The golden thread of resilience with Goddest

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
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Speaker 1 (03:27):
Welcome or welcome back, everybody to another exciting episode of
Aaron's Opinion, the podcast for blind people where we speak
about critical issues in the blindness community and all other
issues from across the universe and galaxy. My name is
Eron Richmond, and we do have a lot to go
over today, So please, of course listen to this episode
because there's a lot that we're going to go over,
and today's episode will be very graphic and very interesting,

(03:49):
and I'll get to the trigger warning in a minute. Well,
to make your life a lot easier, you can ask
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(04:11):
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(04:34):
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do at a little side, a little side conversation. You
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(04:57):
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(05:41):
this intro, but just keep your eyes open for that anyway.
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O N s O b I n io N six
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(06:04):
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(06:26):
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(06:48):
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(07:13):
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(07:34):
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Right here we go trigger warning, and I'm going to

(09:00):
give out this trigger warning, and I mean it. This
is this episode is one of the more well it
is one of the both happier episodes we've recorded, and
it's one of the more disturbing episodes we've recorded. And
I'll tell you how I found this person. I found
out about this person because she was posting about her Facebook.

(09:20):
She was posting about her podcast rather on Facebook, and
I had never heard of her before. Come to find out,
she actually knows several of the people who've already been
on Aaron's Opinion, but I had never heard of her.
Her name is Goddess, and Goddess which is where the
trigger warning comes from. Goddess will explain to you in
her life that she's going to reveal to you that

(09:41):
her life well didn't start out so easy. She was
certainly not modeling and she was certainly not having her
clothing brand and her fashion line her whole life. This
has been a new, a new success for her. But
suffice it to say that today's episode, we're definitely going
to talk about about dying, about about death, about about prison,

(10:05):
about violence, about just about a lot of really really
really negative things at first. So if you're if you
are not in the headspace for that, definitely know that
this is a very very dark episode at first, with
a very bright ending. So this is a very very
serious one today. I mean it absolutely absolutely, I give you,

(10:28):
I formally warn you. Some of the things she said
about her family and about her her past and about
her experience in life that led her and built her
to where she is today, it's highly highly highly disturbing.
So just just be warned, don't listen. If if if
you don't have a if you're not in the headspace,
if you have a stomach ache, if you don't want

(10:49):
to hear crazy stories or interesting stuff, maybe this is
not the episode for you right now. But I will
also say that today's guest goddess speaks to us today
with such a great level of kindness, and now she
has a blind model. She has her own clothing line.
She's a motivational speaker, and you know, the way she

(11:11):
spoke to us today in this episode is just so
so serious because she is a serious person but also
so warm. She's just so warm and easy to talk
to and just a just a great friend in the community.
So yes, no question, She's had a lot of sadness
in her life. She's had a lot of really bad

(11:31):
stuff happened to her. But you know what, she's not
allowing anything to stop her from being successful. And that's
the life story. All right. I warned you this is
a really really disturbing episode. There you go. That's the
trigger warning. And of course we need a very interesting
title which I think will be which I think will
fit today's episode. So, of course, if you don't mind
me saying, you're listening to the Aaron's Opinion podcast, my

(11:54):
name is Aaron Richmond, and now we need a great
title for today's episode, which of course is the olden
Thread of Resilience with Goddess. Welcome or welcome back, everybody
to another exciting episode of Aaron's Opinion, the podcast for
blind people where we speak about critical issues in the
blindness community and all other issues from across the universe

(12:17):
and galaxy you know today. I found today's guest simply
by scrolling through Facebook and somebody by the name of
Goddess was posting episodes about her podcast. When I looked
into her background, I knew that I had to interview you.
So why don't you basically just walk through the whole
life story? And as I always like to say, I

(12:39):
would say, you can start your journey. You know, before
you became blind, and how you became blind, and then
the person that you are now and everything you know,
everything in between and around and you know, just basically,
as I say, tell me everything you want me to know,
and don't tell me anything you don't want me to repeat.
So basically, walk through your whole life story and I'll
mute my microphone, go.

Speaker 3 (12:59):
Day, Thank you, thank you.

Speaker 4 (13:02):
So my name is Goddess Mostique Johnson and I am
originally from Chicago, Illinois. My life before was one of
coming into the world with a lot of obstacles. Starting off,
my childhood wasn't like many. I am one of four
children and I was going to a single mother who

(13:23):
suffered with mental illness and a drug addiction. So growing
up in the South side of Chicago when one of
the worst projects there, Parkway Gardens, is where I come from,
which a lot of people know today as Old Block,
which is not known for a.

Speaker 3 (13:39):
Lot of good.

Speaker 4 (13:41):
My mom was incarcerated when I was seven years old
for capital murder, which led to me and my brothers
and sisters being put in the system. Pretty much everything
you can think about when you hear about, you know,
children being put in the system kind of endured from

(14:02):
the physical abuse, verbal abuse, just the treatment of not
feeling apart or belonged. Me and my brothers and sisters
were split up once I was about ten, and me
and my sisters stayed together and my brothers were in
a different placement. There was various abuse from sexual abuse

(14:25):
and physical abuse. I was in probably I would say
I can remember roughly about eleven to fifteen different placements
between the age of seven up until about ten, and
which which led to me reporting these things and then
of course is your word against theirs, so not being believed,
which churned me into an angry child. So then I

(14:49):
began to act out when they will put me in
these places, which got me placed to where I was
not able to be placed in a home, so I
was in a group home.

Speaker 3 (14:59):
So at about I kind of got tired of it.

Speaker 4 (15:01):
I felt like, if I was getting treated like this,
then I was better off on my own. So I left,
ran away, kind of got reunited back with my brothers
because they had left as well, but joined a gang,
and we kind of lived that lifestyle because for us

(15:22):
it was belonging to something, it was family. There was
a lot of anger being felt, you know, just left
out here. So that kind of led to that lifestyle,
which I lived until I was about fifteen years old,
which at that time the only reason why I guess
it turned around is because due to being involvement in.

Speaker 3 (15:42):
Some related activities.

Speaker 4 (15:44):
It led to my brothers being arrested and later my
brothers were charged as juveniles. For as juveniles, they were
charged as adults and received forty four years. So now
that was the only kind of family I had, and
with them being gone, I hadn't been in school since
the sixth grade. You know, I was like, what I'm

(16:05):
gonna do? You know, so that was kind of my
turning point. I reached out to the case worker. I
kind of said I wanted to get myself together. You know,
I need to be able to do something. So I
kind of did just that. You know, I made it back.
They got me back. I had a test. I ended
up testing and getting placed in scoring enough to be

(16:29):
in as a junior in high school, even though I
hadn't been in school since the sixth grade, so I
was able to go to school. I went to school
during the summer, ended up graduating early. At the same
time I graduated, I was able to be emancipated, and
I went into the military. And that was kind of
like the turning point in my life because now I.

Speaker 3 (16:50):
Literally went into the military because.

Speaker 4 (16:52):
I was like I needed housing and I needed a foundation,
and they were giving a sign on bonus and it
was gonna be free housing, and it just that was
the thing to do for me at the time. So
that's why I initially went into the service, but being
able to gain so much more, I served for ten years.
I got out the military, I was actually in Ford Hood, Texas.

(17:15):
I ended up going into nursing. I was so proud
because I was actually the first in my family to
kind of break that cycle of incarceration. I was the
first graduate high school going into the military, which later
led to me being the first to graduate college and
go on to pursue my career of being a nurse

(17:36):
and never ever ended up going to jail. And so
I was happy. I was on my way. I was
living my life. I had started my family. I had
met we were boyfriend and girlfriend when I was nineteen
years old. So I ended up getting starting my own family.
I had my sister, and we were our family. That's

(17:58):
all we had, but we were a family. I became
a mom, and so I was on my way, and
everything to me was doing good.

