Safrianna: Hello. Welcome back to Living LUNA. We are here this morning to bring you another exciting guest. Today we're meeting with Tonya Lessley, and she's the founder of Inspire Photo Art, and I am so excited that we're bringing artists on because as I've really been sitting with the mission of Living Luna, we're trying to uplift the others of the world.
We're trying to bring eco-friendly, sustainable businesses to the forefront and small businesses. And I think the arts is such an important part of that. We think of, restaurants and we think of corporations, but how often do we think about artists? And I think that's a big shift that's taking place in our society right now.
So, I'm gonna let Tonya introduce herself fully, but I'm really excited for this interview today.
Ikenna: Me too.
Safrianna: So, without further ado, let's bring her on.
Ikenna: Do.
Safrianna: Hello, welcome.
Tonya: Thank you. Thank you so much for having me on. I'm looking forward to this time together.
Safrianna: Yeah, us as well. So tell us a little bit more about your business and how did you find yourself landing here as a job.
Tonya: Yeah, so I was originally a commercial photographer. I did work, I did some portraits, but mostly work for magazines theater venues, things of that sort. And we, several years ago as a family, we decided to shift to being much more mobile. And so, I had to transition and I incorporated my love of textiles, which was my original direction I was going to head into years ago.
I incorporated my love of textiles into into my photography business, and from there, inspire photo art was born. And so I currently create wearable textiles. We have a handmade line that are all handmade, hand dyed accessories. And then I also have scarves and bandanas that are also printed with photos that I've taken from various places in the world.
But our primary emphasis right now is in the. Is expanding in the hand died department. And so, yes, we love being a part of the arts community. .
Safrianna: Yeah. And it's so important. I think we are seeing this huge shift right now where people are, starting to spend more money on art and one of kind items and whatnot.
Again, it's a renaissance taking place a little bit.
Tonya: It is. And they say much of that was actually spurred by the lockdowns people starting people found themselves with time of being at home. And so pursuing handy crafts once again for themselves, which, only fed the desire to feed more into those opportunities as individuals, but maybe a greater appreciation for that culturally as a whole, and yeah.
That's wonderful how soul cultivating for any individual to, to appreciate and understand the labor of love that goes into any kind of artwork.
Safrianna: Absolutely. Is the scarf you're wearing right now one of your
Tonya: Yes. Yes, this is one of my own, this is called Mediterranean Skies and we made it just before we left.
Oh, let's see, last spring to head down to the Mediterranean Sea and it's the same blue as the sky above the Mediterranean Sea. Yes. And
Safrianna: it's beautiful, so,
Tonya: Oh, thank you.
Safrianna: I love, what was the term you just used? Soul.
,
Soul cultivating. That's beautiful. So your family, so we met you through raising wild ones.
Tonya: Yes.
Safrianna: And your family was identified as part of the body of nine, and you mentioned you wanted to go more mobile. So like this soul cultivation. How did you come to that point where you decided that was what you needed to do with your life?
Tonya: Oh we have always been pursuers of very challenging situations,
whether it's running your own business or backpacking through the desert with five to six children. It's just something that we do. And or, when there weren't as many kids? It was backpacking, it's, we're tent campers. If we bring a tent, we hike through the tundra in Alaska and
laugh about frozen feet. . So we were just pursues of very challenging situations. I don't know, a glutton for punishment of sorts. ,
Safrianna: soul expanding, right?
Ikenna: Really cultivates the soul.
Tonya: Yes. And as an individual you learn so much about yourself. It's incredibly empowering because it teaches you what you're really capable of.
And maybe, for me as an individual, it's helped to teach me where my boundaries are in life and to be able to say, Hey, that crosses a boundary. And we need empowered people who are making conscious decisions and moving forward in life pursuing the things that you know, that, that are set on their hearts to actually pursue and put their time and effort in because it
it feeds us as individuals and it's a unique contribution to contribute to society, to the world, to those around you, whether you have face to face interaction with them or not.
Safrianna: . , how is that for, So you're a natural number two.
Tonya: Yes, I am.
Safrianna: So you usually would thrive on more of the face to face interaction.
How is that for you with like creating and cultivating connection at a distance through what you do?
Tonya: Oh, so I am a devout introvert. Susan tells me that I thrive on connection, and I guess I do because when I connect with somebody, I definitely feel a whole and real connection, right? I part from somebody and it's Oh, you just took a piece of me with you,
I felt that go. I hope you appreciate that. No .
