Santana Inniss walked away from corporate, looked around at the women being left behind, and decided to do something about it. In this episode, the Founder of The Glow Initiative (Glowi) joins Deneen L. Garrett to share how she is ending barriers to professional coaching and what it really means to build a legacy that opens doors for others.

In this episode of Women of Color: An Intimate Conversation, we explore:

• The Corporate Pivot: The specific decision that shifted Santana from the corporate ladder to social impact leadership.

• Unlearning Excellence: What it takes to dismantle traditional ideas of who "deserves" high-level support and coaching.

• Legacy in Real Time: Why closing the access gap is a justice issue and how Santana is building for women she may never meet.

• The Power of Access: How The Glow Initiative (Glowi) is matching women in hard-to-reach communities with professional resources.

This conversation is for the woman of color who has ever felt like the door was closed—and for the woman ready to be the one who opens it.

Connect with Santana Inniss:

• Website: glowi.org

• Guest Profile: Santana's Full Bio

Connect with Deneen L. Garrett:

• Join the Dream Lifestyle™ Collective: Join Here

• Website: deneenlgarrett.com

Produced by: The Leon Thomas Group

What if the thing holding you back isn't your circumstances — it's the story you keep telling yourself about your circumstances? Dr. Brandy Peer has spent her career inside that question — and built an entire practice around helping women answer it, dismantle it, and move.

In this episode of Women of Color: An Intimate Conversation, Deneen L. Garrett sits down with Dr. Brandy Peer — CEO of BMPowered Consulting, LLC, Identity Architect, speaker, and consultant who has dedicated her career to dismantling the systemic and inner obstacles that keep high-achieving women playing small — for a conversation that will make you rethink everything you've been told about ambition, success, and what you're actually capable of.

Together, Deneen and Dr. Brandy explore three powerful questions:

Who were you before the title, before the credential, before the build — and what was the decision that shifted how you saw yourself as someone built to lead? The decision that cost her something to trust is the one that changes everything. She tells it here.

What did you have to unlearn to fully step into what you're building — and how has that changed how you define legacy now? What she had to suppress, unlearn, and release to stop building someone else's version of success — and start building her own.

What do you want the woman watching to walk away and build — or stop waiting to start? Because self-sabotage isn't just in your head. It's in the structure. Dr. Brandy names exactly where to find it — and what to do. Then she tells you what to build next.

This episode is for the woman of color who knows she's built for more but keeps getting in her own way. Dr. Brandy gives you the language, the lens, and the permission to finally lead as yourself — and everything rises to meet you when you do.

Women of Color: An Intimate Conversation is a Top 20, 100 Best Women's Empowerment Podcast. WOC Live streams every Thursday at 1:00 PM ET on YouTube.

📺 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DeneenLGarrett

Produced by The Leon Thomas Group: https://www.theleonthomasgroup.com

📺 WATCH THE FULL REPLAY

WOC Live streams every Thursday at 1:00 PM ET. Watch the full replay and join the live chat on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DeneenLGarrett

✨ GUEST SPOTLIGHT: DR. BRANDY PEER

Guest Profile: womenofcoloranintimateconversation.com/guests/dr-brandy-peer/

Connect: Instagram [add once confirmed] | linkedin.com/in/drbrandypeer

👑 ABOUT YOUR HOST: DENEEN L. GARRETT

Deneen is a Cultural Alchemist, International Speaker, and the visionary behind the Dream Lifestyle™️ Collective, the sanctuary for Black women 50+.

Join the Collective: https://www.skool.com/dream-lifestyle-collective-1653

Website: https://deneenlgarrett.com | Inquiries: Deneen@deneenlgarrett.com

Produced by The Leon Thomas Group: https://www.theleonthomasgroup.com

GUEST LINKS

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/drbrandypeer

Website: womenofcoloranintimateconversation.com/guests/dr-brandy-peer/

BMPowered Consulting: bmpoweredconsulting.com

ABOUT THE HOST — DENEEN L. GARRETT

Deneen L. Garrett is a Cultural Alchemist, International Speaker, Dream Lifestyle™ Coach, Writer, and host of Women of Color: An Intimate Conversation, a 100 Best Women's Empowerment Podcast amplifying the voices and journeys of Women of Color. She is also the Founder of the Dream Lifestyle™️ Collective, a sanctuary for Black women 50+.

