Living Strong: The Flip Side of Adversity

Connect. Heal. Learn. Build.

What important role does a village play?
It is said that the village is the source of strength, wellness, and liberation for Black people. As the Founder and CEO of Maggie’s Village LLC and champion of Black educators, Bridgett Hitchings uses a Connect. Heal. Learn. Build. Framework to strengthen the village and curate affinity spaces for growth in order to experience joy and foster nurturing. Much of her passion comes from her own flip side story of a strong village that prepared her for a time such as this. Join us for a call to action to Black educators and the people who support them in doing this important work to Connect. Heal. Learn. and Build. an affirming education, together, for Black students.

Beyond Her Yes

For mothers living in poverty, especially generational poverty, saying yes to a pregnancy is only the beginning of the journey. These women lack resources, support, finances, and hope. While pregnancy centers succeed in providing aid during pregnancy, impoverished mothers are left to fight a solitary battle for the life of their child every day after birth. Marisol Maldonado Rodriguez calls for a movement to make a lasting change in the lives of women experiencing generational poverty, poor maternal care, life changing choices, and devastating demands. She argues that this requires broadening perspectives and learning about poverty in order to address the root of the problem of the struggle Beyond Her Yes.

PO’ UP! Amplifying the Black College Experience

When you think about Black college experiences, what comes to mind? HBCUs? Homecoming? Step shows? Lizz Rene - the Founder of PO' UP! Card Game - is a first-generation college graduate bridging the gap between the experiences of Black college students and alumni through nostalgia, game play and Black Excellence. PO' UP! is a party game celebrating the experiences, traditions and legacy of Black college students and grads. In this episode, she discusses what makes the Black college experience so special and how she made the pivot into being a fulltime game maker after being laid off from her job in tech in January 2023.

Find Your Strength - How to become a priority in your own life!

Dionna (Coach Dee) Harris will share her personal wellness journey and how she managed to fight her way back from the unhealthiest point in her life. We will discuss her transition from corporate America to owning her own business. We’ll have an honest conversation about the struggles that come along with being a black woman in business and how she teach others to fight through the challenges of life to tap into their strength from within. She would love to discuss some of the most common myths about fitness and nutrition - and why motivation isn't something we should even be concerned with.

Ask Dr. V???

We are creating this quarterly episode to educate, encourage, and empower listeners with practical tools from the desk of Dr. V in order to live fearlessly. We invite you to be a part of this series of episodes. This quarter, Dr. V focuses on real conversation about resilience and strength. Dr. V welcomes questions from our listeners pursuing resilience goals and healing from our pitfalls. The reality of uncertainty can zap our hope, deplete our souls, and deflate our bounce. Let's talk about strength... not striving. And how the skills of resilience can offer strategy for work life harmony, soul care, productivity, and adaptability. Send us your questions on maintaining your bounce and redefining strength.

Happily Married Couples: Navigating Adversity Together

Join Jackie Bledsoe, bestselling author and marriage expert, as he transparently shares his marriage story and insights on how couples can thrive through adversity. In this special segment of Living Strong, Jackie explores the flip side of challenges in marriage, revealing the hidden opportunities for growth, connection, and lasting love. Discover practical tips, real-life experiences, and the power of a Christ-centered foundation in building and sustaining happily married couples. Get ready to transform your relationship and conquer life's storms together.

