SOLwear Shines The Spotlight on Tracie B. Jones

Tracie B. Jones

Hot flashes and the shakes signaled she had a live class presentation to complete. Throughout her collegiate attendance, Tracie had to find some way to conquer this fear. She’d been shy all her life, and in her world, it was okay. In all honesty, she understood that was the true nature of her personality. Standing before classmates and speaking wasn’t her forte, but it had to be done. Solved quickly like a true computer science undergraduate, Tracie approved the alcohol friendly vodka shot method before every presentation, and voila – the shakes and flashes went away. She made it through college and now by day, as a trade, she’s a successful software engineer; a quiet behind-the-scenes career where she doesn’t have to do much interaction, and she’s good at it.

Tickled pink by her own recollection of humorous memories, the average reader of this article would sit in preparation mode ready to read about Tracie B. Jones’ success in Software Engineering. It would include her story of how she desired to become an accountant, but at the persuasion of her father, she entertained the idea of becoming an engineer. Once she fully committed to majoring in Computer Science at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, the challenge of each class was met head on with determination and appreciation. Said readers would smile and commend her achievement.

Fact is, our shy, public arena non-conversational engineer is a thriving sales representative for Total Life Changes. “But when I’m passionate about something that I know about and want to speak about, the shakes go away,” Tracie assures me. She’s so passionate about Total Life Changes, rumor has it, after making the commitment, Tracie was affectionately known as the “living room legend”. The passion wasn’t always there though. Even after running into a friend at a cook-out who noticeably shed some pounds after using Total Life Changes detox tea, it wasn’t even on her radar to become a representative. The only prompting it gave Tracie was to start using the product herself, and that was even after some convincing that it wasn’t a gimmick. In fifteen days she lost fifteen pounds, and that was only from drinking the tea. By the time her detox tea had eliminated the toxins and parasites from her body and the first set of weight dropped, she stalled. Moving on to another product, she inched down by another fifteen pounds. Tracie had gone from 202 pounds back to an original weight of 170. Family and friends were boldly beating her phone and door down, to get the low down, on how they too could get a piece of the slimming pie.

At first she wouldn’t tell them – joking that it was hard work at the gym - but eventually she spilled the tea (no pun intended) and recommended all her probing family and friends to her current product sponsor. Still Tracie lacked the desire to step outside her comfort zone and get in the Total Life Changes game.

Finally, the light seeped through the tunnel and Tracie realized her sponsor was making good money off her referrals. This encouraged her to take a minor leap as a sales rep for Total Life Changes. Minor in Tracie’s world meant only telling people about the detox tea and drops via "go-to-my-website to order products", until she received special news. “Tracie, you know you changed my life with this tea. That’s not the real testimony, my mom has lupus and she lost thirty-pounds, and she’s coming off her medication. Her doctors are in awe,” Tracie explained, regarding a tearful moment after hearing her co-worker explain the exciting news. Hearing such powerful words sparked a fire, and what first seemed as an incongruous extra income earner for her personality type, soon became Tracie’s reality. Because of Tracie’s commitment to join Total Life Changes, potential customers can hear life changing testimonies from her current customers.

Now, in reading such powerful testimonies, Tracie is quick to issue a disclaimer that her product is not a medical substitute and use of it makes no medical claims, but it does revolve around health and wellness. Every user has different reactions to the product, but she strongly vouches for the use of it, and will sit down to explain the benefits of investing in its usage or becoming a team member.

Surviving nerve wrecking presentations, reading word-for-word from notecards, and hosting Wednesday night living room meetings, Tracie’s resume now includes hundreds of clients, a squad of team members and additional income to splurge and save at her own choosing.

All it took was a testimony, and now Tracie B. Jones is living her best life. Parasite free (detox tea) and all….

Contact information:

Instagram: Teabjones

Facebook Business - Teabjones

Facebook Personal - Tracie Bond Jones

SOLwear Teez and Apparel

SOLwear Teez and Apparel is a statement apparel company. It’s mission is to create apparel that keeps people smiling, promotes love and invokes C.H.A.N.G.E. Our goal is to become far more than just a retail company. We are also in the business of uplifting and supporting other corporations and organizations in the community. We believe that what you sow will grow. We are life unlabeled. 

