Overflowing with Goodness: Alethea Felton on Facing Life’s Challenges with Faith, Love, & Hope

Yeah, that is the view of today's guest, Alethea Felton.

She is going to show us that when she looks at the glass, she sees it as overflowing.

Overflowing with hope, with love, with excitement, and of transformation.

She is on a journey today to prove to you that no matter what you're going through in life, that you'll get through it.

That there's always a rainbow after the rain.

When you hear Alethea speak for the very first time, you're gonna realize that she's like a ball of sunlight.

She's amazing.

And yet, my friend, she's just like all of us, like you.

She's been through some really hard times in life.

But look where she is today.

Here to inspire you, to empower you, to make the most of your life, to enjoy every day, because we never know what tomorrow will bring.

So why don't we all do our best possible to enjoy right now?

Now, remember, today's episode, today's interview, it's gonna be powerful.

And I guarantee you that there's gonna be a girlfriend, a mother, an aunt, grandmother, sister, somebody who you think of that you know needs to hear this message today.

Please share it with them.

That would mean the world to me, and I know it would mean the world to today's guest alone.

And with that, my friend, I'm gonna turn it over.

It's episode 324.

SPEAKER_00: Yo, are you ready to flip this crypto live to those bad dudes?

Here just do it to better dudes.

And that's exactly what we do here at quick break to inspiration.

Your host and low.

Stop.

And let me get to do your host.

Kevin Low.

SPEAKER_01: Well, Miss Alicia, welcome to the podcast.

It is such a pleasure to have you.

SPEAKER_02: Hey, Kevin! I am so excited to be here with you today, my friends.

Oh my goodness, perhaps.

SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.

Well, I have been looking forward to this so much because you know what?

Even though I'm blind, I actually am wear my sunglasses today because I feel like you are like nothing but a ray of sunlight shining at me.

SPEAKER_03: Oh, well, look, all that I'm gonna say is you know it.

And if I am the sun, then you are the moon, and both of us are reflecting and doing some awesome solar-like things in this universe.

SPEAKER_01: I love it.

Whew, you can tell we think a lot of ourselves.

Oh my goodness.

Oh my goodness.

Well, well, I want to start off our conversation today, and I'm gonna throw it at you because I want you to tell me how would you describe who Aletheia Felton is right now in your life?

SPEAKER_03: Who Aletheia Felton is is I am a self-assured, confident woman of God and faith who has evolved extraordinarily into knowing who I am and accepting my worth.

I'm still learning more and more about me daily.

I am a woman who is grateful for every single day that I get.

I am also someone that absolutely loves the oceans, ocean life, mermaids.

I don't care what anybody says, mermaids are real, and I will take that to the bank.

And so I love mermaids.

I am a southerner, born and raised in southeastern Virginia, right by the North Carolina line.

So I am a southerner, lived for many years in Washington, D.C.

proper, still have property up there, and I still go up there once a month.

But in terms of the core of who I am, I am just someone who is so grateful for every day that I'm given.

I've always seen my glass as just not half full, but half full to overflowing.

My cup runneth over, so is to speak, with my life.

And that's who I am for sighted people.

If anyone sees me, people automatically recognize that I wear, I have locks in terms of my hairstyle, but I also wear head wraps and very colorful ones.

So people will see me with my colors.

It can be gloomy outside, and I still have on something bright and vibrant because I'm a colorful person, meaning that I just embrace the beauty of life even on the dark days.

So that's how I would describe who I am at this point in my life, Kevin.

SPEAKER_01: Oh my goodness.

Well, I think that is an adequate description.

And I think this sets the stage for us today, because I mean, you you are such an amazing woman.

And what I'm anxious to discover, though, is kind of the story behind this woman.

What's what's led to this point in your life?

Have you always been this just glowing ray of sunlight?

And so I guess I would love to ask if you would kind of take me back a little bit in life, because as radiant as you are, I don't want anybody to think that you haven't been, you know, through your own hardships.

Because I know that you've dealt with many medical issues.

And so would you mind just kind of exploring that aspect of your life with us?