Encore: Transform Your Passion Into Action

The world is full to the brim with passionate people! What would happen if those same passionate people transformed their passions into action? Our schools would be better! Our communities would be safer! Our relationships would be healthier! How do we get there?
Dr. Stephanie Brown has three passions that electrify her life… faith, education, and writing. During the Pandemic Lockdown of 2020, God transformed her passions into action to address the lack of representation of characters of color in children’s literature and in curriculum. In fact, a survey of 3,716 books surveyed in 2019 indicated that only 11.9% had main characters that were African American. Animal character ranked at over 20% (Herndon, 2020). So, to transform her impact on education, her community, and the minds of children, she wrote and published a children’s book in 2021 called, “She Looks Like Me!”, where the main character is a spunky and curious little African American girl named Elena. The purpose of the book is to teach children about hidden figures in Black History and provide parents and educators with recommendations on how to promote diversity in children’s book at home and in the classroom.
The impact of, “She Looks Like Me!” has been tremendous! The book has been read aloud in classrooms all over Philadelphia, bought by educators nationwide and the support keeps growing! Dr. Brown has also created an educational resource hub called I AM Educational Series that provides free lesson plans for teachers and parents in Black History and in Women’s History. And… On MLK Day 2022, a second book, “She Looks Like Me!: The Activity Book”, will be released to give kids an opportunity to reinforce their knowledge of hidden figures in Black History through building fine motor skills, word searches, matching, coloring and more! The Activity Book also comes with a lesson plan.

Encore: 50th Episode Celebration

We are celebrating our 50th Episode with Grammy Award Winning Producer and Flipside of Adversity Engineer, Keith Pelzer.
Sometimes new tasks can become the most important part of our lives. But we have to take the risk first, in order to achieve new things. In March of 2020, Living Strong Consulting had to create a huge pivot in order to survive and; often, choosing the person to bring your vulnerable ideas to can catapult or crush your confidence to succeed. We have had success beyond anything I could have imagined over the last two years, and people often ask … How do you keep growing against rollercoaster odds?
Well… “The reward is in the risk. No one ever ascended a mountain without risk.” There have been three key components to our climb during the pandemic: Faith, Friendship, and Flipside stories. And the first step was connecting with a like-minded partner in crime willing to climb, dream, and create right along side of my adventure. Pastor, Producer, and Creative Keith Pelzer has been that person. It all started with a “YES” and possibility grew from there.
What are you hesitating to say yes to because you can not be certain of the outcome?
How are you allowing growth to remain on pause because you are afraid of risk?
Are you playing safe and sabotaging your plan?
Log into my conversation with the thought partner behind our radical shift, innovative changes, and traction for growth. We will share strategies, mindset, and technical tips to continuing to innovate in a season of change. We are not looking to bounce back to anything. Our bounce is forward with a momentum of an up and down climb with risks and learned lessons at each twist and turn. But we are not turning back. Join us on 4/28 @5pm EST for a lot of laughs and practical tips for your Flip!

Encore: Digging Destiny out of Dirt

Have you ever felt like you were digging yourself into a hole you may never get out of, or you’ve been pushed into a hole that may feel like your dead end. In this week’s Flip Side story, my Guest Co-host and Author, Latoya Thompson, will lead us into a conversation about transitioning after the disruption of divorce to find a door of deliberate growth. And with any growth story, we will encounter dirt, but LaToya will define the two perspectives we can have about dirt in our experiences and we’ll have real talk about how our choices either keep us constantly digging or constructively planting.

Encore: Networking is a Verb: Collaboration, Co-Creation, & Partnership

“It's possible for anyone to overcome their challenges and it's never too late to live purposefully. My family and I survived civil war; that's shaped the way that I do life professionally and personally. Whether you started out with a great start, or you come from humble beginnings, everyone has a story to tell. Once I discovered what God was calling me to do in my community, it's shaped the businesses I've launched, the relationships I invest in, and how I position myself to know what He wants me to do next.”
Originally from Freetown, Sierra Leone, Andrena Sawyer and her family moved to the United States when she was nine years old due to a civil war that left thousands dead and untold numbers maimed and displaced. She now credits her family's move during the war for her interest in human triumph and perseverance. She has since actively worked to mobilize and empower others.
She is the President of P.E.R.K. Consulting, an advisory firm for small to mid-sized nonprofits and businesses, and the Founder of the Minority Christian Women Entrepreneurs Network. Her passion for community, storytelling, and empowerment show up in The Minority Christian Women Entrepreneurs Network (MCWEN). MCWEN is a thriving community for Christian women of color who have an interest in entrepreneurship and business ownership. Using the Proverbs 31 woman as a model, MCWEN seeks to support women to become impactful and positively influential in their homes, community, and at work. For us, it's not just business as usual. Networking is an action work. Let’s get to work, TOGETHER!