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@Solwearteez

Peace of Hope Foundation Inc.

For more information visit: www.peaceofhopefoundation.com

October 10th is World Mental Health Day. It’s also the day a mental health advocate woke me up to struggles and realities greater than my own. It was after five and my long work day was finally over, so I headed to my car and made my way out of the parking lot. A minor struggle that afternoon centered around getting to my next location safely. The rain was coming down heavier than expected and rush hour traffic started to get thick. Eventually making it to my destination, I parked and went inside. Heavy rain and all, Starbucks would now serve as my home away from home, but they had croissants, so they got a pass. Shortly after my arrival, my plus one shows up and for the next three hours, it’s a judgment free discussion zone. Any other day, we would chit-chat about family, friends and everyday life, but today that norm is on pause as the cards have shifted to a more important focus. Not to keep you guessing any longer, but the Founder and Executive Director of Peace of Hope Foundation Inc., Tiffany Fox, took time out of her schedule to drop some much needed knowledge on life and how we react to it.

~PEACE~

A nurse by trade, Tiffany wasn’t too keen on the hospital setting. She made the jump to community nursing, where in this field she stumbled upon mental health. “I began to see that it was a preconceived notion. Most people are afraid of people when they hear mental health, but to help those people live day to day - it became a passion,” she explained. Assisting those living day to day with a mental illness meant teaching patients how to manage it, and also stepping on the outside to challenge the aspect of how outsiders viewed it. Each day was a learning experience for her, but the greatest vulnerability came when she recognized it wasn’t just her patients dealing with it. “I began to realize all of the mental health issues in my family,” TIffany recalled. And it wasn’t just limited to mental health, but substance abuse issues as well; and on both sides of her family. Dealing with this externally and internally, her vantage point changed with a focus to view mental health as a medical illness. This adopted mentality says we should look at the person rather than the diagnosis; this is how you view someone diagnosed with a “medical condition” right? Hearing that a loved one, co-worker, or even someone you don’t know was diagnosed with diabetes or cancer, we immediately become compassionate and concerned. Why not do the same for someone with a mental illness.

“Depression or mental health can affect your ability to keep a job,” advised Tiffany, but that’s not all. In addition, she noted it can affect your ability to keep housing, raise children, keep a job, and interact with others. Keep in mind a normal routine such as your hygiene may also be affected. The ability to resolve such setbacks is not as easy as it seems. “The initial barrier is them understanding they have a mental illness,” says Tiffany. To improve our chances of understanding how this is done, she told the story of a patient who was suicidal, and wasn’t taking her medication. The patient’s issue translated to the side effects and how it made her feel. Instead of dismissing the woman’s decision to discontinue her medication or even walking away, Tiffany took the moderate approach with meaningful conversation. “So I said, if I told you, you had diabetes would you take the medication?” The patient’s reply was,”yes.” “I said if I told you, you had cancer, would you take the medication?” Again her reply was, “yes.” Tiffany responded, “And so I said, what’s the difference?” Her last reply was, “I’m not sick.” Using years of mental health experience and sensitivity to this specific case, Tiffany furnished straightforward feedback to help the patient understand that she is sick; that her mind is still an organ, it’s just dysfunctional right now. “So medication is not always the key, the key is to first make them understand there is something wrong.” She outlined after telling this story that once they understand they have an illness, now they can talk about the treatment plan. One-on-one moments, such as the situation described, are a key reason why Tiffany started her non-profit, Peace of Hope Foundation Inc.

“With the non-profit, I was able to help the community more, and kind of make my own rules and regulations,” Tiffany revealed when describing the red tape from insurance companies, which prompted her to start a non-profit. “I’ve been in mental health for about fifteen years, and in that I discovered with insurance companies, there’s a lot of red tape. They tell you how long to treat and how you can treat.” Not believing that clients and patients should be at the mercy of insurance companies that don’t understand the process or recognize how long patients should truly be treated, Tiffany took matters into her own hand.

