I Am Not Back, I’m Better
“She’s baaaacccckkk.”
Nah, forreal. I am better.
Better at so many things. Seen and unseen. Personal and professional. And y’all, it feels so good.
I recorded the audio of this blog post back on Monday, July 20th, 2026, in the midst of the first-ever Summer Intensive at The Creative Conservatory (TCC) focused on content creation. Meaning, ya girl was over here hosting group calls 2-3 times a week, being social, and sitting on the fact that she knew the blog would be coming back in August.
Cause, look, the good Lord was not gonna let me go another year not writing on my own website. It felt like God’s whispers were getting louder every day I put everyone else and my sheer exhaustion ahead of doing something I love so much.
Writing.
A lot of you know me from the few times I’ve modeled for people—although now it is absolutely in my Instagram bio so there’s that—or as a community pillar in the city of Charlotte, North Carolina, or simply as your favorite creative cheerleader. I am all those things, but I was always a writer first.
I mean, look at my captions. Think about our conversations.
You can practically hear and feel the poetic musings spilling out like a musical number or Broadway reference in a room full of theatre kids.
I Had to Face the Music and Re-Evaluate Some Things
I don’t like directly managing people; micro-managing gives me the ick.
As a trainer, a mentor, the whole Dean for TCC, I am not finna tell you or even suggest what to do then watch you like a hawk and freak out every time you don’t do it. Absolutely not.
I will happily relay the information, guide you, and give you that fairy godmother treatment that comes with being the whimsical lil polymath I am. A multi-hyphenate who has a healthy dose of discernment, an abundance of love and kindness, and a sharp, God-given intuition.
Don’t get it twisted though. Unconditional tolerance died with the last version of me.
Yeah, I chose that phrasing for a reason.
Done is better than perfect. Practice makes progress.
As someone who used to claim to be an overthinker and get overwhelmed at the very idea of starting, these are two things I have to tell myself. I also had to do something a little crazy and just start. Like, go for it full-throttle.
No elaborate plan. No S.M.A.R.T goals mapped out. Just winging it with God at the center and seeing what happens.
And really, I wasn’t winging it as much as I was letting God lead and keeping my eyes set on my Heavenly Father.
I spent many a morning before the sun rose writing pages and pages of strategy because I couldn’t sleep anymore. God wasn’t about to let me forget or dilly-dally.
I can want more and still be grateful for my now.
I am grateful that the first issue of Pariah Magazine is sitting on the table in front of me as I sit at Waterbean Coffee. One copy is open to my girl, Quana Skates, and her feature, written by our other homegirl, Lindsay McMillan.
The other copy on the table is the cover showcasing William McNeely of Do Greater and Sparkhouse Charlotte. The lore (also read as: memories) Pariah already has at Do Greater may just be one of my favorite things.
And still, I have an entire folder with the founder where we have just a few of our BIG ideas for Pariah. I may or may not have already been plotting our first office space into existence too. It is me, after all.
I am grateful that The Creative Conservatory has had not one but two different groups of creatives join. People have consistently talked about walking out with more clarity, confidence, and a sense of community—3 things we’re really big on—even if they were in the midst of a pivot.
I am even more grateful that I finally figured out our YouTube strategy for TCC, and our first video is already getting views.
And still, I know this needs to be more immersive, less mastermind-esque, and more free. So, that’s what I am already working on for Fall 2026. I am already in talks with multiple people who I believe can help me bring this vision to life.
Oh, and I may or may not have finally figured out (committed to) the tiers in the community. I always want to have a free option cause you really never know what people are going through and how community can help, but that access to me I was freely giving away? Yeah…homegirl was BURNIN OUT.
I had to quickly go, “Okay, God, what’s the pivot?” after the intensive was over. And that’s okay. My time and mind are valuable, and access to my heart for what I do is a privilege, not a right.
Not to mention, I need to be leveraging our LinkedIn company page. That will be new territory, and I’m excited to learn!
All in all, the time away was necessary.
I released some relationships. Let go of some opportunities. And I finally met the freest version of myself thus far.
What a beautiful, brilliant, bold Proverbs 31 woman of God she is. Whimsy and all.
That’s it, for now.
