In honor of the 2nd anniversary of my memoir, “Confessions of a Young Adult’s Life,” I thought it would nice to share this amazing conversation that I had with Jamie Crockett, founder of Shining Light Media. We had a good time! Sit back and listen as I am interviewed on the complexities of growing up in a non-traditional home and environment and how that shaped the my experience. Follow me on Instagram @storieswithbri Click the link to purchase a copy of the book https://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Young-Adults-Life-Michelle-ebook/dp/B08F3VL5PZ Check out the accompanying podcast to the book here https://anchor.fm/coayal

In honor of the 2nd anniversary of my memoir, “Confessions of a Young Adult’s Life,” I thought it would nice to share this amazing conversation that I had with Jamie Crockett, founder of Shining Light Media. We had a good time! Sit back and listen as I am interviewed on the complexities of growing up in a non-traditional home and environment and how that shaped the my experience. Follow me on Instagram @storieswithbri Click the link to purchase a copy of the book https://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Young-Adults-Life-Michelle-ebook/dp/B08F3VL5PZ Check out the accompanying podcast to the book here https://anchor.fm/coayal

Trigger Warning: This episode contains book spoilers and conversations on race, slavery, and assault. Guess what y'all?? Ashley's back! Ashley from Melanated Pages invited me to do a buddy read on Yellow Wife by Sadeqa Johnson and I thought it would be a good idea to share our collective thoughts about the story here on the show. Anyway, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments. By the way, this was my first buddy read and I'm open to another.  Follow Ashley on Instagram: @melanated_pages Follow me on Instagram: @storieswithbri Check out my website www.storieswithbri.com Check out the video on my YouTube page. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeZIER9uxLDYD7hOoA0p0cA Please remember to like, comment, and subscribe. See you next week!

Season 3 has been a banger! This week I got the opportunity to talk with Hawa Jalloh, another fellow Black Librarian working for Prince George's County Library system in Maryland. She very recently graduated with her Master of Library and Information Science degree from the University of Maryland, but she has been working in libraries for over 3 years. We talked about her journey to become a librarian, thoughts on the barriers of entry into the field, life as a Bookstagrammer, and much more! Follow her on Instagram: @hawa.reads Follow me on Instagram: @storieswithbri Check out my website www.storieswithbri.com Check out the video on my YouTube page. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeZIER9uxLDYD7hOoA0p0cA Please remember to like, comment, and subscribe. See you next week!

This week I had the esteemed privilege of talking to a library veteran. At the time of our conversation, Mrs. Tracie Randolph was an Assistant Library Director in Upland California. She recently accepted a new position in Del City, Oklahoma, becoming a Library Manager in the Metropolitan Library System. With over 25 years of experience working in libraries, she talks about her journey to become a librarian, expanding library programming, and her thoughts on how the profession could change their recruitment strategy to attract more diverse candidates. It truly was a pleasure! Follow her on Instagram and Tik Tok: @trayday1908  Follow me on Instagram: @storieswithbri Check out my website www.storieswithbri.com Check out the video on my YouTube page. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeZIER9uxLDYD7hOoA0p0cA Please remember to like, comment, and subscribe. See you next week!

This week I got the opportunity to have an amazing conversation with Ashley and Kristina the bookstagram duo and founders of Melanated Pages a "community to engage Black readers and celebrate Black authors." Talking to these ladies was such a therapeutic experience. In this episode we talked about why they started their book club and the second book in Jayne Allen's Black Girls series, "Black Girls Must Be Magic." If you haven't read the book, I recommend coming back to this episode later.  Follow them on Instagram @melanated_pages Follow me on Instagram: @storieswithbri  Check out my website www.storieswithbri.com  Check out the video on my YouTube page. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeZIER9uxLDYD7hOoA0p0cA  Please remember to like, comment, and subscribe. See you next week!

This week I had the wonderful opportunity to talk to fellow Black Librarian, Mychal Threets. He is the Digital Community Librarian in the Solano County Library system near the Bay Area (California). He has been a professionally degreed librarian for four years, graduating with his Masters of Library and Information Science from San Jose State University. Mychal is a lifelong user of the Solano County Library system starting his adventures there in the stacks in 1995. He loves the system so much that he made a career out of it! He has worked for Solano County Library system full-time for the last 9 years. In this episode, we talked about his career as a librarian, his thoughts on librarianship as a profession, and much, much, more. Follow him on Instagram and Tik Tok: @mychal3ts Follow me on Instagram: @storieswithbri Check out my website www.storieswithbri.com Check out the video on my YouTube page. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeZIER9uxLDYD7hOoA0p0cA Please remember to like, comment, and subscribe.

This week I had the opportunity to talk to School Librarian and Educator, Carla Crocheron. She currently works in the Prince George's County School system. We had a great discussion about her journey to become a librarian, her experience with virtual learning during the pandemic, advice for future librarians, and many book club resources. This is a conversation you don't want to miss! Follow me on Instagram: @storieswithbri   Check out my website www.storieswithbri.com   Check out the video on my YouTube page. https://youtu.be/pdOV60dMoB0 Please remember to like, comment, and subscribe.

Trigger Warning: Episode contains book spoilers, discussion on abandonment and rejection, and explicit language. In this week's episode, I had the amazing opportunity to speak with Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Bibliotherapist, Em Rumble. In our hour long discussion she explains why bibliotherapy is healthy and helps us make informed decisions on giving and receiving empathy and compassion. We briefly discuss how she incorporates bibliotherapy into the treatment plan of her clients as a psychotherapist in New York City. We pull from our family life and racial identity to have an enriching conversation on Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson.  Therapist Em is currently running a Bibiloiotherapy special until September 1 on her website. Click the link below and you can receive $50 off a one-on-one therapy session that includes a curated list of books to read to help future you. To receive this deal, visit her website https://literapynyc.com/  Follow her on Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok: @literapy_nyc Follow me on Instagram: @storieswithbri  Check out my website www.storieswithbri.com  Check out the video on YouTube page. Please remember to like, comment, and subscribe.

I had the opportunity to chat with author, educator, and coach Giovonni Gifft about his journey as an independent children's book author. He gives insight on his niche focus of health and nutrition and why he believes it's important to get children excited about physical fitness. We have an in-depth conversation about his latest book "Run!" and upcoming release "How Important Is an Apple?" I had a very insight and fun conversation with him and Bruno (lol). Follow him on Instagram @altheabooks To purchase a copy of his books visit Althea Books - Childrens Books, Physical Education Content ___ Follow on Instagram @storieswithbri Check out my website www.storieswithbri.com    Check out the video, visit my YouTube page at this link Stories with Bri - YouTube Please remember to like, comment, and subscribe.