~OF~

Peace of Hope Foundation Inc, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization operating since 2013. Tiffany Fox is the Founder and Executive Director, and has committed her purpose to assisting the community through Peace of Hope’s primary focuses of: Intensive Case Management, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse. “What we do is link, arrange, and coordinate services for individuals in the community,” says Tiffany. Those services can fall under a vast range of aid such as: finding housing and jobs, mental and substance abuse treatment, and finally, utility and rental assistance. Peace of Hope Foundation operates in a way that caters to the specific needs of their clients and patients, so much so, you can literally see the difference when comparing their methods to that of insurance companies. To help give us more of a visual, Tiffany outlines some of those differences:

• Insurance companies may only allow 90-180 days for treatment. Peace of Hope has no time restriction for treatment. Previous clientele under Peace of Hope’s case management have lasted up to three years.

• Medicaid may mandate that accepting federal funds negates the use of adding spirituality, religion, and the church to the mix. Peace of Hope includes spirituality and accepts all persons and their beliefs.

• Medicaid may dictate what the treatment plan looks like; whereas, Peace of Hope does not.

• The state of North Carolina no longer pays for case management. “Therapist aren’t case managers. You can’t go to your therapy appointment and say do you know anybody who can pay my bills?,” says Tiffany. A question like this is built for a case manager to handle. Because of the need, Peace of Hope went full throttle with their start-up.

In terms of Peace of Hope’s case management policy, it can either be short-term or long-term. When we say short-term, it could be a matter of finding assistance to pay a utility bill or searching for a doctor that accepts a particular type of insurance. For long-term case management, Peace of Hope Foundation Inc. partners with the Salvation Army. This partnership allows clients/patients coming from shelters to be placed in a housing program and receive required case management. Some of the positives with this type of case management include: budgeting tips, utility bill assistance, housing checks, and talks with housing management or landlords. Typically the longer term case management aren’t folks who are homeless because they can’t pay their bills. As Tiffany explained to me, it’s a whole big sector of how these clients/patients think about life and their mental health. Sometimes it takes years to work with them and help get them back on track, but Tiffany and Peace of Hope are fully dedicated to seeing it through.

Additional segments that fall under Peace of Hope include: R.A.K.S (Random Acts of Kindness), Thanksgiving and Christmas drives, and lastly a socks/hats/scarf drive for the homeless. Just recently Peace of Hope added Voice of Hope which brings mental health/substance abuse education and awareness via speaking engagements and written publications.

~HOPE~

“The goal is independence, the goal is not for us to hold your hand.” Tiffany made this crystal clear as she expounded upon a client where she missed that he dealt with substance abuse. He was currently under the long-term case management plan (home budgets and all), but his money was slipping away to support a habit he had since the eighties. He masked his drug habit so well that Tiffany never caught it. And so as we talked about it and Tiffany expressed her human emotion of pain in the fact she missed it, my question to her revolved around how long would she continue assisting him. Her reply to me was short and sweet, “however long it takes.” She could make such a bold statement with confidence because she understands the key to it all - building relationships. “The key is to treat these people as people and build relationships,” she noted.

Tiffany addresses a crowd on the topic of Mental Health.

As our discussion ended, we talked about the future of Peace of Hope Foundation. “I would love for Peace of Hope Foundation Inc. to become a Federal Qualified Healthcare (F.Q.H.C.) - and it’s a one stop shop,” Tiffany stated before continuing with the rest. “I would love POH to have a transitional home for the homeless; HIV home for clients with HIV/AIDS; and a home for veterans.” She also wants to open an urgent care, and lastly expand her platform for mental health awareness to larger audiences.

“I’m thankful to have hope and to instill hope in others.” These are the inspirational words Tiffany left me with as we prepared to gather our belongings and leave. I learned way more than I expected, but I’m also thankful for people like Tiffany and Peace of Hope Foundation Inc. It doesn’t take a special person to carry out a mission such as this, it takes a passionate person to execute it; and that’s what Tiffany is - passionate about bringing peace, and faithful enough to hope.

