Black Broads Abroad

In this episode of Black Broads Abroad, Phelena sits down with Sundari Malcolm—a holistic doula whose work spans birth, breathwork, yoga, grief, and death, and who is the founder of A Healing Doula Academy and author of Grief Gems. Originally from Brooklyn and raised in Harlem, Sundari’s life has been defined by profound transitions. After spending seven years as her mother’s caregiver and losing both of...

The global landscape is shifting—and it’s time to talk about where we position ourselves next.

In this powerful, unfiltered episode, we sit down with the brilliant Shani Moore, a career diplomat who has navigated the world through a massive global lens. Shani spent a staggering 23 years with the United Nations, including major assignments in Copenhagen, Denmark, and missions spanning from Tanzania and South Africa t...

What happens when you trade the American hustle for life in Portugal, only for reality to meet you across the Atlantic? In this episode, we sit down with tech entrepreneur Cinnamon McCann (@driven_spice) to demystify the realities of executing the "Exit" option. From navigating a major healthcare scare in Europe and learning to shed the "Strong Black Woman" cape to survive, to the economic realities of a 15% currency loss against t...

What does it look like to raise a child across the globe while building a creative empire? In this episode, we sit down with Davita McKelvey, a Denver, Colorado native turned global strategist and multi-hyphenate entrepreneur who is quite literally remapping the world for Black women.

Davita is the visionary behind Black Travel Romances™, a massive 197-book fiction series that centers powerful Black women in love stories a...

What does it look like to spend two decades living outside the Divided States? In this episode of Black Broads Abroad, we sit down with Kamara, a 20-year veteran expat who is currently preparing for her fourth exit. From Abu Dhabi to London, Cairo to Beijing, Kamara has navigated the global landscape not just as a traveler, but as a highly sought-after professional in the International Baccalaureate (IB) school syste...

Five years ago, at the peak of Black Broads Abroad, I lost my father. As his only child and a total daddy’s girl, that loss devastated me. I never intended to stay away for five years, but I had to put everything on the back burner to navigate that grief. During my time away, I watched the world shift and saw the digital space fill with unvetted noise that offers no real direction for our community during these crises.

I ...

In episode 40, I interview LaTonya Whittaker. LaTonya has been a fixture and a leader within the African American community in Japan for 15 years. She along with her husband David are the founders of the prominent Soul Food House restaurant in Tokyo that has long been a central destination for the Black community to gather. In many ways, the inspiration to build Legacy Foundation Japan comes from the relationships and opportunities...

In episode 39, I interview Delphine. Delphine is a Pan-African optimist. Strategist. Doer. Advocate for the broad spectrum of the ‘underdog’.  Avid world traveler. Lover of dance, art and all things creative. At her core she is passionate about truth, culture and all things Africa.

Born and raised Cameroon and relocated to the United States as a teenager. She is an international humanitarian and development affairs...

In episode 37 I interviewed Stephanie O'Connor. Stephanie is a photographer and creative consultant, originally from South Dakota, who spent her professional life in Atlanta, New York, Johannesburg, and now Los Angeles. She has worked with brands such as Addidas, Hypnotiq, Sunglass Hut and major artist that include Talib Kweli and several Afrobeat musicians on the continent. A free spirit by nature, after earning her degree in Comp...

In episode 36, I interviewed Rozan Ahmed. Rozan is an ambassador, advocate, activist, champion of the arts a cultural practitioner, and preservationist. Born in West London to Sudanese parents, her formative years were abruptly disrupted, when while living in Kuwait she suddenly became a refugee and her father and uncle were taken hostage when the gulf war broke out.

As the youngest appointed editor in British publishing, Rozan joi...

In episode 35, I interviewed Lisa Lee. Lisa is a 64-year-old, twice divorced, retired computer nerd with two grown children (David and Dawn). Both of her kids live in Oakland, CA, a city where she lived for over 30 years before joining the Peace Corps in 2017. Originally from Detroit, Lisa was also a professional genealogist for many years and started a successful website, www.GotGenealogy.com, where she taught family histor...

In episode 34 I interviewed Nadege NDjeBayi. Nadege is a fitness entrepreneur and the first Black woman to own a gym in Downtown LA. Originally, from Paris France, Nadege underwent a drastic transformation when on January 20th 2018 she had a very bad car accident that locked her lower back and caused her to become bedridden. After gaining 40 pounds and losing confidence she decided to make a change. Through intense pain, she compet...

In episode 33, I interview Channel Andrews. Channel is a Philadelphia native and attorney based in Paris, France, where she teaches law at Université Panthéon-Assas (Paris II). Prior to moving to France, she served as Assistant Counsel in the Governor’s Office of General Counsel in Pennsylvania. Her legal expertise includes Administrative Law, Comparative International Law, and Constitutional Law.

Channel’s courses at P...

In episode 32, I interview Christie Clermont. Christieis a folk and abstract artist from Atlanta, Georgia currently living and working in Port-au-Prince, Haiti with her wonderful husband and son. Christie's vibrant use of color and bold lines evoke an electric fascination that resonates within the imaginations of many. As an artist, she mainly works with heavy bodied acrylic paint and gold leaf to give texture to her pieces. She ma...

In episode 31 I interviewed, Cinnamon. Cinnamon is a Digital Marketing Strategist and entrepreneur from Washington, DC. Soon after her 40th birthday she decided to leave the United States and move to Lisbon, Portugal for a new life.  Cinnamon shares her transition to expat life as well as the experiences of other expats on her Youtube channel. Her goal is to encourage busy professionals to spend more time focusing on their per...

In episode 30 of 'Black Broads Abroad', I interview Mallence Bart-Williams is a Sierra Leonean - German multi-facetted social entrepreneur: Publishing, film, fashion, writing and philanthropy are among her professional repertoire. Mallence pursued her studies in economics and finance in Paris, Singapore and Great Britain. Today she lives across the globe, produces a holistic natural body care line in Asia, and is the founder and cr...

Kola Boof is an Egyptian/Sudanese-American, award-winning novelist, poet, television writer, activist, and perhaps most infamously known as being romantically entangled in the life of one of America’s, formerly most wanted Individuals – Osama Bin Laden. Kola is a mother, wife and author of the forthcoming book entitled: Feminist Need Dick Too, pre-ceeded by her similarly controversial work, The sexy Part of the Bible an...

In episode 28, I interview Jewell’s Chambers is the Host of All Things Iceland Podcast, an engineer by training, who has made the pivot as a career digital strategist.  Her passion lies in being able to engage, inspire, and infuse innovation into her work by utilizing her analytical mind, organizational skills and innate ability to connect with people. Over the years, she has been fortunate to create, implement, and meas...

In episode 27 I interview Erin Jackson. Erin was born and raised in the Michiana area of Michigan and ISouth Bend Indiana. She spent most of her early life in the country, living in a house that her dad and brother built from the ground up. At about 12 or 13, when her parents split, she started living in the city of South Bend during the week and weekends with her dad and back in the country with her mother. Setting her sights on t...