Long Island City High School, but finished at The Door, a high school equivalency program in Manhattan, where he received his High School Equivalency Diploma in August 2000.
Lashawn has had to overcome great personal adversity (being shot, going to prison) and in 2007 made a conscious decision to remove himself from the destructive path he found himself on. He instead, decided to use his time to help families and individuals that were burdened with their own trials.
Lashawn began volunteering his time alongside countless community activists, such as Erica Ford in Queens and Geoffrey Davis in Brooklyn. With the guidance of these two giants, "Suga Ray", built a name for himself. He has traveled throughout the U.S addressing many issues that plague the Nation, especially the people and communities that have been historically under funded.
Lashawn has made great strides in his quest for personal growth. He recently published "Dear Usha" Messages to My First Born
Melony Hill's writing has been featured in over multiple magazines, she is a columnist, author, blogger and freelance writer. In 2017, she has published 4 non-fiction books, her fifth, The Strength of a Woman will be released late December 2017.
Additionally, she runs an indie talent promotion and resource company.
​
Melony is a mental health advocate from Baltimore, MD. Legally emotionally disabled and diagnosed with PTSD, depression, anxiety disorder and dissociative identity disorder , she has struggled with the long-term effects of abuse, trauma and mental illness.
Melony has two video series, “The Sexy Sapphire Chronicles” and “Sapphire Says”, which she uses to tell the story of her life, motivate, and inspire others
Loving to share, Melony is also a public speaker who speaks on a diverse set of topics from self-esteem and life with mental illness to entrepreneurship. She started Stronger Than My Struggles as a way to connect with others nationwide and let them know they too, can overcome.
www.strongerthanmystruggles.com
www.instagram.com/strongerthanmystruggles
www.youtube.com/c/sapphirehill
www.facebook.com/strongerthanmystruggles
​
A native of Washington, DC, Elona Washington’s memoir, From Ivy League To Stripper Life, attained Amazon bestseller status in two categories the day of its release. Between these pages, she candidly discusses life as a stripper, why her promising life spiraled out of control and the lessons learned along the way. She’s made guest appearances on HuffPost Live as well as other prominent radio shows and podcasts.
Due to the success of her memoir, Elona founded Memoir Maven Publishing Company who’s mission is to publish true, impactful stories that inspire readers to improve their lives.
With an undergraduate degree from Howard University, Elona later obtained her Master of Science in Management from the University of Maryland University College. She’s a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and a mother of two. She currently resides in the Philadelphia, PA area.
Arlene R. Major aka Lady Blue was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
​
Writing has always been a part of her life. English was a favorite subject and her teachers helped her to realize she had a gift. After going through a rough time in her life, Arlene decided to return to writing and let it reach and touch those who needed an uplift in their spirit. She started writing blogs for World Prayr in 2010 shortly after her father passed away and has been going strong ever since. She also writes for Urban Image Magazine
​
As a domestic violence survivor, she found strength to share her story with others organized 50 Shades of Blue, an annual celebration of life event for domestic violence victims and survivors.
​
Lady Blue has contributed to a few books in the past two years: with Author Lucie Hola Owens and is currently working on Part II, Women on a Mission with Teresa Hawley Howard and most recently Reflections of a Survivor with Melony Hill. Lady Blue currently has her own personal story that is set for release in the fall of 2017. She continues to write and is currently working on her domestic violence story as well.
​
​
50shadesofbluebalt.wixsite.com/50shadesofblue
Instagram: @ladybluu1
Twitter: @ladybluu1
Facebook: Lady Blue
Meet Our Host
Keisha Christian
LaKeisha Christian is the founder of FREE, which stands for; Fearless, Releasing, Executing, Expecting. FREE is an organization built to empower victims of domestic abuse to break the chains that bind their souls, minds and personal lives through activating truth found in the Word of God.
​
As a survivor of Domestic Abuse, LaKeisha utilizes her gift as a motivational speaker in the fight against this horrible epidemic. Her speaking engagements are rooted in her very own personal experiences.
​
Along with radio interviews, such as an appearance on Erica Campbell's Get Up! Mornings With Erica.
LaKeisha recently filmed her life story with CBN for “The 700 Club”. The 700 Club” is a National Television show that broadcast all over the world. She was also featured in the October issue of “Nouveau Exposure” Magazine.
LaKeisha is very passionate about speaking to teenagers and young adults, because that is when she was first introduced to Domestic Violence. She has scheduled engagements at High Schools and Colleges to speak to teenagers in hopes of leading them down the right path and steering them clear of Domestic Violence.
​
As an Author and entrepreneur, Lakeisha spends her days in the lovely state of Virginia as a newlywed with her loving husband and children.
