If you’re here, you likely know already that I like to talk a lot. For those of you who are new here or want a fuller picture of who I am, this was designed especially with you in mind. So I put together 21 questions I already know you want to ask me because, well, you like me a lot.

1. Where are you from?

Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY *insert something corny about some rapper you know from the borough*. Though fun fact: I do share a birthday with Jay-Z. If you ever wanted to know what it might be like to work with me, refer to that video of the man just trying to get those people to clap on beat and then looking bewildered, saying, “Forget the clapping.”

I’m also the product of Jamaican immigrants, and… I think that tells you a lot already.

2. What inspired you to start the podcast?

I was going through a serious period of transition in my life in early 2023, and I just went for it. I was somewhat still in my shell and doubting myself if you can believe it. But after yapping in my IG stories all the time, I realized that I have a story(ies) to tell, and people listen to me when I speak. Plus, I enjoy the authentic outlet. Listen to the pod!

3. What’s your Big Three?

Because who doesn’t love a Zodiac question? Now, before I say it, you’ll obviously love or hate me after this, and I wanna note… It’s been real. Everything you know about me up until this point might also make a whole lot of sense once I do the big reveal. Okay. So. Here goes nothing:

• Sun: Sagittarius
• Moon: Leo *hides face*
• Rising/Ascendant: Gemini *peeks between fingers*

… Do with this information what you will.

4. If you were an animal, what kind of animal would you be?

An elephant, cuz that long-term memory for revenge?? …But seriously, it’s that regal strength, the meekness that holds them back from the destruction they are so easily able to dish out, and their aptitude for keeping a community together that resonates with who I am at my core.

I deeply love how elephants navigate life with very specific integrity and moral code. People revere them and sometimes take advantage of them for what they can provide. Yet, we really should fear what they are truly capable of. I love everything about an elephant. Including the people-sized poop, they leave behind.

5. Favorite TV Shows to binge-watch?

The Golden Girls (because picture it…)

The Office (irreverent tomfoolery)

Living Single (evergreen content. Replay value unmatched)

6. What are some of your Core Values?

Authenticity – Maintaining a consistent expression of myself regardless of external changes and pressure. Committing to fully engaging in what motivates me. Committing to contributing to a better and more enjoyable world for myself and the people I’m in community with.

Wellness – Prioritizing self-preservation. Maintaining authentic boundaries to prevent self-sacrificing that challenges wellness. Allocating time and resources to activities that rejuvenate me. Taking stock of how the state of the world is causing me to show up. Then, I allow myself to care for external communities.

Freedom – I think of the freeing of self from external oppression and being able to engage in what’s important to me. Being able to exist outside restrictions implied by the external world (including patriarchy, heteronormativity, and white supremacy). With individual freedom comes responsibility for collective freedom because human struggle (and, subsequently, freedom) is interrelated.

In sum: “We have nothing to lose but our chains”

7. What molded you to be who you are?

I’ve learned a lot from my experiences. I’ve pivoted in and out of several careers at different levels and for various reasons. I’ve also discussed my rearing, shaped by trauma, on the podcast. There’s a lot for me to pull from. I also live a life dedicated to learning. Whether experiential or in a book, I will know what I’m talking about and apply it to myself where it feels the most appropriate.

8. If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be?

If I could bippity boppity boo anything, it would be for people to feel allowed to be whatever version of themselves they would explore if they could do so without the judgment of others.

We say that we’re our own worst critics, but the mental health professional in me understands the voice of our inner critic to be someone else’s words. It can be the voice of an unsupportive caregiver, that pastor who yelled that everything you did would most definitely banish you to fire and brimstone, or your 2nd-grade bully, whoever. Often, we weren’t the ones who started writing the hateful script. Unfortunately, some of us never throw that script away, nor can we decipher the difference. 