Speaker 3 (18:07):
You know.

Speaker 4 (18:07):
I was still able to communicate with my brothers who
behind the walls, and being able to be that inspiration
and just keep them going.

Speaker 3 (18:17):
I was a nurse. I worked overnight.

Speaker 4 (18:20):
I worked the third shift from seven at night to
seven in the morning. My sister had followed in my footsteps.
She was in nursing school about to graduate. She actually
worked the third shift as well, in the admitting department overnight,
and that was where she worked. I went to work
on this particular day at this point, I was twenty

(18:41):
eight years old.

Speaker 3 (18:43):
I went to work thinking it was any other day.

Speaker 4 (18:45):
Did my shift got off of work, my sister we
went to pick up my niece who was in the
overnight on daycare, and got on the road.

Speaker 3 (18:54):
You know, like any other morning, headed home. You know.
My routine was going home, you know, showering.

Speaker 4 (19:01):
Then I was up because I was also in my
last term of school because I was about to graduate
with my master's. My goal was to be a nurse
practitioner and be able to run my own office.

Speaker 3 (19:15):
And that didn't happen.

Speaker 4 (19:16):
I remember getting in the car, and I remember us driving,
but and we were having a conversation because my sister
made good pancakes and I was telling her that I
wanted her to make me some pancakes. And the next
thing I remember is waking up and it being totally dark,

(19:38):
and I couldn't move, and I just felt really disoriented,
and I remember just hearing the voice of you know,
miss Johnson, Miss Johnson, and I could just hear and
that's when I began to be told that, you know,
I was involved in a tragic cars ccident and as

(20:00):
a result of that, I was actually coming out of
coma that I had been in for seven months. And
as a result of that, I was left totally blind,
and I lost my sister and my niece in an accident.

Speaker 3 (20:13):
So being in that state and hearing.

Speaker 4 (20:16):
This information that I couldn't even process because I couldn't
physically do anything because I was coming out of this
Koma state.

Speaker 3 (20:27):
So hearing these words and not being able to.

Speaker 4 (20:29):
Really respond led to the next two and a half
years of my life as I went into a skilled
rehabilitation unit to go through the therapies to learn how
to walk again, talk again, and have the mobility back.
There was the adapting to when I went through that

(20:51):
whole process, so with my vision, there was really nothing
that was given to me.

Speaker 3 (20:57):
As a resource.

Speaker 4 (20:58):
So I was just like okay at the end of
the therapy when I got my mobility back, my speech back,
upon walking out of that rehabilitation unit, now need an
assistance because I can't see, and just feeling like my
life was like over during that whole process, you know,

(21:19):
and the first time I was able to my son
after all these this time has happened, and now here
he is and I'm being taken getting out of a
car and I can't explain to my son, like why
I can't walk from the car to the door, you know,
just having to deal with that, which was something I
didn't want to deal with I thought that I should.

(21:41):
I wish I would have died in the accident, because
this was like a death sentence, like some twisted joke.
And even when I returned home after everything, I remember
not wanting to come out my room, not wanting to
get out the bed, not wanting to babe, not wanting
to eat, like I just felt like what was the point.
And I went through that because my goal was to

(22:03):
try to take my life, and I would get mad
because I would still wake up every morning. And then
this went on for about an entire month, just back
and forth, just not wanting to starve myself because I
didn't want to accept being blind, and it led to
I ended up the last attempt, I took some pills
and went to the hospital, and that next when they

(22:27):
discharged me, I ended up having to stay for three
days and bringing me home, and I remember being in
the bed and my son coming in from school and
coming in my room, and in this point my son
kind of came over and he put his hand on me.

Speaker 3 (22:42):
He said, Mom, it's okay, I'll help you.

Speaker 4 (22:45):
And it was in that moment that I felt that
child that I was at one point, and my mom
wasn't there because my mom was incarcerated, and I knew
what it felt like not to have a mother present,
and immediately it kind of woke me up, I guess
you could say, and I began to fight.

Speaker 3 (23:05):
You know, I begin with everything in me.

Speaker 4 (23:07):
If nothing else, this was my family, this is all
that I felt I had, and if I had to
be blind, I was gonna learn how to live this life.

Speaker 3 (23:17):
And that's kind of what started for me.

Speaker 4 (23:19):
I didn't know about resources or schools for the blind.
In my beginning, I self taught, with the help of
my son, kind of learned how to live my life
without sight, which in this time, you know, not using
a cane, not having a cane, just learning how to
navigate around my house, learning how to cook, learning how

(23:41):
to do my clothing with the help of different techniques
of That's what I did, and I slowly began to
kind of gain a sense of it, kind of independence,
but still struggles because now I was no longer I
didn't feel independent, I wasn't the bread winner, and I
began to go through, you know, verbal abuse that I

(24:04):
began to receive from my child's father because now to him,
I was like a burden. He would often refer to
me as having another child he had to take care of.
And you know, I began to become a victim of
domestic violence, and it was something I felt like I
had to take because who would want me.

Speaker 3 (24:25):
I'm blind, you know.

Speaker 4 (24:27):
I just felt like I had to deal with it,
you know, and still try to learn how to not
feel like I was this burden. So I fought extra
hard to learn how to become independent. And it was
upon realizing that I was pregnant with my second child,
on which I found out after an incident where I

(24:48):
was abused and I ended up having to go to
the hospital and that's when I found out I was pregnant,
and not only pregnant, I was pregnant with a girl.
And it was something about fine out that I was pregnant,
which I wasn't happy like most people because I'm blind,
Like I remember feeling like why with this happened? You know,

(25:11):
I had my son, but I knew what my son
looked like and I had adapted, and now here I am,
I'm gonna have to have another baby and I can't see.
So it was like it wasn't the joy. It wasn't
the happiness like most people get. It was like immediate
just I was just depressed and I was sad, But
it was like I didn't want my to have a daughter,

(25:32):
or have a girl and her to see weakness or
her to see a mom That was, you know, letting
these things happen. So that was actually my strength within
that time of during that pregnancy, I kind of built
myself up to prepare myself to leave because I wanted
better for myself, regardless of being blind. I felt like

(25:52):
I didn't deserve what I was going through. So I
used that time to plan and I had a good
friend that told me about out I Institute in Florida
that was like number one for research, and I just remember, Okay,
you know, I didn't know nobody in Florida, but I
needed to get out of my situation.

Speaker 3 (26:12):
So I had my daughter.

Speaker 4 (26:17):
That was one of the most happiest and sad days
of my life because to give birth to a child
and now when they go to put her in front
of you, I couldn't see her and people are telling me, oh,
she looks just like you, and I just remember just
a bittersweet moment, but it still allowed me to know,
like I want it better. So with the help of

(26:39):
my very good, good friends. She was actually a very
close friend like family to me. After I had my daughter,
after she was cleared after her initial checkup, I you know,
I left. I left, I took my son, and we
relocated to Florida. And that's actually where I say it

(26:59):
began my journey into me realizing that it took me
to lose my physical sight to gain vision. When I
got to Florida and I started got settled in going
to Basket Palmer I Institute. I remember my first time
going and them telling me, you know, they can't make
any promises, but I can go through some different research

(27:21):
trials and we can see how that goes and things
like that. But for me, I just wanted to try
because I still didn't want to accept that I was
going to have to live the rest of my life
like this. But Florida also introduced me to rehabilitation therapy.
I found out about school, a school for the blind,
coming from an appointment.