Dream Lifestyle™️ Collective: https://www.skool.com/dream-lifestyle-collective-1653

Website: https://deneenlgarrett.com

Business inquiries: Deneen@deneenlgarrett.com

She arrived in the U.S. at 27. Never been on a plane. Left her entire family in India. Faked her accent so no one would notice where she came from. Worked harder than anyone in the room — and learned the hard way that hard work without a voice is invisible.

Dr. Charu Chopra is a physical therapist of 17 years. For the past 7+, 100% of her patients have been women. She specializes in pelvic floor and breast rehab therapy — and she is one of the most honest, direct voices in women's health working today.

In this episode of Women of Color: An Intimate Conversation, Deneen L. Garrett sits down with Dr. Chopra for a conversation that covers far more ground than expected: from the intersection of identity, immigration, and entrepreneurship, to the pelvic floor truths most women have never heard from a healthcare provider.

What Dr. Chopra covers in this episode:

• Urinary leakage, pelvic pain, pain with intercourse, and bladder urgency — common, but NEVER normal. Every woman deserves to know this.
• The Kegels myth — why doing Kegels with tight pelvic floor muscles makes things worse, not better.
• Black women's postpartum mortality rate is 3 times higher than the rest of the population — and pelvic floor physical therapy is recommended for every woman after birth, regardless of delivery type.
• Sexual trauma as an unaddressed cause of pelvic floor dysfunction — and why Dr. Chopra is often the first healthcare provider who ever asked.
• Direct access states — in Arizona and many others, you don't need a doctor's referral to see a pelvic floor PT.

Dr. Chopra also shares the unlearning that shaped her leadership: how she moved from assimilation to ownership, from code-switching to speaking her full truth, and how she discovered that the same courage it takes to cross the world is the same courage it takes to advocate for yourself in any room.

This episode is for the woman who has been dismissed. Who has normalized pain. Who has been waiting for a green light that was never coming. Own yourself. Set your boundaries. Never doubt yourself.

Women of Color: An Intimate Conversation is a Top 20, 100 Best Women's Empowerment Podcast. WOC Live streams every Thursday at 1:00 PM ET on YouTube.

📺 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DeneenLGarrett

Produced by The Leon Thomas Group: https://www.theleonthomasgroup.com

✨ GUEST SPOTLIGHT: DR. CHARU CHOPRA

Website: https://www.womenofcoloranintimateconversation.com/guests/charu-chopra/

👑 ABOUT YOUR HOST: DENEEN L. GARRETT

Deneen is a Cultural Alchemist, International Speaker, and the visionary behind the Dream Lifestyle™ Collective, the premier sanctuary for Black women 50+.

Join the Collective: https://www.skool.com/dream-lifestyle-collective-1653

Website: https://deneenlgarrett.com

Inquiries: Deneen@deneenlgarrett.com

You were built to lead. So why does the path keep feeling out of reach?

In this episode of Women of Color: An Intimate Conversation, Deneen L. Garrett
sits down with Gia Warren — strategic operations and program management leader,
MBA, and global executive with leadership experience at Lumen, Intel, Amazon,
and AT&T — for a conversation about what it truly means to be built to lead.

Gia shares the decision that shifted how she sees herself, what she had to
unlearn on the road to operational excellence, and what she wishes more women
understood before they start looking for the path forward.

If you're a Black woman 50+ who knows you're meant for more — but keeps
waiting for the right moment, the right room, or the right permission — this
conversation is going to meet you exactly where you are.

