In a profession where doing more is often praised, even when it costs us our health, clarity, and sense of self, what happens when we stop pushing and start listening?

In this returning conversation, host Renita Ray Davis sits down with Regina Lacking, LCSW, also known as the Plant-Based BAWSE, to explore radical rest not as retreat, but as reorientation.

Regina reflects on the season that forced her to ask the question so many helpers quietly avoid: at what cost? Together, they unpack the emotional, physical, and spiritual toll of over-functioning, the moment everything came to a pause, and what emerged when stillness was finally allowed to do its work.

Find Regina Here:

✨IG: https://www.instagram.com/reginallacking/

✨Website: https://www.reginallacking.com/

✨Black Women DO Heal:

👉https://blackwomendoheal.org/

✨Find more of Renita's offerings here:

👉 https://linktr.ee/illuminatedexpressions

Interested in Mastering Your Therapeutic Techniques for Dementia Caregivers?

👉 https://gamma.app/docs/Interested-in-Mastering-Your-Therapeutic-Techniques-for-Dementia--7fnyf5ydeq70qd5

✨ Goddess of Social Work Earrings – Etsy:

👉 https://www.etsy.com/listing/1183285270/goddess-of-social-work-earrings

In this episode of the Goddesses of Social Work Podcast, host Renita Ray Davis sits down with Erika Perry (Coach Perry) for a powerful conversation about what it really means to move from good intentions to real impact.

Erika is the owner of EP Enterprises, the founder of Youth Talk United, and the voice behind the YouTube channel Behind the Doer. Her work centers on helping youth-serving organizations, coaches, and community leaders build trauma-aware, emotionally intelligent environments that don’t just say they are youth-centered, but actually live it out in practice.

This conversation is honest, reflective, and grounded in lived experience—a reminder that meaningful change always begins with the person behind the work.

🎧 Listen in and reflect on how you are showing up as a doer in your own leadership and practice.

🔗 Connect with Erika Perry on YouTube: Behind the Doer https://www.youtube.com/@BehindTheDoer

✨Find more of Renita's offerings here:

👉 https://linktr.ee/illuminatedexpressions

Interested in Mastering Your Therapeutic Techniques for Dementia Caregivers?

👉 https://gamma.app/docs/Interested-in-Mastering-Your-Therapeutic-Techniques-for-Dementia--7fnyf5ydeq70qd5

✨ Goddess of Social Work Earrings – Etsy:

👉 https://www.etsy.com/listing/1183285270/goddess-of-social-work-earrings

Host Renita Ray Davis welcomes back LICSW Renee Ingram for an honest conversation about shedding old selves, navigating perfectionism, and embracing therapist humanity. Renee shares the story behind earning her clinical license, the emotional work that surfaced along the way, and what she’s learned about grace, trauma, and transformation — both in herself and the children she serves. A grounding, deeply human episode for social workers in every season of their journey.

✨Find more of Renita's offerings here:

👉 https://linktr.ee/illuminatedexpressions

Interested in Mastering Your Therapeutic Techniques for Dementia Caregivers?

👉 https://gamma.app/docs/Interested-in-Mastering-Your-Therapeutic-Techniques-for-Dementia--7fnyf5ydeq70qd5

✨ Goddess of Social Work Earrings – Etsy:

👉 https://www.etsy.com/listing/1183285270/goddess-of-social-work-earrings

In this milestone 100th episode of the Goddesses of Social Work Podcast, I am honored to welcome Ta’lor L. Pinkston, LSW — widely known as The Heart Advocate. A licensed self-love social worker, creator of Self-Care Matters and Healing Over Everything, and Clinical Practice Program Manager at Healthy Start, Inc. in Pittsburgh, Ta’lor is devoted to helping people choose self-love as a coping skill for mental health and healing.

In this deeply moving and liberatory conversation, Ta’lor reminds us that self-love is a practice, not a feeling, and that perfectionism is a learned survival strategy rooted in systems that teach us we are never enough. Together, we talk about:

💗 Why self-love is an action — a verb — not a feeling 💗 How perfectionism, internalized judgment, and “staying small” shape our relationships 💗 Seeing diagnoses through a strengths-based and compassionate lens 💗 Ta’lor’s journey from creative writer to social worker to self-love practitioner 💗 How becoming a mother transformed her relationship with herself 💗 The origins of The Heart Advocate and what it means to practice self-love as community care

Ta’lor’s honesty about shrinking, choosing the wrong relationships, navigating anxiety and prenatal depression, and finally finding her way back to herself is a masterclass in truth-telling. Her story is a reminder that we are born enough — that nothing we do can separate us from worthiness, love, or the possibility of transformation.

