My heart and Black Girl Joy is Full! 💚

It’s been less than 48 hours since I returned from hosting the 2026 Harmonize Your Life Women Self-Care Retreat. The planning and hosting of any event is no small feat, but to host an event in another country requires excellent preparation, communication, collaboration, patience, foresight, and commitment. 

I thank God for blessing my life mission with an amazing team of women and a few good men who invest their time, energy, and unique creativity into my vision for empowering women through this retreat. Words cannot express my heart of gratitude to Erica Johnson-Boykin, Ashaki McGhee-Stinson, Enjoli Bland-Reed, Michele Patton Johnson, Juanita Butler, Anna Garcia-Durr, Pamela Jefferson, Ariel Alvarado, Courtney Cage, Ricky, and Erica Howell for adding their own uniqueness to the success of the Harmonize Your Life Women’s Self-Care Retreat 2026. 

What can I say about the amazing panel of medical doctors, mental health specialists, authors, fitness and life coaches, consultants, business women, entrepreneurs, preachers, and scholars who spoke this year? Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes, Dr. Cheryl Polote-Williamson, Dr. Jaime Eaddy, Michele Patton-Johnson, Co-Pastor Freida McCullough, Pam Jefferson, Mona Roberts, Chandra Jarrett, Sheila Agnew, Dr. Talaya Clark, and Dr. Anastasia Alvarado were nothing short of amazing as they opened us up, helped us confront ourselves, and healed us with their powerful presence and words. 

A special thanks to the staff of Dreams Los Cabos Suites Golf Resort & Spa for your excellent service and attention to detail, which ensured this experience was worth the wait. Thanks to our families and friends who prayed for our safe travel. By God’s grace, we had no incidents, illnesses, or difficulties. 

Because self-care is my way of life, yesterday was a complete pajama day for me. I took the day to reset and reconnect with my home and hubby. My timeline was filled with pictures, videos, and testimonies from the women who attended the retreat, so I filled my soul with every post, email, text, and thank-you note I received. 

One of the things that I reflected upon was the joy that came from my daughter Ariel’s presence. She was an integral part of the planning, logistics, and social media team. While I appreciate what she added to the team, what was most important was sharing mother-daughter time, such as our Sunday morning spa date. 

I was equally refreshed by the other mothers, daughters, grandmothers, aunts, nieces, girlfriends, and sisterly connections that were present at this retreat. It was a wonderful time of coaching, teaching, empowerment, adventure, fun, fellowship, rest, relaxation, good food, dancing, joy, laughter, entertainment, and bonding. 

This year marks the 9th Harmonize Your Life Women’s Self-Care Retreat. Who would have thought that something that started with me and five women in a hotel room in Stone Mountain, Georgia would turn into a self-care movement that would inspire 120 Bold Beautiful Black Women from Georgia, Alabama, Texas, California, North Carolina, South Carolina, Chicago, Detroit, Washington DC, Maryland, Mississippi, Tennessee, New York, Virginia, Florida, and Philadelphia to converge in Los Cabos, Mexico! One mother of five children testified that this was actually her first time ever boarding an airplane! She said, “I had to be here, so I booked the trip, purchased a plane ticket, and got a passport.” The tears that flowed from her testimony… Another mother, age 89, attended for the first time with her daughter. She reported that this retreat was the best experience she had in her entire life. 

We came from our various cities and states to be empowered, refueled, refreshed, rejuvenated, and refilled with the Joy of the Lord that gives us purpose, power, and strength. Los Cabos, Cabo San Lucas, and San Jose, Mexico, will never be the same because we were there sharing the light of Christ and Black Girl Joy! 

My heart and Black Girl Joy is Full… 💚