SPEAKER_03: Certainly, I will.

So, in terms of my life, I have definitely, I have definitely had my share of hardships.

And people are probably like, why is she laughing if she's had hardships?

Because sometimes I say to myself, God, I know that they say that you make no mistakes and that you make all things perfect and you're perfect, but sometimes I said, maybe God took a nap on the day that He made me.

But uh So I say that because part of my journey literally started at birth, where I was born as a baby with a defective liver, had a very severe case of jaundice.

Now, jaundice is common in a lot of babies, but with mine it was lingering and I was quite sickly as a baby, as a kid growing up.

And I always like to say that just because I had a defective liver, my parents did nothing to cause it.

Turned out to be some type of genetic fluke and abnormality, which led to stunted growth in my early childhood.

I'm tall now, I'm 5'9, so I had a major growth spurt when I was about 13.

But I was very short as a kid, very sickly, always vomiting, always achy, not feeling well.

And my mom used to take me to doctor after doctor, and my dad, frankly, at the time thought that my mom was just over exaggerating, but mom knew something wasn't right.

So I grew up in the 80s and 90s.

I'll be 43 August 27th.

And so I grew up in a time when they did the basics when it came to pediatrics.

They just made sure you were breathing, and if you were breathing and alive, you were okay.

So my mom tried to get me all of these different specialized tests.

They never found anything.

So my parents raised me to have a pretty much normal life.

And kind of fast forward to my late 20s, I was officially diagnosed with having Crohn's disease, as well as a liver condition named autoimmune hepatitis type 1, that eventually also led to primary sclerosin cholingitis, which is PSC, or hardening of the bile ducts, which can lead to complete and total liver failure, which could lead to either transplantation or death.

And obviously, Kevin, you are not speaking to a spirit or a ghost, so I am still living.

So that has been my journey where I have had multiple hospitalizations in my past.

I was almost in hospice care at one point, planned my entire funeral, and I'm now here and I'm thriving.

So that's the nuts and bolts of it.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah, wow.

Now, during your childhood years and like teenage years and stuff, did these issues affect you from living a, you know, quote unquote like normal life as a kid?

SPEAKER_03: Mm-mm.

No, not at all.

And pardon me for saying, uh-uh, I was taking a drink of water.

But um, no, it didn't.

And I'll tell you why.

Because my parents could not get an official diagnosis, a lot of it was the home treatment care of things.

My late grandmother, who I adore, this was my father's mother, she was a nurse.

And so on times when I had to be home from school sick, oftentimes I would be with my grandma.

But even my sick days, my parents had to force me to stay home from school because I was such an overachiever.

I was very active in school.

In fact, growing up, I was big in theater and on the stage and music lessons and things of that nature.

So I was in academia as well as the arts.

And my parents always had it so that my sister and I lived a normal life.

So although I always felt a certain kind of way and I never felt my best, I didn't think about the fact growing up that I had these conditions or that I was sick because I still made honor roll, I still was active in school, I still did things, normal things.

And ironically, a lot of my close friends didn't even realize that I had these health conditions until I was an adult.

Even some people in my family, I'm talking aunts and uncles and first cousins, didn't know that I had been going through these battles with sickness as a kid, Kevin, because my parents kept it private and they did everything they could to make me have a sense of normalcy.

And you asked me earlier if I've always kind of had this kind of outlook.

I would say yes.

And I'll give you an example.

Due to the liver conditions, some of my toenails are discolored, meaning that when I was born, some were like brown and black, which would freak out other people.

It's not fungus, but it's a clear sign of liver disease.

Make a long story short, when I was a toddler, I noticed it as a small kid.

And Kevin, I thought God painted my toenails.

I literally thought that.

I was, oh my God, this is so cool.

Like, wow, this is cool.

God painted my toenails.

That's what I thought.

And it wasn't until I got older that I told my mom that that's what I thought as a kid.

So I've always been the kind where I've seen the glass just really, really overflowing.

And I've always saw things from a happier view.

Even with rain, I absolutely love rain.

A lot of people don't.