As we celebrate 100 conversations, 100 stories, and 100 reminders that social work is sacred work, this episode stands as a testament to heart, healing, and legacy.

🌟 Connect with The Heart Advocate

Follow Ta’lor and her work here:

• Instagram: @theheartadvocate
• Facebook: @theheartadvocate
• Twitter: @heartadvocate_
• Self-Care Matters & More: https://theheartadvocate.com

If Ta’lor’s words moved you, inspired you, or invited you deeper into your own self-love practice, share this episode with another social worker who needs it.

✨Find more of Renita's offerings here:

👉 https://linktr.ee/illuminatedexpressions

Interested in Mastering Your Therapeutic Techniques for Dementia Caregivers?

👉 https://gamma.app/docs/Interested-in-Mastering-Your-Therapeutic-Techniques-for-Dementia--7fnyf5ydeq70qd5

✨ Goddess of Social Work Earrings – Etsy:

👉 https://www.etsy.com/listing/1183285270/goddess-of-social-work-earrings

In this episode of the Goddesses of Social Work Podcast, part of the SWAG Awards Series honoring Service, Wellness, Advocacy, and Growth, I sit down with Dr. Angela Campbell, a social work leader, racial equity advocate, healer, and 2023 SWAG Award recipient whose life embodies transformation and purpose.

From her beginnings as a foster youth navigating systems not designed for her, to her education at Bennett College, the University of Pittsburgh, and later her DSW at the University of Kentucky, Dr. Campbell has spent her life proving what becomes possible when lived experience, sisterhood, and divine alignment meet.

Together we explore: ✨ How foster care, kinship care, and mentorship shaped her calling into social work 📚 Her journey from frontline case management to becoming a racial equity fellow transforming child welfare policy 🎨 The “therapeutic art” space she created where youth manifested confidence, creativity, and community 🖤 The impact of hyper-surveillance on Black families — and why racial equity work is essential, urgent, and deeply personal 🔮 How intuition, tarot, and spiritual discernment support her healing work and leadership 🌺 The inspiration behind her new poetry collection, Healing the Inner Child

Dr. Campbell’s story is a powerful reminder that what happens to us can become what happens for us — and that healing, purpose, and self-defined success are always possible.

🔗 Connect & Learn More

📚 Purchase her new book, Healing the Inner Child: •

Amazon: Healing the inner child: a collection of poems•

Barnes & Noble: healing the inner child: a collection of poems

📸 Follow Dr. Campbell on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/angielove5555

💼 Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drangelacampbell555

✨ Learn more about her healing and spiritual work on YouTube: AngieLove5555

✨Find more of Renita's offerings here:

👉 https://linktr.ee/illuminatedexpressions

Interested in Mastering Your Therapeutic Techniques for Dementia Caregivers?

👉 https://gamma.app/docs/Interested-in-Mastering-Your-Therapeutic-Techniques-for-Dementia--7fnyf5ydeq70qd5

✨ Goddess of Social Work Earrings – Etsy:

👉 https://www.etsy.com/listing/1183285270/goddess-of-social-work-earrings

In this powerful episode of the Goddesses of Social Work Podcast, host Renita Ray Davis, LICSW-S sits down with Tanya J. Ashby, MSW, LSW — the 2023 SWAG Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient — for a conversation that is equal parts heart, wisdom, ministry, and legacy.

With 40 years in the field, Tanya’s journey is a testament to what it looks like to serve with compassion, faith, and steadfast dedication. From her early years watching her mother’s gentle care as a VA nurse, to internships that shaped her understanding of trauma and healing, to decades as a beloved school social worker with Pittsburgh Public Schools, Tanya embodies service as both calling and ministry.

In this episode, Tanya shares: ✨ The story behind her Sister-to-Sister Women’s Bible Class, a multigenerational circle of women ages 40–90 ✨ Her experiences in crisis response and postvention work — supporting children and schools after tragedies ✨ The mindset, habits, and spiritual grounding that have sustained her across four decades ✨ How she nurtures her own wellbeing through routine, journaling, prayer, and rest ✨ A moving moment when a former student recited a poem she learned from Tanya nearly 30 years ago ✨ Her reflections on youth voice, elder care, and the importance of honoring all stages of life ✨ What receiving the SWAG Lifetime Achievement Award meant to her

This episode is a love letter to longevity in social work — a reminder that impact builds quietly, consistently, heart to heart, life to life.