Speaker 3 (27:42):
With my daughter, who was my side of guy at
the time.

Speaker 4 (27:45):
I didn't even know what the side of guy was
and she was just three by this time, a young
one and so I was with her and one of
the drivers, the Uber drivers, was like, oh, you know,
I just picked up someone from your school that y'all
y'all school. And I was like what school. She was like,
you know, the school for people like you. I said,

(28:05):
what do you mean people like me? And she was like,
people who can't see. And so for me, I never
knew that no school. I didn't even know anything about
schools for the blind or anything like that. And she
gave me the information, and that next day I contacted
them and it was the Lighthouse of Central Florida, and
I remember them scheduling me to come in for my appointment,

(28:27):
and I remember coming in that next day and it
was like walking into a new world. I remember going
through with the programs director when I first heard about
excessive technology, like their computer systems and they talk and
these machines and you know, learning about brill and independent
living skills, and I walking in the kitchen and they
had microwaves that talk. It was like what in the world.

(28:51):
And I remember feeling like, Okay, you know what I'm saying.
And I was happy because I wanted to jump right
in because it was like, Okay, this is what I needed,
and I did just that. I went through my Vote
Vote VRT training, vocational rehabilitation training. I went through my
existive technology, my Burrell Orientation and mobility where I learned

(29:13):
how to navigate using a cane. I remember going to
the bus station, getting on the bus for the first
time being blind. I just remember feeling empowered. And after
we completed the core the training, you have a graduation.
And at my graduation, I remember I was approached that

(29:36):
Friday before our graduation was on that Saturday by mister
Kyle Johnson of the Lighthouse of Central Florida. He was
the director and he said, Godess, we would like you
to be the speaker for the graduation. I'm like I
was like, okay, no problem. And he told me they
were going to have a special guest and that guest
was going to be Lucille O'Neill, who is the mother of.

Speaker 3 (29:59):
Basketball Sorry Shaquille O'Neill.

Speaker 4 (30:02):
And I was like what And I was like really,
and he was like yes, because a lot of people
didn't know that she had a visual impairment. She has
a visual impairment and she had just published her book
Walk Like you have somewhere to go so I remember thinking, wow,
you know, I had never met nobody that was like
close to a celebrity's and I loved basketball, so I

(30:22):
thought it was just like real cool. So at the graduation,
that was my first time telling my story on my
journey and how proud I was to be graduating and
going on to pursuing.

Speaker 3 (30:37):
Now.

Speaker 4 (30:38):
I was originally pursuing my nursing to get my master's,
but I had decided to pursue for voke rehabilitation therapy
because I wanted to be a teacher, just like the
teacher I had at the school for the Blonde, because
I felt like she empowered me. So I gave my speech,
I got a stand in ovation, and that was my

(30:58):
first time Lucill o'nill. She came up to me after
the ceremony and gave me a hug and told me
how I inspired her. And I remember feeling like, you know,
do you know who you are? And you saying I
inspire you, And she said she wanted to have me
on her radio station and do an interview with me.
And that was the first time I started speaking, and

(31:21):
from there I did just that. I accepted a scholarship,
I got to go to the University of Massachusetts Distance
learning program and I ended up obtaining my master's in
visual rehabilitation therapy and I ended up being a teacher
at the same school I graduated for for three years
and I had just a love for it because I

(31:45):
worked with everyone from voke rehabilitation to the transition high
school students during the summer to old or blind. But
it was something about they would always say for me,
I wanted to show the confidence. I wanted to still
show the boldness that I was noticing working with the

(32:06):
kids who were blind, especially the young adults.

Speaker 3 (32:09):
I found that they were in high school.

Speaker 4 (32:11):
They were having those same feelings the girls like I did,
which led to me being in the relationship that I
was because I didn't feel and I was like, no,
you know you're beautiful, you know you deserve and I
will pour into them. So that's kind of what got
me into wanting to do and show confidence and beauty
even through blindness. And I met a very good friend

(32:34):
at my very first ever convention, which was in twenty nineteen.
I met Crystal Allen and she's the founder of Eyes
Like Mine, Incorporated out of Newark, New Jersey, and she
began to tell me about a pageant that she does
every year that is for blind women, and I was
like a beauty pageant for blind women and she was
like yeah. So I was like okay, and I was

(32:57):
like I started off. I was like, well, I'm not
your pageant type, but I don't mind, you know, helping
out and volunteering, and that's what I did. I started
helping out with the organization, being on the background planning
for the pageant, and that led me into her asking
me if I would participate in modeling in.

Speaker 3 (33:16):
A faction show. And I was like a fashion show.

Speaker 4 (33:19):
I was like okay, and she was like it was
for blind, visually impaired women and sighted women.

Speaker 3 (33:25):
So I was like, wow, that's powerful.

Speaker 4 (33:26):
And it was in New York and so I ended
up doing a walk video, which I didn't know what
I was doing. She was like, just get your cane,
put on all black, and walk in a line. I
said okay, So I did that and that that landed
me in New York City and when participated in the
very first ever inclusive fashion show featuring blind, visually appaired

(33:47):
incited women under the not My Eyes and that made
like the news and magazines were out there, and it
was such a good feeling. But the most rewarding is
when I came back home and went back to school
that next following day to teach.

Speaker 3 (34:04):
My kids were so inspired.

Speaker 4 (34:06):
They were like, Miss god Is you were my land
and you were in heels and acup And I was
like yes, and they started to, you know, feel that confidence.
So that's kind of led to what led to me
stepping out even more and I ended up I says,
you know what, I'm gonna enter this beauty pageant. I
worked in behind the scenes for two years, but in

(34:28):
twenty twenty two, I decided, you know, I'm gonna enter
the pageant, and I did, and I ended up not
just entering it, I ended up winning the pageant.

Speaker 3 (34:37):
And in that year of me winning the.

Speaker 4 (34:40):
Pageant, it was such a historical year because my goal
was I felt like this pageant was amazing and I
heard about Miss America and I heard I hear about
Miss This, Miss that, but I noticed no one really
knew what this pageant was and what it represented, and

(35:00):
that was my goal. I wanted the world to see
that this was a pageant that deserved to show the
beauty the boldness and the empowerment.

Speaker 3 (35:10):
So I started mind Bark I was speaking.

Speaker 4 (35:13):
I spoke at the Ultimate Women's Expo in New Jersey
where I got to meet one of my icons, Fantasia
Burno the Mat at the time, that was her name.
She's a singer who won on American Idol and she
was just amazing and empowering in my life. And to
meet her, to speak on the same stage with her

(35:34):
and for her to tell me how I inspired her,
I thought, you know, and we can talk about how
we're great and we're phenomenal being blind, but I want
to show the world that to give those stories from
people who are not so during my reign of winning
the title that year I started one of the things
we had to do as a title holder was alive.

(35:56):
So I decided I wanted to do a live and
it was going to be a podcast. Started off as
being called Diva Time because my title I won was
Miss Blind Diva Empowerment pageant. And I would bring different
people on different stories, whether they were celebrities I had met,
because within that year I had not just traveled and spoke,

(36:19):
but I also I used my life of formerly being
at once a problem and end gangs, and I wanted
to show one of my platforms with youth crime prevention
and using stories of people who came from that lifestyle
to empower our young people to stop the gang and
gun violence. So I actually embarked on becoming a Credible

(36:43):
Messenger mentor, which is a national mentor under Clinton Lacy
out of Washington, d C.

Speaker 3 (36:49):
Where you travel. We travel nationally and.