Story by C. Williams

IG - @peoplepublicis @troosmag

For more information, please visit www.peaceofhopefoundation.com

Peace of Hope Foundation Inc. 

121 S Elm St Ste. 2 Greensboro, NC 27401

peaceofhopefoundationadm@gmail.com

uniKorn chique: Fabulously Made In His Image

The notion of what beauty really is has become distorted. I’ve seen, heard and read intense debates, which in this lifetime, have crowned no winner ever on what true beauty is and represents. Unbeknownst of the beginnings, ever since my childhood, there’s been an expectation or standard of beauty, which if we’re all truthful, none of us fit. Where do I begin? To name a few: straightened long hair is a wow; a perfect made-up face is flawless and recommended; expensive clothes and shoes bring out the inner fashionista; and the last expectation wreaks with unbalanced thinking. The inevitable theory surrounding size is never-ending. There has yet to be any burden of proof that one size is better than the other. As you read this, put aside the medical findings stating fat is unhealthy or skin and bones is unhealthy. That’s a totally separate topic. What about the thick person with a clean bill of health or even the skinny model with a clean bill of health? God simply constructed you and I in his image and likeness; but man entertains an ideal that if it doesn’t appeal to the masses, it should be changed.

For today’s glamour spotlight and written piece, let’s surrender the idea that #allsizematters. Small, thick, slim, curvy, natural, face made-up or without make-up, natural hair or relaxed; it’s not a quick fix to be totally comfortable with perceived flaws. Catch what I’m saying here. What we deem as flaws, is perception only. The commemoration of those who take what they have and turn it into a plus is needed. You’re telling God, hey you, thank you for creating me. Don’t change a thing. No matter how long; even if the inner you experiences some sort of inner drought, and you can’t give it your all, do like Kala Slade did and simply find a way to get there.

It lasted eleven years…

Fashion magazines, tv advertisements and people weren’t primarily the cause, but in Kala’s case, the subliminal belief was there.

“I no longer knew what to do with myself in terms of style,” recalled Kala, explaining the cause of an unwelcome fashion drought early in life. At age 21, the circle of life presented its cause and effect, and her baby girl soon entered the world. But once the size 7/8 skinny-all-her-life fashion diva gave birth, there was a noticeable change, and it didn’t sit well. Being in love with a newborn was the only thing giving Kala googly eyes, because having pregnancy weight proved to be difficult and abnormal. “Being plus size was not always something I knew about,” she chimed in.

Before the pregnancy, creative art and fashion were not only Kala’s talent, but a gift bestowed to her from God. “I use to take shoeboxes and turn them into a whole apartment for my Barbies.” As for her style in fashion, she had that touch of picking the right colors and materials to construct the right look. Every item of clothing worn adorned her petite shape to precision, creating an added incentive; a feeling of flyness – it means dope, looking good and the ultimate description - fresh. Life was good, her sense of style was on a high, her Barbie dolls were living the plush shoebox life, and the fashion fairies were constantly giving Kala a stamp of approval.

And then baby Kiana was born……

Post pregnancy, an enigmatic awareness was now more present than ever. You know the feeling when you buy a new car, and suddenly you start to see your car model everywhere. For Kala, it was the opposite. The demand for plus size clothing was her main agenda, but the supply; in her case, the stylish supply was at an all-time low. The time span was the nineties, a time where plus size and contemporary fashion did not cohabitate in the same sentence. Growing up in Greensboro, the only accessible stores were Added Dimension and Katherines, and as Kala explained it, the choices were limited and the material print hideous, “…..like big flowers, in a big tent dress….come on, that just makes you look….bigger.”

The bad prints, lack of stores, and curvaceous attributes had to go – but in reality Kala’s mind had to adjust and strategize to a realism that was now her truth.

For eleven years, she hid rolls and “fluff” by wearing jeans and big t-shirts. Accessories were non-existent, and at the salon, a smock accompanied her “frumpy look”, but the comeback was better than ever. At age thirty-two, the world Kala lived in was a different place. Technology was rampant and ever changing, women were making large types of moves and accomplishments, and contemporary fashion looks were being carried in plus size stores. The changing of times signaled her to branch out and get her cuteness back. The truce was finalized; she never wanted to be skinny again, but even with a look categorizing her as curvaceous or thick, an intentional settlement was reached to maintain a healthier lifestyle.