9. What are 3 items on your bucket list?

• I want to have an experience taking care of elephants
• Nintendo World in Japan
• Cultural tour of Ghana. Two things that must happen: getting my hair braided & visiting where the trans-atlantic slave trade took place

10. What’s your biggest regret?

Not believing in myself to launch a lot of this stuff sooner. Needing to be super isolated to push myself forward to get to the point of launching “the thing”

11. What’s your favorite thing about yourself?

Integrity. I make mistakes, and I own up to them. When I have feelings, I’m honest about them, even when I don’t understand them. I’m transparent even when I find it hard to be vulnerable. For this reason, I don’t find it hard to earn trust. Allowing myself to be checked is part of how I maintain integrity. It’s the best way to remain in community with others and to do deep, soul work. It’s intense, but it yields the best outcomes. Try me sometime 🙂

12. What do you want to be known for?

I’d like to be known for helping people feel comfortable telling their truth. That’s why I was motivated to be a therapist. The truth pushes my healing forward. I also enjoy being told that my authenticity pushes others to examine how truthful they are with themselves and the better quality of life they might have if they commit to a more truthful course. 

I’d also like to be known for being kind. It’s never my intention to be known as a person without boundaries. But I do want to be known as inherently kind & accessible to most.

13. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

I’m wildly pivoting right now, so I’m looking forward to my life looking very different. I want to be in a space where I’m completely in control of the structure of my day-to-day and doing the things that invigorate me. 

14. Where do you go when you need peace and quiet?

Typically, someplace with water. Bonus points if I get on a plane first to take me there. I feel really energized by skipping through the pre-check line, knowing I’m about to be delivered to some place where the beach doesn’t have mystery particles lodged in it.

15. What is the perfect day for you?

These days: One where I’ve completed everything on my to-do list. Real talk. Otherwise, Disney World with no children. Sorry to them kids.

16. What two transition points in your life taught you the most?

Becoming a therapist changed my life, and I never looked back. It fuels my need to constantly learn while being able to guide or ”teach” in ways that I didn’t even anticipate. Multiple aspects of my identity are simultaneously stimulated, and I couldn’t have asked for a better role. I’m still figuring out the best way to live out that role, but we will get there.

The second transition point would be launching a podcast and, later, this website. The podcast began me re-prioritizing doing things I enjoy that aren’t guided by someone else’s goals for me. It’s truly soul-sucking for me to end up in situations where I’m living by someone else’s vision and have little to no creative license over how I can execute within it. Currently, I feel alive.

17. What five adjectives describe you best?

Service-oriented

Straight-forward

Authentic

Empathetic

Engaging

18. What is the lesson you learned from your greatest failure?

I learned about the power of the pivot from my first (two) grad school failures, which technically weren’t failures, but I quit twice. I was supposed to be “Dr.” Patrice, but circumstances were not right, and I got the hell out of there. No regrets. However, my identity was obliterated because I’d spent years up until that time shaping myself around becoming this thing that I would no longer be. I now found myself in a place of having to reconstruct my entire world and who I was inside of it.

Step 1 was learning that it was indeed not the end of the world. Since then, I’ve reinvented myself a couple more times because I went back to school yet again to change my career to become a therapist. So… things can change, and I can be in control of it instead of feeling like life controlled me without my consent.

19. Question that people ask you often?

What was the hardest part about becoming a therapist? – There are a few things (lol). I’ll list them, and I’d be happy to talk about them either in a podcast episode if that’s highly requested or in a one-off conversation if you shoot me an email and want to talk.

So, for me, it was:

• Practicing vulnerability in front of others, at first. Hence, I can do it so easily on the podcast now
• PLAY THERAPY, which made me realize my trauma was a bigger deal than I thought. Because being a “kid” was weird to me
• Licensure laws and the process overall once you graduate because I’m still going through it, and it’s a lot.

20. How can we work together/Connect?

Contact Me, and we’ll make something shake! Let’s chat about what you might have in mind. I’m also working on some services & offerings (coming soon) that’ll be more readily available for collaboration. Stay tuned for that! If you have anything, in particular, you would like to see offered, feel free to let me know!

21. How can I support you/the blog/podcast/ your creative endeavors?

The Support page lists a few ways you can show your support. If there are other ways not listed that you’d like to support, feel free to shoot me an email. Anything is welcome! Also, subscribe to my YouTube channel 🙂

– 21 questions because we go together now –