In this episode:
→ The decision that shifts how you see yourself as someone built to lead
→ What high-achieving women have to unlearn to claim their own success
→ What separates women who find their pathway from women who don't
→ Why operational excellence is as much a personal standard as a professional one
→ The permission no one gives you — and why you have to become it

─────────────────────────────────────
CONNECT WITH GIA WARREN
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/giawarren/
─────────────────────────────────────
ABOUT YOUR HOST — Deneen L. Garrett

Deneen L. Garrett is a Cultural Alchemist, International Speaker,
Dream Lifestyle™ Coach, Writer, and host of Women of Color: An Intimate
Conversation, a 100 Best Women's Empowerment Podcast amplifying the voices
and journeys of Women of Color. She is also the Founder of the
Dream Lifestyle™ Collective, a sanctuary for Black women 50+.

Dream Lifestyle™ Collective: https://www.skool.com/dream-lifestyle-collective-1653
Website: https://deneenlgarrett.com
Business inquiries: Deneen@deneenlgarrett.com
─────────────────────────────────────

Deneen L. Garrett is joined by internationally recognized advocate and empowerment coach Kalyn Fahie for a powerful conversation on money, safety, and rebuilding self-trust.

Women of Color: An Intimate Conversation — a 100 Best Women's Empowerment Podcast — continues its LIVE era by exploring what financial power truly means for women who are rebuilding their lives, identities, and futures.

In this episode, Kalyn shares the deeper framework behind "Money as Safety" — and how women, particularly Black women over 50, can reclaim financial confidence without rushing their healing.

Together, they explore:

• Why money can represent safety — not just status
• Rebuilding self-trust after survival
• Economic empowerment as a pathway to agency
• Expanding financially without abandoning emotional healing

For women navigating transition, reinvention, or recovery, this conversation affirms a powerful truth: safety and freedom are not opposites — they are intertwined.

WOC Live streams every Thursday at 1:00 PM ET.
Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DeneenLGarrett

Produced by The Leon Thomas Group: https://www.theleonthomasgroup.com/

Guest — Kalyn Fahie

Kalyn Fahie is an internationally recognized advocate, author, and empowerment coach with nearly two decades of experience ending domestic and sexual violence.

As founder of Sisters Acquiring Financial Empowerment (SAFE), she has served over 6,400 survivors and pioneered innovative economic empowerment programs. Her work has been featured by the White House in Essence Magazine, and she is a recipient of the Spirit of Advocacy Award from the National Network to End Domestic Violence.

Website: www.KalynFahie.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mskalyn
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kalynfahie

About the Host — Deneen L. Garrett

Deneen L. Garrett is a Cultural Alchemist, International Speaker, Dream Lifestyle™ Coach, Writer, and host of Women of Color: An Intimate Conversation, a 100 Best Women's Empowerment Podcast amplifying the voices and journeys of Women of Color. She is also the Founder of the Dream Lifestyle™ Collective, a sanctuary for Black women 50+.

Dream Lifestyle™ Collective: https://www.skool.com/dream-lifestyle-collective-1653
Website: https://deneenlgarrett.com
Business inquiries: Deneen@deneenlgarrett.com

Stop shrinking. Raise your standards. Your experience doesn't expire — it compounds.

In Episode 194 of Women of Color: An Intimate Conversation, host Deneen L. Garrett sits down with luxury personal brand strategist Cheryl Pullins for a masterclass in visibility and positioning. This is a mandate for the woman 50+ who is ready to be seen, positioned, and paid at the level she has earned.

Building a luxury brand isn't about "fluff"—it's about the architecture of your authority.

In this episode, we unpack:

• The Standard of Luxury: How your internal standards dictate your income and influence.

• Positioning as the Bridge: Moving from "experienced" to "Iconic" in the eyes of your market.

• The Cost of Shrinking: Why accomplished women over 50 must stop apologizing for their brilliance.

• Legacy Architecture: Building a personal brand strategy that honors your journey and your future.

For the Black woman 50+ who is still building, expanding, and leading: this is your room.

WOC Live streams every Thursday at 1:00 PM ET. Watch the visual experience and join the live chat on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DeneenLGarrett

• Website: hericonicempire.com

• Connect: Instagram | LinkedIn

Deneen is a Cultural Alchemist, International Speaker, and the visionary behind the Dream Lifestyle™ Collective, the premier sanctuary for Black women 50+.