Ikenna: Yeah, for sure .
Tonya: But at the same time, my favorite times are being able to design dye patterns to sit and read a good book, to listen to something my kids are dreaming up or creating. So having, having face to face interaction, it seems those connections are formed in our everyday lives.
Whether it's, the person at the fruit market or wherever, I'm finding myself on a day to day basis, the individual that I'm, inquiring about purchasing fabric from. And I do, I thrive on those connections. But I guess in a way they don't always have to be face to face.
Safrianna: . Yeah.
Just meaningful in some way.
Tonya: There's exactly you just hit that one. Meaningful. Absolutely. I am no good at creating a facade or feeding a facade. . I am terrible at it.
Safrianna: So, one of our big things in Living Luna is meaningful engagement and authenticity. And you just spoke to that, right? Like you want the engagement to be meaningful and you wanna be able to be authentic and know that you're receiving authenticity back, right?
Which is, hard to come by. I feel like in modern society.
Tonya: It is it feels as though that we have tried to create this paradigm where it's okay to water things down. I don't know. Do you think some, I wonder if some of it is burned from this idea that we have to be everywhere doing everything that it's this busyness as opposed to taking the moment to genuinely acknowledge somebody, acknowledge where they are, who they are, inquire into the realities of their life.
Ikenna: Yeah. Being Being productive or worrying about the productivity definitely causes us to be probably it causes us to I always use this metaphor of an atrophied muscle. Like the muscle of connection Yeah. Of authentic connection has atrophied because we're so focused on the next thing, which is not the connection piece, and the connection piece can feel
If, like when we were at the Body of Nine workshop, the connection was so intense and so amazing, but it was also really overwhelming at times. Yeah. Because it was just like, and as a society and as a culture, especially in America, it's we're avoiders of that. We're avoiders of the overwhelm in terms of like vulnerable, authentic connection.
Because it can lead to rejection, it can lead to pain, it can lead, or it can just feel like that's judgment. Criticism.
Yeah.
Safrianna: Yeah. And we've, like all of our modern societies have just sped up to the point where everything is instantaneous. And if we don't get that instant gratification or that instant connection, I think people are afraid to put in the effort.
Tonya: Yes. Oh, absolutely. Moving to France was such a life lesson for me and even though I have always thought that, I have pursued authenticity it made me realize how much I touched on the convenience factor. It took us. Three months to get sim cards for our cell phones, and I would inquire and they're like, I don't know.
We, we shipped them
and it took I think three months also to get internet into our apartment. We're right in Paris, right? It was in the building. But to actually get it, they would come and hook it up and they'd say, Okay, it should be good. and if it's not working in a week, let us know. Like a week. And so then a week would go by and so it's still not working.
And I would go down to the office and they'd say, I don't know, give it a few more days. What's gonna change? I'm .
Safrianna: They've gotta crank the little lever that opens the valve to, to put your internet through. And sometimes it just takes a while to get there,
Tonya: and so it was just, it was such a lesson for me in the, okay, take a breath and be in this moment.
And yes, this work is not happening, this is not getting done, but it's going to be okay. I, we'll make it through these three months and it's gonna be okay. I it was, Yeah, it was a good reminder for me. What energies are the both of you?
Safrianna: So, I'm a nine
Ikenna: and I'm a one.
Tonya: Okay. I don't have a one. One is the only energy we don't have in our family.
Safrianna: Oh, wow. So yeah, tell us a little bit like what is it like to have this big family with so many energies, represe.
Tonya: So many energies. I am so grateful to have met Susan to give me a base for defining some of the differences between each of my children. In the era of as is just so common.
Assumptions are made that, oh, you are. You are this age. You're supposed to act this way, you're supposed to do these things, and it was a revelation for me to just let go of all of these supposed tos, . It was kind of reason to say it's okay to let these go, right? , it's okay to let them go because this child thrives in this child excels at this.
And just knowing those things about their personalities was so helpful to be able to maybe better encourage them in the directions or maybe to better help them find the tools that they might need to pursue whatever direction it is they're hoping to go. It has been integral in that, mainly probably for me because it does give me that default.
I can step back on and say, Oh, that's right, this might be why this is a struggle, or this might be why it's so easy for her and so hard for her. So it has benefited me as a parent and by default then my children too. I try so hard to pressure the you're this age you're a boy.
