What is the work you are representing as a member of the committee?

“I would say that being a healer is the work that I am representing here today.”

How does your work contribute to the mental health support balance in the Black community in Iowa?

“I am a hair stylist by gift and by trade, I have been for over 2 decades now, and I would say being a healer ties into that because you’re healing the hair but you also kind of become a counselor, of sorts, to your clients. I even have clients where I’ll start out doing the mother and the daughter and the mom brings her to the appointment, but then the daughter comes on her own because she’s an adult and now I see her in a different space without her mom. I even have clients that now have kids and I’ve seen them since they were kids and now they have kids. So you see your clients at pivotal times in their lives; funerals, wedding, anniversaries and things like that. So sometimes you are coaching them through monumental periods in their life so I kind of take the counselor, I use that term loosely because I haven’t had any technical schooling to be a counselor, but just servicing and helping women throughout those times in their lives. And then also I have a new business that was birthed since COVID which is a gemstone business which helps with emotional healing, so yeah, a healer.”

Why did you choose to say yes to this committee?

“I said yes to this committee because for one, I got to sit across the table, and the screen, from some wonderful women in our community, and men, and just wanting healing for our community as whole. I knew that the Make It OK campaign housed some vital information that can help people who want to feel better and be better, so saying yes to the committee was a no brainer for me because it’s all about healing.”