Tomorrow is International Women’s Day. While we take the time to honor and celebrate women’s achievements, I found it most appropriate today to share 10 women I love to live, love, laugh, and learn with. If you take the time to read this, I’m sure you’ll fall in love with them, too!
Women for LIFE
Trina Gaines
Trina, Trina, Trina. If you’re looking for a laugh, this one is it, y’all! Trina is a “memeologist” forever spilling tea, telling it exactly how it is, with pop culture snaps. She is honest, humble, and keeps it 100% real 100% of the time.
Teaching, especially in the middle of a pandemic, is rough. Most days, you gotta laugh to keep from crying. Trina will have you rolling. Find her funnies on the ‘gram: @freshoutofinspiration
Edited to add: since the original publication of this post, Trina has left the elementary classroom to pursue other dreams. Don’t let that deter you from checking her out, though! Homegirl is funnier than ever and still relatable.
Tawana “Tee” Fields
My sister in Christ! Tee and I really bonded in the last year following the murder of George Floyd and trying to navigate being colored in a predominately white church space. She is an incredible human being with a huge heart and talent for social media. She also recently finished seminary school! I truly can’t say enough good things about Tee. She is like chicken soup for the soul.
Me! Crystal Mencia
This one might seem self-absorbed and silly but hear me out: if you don’t love yourself right, who will? It’s taken me almost 33 years to wholeheartedly, unconditionally accept the skin I’m in. At the end of the day, I can count on me to be my own best friend.
If you’ve stumbled on this page accidentally, welcome! I will always be unapologetically me. Be sure to leave a note at the end and introduce yourself. I’d love to get to know you!
Women for LOVE
Latasha Morrison
Writer of Be the Bridge, Tasha Morrison served as my gateway gal into the space of racial reconciliation. Since reading her book, I have been increasingly intentional about bridging divides, participating in countless antiracist focus groups, and putting my faith into action.
Her Facebook care group specifically for Black, Indigenous, People of Color has been love-giving. When I’m being policed and labeled an angry brown woman in the white world, I can enter a safe space representative of my experiences and heal in the company of others like me.
Christine Robbins
A busy working mama with another on the way, Christine has been my biggest cheerleader since day 1. With a common thread of newlyweds and lovers of all things German Shepherds, we quickly bonded and learned all the ways our paths crossed ways in another life. (For example: Christine’s best friend is married to my childhood neighbor.)
Christine’s also a licensed speech pathologist and runs a private practice in Somerset County, New Jersey. I love chatting linguistics and early interventions with her!
Sheila Wise Rowe
Ever heard the phrase “hurt people hurt people?” I have been working on breaking cycles of abuse. Reading Sheila Wise Rowe’s book, Healing Racial Trauma: The Road to Resilience, has opened up so many poorly scabbed over wounds of racial trauma.
Heart work is hard work and Shelia’s book coupled with therapy has truly helped me heal from a lot of past hurts. If you’re willing to get messy and put in time to do the work, I highly recommend this text.
V’Shara Cook
V’Shara is THE queen of Amazon! I live for her unboxings. She has a bubbly personality to match that beautiful smile of hers! Her teacher style is unmatched and her warmth is just what you need after a rough day of people-ing.
Find V’Shara on the ‘gram @vshara_ and vlogging over on her YouTube channel, Itโs Me VโShara C.
Women for LESSON PLANS
Misty Miller
If you’re thinking of going all in and starting a TeachersPayTeachers store, Misty is your go-to guru! I had the pleasure of meeting her at the TpT Forward 2019 conference in Austin.
I only wish I had met Misty 9 years ago so she could have imparted her seller tips and advice on me then… it would’ve saved me months of mistakes and updates! She is down-to-earth, no-nonsense, and delivers tough but necessary love to newer sellers.
Alexandra “Allie” Brady
My Brooklyn babe! Allie is a teacherpreneur like me and doesn’t bat an eye at my Bronx attitude. Being so close in distance but having to stay physically apart has been tough, but we’ve been making it work!
At the start of the pandemic, Allie and I would call each other and talk on the phone while walking our dogs in our respective ‘hoods. Things escalated quickly. She hops on the elliptical, I hop on the spin bike, and together we power hour, growing our businesses and managing home life stressors through weekly, sometimes daily, Zoom sessions. She’s got all kinds of tech tips for you.
Asia Hines
As her Instagram handle suggests, Asia Hines is one sassy math teacher! Her spunky personality is admirable 24/7/365. The best cup of coffee can’t get me to be half that bright-eyed and bushy-haired, y’all.
She is a true boss babe, wearing many hats with a smile on her face. Asia is a Teacher Seller/Author on TpT, creating interactive drag and drop activities for her math students AND runs a successful Etsy shop on top of it all! I love her spirit and energy. Good vibes all around!