You're a girl. You're supposed to be doing, fill in the blank with anything and everything. It was a good reason to let go of all of those supposed tos. All of those assumptions, those judgements that I had felt culturally I was supposed to be, I was supposed to be putting on them. It was liberating.
It's very liberating.
Ikenna: Yeah. That's beautiful. I'm a child therapist, so , that was also a thing that I. Like that I work with parents on too, because that's usually the anxiety that parents have is the, they should be doing this, they should be doing that. . And, but it's, But I know that it's not based off of maliciousness or I know it's coming from a place of them feeling pressured by society.
Because. The whole like what to expect when you're expecting. And like those books that was written by probably a white dude who like had some statistics of the, and it's that's, Cool. You're defining the norm. I guess I know,
Tonya: but it's for whoever fits in the norm.
Yep.
Ikenna: And it's, and we were talking to Susan and Martin and we were like, society has created this type zero energy that, like no one really fits in, but they expect everyone to try to fit into. Yeah. And it's just no, we're, we're all, we're, we all have bits and pieces that we might find easier than others, but that's why none of us really, fit in that.
Safrianna: Oh, now you have a glowy halo. It's all good.
Tonya: Now I have a halo, .
Safrianna: That happens.
Ikenna: Yeah. So that's that's so beautiful to hear how it like. Alleviate some of the pressure. Cause also as a one, it's I,
Safrianna: so theoretically if you have another child, it's gonna be a one.
Yeah.
Tonya: Hey, that's what I'm told .
Ikenna: So I, so one's it's interesting cuz one's feel like they, they can't be imperfect, but they understand that everyone else isn't perfect. And they try to like, they are very like allowing of that. They're like, Oh you're loved just as you are.
Like that sort of thing. And that's a lot of the stuff that I give parents is they'll start, I'll do like a parent support session and they'll start like freaking out and going down this like rabbit hole of I'm such a bad parent because I do this, that, and the other. Or, Oh, you just gave me this resource and I didn't realize that I could use that.
So I'm terrible for not using that resource sooner. And I'm like, you're doing the best you can with what you have. So and the fact that you're coming to me and we're learning this stuff together is great. And and it's, that's like the constant like narrative that I hear from parents is that they're just.
They're so hard on themselves, and it's like when you relax in your imperfection as a parent, the, I find that it also, it's like the children also relax in their imperfection. , or they're like, just what makes them. Whoever they are. Like if the parents show that they're being easier on themselves, then they end up being, it's like a trickle down
The one time that trickle down economics,
Safrianna: So at what stage in your parenting journey were your, were you and your family identified, had you already had all your children or,
Tonya: I think my number four was maybe a year old. And she is now she just turned 10, so about nine years ago. God, it feels so long ago. It sounds so long ago. Yes, And we had been outside the box people before that.
But like I said, it just, it gave me a good place to formulate that definition that maybe that justification that I was obviously feeling like I needed to say no, these things, these are their uniquenesses and that is generally the genuinely the direction that they need. I have to be able to encourage them in, all stereotypes aside.
Safrianna: , stereotypes are just, I get on soap boxes about stereotypes, , because we can't one size fit all, Everyone. right as a nine. I understand we're all contained within the same energy, but , everybody's is so unique and so this type zero that society pushes is just incredibly damaging and it breaks down our ability to be authentic and genuine and have meaningful engagement.
Cuz instead we're, up here in our heads believing that we are a thoughts and these formulations of ourselves and we have to prove that we can fit in to that type zero. And what a liberation for your children to be able to just be received how they are. at their nature level, your nurture can then compliment that nature level.
Tonya: . Yes. Yes. And they, they live very, as individuals, they are each confident. I look at some of the things I struggled with at 15 and conversations with my 15 year old, it's wow, none of that's there. It's crazy. ,
Safrianna: that was the experience I feel like with us. So we went to an in-person body of nine training and for integrating the numbers and getting to experience all nine in our bodies.
And one of the people there brought her teen daughter, who I think had just turned 15 or 16, and I don't wanna say maturity in terms of so adult and, pushed towards adulthood, but she was able to be so authentic in her emotions and whatnot and be received by the room in a way that I don't think most teens would, because most teens are like, I've gotta look adult.
I can't show emotion. I right. Talk about things because I've gotta individualize.
Tonya: Or it's not, It's gotta look a certain way. It's gotta, Yep. It's gotta fit a box, it's gotta fit a stereotype or, So I'm told . .
Safrianna: Ugh.