Speaker 4 (36:52):
Globally, speaking at youth events, going into juvenile detention centers
and working with youth to prevent just that. And so
that led me to making history as becoming one of
the first ever legally blind certified Credible Messenger Mentors, and
I got to travel with the team of twelve different

(37:14):
mentors from various backgrounds, which led to us. Muhammad Ali
Junior's only biological son, Floyd Mayweather ended up having me
a part of his documentary because within the Credible Messengers
there's the Gloves Up, Guns Down program where they use

(37:34):
boxing in MMA as a way to teach skill tactical
fighting to lead to championship fights and fighting in some
of them have been to the Olympics and championship titles
that they hold now. And I wanted to defend myself
while being blind, because I had, like I say, to

(37:57):
become a victim of domestic violence and to still feel
like I could defend myself. So they taught me and
I worked with them, and that landed me. When we
went and did a youth event, I met Floyd Mayweather
and I got to talk with them and hit mits
with him. But I was making all this light because

(38:17):
people were seeing this blind woman and she's with boxers,
and I was with singers and celebrities, and I'm all
over the place and I'm in the community. But that's
what I wanted to show, because there are people that
are doing this every day. And I did traveled and
I was able to go over to Uganda and as

(38:38):
a beauty title holder and bring canes and existent devices
and nonperishable food items as a humanitarian, which landed me
to get a US ambassadorship for the blind eventually impaired
in twenty twenty three. I was able to go to Cameroon.
I was able to go to Liberia and Uganda providing resources,

(39:04):
teachings and help full resources for the villages and the
people who live there who were blind and visually impaired.
That landed me in Orlando, I was able to work
directly with our mayor and his task force, working with
the youth, doing disability training, making things accessible for people

(39:26):
who are blind and visually impaired. I developed a parenting
for Preparation manual that was used at the hospitals to
help nurses assist women who were blind and visually impaired
how to breastfeed, how to assist them with these techniques,
because it's different when you're someone who's blind and visually impaired,

(39:46):
is different ways that they have to show you things,
and they didn't know because for me, I was one
and I was able to teach them from my prior
nursing background, so I had my hands on a little
bit of everything. So with them my reign in two
thousand and twenty to the twentieth, I did all this stuff.

Speaker 3 (40:04):
I was boxing, I was in.

Speaker 4 (40:07):
Or big stages with celebrities, I was modeling in fashion
shows and then I received a lot of praise, but
even in the blindness community, it was like negativity because
sometimes it's like the sighted community is like, oh we
don't or oh you shouldn't do this, or why is
she and I'm just like, you know, I don't support.

Speaker 3 (40:31):
Division, you know.

Speaker 4 (40:32):
So it was like, I want to show that I
was a real life person that happened to become blind,
and just because I became blind, that doesn't mean I
cannot still be out in the community.

Speaker 3 (40:45):
And help with causes that I want to help with.
So I didn't.

Speaker 4 (40:49):
Necessarily get the support in the blond community with what
I was doing because I was looked at as a
renegade or she's with gang members and she's doing this,
but they didn't realize that I was representing regular people too.
You can't just you know, separate and so but I
was doing things that weren't done by anyone who was blond,

(41:12):
and I was like, you know what, I'm not gonna listen.
I'm gonna keep on going. So then I love pageantry.
So I started entering pageants that I just believed in
and I ended up entering the Miss Black America Elegant
Diva pageant, which was a pageant that was never ever
won by anyone who was blind. And I won that

(41:34):
in twenty twenty three, and I was proud to hold
that title. And then I went on to compete in
the Crown of America for South Florida in twenty twenty
four and I won that title and that was never
won by anyone who was blind. And I was so
happy because in these two pageants, I was the only
person who was blind, but I was someone that they

(41:55):
could know, they can get to get introduced to. It
was a world that would open up possibilities and inclusiveness
and I was proud of that, which led me to
become and voted top most Influential Women of twenty.

Speaker 3 (42:10):
Twenty three and twenty four.

Speaker 4 (42:12):
And I was so very honored for that because I'm
just like, you never know who's watching, and then to
have this select magazine reached out to me and I
came and I accepted that award, and I've been on
radio stations, I've traveled. I was just like, I was
thankful because I could show everyone that the.

Speaker 3 (42:35):
People who knew me before, the people who knew.

Speaker 4 (42:38):
My story, it was people that I could relate to
and get inspiration through my podcast. Bringing so many different
people sharing their stories, the ones who were blind, who
are from these different aspects, these different dynamics.

Speaker 3 (42:52):
It was empowering and I loved it.

Speaker 4 (42:54):
And when my mayor and Mayor Jerry Deming out of Orlando, Florida,
gave me my proclamation on October tenth of twenty twenty
three to get my own day and to have Blind
Awareness Month recognized because of all the accomplishments I had
made there in Florida. It was an honor and I
was so proud and thankful, and I just I had

(43:17):
to relocate and I moved here to Columbia, South Carolina.
And since then I started my own nonprofit organization, Queen's
Raising Queens. I was able to start a male organization,
Kings Raising Kings. They're both five and one c three organizations.
Various different type of inclusive things that we do with

(43:40):
our organization events.

Speaker 3 (43:42):
And then I still wanted to be able.

Speaker 4 (43:45):
I love fashion, but I got tired of having to
use apps when I went into the store to read
or use people wanted I was in these fashion shows.
I have walked in LA I mean, excuse me, New
York Fashion Week, I walked in Orlando Fashion Week. But
I wanted to have something that represented us who we were.

(44:06):
So a lot of times, like I tell people, we
don't get a room at the table, and sometimes no
matter what you have to bring, make I bring my
own table, and so that's what I did. I wanted
to start my own fashion line, but I wanted to
represent who I was as a person.

Speaker 3 (44:24):
Who was proud to be blind.

Speaker 4 (44:26):
But I love brill and I felt like Breill is
our language, and I said, I can incorporate the two.
So I came up with the Crown and Color collection,
which is active wear in a gown line, of course,
and being a beauty pageant title holder, I love gowns.
Everyone knows I loved sparkleshine, glimmer, and so.

Speaker 3 (44:49):
Excuse me, I did just that.

Speaker 4 (44:52):
I came up with the Active wordline line, which features
T shirts, sweatsuits, tank times, workout suits, but it's inspirational
messages like for me, I have Fight, which stands for
faith is getting Her Through, and it has the word
as an acronym, but in Briille it has the words

(45:12):
that say faith is getting her through. And its accent
with iridescent rhinestone, so you can feel.

Speaker 3 (45:18):
It the tactileness to read what you're wearing.

Speaker 4 (45:21):
On the sizes, you know, if it's a small, medium, large,
you know if it's a size two, three, four. It's
a brand that's made for us by us, so we
can go in the store and when you see it's
a mystique fashions, you know it's active where it's clothing
that you can read, that you can feel in power.
And that landed me to doing a fashion show at

(45:41):
the infamous Cogar Center here in Columbia, South Carolina.

Speaker 3 (45:46):
I made it on the front.

Speaker 4 (45:47):
Page of the paper and now they contacted me and
they at LA Fashion Week, La Fashion Closet, and they
extended me the opportunity to Now I'll be the first
legally designer to debut my full collection at LA Fashion
Week on October twenty six for LA Fashion Closet featuringly blind,

(46:10):
visually impaired, hearing impaired, all different ability models on that stage.
And I'm truly just grateful for that. And just coming
back from Chicago, as I spoke on before, where I
was from my life coming from and I was able
to go back to that same city. Just came back

(46:32):
or in September the thirteenth, I was able to receive
the first ever legally blind African American woman to receive
a Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award. To stand on that stage
in the same city where my family name was known
for so much tragedy and heartache, but now to make history,
to be the first to kind of rewrite that, to

(46:53):
show that this is where I came from.