The comeback begins….

In this instance, a peaceful truce (troos) didn’t necessarily negate challenges, it just makes the devil busier. And busy he became. She’d conquered something that held her down for some time, and when she finally settled on a peaceful content, the next challenge deepened. All her life, Kala had wrestled with depression, but in a world where mental unbalance is taboo, she never thought to believe that her saddened mind was just that. The church she’d been attending was hosting sixty-days of health, and invited medical professionals to speak on their topic of knowledge. On this day, the invited speaker began discussing the signs of depression, and that’s when it finally clicked. This is what she’d been dealing with her entire life. Skinny and fashionable back then, and now curvaceous and fashionable; Kala realized, even though she possessed a gift and talent that she loved, she’d always dealt with the yo-yo of her emotions. Just recently, in these past four years, battling depression became a bit rough, and she needed a safe place and picker upper to just deal.

Kala always dreamed of using her fashion and cosmetology gifts to serve on someone’s Glam Team; preparing models for fashion shows or celebrities for an artsy magazine shoot, but never did Kala Slade think a Glam Team would cater to her. Thanks to Kenyatta Johnson’s I Rock My Curves, she was able to find that safe place. Joining a group which promoted being comfortable in your skin, and having an added plus where all the participants were thick and curvaceous, didn’t cure her depression, but it allowed baby steps in dealing with it. “It gave me a place where I fit in because everyone else looked like me,” described Kala. One annual production put on by the group, is a yearly fashion show. This opportunity alone birthed a newness into Kala and expanded her resume from hair stylist now into plus size model. And as the group prepared for the show, Kala was able to learn a variety of new skills: good posture, walking straight, and giving the audience the perfect face. Taking all the attributes learned and rolling them into one, an introverted Kala with the quiet voice and top-notch fashion sense, sashayed over to the runway becoming Koko - an extrovert with a fierce walk.

Kala meet Koko, Koko meet Kala…….#uniKornchick

“It’s kind of like an escape from your everyday,” she describes when talking about Koko. As soon as Koko hits the runway, audience members, family and friends are wowed by how her gentle demeanor demands such engaging attention. And to top it off, by the time she was thirty-nine, she was fully gray. Kala used the lemons presented and made lemonade; a hair stylist by trade she colored the front of her hair hot pink, setting off a trendy look. It was a message said loud and clear, “If you want me, this is what you get.” No such statement means to serve as directional shade (to anyone in particular), but she has to demand this kind of respect since folks left and right are giving her advice on the requirements of modeling agencies to join. The pink hair has to go, she’s been advised, but her theory on not changing it is simple, “At that point, I blend in with everyone else.” And if no agency will accept, so shall it be. Independent it is.

Can’t you see a brand new day…… - The Wiz

Kala a.k.a. Koko, the runway queen, has been blessed with so many opportunities, stemming from a sound decision to own her truth. A journey to freedom by way of I Rock My Curves steered her from one opportunity to the next. She’s walked the runway for Curvy Fashionista in Atlanta and District of Curves in Washington, D.C. She’s participated in fashion events here in Greensboro, NC, and although not selected just yet; she’s auditioned two consecutive years faithfully to walk in New York’s Plus Size Fashion Week. Cheerfully, we announce, this is her first publication as a featured cover story. Her public platform is encouraging women to love themselves and make no excuse for who they are, and she has no plans to stop anytime soon.

It’s befitting that Kala starts our Glam issue out with a bang. Her story serves as an encouragement to take what God gave you, and uniquely be you. It’s ok if there is no instant satisfaction, just build yourself up to work on the little things and when you’re ready to attack that which holds you down, keep going until you defeat the negative way you view yourself. You are loved, respected and life is worth living.

Troos Mag salutes you Kala Slade. You’re our perfect UniKorn chick!

IG - @unikorn_chick

Story by C. Williams

IG - @Troosmag & @Peoplepublicis