Ikenna: Yeah. That's whenever you're like, I'm a part of different neuro divergent and queer like Facebook groups and I get so sad hearing from
from people about they can identify so hardcore with something, but then they'll send like a picture or they'll post their symptoms or they'll post different things and they'll be like, Am I queer enough or am I neuro divergent enough? Or do I qualify? To be a part of this community.
And it's that's the sort of like gatekeeper there are so much, there's so much of that out there that's you should be this, and this in order to equal that. Whereas it's if, whenever someone says, I identify as this gender, I go by these pronouns and
this is how I express myself. Okay. . You don't have to question that. There's like this movement in the non-binary community. It's like we don't owe you androgyny. If androgyny is how, oh, I want to express myself and that's just how it is, but there are plenty of non-binary people that don't
And I feel like that's if we have that sort of you know, untethering from the box, then people don't feel the need to feel worried that they're like matching the stereotype that they want to fit into. .
Tonya: And when we question ourselves, there's really no good that becomes of that if, if that questioning is coming from a place of being able to define and move forward, right?
Oh, I had to step back and question this, and so I could formulate which direction would be best, but often questioning of ourselves, of our character of us as individuals that comes from societal pressures is, it's terrible what it does to what it does to a human being. It's and to what means? What, is there anything that comes of it that's not just soul crushing, it's a
I don't think it is .
Ikenna: That's really interesting. Like it's, we're going full circle of like how society is soul crushing and you had the term we soul cultivating. Soul cultivating. Oh, cultivating. Yeah. We wanna move away from that.
Safrianna: Soul crushing versus soul cultivating. , that's the title of your blog post that I'm gonna , like
Tonya: I love it.
Ikenna: Yeah, because, and going back to, we were talking about boundaries, a couple of, near the beginning, and I love that aspect of empowerment, of finding your own boundaries. Cause oftentimes we are placed in situations where we don't have a choice. Like we're not in power, like we're not given that choice.
We're just expected to push past our boundaries, or we don't even realize we have those boundaries until it's too late. And then we feel guilty for the fact that we have the boundaries. And it's just it's this, constant cycle. That's, empowerment is not a thing that people really get to experience a lot, especially different minorities that are, way less fortunate.
People of color, people who are lower class. Were. Like, it's one of those things that I hope that we can create a world that can allow people of all different, races, classes genders, sexualities can have that feeling of empowerment to try out their, to figure out where their boundaries are.
Cuz that can be really, that can be almost fun in a way. , Yeah. Yeah, like you were talking about the frozen feet aspect, , like that's a lot. But the fact that it sounds like you made the choice to, to do that excursion and see what happens and so you've learned in the process sort of thing.
Safrianna: Adventure .
Tonya: Absolutely. And when we embark on anything that's hard in life, it's worth doing. We come out on the other side even whether it was successful, defined success, right? Whether it was successful or not. You learn a lot about yourself. You learn, especially what you're capable of and knowing what you're capable of
is it feeds so much. I wish people would just be more apt to step into doing hard things because it builds the confidence. And confidence can it, It feeds I, it benefits all aspects of our life to being able to be able to move about confidently. Right to be empowered, to make a choice, to say, Oh, this is within my ability to do this, to not do this, to choose to, regardless of what anybody else is saying or doing. Regardless of what stereotype somebody is trying to put on me. I can become a part of this group, I can do this. Yes, being empowered is, is so important. I really wish people would and I think especially with children that it benefits all aspects of their life, their interactions with each other from a very young age.
To, to know how to respect somebody else, to respect their boundaries. Instead of retaliating in defensiveness or always feeling like you have to be on the defensive to be able to say, Oh, actually you don't. You're, this is crummy what you're doing, saying, but I'm not gonna let it control me.
I don't have to. Yeah. Or I can, but I don't have to .
Safrianna: And, I have this I talk about this with clients sometimes. I'm also a therapist about how life is a process of basically
Emerging from the darkness into the light, right? Cause literally the process of being born, no matter how you are born and into this world, you were in a nice, cozy, dark place, but also scary, dark place on some level.
And you come into the light and the light's very overwhelming. And then we're traumatized from a variety of sources. And I don't think anyone can escape completely unscathed without trauma. No. But to be empowered, Of, Hey, you can sit with this experience and process it in a way that's unique to you, that works for you, and you can have your boundaries and say, I didn't like that and I don't want that to happen again.