Speaker 3 (46:55):
And even though.

Speaker 4 (46:56):
Life gave me obstacles, even though I became blind, despite
it all, I am a professional motivational speaker, a US ambassador,
a humanitarian. I have my own day I hold five
beauty pageant titles, I have my own organizations, my own business.

Speaker 3 (47:14):
And I did it all without my site.

Speaker 4 (47:17):
And I never gave up, no matter what it was,
and I could show them that if he could do
it for me, he could do it for you. I
didn't get accepted all of the time. I was different,
not even in my blind community. I had to, you know,
walk alone. I had to walk away. But I still
stood by my principle and what I believe in, and

(47:39):
even on today. That's why I renamed my podcast this
year the Legacy of Vision, because my blindness was never
an inability. It became a capability to allow me to
do anything I set my mind to do. I learned
how it took me to lose my physical sight to
really gain my vision, and I learned the power of

(48:00):
being able to be a leader being able to stand
on my own, and I have a legacy now that
I could look back and leave behind. When they look
up my name, they'll no longer just see that I'm
the daughter of a murderer or a sister of a murderer.
I am someone who has made a difference, made a change.

(48:20):
I have accolades that I'm proud of, not by boasting,
but because I earned them, and I did them all
a lot standing on my own. So when you ask
who I am, I am God is some sick Johnson,
someone who came into this world as a product of
her environment. But now I am a prospering a new

(48:43):
legacy to make a change and to show that anything
is possible through faith and determination.

Speaker 1 (48:49):
Thank you, You're very welcome. For those of you who
have forgotten what you're listening to, as we always like
to say, first of all, my name is Zarah Richmond.
In case you, in case anybody out there has forgotten
what podcast this is, and this is Aaron's opinion. I
first have to tell you that I must tell you
something that will be very disappointing to you. Goddess. I

(49:11):
have never won a beauty pageant in my life, and
I was always confused. Why I just don't understand that.
But I will sell I will tell you point blank
that I always after we have a serious conversation, you
and me, I always have to, you know, always have
to add a little bit of sweet humor there. First
of all, my name is Erin's opinion. I support your message.
Holy holy moly. By the way, Well, where to begin? Uh?

(49:36):
What can I say? Because you've you've just you've just
you've just encapsule, You've just nailed it. I can't, I
can't express it any other way. I've been doing this
for five years. I did have Crystal Allen on the show.
I was like Mine Incorporated. She's a lovely friend. Yes
to many people. She was on the show about four
years ago, so I don't speak to her much really,

(49:58):
but either way, she's doing great stuff. And yes, I
know what I was like mind Incorporated is it's an
incredible organization that's providing so much for so many people.
You know, I mean, all of those things are really really,
really really fascinating. They truly are, you know what.

Speaker 3 (50:18):
You know?

Speaker 1 (50:18):
Something that I'm suspicious of is although you are a
blind person, now you speak with such a level of
comfort and such a level of wisdom and such a
level of kindness and confidence. Has anybody ever told you,
Goddess that, whether you were blinded by an accident or not,
has anyone told you that you would have been successful

(50:40):
regardless of your blindness, Because I'm darkly suspicious that you're
just the type of person who would have been who
is successful no matter what I mean. You obviously have
such a successful personality, you know, I would wonder have
you ever given any intellectual pondering have you ever digested
the thought that, you know, if you had never been blinded,

(51:02):
if you had never become blind, you know, would you
ever have become a successful model and an overall a
successful person?

Speaker 3 (51:09):
You know?

Speaker 1 (51:10):
Have you ever given any thought to that? Because I
suspect that you would be successful, successful regardless, just based
on your spirit and your personality. What do you think
about that for one thing?

Speaker 4 (51:19):
You know, honestly, I have I've gotten asked that question before,
and I'm gonna be completely honest. I believe I would
have been successful financially as far as the career path
that I was on, being in medical But I don't
because I was not this person. Believe it or not,

(51:40):
I didn't. I wasn't sure, Glamour girl, I wasn't sure.
I just I really wasn't. I know, people hear me
say that, and it's hard to believe. But if this
wouldn't have happened, I don't think it would have gave
me a boldness to want.

Speaker 3 (51:54):
To explore so much.

Speaker 4 (51:57):
Because my sole purpose with getting into fashion and pagetry
and all of it was to be an example from
my younger girls that I was working with that didn't
have that confidence aaron, that didn't feel beautiful that I
just didn't want them to be honest to end up
like me. I didn't want them to feel like they
had to stay in anything. I wanted to show them

(52:19):
confidence even while I was learning it myself.

Speaker 3 (52:22):
If that's easy for to understand, it.

Speaker 1 (52:26):
Is it is. I totally understand what you mean there. Yeah,
So you kind of felt in a way that you
sort of intellectually became who you are now based on
the compilation of all of this challenge that you that
you've been through. By the way, another thing that I
wanted to certainly say thank you for your service. I

(52:47):
knew that you were in the service, by the way,
whether you had told me or not. I could tell
by the way you addressed me at first, right, good morning,
mister Richmond. And I had a feeling that you were
didn't know for sure one way or the other. But
that's not at all, not at all surprising. Yeah. What now, now,
when you were in the service, are you able to
share with me if you've got to travel overseas? I mean,

(53:08):
in general, you were in for ten years? Did you
serve overseas at all?

Speaker 4 (53:11):
In the Army, I was actually overseas, I would say,
I was in Germany at Krs of Slaughter on Voguewey Armory,
Army base and Kars of Slaughter in Germany, so I
was over there. I was in medical So I did
do a lot of traveling within the US, but basically
Germany was where I was at as far as overseas

(53:32):
during my time.

Speaker 1 (53:33):
Good good, And in general, what what section of work
were you doing? Were you doing medical stuff in the
in the army? And okay, so good? So yeah, so
you've done a lot of nursing work too. Yeah, yes,
you know, the the other the other aspect, in the
other angle of all of it is, you know, and
I'm sure you know better than I that a very

(53:54):
high percentage of blind people not only have issues when
interacting with medical staff at medical practices, but a lot
of blind people then because of that, don't seek medical care.
You know, I'm sure you've done some things with this,
and I'm sure you've done a lot with this. What
have you done to not only educate medical professionals how

(54:15):
to treat blind people appropriately, but what do you do
to help blind people access medical care appropriately? Because it's
a two way street.

Speaker 4 (54:23):
It is, And I'm very direct and straightforward when I
come because a lot of times it's easy to complain
and make excuses, but you have to take control of
your own situation. And that's what I teach when I'm
dealing with people in my community, even as a mentor,
because I had to learn how to advocate for myself,

(54:47):
even in the medical aspect. That's why I ended up
working with the nurses in Orlando, because when I was
pregnant with my daughter, I felt that when they were
trying to do things like feeding teaching me how to
latch on with my daughter, the techniques were someone coming
from cited. But since I had the medical background and

(55:09):
I knew how, I could show them how to incorporate
how to work with me, which would then lead them
to be able to work with someone else if they
have a little boy and he's circumcised.

Speaker 3 (55:21):
And when you have to there's certain things you have to.

Speaker 4 (55:23):
Be able to teach, but you have to do it
in a way where it's conclusive for someone without sight.
So as for myself, working with moms who were blind
and visually impaired, I do classes and prepare them, I
teach them. This is how you are allowed to advocate
for yourself, to help them, help teach you, and help

(55:45):
you the way that you can learn, whether it be
birthing classes, working with people who do the classes there
in Orlando, with things, also what resources, having their insurance,
knowing what's covered. I am a person that believes and
gives and resources. I have blaws or I give out resources.
That's something I do through my organization as well. But

(56:07):
I just teach how to use your voice. And a
lot of times we don't utilize our voice enough. And
it's not anything wrong with saying I don't know, but
can you tell me what I am able to do?
What can I get and if and then do your
research as well. So I try to just educate on

(56:29):
the power of using your voice. Advocating is very important.