But my father taught me at a young age, we would literally open up the front door and be standing by the screen door.

Yes, I said a screen door.

And if anybody knows what that is, that's old school for you.

We will open up and stand by the screen door and look at thunderstorms.

And daddy would tell me, he would say, although it's raining and it's cloudy and thundering outside, the sun always shines behind the clouds.

And he was telling me this when I was like five and six.

So he always told me without rain, we couldn't have grass, we couldn't have flowers, we couldn't have all of the beautiful verdant greenery.

And so that was instilled in me as a young kid, and I always live by it.

Does it mean though, Kevin, that I didn't slump into moments of depression, sadness, and sorrow?

Oh gosh, absolutely not.

I definitely did, but overall, I've always had a more optimistic viewpoint.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.

I love it.

And oh my gosh, I love that story about your dad with the rain.

I think that is so powerful, so amazing.

Talk to me a little bit about your faith journey.

How has that played out in your life?

SPEAKER_03: My faith journey, yeah.

Well, I grew up in a Christian household.

And what I mean by that is we were followers of Jesus Christ.

My father is a former psychiatric counselor as well as a former pastor.

What I will say is that my sister and I did not follow that stereotypical preacher's kid's upbringing of us being wild or rambunctious and all that kind of stuff.

No, because with my daddy having that psychiatric counselor background, he and my mother, they always talked with us about things.

So we had the type of household where we could talk about any and everything.

So as a young kid, I remember going to Sunday school, but I wasn't your typical Christian that just fell into whatever was told me.

I questioned a lot.

And I had a father, and he's still living, but daddy was always so patient with me and explaining things.

And so, in terms of a religious practice, I graduated more towards teachings of Christ.

However, if you look at it from a more spiritual standpoint, I did have times in my life where I had near-death experiences.

I've talked about them more recently on a couple of podcasts where I've literally seen things and had experiences in the supernatural, which solidified my faith even more.

I didn't see Jesus in those occurrences, but those were times when I did encounter what I call angels.

I've encountered spirits on the other side, and I've seen realms that I know were not dreams.

And so that also gave me a piece about death where I don't fear death itself, but also it taught me that throughout my life, I just always believed that God was within me.

If I call myself a child of God, then that means that I share God's DNA.

And so therefore, I have the power within myself that God has given me to be able to overcome any and every obstacle that comes my way.

And that always guided me is that I don't see God necessarily as this high-off being sitting in the clouds, but that God is everywhere.

God is spirit, God is love.

And so with that being said, Kevin, I've carried that principle of faith and just believing in the impossibilities turning into realities.

And that's what my spiritual journey, faith walk, has been like.

It is firm, it is solid, and I have found that the intimacy I have with God has come from the darkest moments of my life, whether it was from sickness, whether it was from grieving, the deaths of two of my best friends, whether it was from heartache due to heartbreak, whatever it was, the most severe trials of my life have brought me closer to God.

SPEAKER_01: Wow.

So, so amazing, amazing power.

So amazing and such an amazing testimony.

Yeah, that's absolutely beautiful.

Now, you just mentioned your your the loss of two of your best friends.

I want to ask you about that, but before we do, I want to ask you to explore a little bit about something you said earlier that I have to go back to.

And that is the fact that you said at one point in time you were preparing to die.

Will you talk to me about that?

SPEAKER_03: Yeah.

Sure, I certainly will.

Back in 2012, May of 2012.

So this is what, 12 years ago now.

May of 2012, I was still diagnosed with the autoimmune hepatitis type one.

And just to give people some education, autoimmune hepatitis is exactly what it is.

It's not the type that you catch, it's not HEP A, B, C or anything like that.

But it's literally where the liver fights itself with autoimmune HEP.

And because the liver thinks that it itself is a foreign object, it fights itself overworks and basically takes the liver into liver failure.

At the time, I had a severe case of autoimmune hepatitis that led to full cirrhosis of the liver.

I had had different ultrasounds, I had a fibro scan, I had MRIs, everything confirming this in-stage cirrhosis.

But I didn't qualify for transplant.

It's a very complicated scale to even qualify for a transplant.