And obviously three year olds can't really articulate that yet. But, if parents were more equipped to work, I worked with a work space for,
Ikenna: I worked with a five year old who was able to do that. They were able to, they were able to be like, I recognize this in my body and I want this and I don't want that.
And I remember their parent being just so amazed that, this five year old was able to do that already. And I'm like you provided this space for them to do that. So that's awesome.
Safrianna: And when we listen, when we empower our kids and we empower ourselves to always move toward the light, but to we can make the choice to move into A dark, right.
A hard Yeah. Yeah.
Tonya: We can retreat. Yeah. ,
Safrianna: it doesn't have to be bad. It can discomfort and difficult things push our edges and allow us to grow. So it's really beautiful when we can lean into that.
Ikenna: Yeah, and I think the thing that has crushed a lot of our souls from societal pressure is perfectionism like that, that's such a big thing. Like for example, when NaNoWriMo is coming up or upon us at this point, and so national novel writing month, for those who don't know. Yeah. So you write it, So you try to write 50,000 words in one month and I've always been interested in trying it, but I'd always have the blank canvas anxiety of I have to commit to a certain thing.
What if I am 30,000 words down and I hate where it's going. , what if it's trash after I hit 50? All of these what ifs. And it's
Safrianna: Welcome to natural number one, By the way, , right? ?
Ikenna: Yeah. . But it's also one of those things where I'm I decided this year to go into it of I just, this hard thing is literally just get a story down.
If it's, if I consider it to be trash, it's whatever whatever, like that's fine. Like I want to be able to just write a story with a plot that beginning middle ends. Could be 50,000, could be 30,000, whatever level, but like pretty consistent throughout the month. Just trying to write out a story with the beginning, middle end.
That's the, and see what happens on, how do I get on the other side, right? And so trying to start with that, empowering myself past the perfection point. Cuz I think that's a lot of times what causes people to just not even empower themselves to go forward is. They let the perfectionism take over and then Yeah.
Crush their soul.
Tonya: And in per, Yeah. And in perfectionism, right? The fear is, Oh my goodness, what if I'm gonna fail? I don't know. The justification is then I'm better off just not doing it than failing.
Safrianna: I'm curious about with your hand died textile. I imagine that most pieces have a little difference or maybe a little flaw or something.
Yes. How does that actually end up contributing to their beauty and their, unique?
Tonya: Because each one is individual cuz each one gets dye individually. So while we limit our dive batches to about 10. And so there's only 10 that are going to follow a similar pattern and , but at the same time, none of them, none of those 10 are going to be the same as any of the others.
So while there's nine more of these, none of them have the exact same lines designs, right? Each one is. And there's only, 10, 10 out there . So part of me when I have a lady in Montana who she helps with all the wholesale. She is a, she's a dream come true to have her And when she told me that all of the hands stamped, we did a bunch with, we called them the gale because of a dear friend who loves feeding wild birds.
And so we hand stamped them with some, My son had carved a stamp with birds and so we hand stamped them and they, I asked her, is it okay if we call them the gale? And when she told me they were all sold, there was a part of me that's that's good, , but they're all gone. All of those Gales, , each of those was a part of the story of the individual of everything that led up to that, so as with any artwork, it's there's a part of me in each one we just sent off earlier today, our next batch of. Of handmade ones off to Montana and there's one in there called Vibrating with Love and Light because from the Phish song I tilt to the left and lean to the right, something to that effect.
It's all about, creating. So to speak, balance in life. And so the these ones were sent off, but in one of the, there were three in the container and my one year old took the bottle of dye and went shake. And I thought, Oh, , no. So, but there's three of them in there that are slightly different from the others, and some of them have a lot more white on them, and some of them are more vibrantly.
So, Each one is unique and there are certain aspects of the perfectionism that I have to say, Oh my goodness. I just, I used on the vibrating with love and light. I used gold ink and used a carrot to stamp polka dots along the edges, and I have to look at some of them and say, But those aren't perfectly spaced or perfectly lined and
We all have our own battles of perfection, whether it's something we're creating or something that we're imposing on ourselves. cool.
Safrianna: Yeah. So. This is, this has definitely been a fabulous look at soul crushing versus soul cultivating and imperfection is perfect in its own way,
Tonya: it really is.
It really is. Because imperfection means uniqueness and Right. As much as what, I'm a confident person. I having a city or globe filled with me would just be an awful place to live. .
Safrianna: I wouldn't wanna just hang out with me all day.