Whether you are a new social worker seeking guidance, a seasoned professional looking for renewed purpose, or someone who simply loves stories of resilience and service, Tanya’s journey will bless you.

Listen in and be reminded: You never know the ripple effect of your presence.

🔗 Connect & Learn More

✨ Reach out to Tanya Ashby here: tashby1@pghschools.org

✨Find more of Renita's offerings here:

👉 https://linktr.ee/illuminatedexpressions

Interested in Mastering Your Therapeutic Techniques for Dementia Caregivers?

👉 https://gamma.app/docs/Interested-in-Mastering-Your-Therapeutic-Techniques-for-Dementia--7fnyf5ydeq70qd5

✨ Goddess of Social Work Earrings – Etsy:

👉 https://www.etsy.com/listing/1183285270/goddess-of-social-work-earrings

In this episode of the Goddesses of Social Work Podcast — part of the SWAG Awards Series celebrating the values of Service, Wellness, Advocacy, and Growth — I sit down with Dr. Sheila Gillespie Roth, LCSW, a trailblazing educator, clinician, and advocate for first responders’ mental health.

From her early days as a medical social worker in a Level 1 trauma center to her leadership as a founding chair of Carlow University’s social work programs, and now through her private practice, Roth Consulting, Dr. Roth has spent decades helping those who help others.

Together we explore: 🚒 How Dr. Roth became a leading voice for first responders and trauma recovery 🧠 The concept of “invisible emotional body armor” and how social workers can learn to lower it 🌿 The connection between teaching, clinical practice, and community healing 💫 The meaning of reinventing yourself after decades of service 💖 The importance of joy, nature, and self-care as lifelong healing practices

Dr. Roth’s story is a powerful reminder that even in high-stress professions, growth and renewal are always possible.

🔗 Connect & Learn More

✨ Learn more about Roth Consulting: sheilarothconsulting@gmail.com

🎓 Read Dr. Roth’s research on trauma and first responder wellness: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kE1mijLih12LwTvvZbsTRQzmu0nMryBe/view?usp=sharing🌸

✨Find more of Renita's offerings here:

👉 https://linktr.ee/illuminatedexpressions

Interested in Mastering Your Therapeutic Techniques for Dementia Caregivers?

👉 https://gamma.app/docs/Interested-in-Mastering-Your-Therapeutic-Techniques-for-Dementia--7fnyf5ydeq70qd5

✨ Goddess of Social Work Earrings – Etsy:

👉 https://www.etsy.com/listing/1183285270/goddess-of-social-work-earrings

In this episode of the Remember Me Series, we shine a light on the incredible work happening through the Central Alabama Aging Consortium’s Gateway to Community Living program.

Host Renita Ray Davis sits down with Erica Dixson, Transition Coordinator and longtime advocate for older adults, people with disabilities, and those navigating mental health and substance use challenges. A proud graduate of Alabama A&M University, Erica has spent nearly 30 years helping Alabamians transition from nursing facilities back into their homes and communities with dignity and care.

Together they explore: ✨ What Gateway to Community Living means in practice ✨ How decades of social work experience shaped Erica’s approach to advocacy ✨ A real-life story that captures the heart of this program ✨ Why community-based care is transforming the landscape of aging in Alabama

💜 Join Us: Register now for the upcoming Remember Me: Dementia in the African American Community screening and community gathering hosted by the Central Alabama Aging Consortium. 🎟️ [Register here ➜ https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1588469818989?aff=oddtdtcreator]

To learn more about CAAC’s programs and how they support older adults, caregivers, and families across Alabama, visit www.caaclink.org.

Find more of Renita's offerings here:

👉 https://linktr.ee/illuminatedexpressions

Interested in Mastering Your Therapeutic Techniques for Dementia Caregivers?

👉 https://gamma.app/docs/Interested-in-Mastering-Your-Therapeutic-Techniques-for-Dementia--7fnyf5ydeq70qd5

✨ Goddess of Social Work Earrings – Etsy:

👉 https://www.etsy.com/listing/1183285270/goddess-of-social-work-earrings