Speaker 1 (56:33):
And advocating appropriately is important, and there is a difference
from advocating appropriately to advocating not appropriately. And that's very
it's a very subtle thing. Yeah, really really spectacular. Absolutely,
So your your organization. Let's go back to something. I mean,
there's just so much to dive into, so much, so
much to digest and internalize here. But so Kings for Kings,

(56:54):
your nonprofit, Kings for Kings. So you know, most of
your interest obviously is women, and I totally get that.
That's wonderful, beautiful, but so so what do you do
for men? What? What does Kings for Kings do?

Speaker 4 (57:05):
So what we with of course with queens raising queens,
that's dealing with women of all ages, from older to
younger women. We have all different programs and resources for both,
as well as for women with disabilities and without. Both
of my organizations are inclusive. With King the same thing,

(57:26):
we have various things. That's actually I am the VP
is founded by my Soon I'll be getting married on
the twenty first Sunday, guys, So my my husband's over that.
So what we do is the same thing. We have
entrepreneurship programs that we do. We do resource fairs we do,
we have poetry we have, they become authors, designer programs

(57:52):
we do. We have a youth mentoring program, scholarship programs, workshops,
counseling training. We do a wide range of all types
of the same things with the same exact programs we
do for the women we do for the men, And
like I said, we both we work with both dynamics.
The only thing is we also have a specific outlet

(58:16):
with the.

Speaker 3 (58:17):
Males that we deal with.

Speaker 4 (58:18):
We have the re entry programs and where we readapting
them back into society and things of that nature. We
have that component as well, So our organizations.

Speaker 3 (58:30):
Cover it all.

Speaker 1 (58:31):
Yeah, that's really beautiful. That's really incredible. Have you ever
spoke Have you ever spoken I'd be shocked if you
didn't know who it was. Have you ever spoken with
Kevin Kevin Dobie Coachman.

Speaker 3 (58:41):
No, I have not.

Speaker 1 (58:43):
Oh, he has a very uh, well we'll connect off air,
but he was also on the show, and he has
a very similar story to yours in many ways. Anyway,
very a very very very similar story. Anyway, That's that
is really, really, really incredible. So another thing to really,

(59:04):
you know, dig into the hard questions here. So you're
and you went through a lot, by the way, which
is an incredible and we went through an incredible amount
of information. But so your your siblings to whom I
believe you said, are we were incarcerated? Correct?

Speaker 3 (59:20):
Yes?

Speaker 1 (59:21):
So have you I'm sure you've been asked this question
only a million times? So have you? You know, I
guess the best way to phrase it is, have you
ever you know, have you ever contacted them? And since
you know now in the present day, have you ever
contacted them? And you know, what, what do you know about,

(59:41):
you know, intellectually their journey? You know? Do you do
you ever, I guess do you ever have ideas about that?
Do you think they'll change? What? What do you know
about their journey that they that they have been through?

Speaker 4 (59:54):
So that's a great question. Yes, I do get asked
that and it's no problem. So my mother, my mother
passed away. She's no longer living. Since then, my brother
committed suicide in twenty twenty city, so he's no longer here.
I have one of my brothers is still living. He's
still of course incarcerated. We talk, We have a good

(01:00:18):
relationship he has. You know, of course, he was a
juvenile when he was incarcerated.

Speaker 3 (01:00:24):
He's now, he just turned forty.

Speaker 4 (01:00:29):
Forty two on August thirty first, so he you know,
it's definitely not the same like he was then.

Speaker 3 (01:00:38):
He's very proud of.

Speaker 4 (01:00:40):
All that I have accomplished, all that I've done. He has,
you know, became a person now that understands what he did,
has grown, and I'm proud of him. As far as
my father, I do not have a relationship with him
at all. I can't really tell you any update on him.

(01:01:02):
But other than that, of course, my sister I lost
her in an accent, as I shared with you. So
as for that, for me, with all of that, it
is just important to me to continue to live out
the new legacy for my family.

Speaker 3 (01:01:18):
I kind of rewrote it. You know.

Speaker 4 (01:01:20):
My son now was the first to graduate college high school.
I have a daughter, she's fourteen, just started high school.

Speaker 3 (01:01:27):
I do have two nephews. I'm very proud of them.

Speaker 4 (01:01:30):
I have another net So it's like the those are
the ones now who I.

Speaker 3 (01:01:36):
Just try to continue on and let them know.

Speaker 4 (01:01:40):
That the kind of new legacy that their aunt has
left for them.

Speaker 1 (01:01:45):
To have right, Absolutely, beautiful answer, beautiful, Bill, Yeah, because
there's so much you know, there's so much debate within society,
as you know, about criminal justice performing. I mean, that's
a whole other episode. But there's so much debate about that,
you know, where people are incarcerated as juveniles and the
ethical the ethical nature, the philosophy the criminal justice. That's

(01:02:07):
a whole up, left, right down, Hot, that's a whole another,
that's a whole story there. Yes, absolutely absolutely so. The
other thing, you know, how long have you been podcasting?
Because your posts basically tinkled into my feed very very recently,
you know, So how long have you been posting on

(01:02:28):
social media? By the way, I never knew you existed.
And it's not because I don't care, it's just because,
as you know, we are drowned by information. So how
long have you been posting on social media? By the way?

Speaker 4 (01:02:40):
Wow, Well, I have been been on social media for
well over twenty years.

Speaker 3 (01:02:45):
However, I.

Speaker 4 (01:02:48):
Have My podcast started back in twenty twenty two. October
of twenty twenty two, which is when I won Let
Me Get You Today.

Speaker 3 (01:02:58):
October six of two.

Speaker 4 (01:03:00):
Is when I won Miss Blind Diva empowerment pageant. And
as I say that, it started off as a requirement
of win in the title, we had to do a
live on Facebook as a title holder. And it started
off in twenty twenty two as Diva Time.

Speaker 3 (01:03:19):
That was the name of the podcast.

Speaker 4 (01:03:20):
So from twenty twenty two to October twenty twenty three,
it was Diva Time and then I transition over to
the Legacy.

Speaker 3 (01:03:30):
Of Vision Podcast.

Speaker 4 (01:03:31):
So I've been doing my podcast since twenty twenty two.
So and I have interviewed I've kept trek over three
hundred and seventy two guests, and I am excited because
it's been from all different backgrounds. Unsung heroes, you name

(01:03:52):
it have been on the show, celebrities, I'm even international.

Speaker 3 (01:03:57):
I try to bring on in shir.

Speaker 4 (01:04:00):
Voices and share stories because people never know, you know
what I mean, They never know how you can be
touched from someone's story.

Speaker 1 (01:04:08):
Yeah, absolutely, And you know, you never know where these
conversations land, you know. I think it's fascinating that I've
never heard of you, Yeah, but also beautiful that I
know you. So that's that's the irony of all these things. Well,
trust me, in case you're wondering your episode. This episode
will be internationally known because we, at Aaron's opinion, we

(01:04:30):
have a tremendous following of people from from all over
the world who tune into this. And Yeah, when you
mentioned Crystal Allen, I know, I know about the beauty
pageant there. You know, that's I really think, you know,
as as odd as it is to hear this, you know,
coming from a man saying this, I think the generally,
on one hand, I would say, hey, I'm not I'm

(01:04:51):
not a fan of beauty pageants except for the ones
that are in good taste and promote the right thing.
And that's what Crystal Allen does. So I think it's
it's some thing that's a little odd, but it is
doing the right thing. It's it is in good faith,
is what I'm saying. So I think that's really it's
a really good program for women and people who need
to who need to get out there professionally, and they

(01:05:13):
it's so cool.