Tonya: I couldn't have any stimulating conversations because I would just be sitting there saying how I agree.
I was
Ikenna: very true. Yep.
Safrianna: Oh gosh. So obviously we're gonna, we're gonna put your art out there, but are there any things that are coming down the pike that you're excited for people to see?
Tonya: The ones that we just sent off today, which they'll be ready to be put onto market and ready for wholesale.
We do have our stuff in some stores so later this week, so when this gets published, that stuff will be newly released and some of those are super excited about just because we tried up new fabrics. It was organic jersey fabric and another hand stamped one. And so some of those are super fun, lots of options.
My 15 year old decided to do all the dying on one of them, which was, it was a lot of fun, right? The work of our hands that when you can step back and look at something and say, Wow. I did that , another life empowering experience
Safrianna: as a creative. If there was anything you could encourage our listeners about when it comes to dealing with that perfectionism or just even starting a creative process, do you have anything that comes to mind that you would tell them?
Tonya: Oh. Whenever you're in doubt, we try to do this at home and we do this a lot, especially with six kids, is define why that is, right? , if you can step back from the situation and have that conversation, even if it's just with myself or with one of my children of. Why am I actually upset about this, right?
If I just freaked out about this, or I just did this, what, what was the straw that broke the camel's back? Or what am I actually upset about? Because often it's not what we're making a big fuss about. Is it really this work I'm creating or was it the 10 other things that I felt weighed down by today
As individuals, I wish people would just step back and have the patience with themselves. To define the why. Why am I reacting this way? Why do I want to do this? Is it because I feel pressured? Is that actually what I want? Why am I choosing to do this? Because if we give ourselves the time, right? Then we make decisions
we're more at peace with I, I feel very strongly on never, never regretting anything, right? While I've done things that I've looked back at and said, Yeah, why did I do that , Why did I do that? Why did I respond that way? How could I have treated somebody that way? And yet, Every single interaction I have ever had in my life is a part of who I am.
And it's all been, the life of bumper bowling. It's helped me to hone and hopefully refine some of those rough edges is I really hope to continue to do so. , Each one of those experiences is a part of who I am and why I operate the way I do. So if I were to regret those things, Then I would have to regret a part.
I would have to regret the part that has helped me to grow and learn because of that experience. , And that doesn't seem justifiable. , I couldn't have cultivated that part of me without that experience. And so if people would just be more patient with themselves. Take the time to acknowledge and assess.
I, I think we as individuals would feel more empowered as confident in our choices and in our decisions and in the way that we can support each other. That if it's not, if it's not so watery, it can come from a very genuine place of acknowledgement and truth.
Safrianna: Beautiful.
Ikenna: Yeah, that was, That's a beautiful, philosophy that a couple of therapy modalities that we like to use, hones in on, of stepping back, being curious about, why you might be feeling those sort of things. And then also the aspects of you that a lot of people, will be.
Like a lot of people are very judgmental and critical towards themselves, right? Parts, past parts of themselves that have helped them become the person that they am, that they are now. And we work with modalities that help people acknowledge those aspects of themselves and basically be grateful for the fact that aspect was there to help them in those times that they needed it.
So, yeah. Yeah. That's awesome that you already have that philosophy. To be for
Tonya: Yes. Those are things to be celebrated. Not that we should feel victorious that we've done crummy things or made subjectively bad decisions but they have brought us in they've, those are the things that have brought us in the directions that we're going.
Safrianna: That's where we learn.
Tonya: And as long as we're choosing we're choosing that direction. , I would hope. And so as long as those are the things that are cultivating who you are, those are things to be celebrated. That's a part of me in. I don't know. I guess maybe it's that value of myself that those things are worthwhile.
Even if I feel as though I could have handled the situation better, that it's, it was important to, to be able to, and also the be able to look back on those situations and acknowledge when maybe that's part of the integral part there is being able to look back and say, Wow, that was crummy and I'm ready to move forward.
Safrianna: yes. Moving forward. That's where so many of us get started.
Tonya: Don't drag it with you. It gets really heavy. Don't carry that. Yes.
Ikenna: Yep. as a one
Thank you Tonya! First. . Oh.
Safrianna: Thank you so much for this, and I can't wait for our peeps to check you out and see your,
Tonya: Oh, thank work so much. This has been such an honor. Thank you for making the time for me today. I'm really grateful, so it's been fun.
Ikenna: All right, let's go. Let's end the recording.