• Join the Collective: Dream Lifestyle™ Collective on Skool

• Website: deneenlgarrett.com

• Inquiries: Deneen@deneenlgarrett.com

Produced by The Leon Thomas Group

Women of Color: An Intimate Conversation — a Top 20 podcast on the 100 Best Women's Empowerment Podcast list — is entering a new era.

In this episode, Deneen L. Garrett is joined by Leon Thomas (The Leon Thomas Group) to share the shift from a traditional podcast format to a LIVE weekly experience.

Why go live? What changes? And what does this mean for Women of Color — especially Black women 50+ — seeking conversations centered in leadership, visibility, wealth, and legacy?

This conversation breaks down:
• The vision behind WOC Live
• What to expect each Thursday
• Why this shift matters now

WOC Live streams every Thursday at 1:00 PM ET.
Subscribe on your preferred platform and join us for what's next.

Watch + Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DeneenLGarrett

Produced by The Leon Thomas Group: https://www.theleonthomasgroup.com/

About the Podcast
Women of Color: An Intimate Conversation is a 100 Best Women's Empowerment Podcast hosted by Deneen L. Garrett, featuring honest, soul-centered conversations that empower women to choose themselves, heal deeply, and live boldly.

All episodes: https://www.womenofcoloranintimateconversation.com/
Dream Lifestyle™ Collective: https://www.skool.com/dream-lifestyle-skool-1061/about
Connect: https://deneenlgarrett.com/
Business inquiries: Deneen@deneenlgarrett.com

EPISODE 192 — Alcohol as a Coping Mechanism: Grief, High-Functioning Binge Drinking & Life Beyond the Binge

Full episode notes:

https://www.womenofcoloranintimateconversation.com/high-functioning/

High-functioning doesn't always mean okay. Sometimes it's a mask for grief, binge drinking, and survival.

In this episode of Women of Color: An Intimate Conversation (a 100 Best Women's Empowerment podcast), host Deneen L. Garrett sits down with Colleen Clifford — author, speaker, coach, and commercial fisherwoman — for a deeply grounded conversation on alcohol as a coping mechanism, emotional resilience, and the hidden patterns many of us use to get through high-stress seasons.

As a former binge drinker and suicide survivor, Colleen shares what it took to name her own patterns — and how losing her husband to alcohol-related suicide became a turning point that changed the questions she began asking about healing, truth, and finding steadier ground.

In this conversation, we explore:
• How "high-functioning" can hide real pain in plain sight
• When alcohol becomes a coping strategy for grief and stress
• What suicide survival teaches us about support, shame, and staying
• The quiet ways women deny themselves while still showing up for everyone else
• How to find your north star — and return to steadiness after loss

Colleen also introduces the heart of her forthcoming book, Life Beyond the Binge, and invites listeners to consider one honest first step: naming what's real.

If you've ever looked fine on the outside but felt unsteady within, this conversation is for you.

Crisis support (U.S.): Call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline), available 24/7.

GUEST: COLLEEN CLIFFORD
Colleen Clifford is an author, speaker, coach, and commercial fisherwoman. As a former binge drinker and suicide survivor, she explores the intersection of grief, resilience, and the hidden patterns we often use to cope. After losing her husband to alcohol-related suicide and acknowledging her own binge drinking habit, she began asking deeper questions about healing and finding solutions. She is the author of the forthcoming book, Life Beyond the Binge.

Connect with Colleen:
Website: https://lifebeyondthebinge.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/purepotential.health/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Pure-Potential-Health/61567862578775/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pure-potential-llc-c-936735245/

About the Podcast
Women of Color: An Intimate Conversation is a 100 Best Women's Empowerment Podcast hosted by Deneen L. Garrett, featuring honest, soul-centered conversations that empower women to choose themselves, heal deeply, and live boldly.

All episodes: https://www.womenofcoloranintimateconversation.com/
Dream Lifestyle™ Collective: https://www.skool.com/dream-lifestyle-skool-1061/about
Connect with Deneen L. Garrett LLC: https://deneenlgarrett.com/
Business inquiries: Deneen@deneenlgarrett.com

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