Speaker 3 (01:05:14):
Yeah, absolutely, Aaron.

Speaker 4 (01:05:15):
And one thing I wanted to say about that because
Crystal Allen, one thing that kind of stuck out to
me about her pageant is it's not just that it's
not your typical beauty pageant, because it's not really a
beauty pageant, it's an empowerment pageant. It's women who are yes, blind,

(01:05:36):
visually impaired.

Speaker 3 (01:05:37):
However, the passion is about empowerment.

Speaker 4 (01:05:40):
There's the beauty, of course, but there's components in her
pageant in which you're displaying your skills, your empowerment. So
that's what stuck out about her pageant is though she
was showing that beauty comes in all background shaped sizes,
and it's an empowerment because we see from our inside right,
not outerly. And I felt like her pageant made it

(01:06:03):
a difference, which attracted me to want to be in
it because it didn't just glorify beauty in one you
get what I'm saying. So I think that's dynamic about
what she does. And then when she gave me the opportunity,
not just did I win the pageant, but I had
the honor of being one of the first ever pageant

(01:06:24):
legally blind pageant directors of the Pageant in twenty twenty
three to twenty twenty four. And the reason why I
took that title was because of just that I could
represent something that empowered because who.

Speaker 3 (01:06:37):
Is anyone to say what beauty is?

Speaker 4 (01:06:40):
So I think that's what to me, I always want
to say about eyes like mine, and for any women
who are out there that are blind, visually impaired, whether
you're newly coming in or experienced, you want to feel,
you know, be a part of it because it does
give you an empowerment. It's not just about your typical,
stereotypical beauty pageant.

Speaker 1 (01:07:00):
Absolutely absolutely so. The other question, as we moved to
some of the famous questions or some of the well known,
rather some of the well some of the well known
questions that I used to walk gently towards the end
of a truly fascinating and beauty just such a fun conversation.
The other thing that stands out to me, You're just
so easy to under You're so overly easy to understand

(01:07:23):
in such a deep and meaningful way. That's what you
really stand out to me, You truly do. You're just
so so fun to talk to, so relatable. You know,
I wish more people had known of you now, and
I'm glad that the world knows of you now because
you're you're you're just doing the right thing. So when
before I contacted you, had you ever heard of an
Aaron Richmond or an Aaron's opinion before, No.

Speaker 4 (01:07:44):
Sir, I really didn't. I didn't, And like you said,
it's not because it's just because it's so much that transpired,
and I'm not gonna lie. So much comes into you know,
on my pages or too much, you know, So I
feel like I do believe in divine connection and everything

(01:08:04):
happens in its own timing at.

Speaker 3 (01:08:06):
The right for the right reason. And so yes.

Speaker 1 (01:08:10):
Sir, no question. So what do you really want to
know about Aaron Richmond and Aaron's opinion? I mean, and
when I tell you that I've covered it all on
this thing, so really get under my skin, really make
me sweat? What do you really want to know?

Speaker 4 (01:08:23):
Honestly, when we talked on the phone and you gave
me the overview of it, you explained it very well.
But I am just interested in know what gave you
the kind of boldness to be able to want to
step out, to bring a platform, to be able to
talk about those topics that most people kind of tether with,

(01:08:47):
especially in the blind community.

Speaker 3 (01:08:48):
And you know, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.

Speaker 4 (01:08:51):
A lot of times people are scared because you won't
get the following or the backing from the bigger organizations.
You get what I'm saying so well, sort of yeah, people,
if not, I can mainly why were you not afraid
to bring this platform and be open to sharing people's
opinions and boldly giving yours and not being afraid of

(01:09:13):
any feedback?

Speaker 3 (01:09:14):
I guess is what I can say.

Speaker 1 (01:09:16):
Well, I guess I can answer well, after I had
never won beauty pageants, and after I had lost so
many and beauty pageants in my own beautiful life, I
realized that there needed to be, you know, some other
things that I could possibly do. So I will tell
you that in case you don't know. The name's Aaron Richmond.
I was born in nineteen ninety one. I forget you're
either you're a few years older than me. I believe so.

(01:09:39):
I was born in ninety one. My born with glaucoma
and a congenital heart defect. My whole life was immersed,
drowned in audio from day one, right, so I was
always that kid that was listening to books on tape.
You know, my fondest memory of my childhood with my
mother read the Harry Potter books to me when I
was a little boy. In the nineties, you know, And

(01:10:00):
so my whole life has been drowned in social media
and drowned in audio. And then I always listened to
podcasts around the Blackness Space and listen, listen, listen. I'm
also a teacher, by the way, I teach English as
a second language. And nothing in my whole life I
loved giving speeches. Like nothing made me happier than to
be a public speaker. It just makes me happy. So

(01:10:22):
I just want to talk talk, talk, talk, talk, talk talk.
Around the year twenty twenty, there was this little thing.
I don't know if you noticed, it's called a pandemic,
and I was at home. It was just like for you,
it was incredibly depressing because my guide dog was in
the later stages the last year's, last couple months of
her life. And yeah, that was a that was a

(01:10:43):
crazy year. And so, you know, So what happened was
I was listening to podcasts around the Blackness Space, but
they just were not open to my opinions. And I
created Aaron's Opinion so that anybody, anybody, and when I
mean anybody, I really mean anybody. Mostly blind people have
been on the show, but I've interviewed other people with disabilities,
other intellectual disabilities, people with cerebral palsy have been on

(01:11:06):
the show a couple of times, and sighted people and
really anybody. Because I believe that the greatest thing and
the greatest gift that I can give you is the
chance for you to be more successful than me. So
that's that's what I hope you know, as I have
a I have a a a theory that the greatest

(01:11:26):
compliment that I can receive is knowing that I helped
Goddess to outdo me. You know, records and numbers are
not meant to be boasted about. They're meant to be
beat and they're meant to be celebrated together. So Darren's opinion,
just to give you a chance to share your story
and to learn with me, learn learn with us, learn
with the listeners around the world. And I I gotta
tell you, that was a lot. So why am I

(01:11:48):
not afraid? Because I'm determined to help other people. As
I said, I'm determined to help one person today and
a million people tomorrow. That's the never afraid, never afraid,
and never afraid and always ready. And so there you go.
I just have to say, you know, if you want to,
you know, leave us with some parting words, and then

(01:12:09):
I'll say, how can people get in touch after they
hear this blast that they get in touch with you?

Speaker 4 (01:12:15):
Of course, of course, well my parting words would be
just that, you know, I feel like my blindness became
my superpower because being able to take away my physical
sight didn't allow me to see objection, didn't allow me
to see doubt, didn't allow me to even have fear.
I could be bold to now be okay with giving

(01:12:38):
Goddess's story, giving Goddess his perspective, my opinion boldly, and
I'll say with that, it doesn't matter what you feel
may not be accepted. Never allow anyone to set limitations
on you that you do not set for yourself. And
with that being said, I am a very easy person

(01:13:01):
to get in contact with.

Speaker 3 (01:13:03):
I am on all social media platforms.

Speaker 4 (01:13:06):
My Facebook is my first name is really got it
so it's g O d d E S T new
way that's all together any w w A Y Jenkins
j E n k I N S. I do have
a Instagram page which is the real put a period

(01:13:26):
and got it so t h E r e A
L period g O D d E s t. My
website is under Queens Raising Queens. I n C twenty
five at gmail dot com. That's my email address.

Speaker 3 (01:13:44):
I'm sorry, I have the business.

Speaker 1 (01:13:47):
This is where we say in the business. Click the
link in the description for more information.

Speaker 3 (01:13:51):
There you go. You got my back.

Speaker 4 (01:13:52):
Aaron will have all that information in the description for you.
And also you can call eight zero three four four
zero six eight one five. If I don't answer, leave
me a text. I refuse to have someone answer for me.
I answer my own calls, So just reach out to
me directly reach out to Aaron. He can feel free

(01:14:13):
to give my contact information. I'm always available. I try
to say, if you want to be on my podcast,
simplease shoot me an email to plenty power twenty four.

Speaker 3 (01:14:23):
At gmail dot com.

Speaker 4 (01:14:25):
And I'm definitely gonna be sending a lot of people
your away erin.

Speaker 1 (01:14:29):
Absolutely we're you know what, We're definitely gonna be talking
off air because there's a lot of people that I
want you to interview, and there's a lot of other
people that I want to interview, so we're definitely going
to be connecting off air. Man oh Man, oh Man, Goddess.
It was an absolute honor and all I can, and
all I can wish for you, and of course if
you can stay on the line for maybe thirty seconds

(01:14:50):
after this, but all I can, all I can say is, look,
all I want for you is to be happier than
me and more successful than me, and then and then
the whole world will will be appreciative. All right, everybody, Wow,
that was a blast. She's got us. I'm Aaron's Opinion.
And of course, as we say on Aeron's Opinion, be
well everybody, and have a wonderful, wonderful day. Help one
person today, help one million people tomorrow. You've been listening

(01:15:16):
to the Golden Thread of Resilience with Goddess right here
on the Aeron's Opinion podcast, the podcast for blind people
where we speak about critical issues in the blindness community
and all other issues from across the universe and galaxy. Goddess,
you did a great job. We'll get you in a moment.
As I always like to say, to make your life easy,
ask him for my electronic business card to make your
life harder. One two for zero six eight one nine

(01:15:39):
eighty six nine Aaron's Opinion six at gmail dot com.
Remember keep your eyes out, because we're going to be
changing the probably I'm not sure, but probably be changing
up the email list, and we're going to probably just
set up a whole new email list, so I'm not sure,
but please stay tuned for that. Follow along on Instagram
at Aaron's Opinion and of course Aaron's Opinion podcasting community.
That's the private Facebook group. Please join it. Join the

(01:16:01):
public WhatsApp community Aaron's Opinion podcasting community. Don't forget about liking, following,
and writing a review of the Facebook page Aaron's Opinion podcast.
Remember we need reviews from you in the public because
without them, nobody would know why they should be tuning
into this and many other episodes of Aaron's Opinion. We
want to take this time to thank all the great
countries who took a moment to download this in many

(01:16:21):
other episodes of the show this week, thanking the United States,
Thank you, South Korea, thank you, Brazil, thank you, and
many many more. Also, don't forget about following along on TikTok,
because we're going to be doing the episode that comes
after this one will involve TikTok. And don't forget about
joining the Patreon of Aaron's Opinion so that you never
miss a moment of the podcast, and so that you

(01:16:43):
know exactly you'll be able to watch the videos before
anybody else does. So if you really want to do that,
join Patreon for free. That's all I ask, a free membership.
You can watch the videos for free right there on Patreon.
And of course we just want to say, you know,
don't forget about following along on TikTok, or following along
on XE and on YouTube at Aaron's Opinion TV. Don't
forget about liking the video and of course subscribing to

(01:17:04):
the channel on YouTube, tickling the bell notification to know
when we premiere the next video, and all of that,
and just keep you know. If you want to get
in touch with the show, let me let us know,
let me know what's going on, and will certainly help
you to get information and keep following along, because I
have consistently noticed that everything you know, more and more
of you are tuning in, and more and more of

(01:17:25):
you are participating in a very beautiful and a very
appropriate way. So thank you for that. I think that
you at home are certainly following along, and we look
forward to each and every episode with you. Goddess, I
want to say, first of all, and I know that
it was just something small that you mentioned in the conversation,
but I just want to say, from my heart to yours,

(01:17:47):
thank you for serving in the army. Thank you for
your service for one thing. For another thing I want,
I want to say, thank you for speaking to me
in such a liking. As I said in the intro,
the way you spoke so like, so serious, but so
warm and approachable, like that's really overwhelming for me. The

(01:18:09):
amount of the amount of genuineness that comes out of
your soul and being, and the fact that you're able
to speak about everything that went wrong in your life,
but then you're also able to speak about everything that
you want to do successfully in the future, and that
you're able to put it all together. I just loved
the interaction, I really did. And as I said, just
keep being successful and keep doing great stuff in the

(01:18:32):
fashion industry. As you can tell, I'm certainly not an
expert in the fashion industry, but I can tell that
you're successful in that industry. So keep doing all that
great stuff. And God has let me know who I
should talk to you next. Here at Aaron's opinion, we
would love to hear from you, and everybody else can
click the link in the description to connect with Goddess
and find out more about what she's doing around the world.
And she's doing great stuff. So God is thank you

(01:18:53):
for having the courage and the kindness to come speak
to us today. We couldn't have done it without you.
And I really learned a lot, and I really enjoyed
the conversationally. I just really enjoyed the flavor that you
that you presented, that seriousness but approachability. You know, you're
so You're so serious and so friendly all at the
same time. It was like really cool. Usually people are

(01:19:14):
one or the other. They're usually really serious and not
approachable or overly friendly and not taking anything seriously sometimes.
But you're able to do both, and I think that's
a very I notice that that's a very distinctive character
trade of yours, and I really, I really salute that.
That's really really cool. Thank you got us. You're forever
welcome on the Errand's Opinion podcast. Be well, seriously, thank

(01:19:37):
you so much, everybody else, all those radio stations and
other podcasters from across the universe and galaxy for syndicating
and downloading this and many other episodes of Aaron's Opinion.
We couldn't do it without you. And of course thank
you to you, or actually rather thank you to all
the other guests, past, present and future who will always
be sharing your knowledge with us on the show each
day or week whenever you choose to listen. And of

(01:19:59):
course thank you. Thank you to you the listener at
home for downloading us from the United States, South Korea,
Brazil and many other countries from across the universe and galaxy. Really,
we couldn't do it without you. I know, we know
you know that there are millions of choices in that
podcast catalog, and we thank you for choosing Aaron's Opinion.

(01:20:21):
Thank you so much, everybody. All right, next week or
next well not necessarily weak, but whenever we set up
the next episode after this one, we're going to be
going over TikTok. There will be a TikTok video for
you that you can watch. There will be some new
features on YouTube. There will be some new some new
little features will be will be being pushed out. We're
going to do some new features coming right out right

(01:20:42):
around the corner. So wherever you download or wherever you
follow the show, whether it's Instagram or YouTube or TikTok.
You will observe that there will be some new things
coming out soon, and probably that new email list too.
I just need to decide if I'm going to set
that up or not. Anyway, though, thank you so much everybody.
We're going to have a much more more well, actually
no we're not. I was about to say we're gonna

(01:21:04):
have a much more cheerful episode next time, but actually
know we're not. We're gonna have a very serious episode
again next time. Anyway, thanks so much everybody for another
great conversation, and of course, don't forget everybody to have
a wonderful day, and don't forget my name's Aaron Richmond.
This is Aaron's opinion, and until next time, everybody keep
podcasting him. Be well, and of course, help one person today,

(01:21:25):
help one million people tomorrow.

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