That's a whole other episode.

Well, anyway, there had come a point where my hepatologist or my liver specialist at the time, she was taking all these tests and was the best of the best, but taking all these tests, and she kind of broke protocol as a doctor.

And I and I'm gonna tell you how, breaking it in a good way.

When she had to come to me with the news that there was nothing more she could do, Kevin, I remember she looked at me square in the eyes and she kind of tilted her head back and just looked down on me.

And she said to me, She said, although medically there's nothing more I can do, she said, but I believe God is not through with you yet.

SPEAKER_01: And oh wow.

SPEAKER_03: And she said that.

She said, God is not through with you yet.

She said, scientifically, there's not much more I can do.

She said, but I just have the biggest feeling that your life is not over.

And so I need you right now to take this information I'm giving you and to yes, talk to your loved ones, family, and friends, but I need you to keep trusting God.

And we had never really talked about faith or, you know, anything like that.

So I remember that I was going in for a final biopsy just to confirm the whole stage for it.

And when that happened, you know, she said that the next talks would have to be hospice care.

So I remember calling everybody from my pastor, the people in my family to my close friends, pretty much telling them, hey, I need to prepare for hospice.

This is what's happening.

But even I had a feeling, Kevin, that my life wasn't over.

But I started planning my funeral, getting arrangements in order, writing things down.

And on the day of the biopsy, I had to be at the hospital very, very early that morning.

And shortly after midnight, I remember feeling excruciating pain in my upper right quadrant.

Now, contrary to popular belief, the liver itself cannot feel pain.

However, if there's something going on with the liver or something's attacking it, then the pain from those conditions can affect where the liver is located.

So in the early morning hours of the day of the biopsy, I felt the most excruciating pain in that upper right quadrant area.

And I begged God, I begged God to take away the pain.

It lasted for probably a good half hour, and then all of a sudden the pain subsided and I was able to sleep.

So I said, whew, I can actually sleep.

I only had a few hours prior to my getting up.

So I wake up the next morning, I get prepped to go to the hospital, and they go in, they do the liver biopsy.

It's outpatient.

So I come home that same evening.

I don't hear anything from my doctor.

But then the next day, I remember it had been some time, so I was able to shower and whatnot.

And I had to be very careful because of the bandage over the spine.

Of the liver, and it was very, very tender and painful.

And Kevin, this was about seven o'clock in the evening on a Wednesday.

And I remember coming out of the bathroom and looking down at my cell phone, and I saw that it was my doctor's office calling.

Now, this was the evening, evening hours.

I said, This is strange.

So I answered the phone, and it's my doctor on the phone.

And she asked me how I'm feeling.

I said, I'm feeling okay, you know, blah, blah, blah.

And then she says, Well, I'm calling because the hospital has been on the phone with me all day asking if I sent them the right patient.

And I said, What are you talking about?

The right patient.

All of my prior scans that I took, even leading up to about 48 hours before the actual biopsy, showed that I had end stage liver failure, total cirrhosis of the liver.

Kevin, by the time I went in for my biopsy, from what the liver biopsy showed, is that I had reverted to stage one instead of stage two.

SPEAKER_01: Amen.

Amen.

SPEAKER_03: Yeah.

And it stomped everybody.

And to this day, now, this is the truth.

A few years ago, because I have a different team now, that doctor is still in practice, but she loved me enough where my case started getting very complex with the Crohn's and liver issues, that she ended up transferring my case to a major hospital in the Washington, D.C.

area, Georgetown.

And so I have my doctors now out of there.

And just a few years ago, when they were going through all of my files, things like that, they can't find evidence of the fact that now in this day and age, they can't find autoimmune hepatitis type one.

I do have the bile duct thing, but they can't find the autoimmune HEP.

And I used to have it.

And the reason why I bring this up, Kevin, is because it's not curable.

SPEAKER_01: Wow.

SPEAKER_03: It's not curable.

And so they are really baffled.

Like, how did you have it?

And this prior doctor is like excellent.

And I saw the evidence of me having it.

I saw the past scans.

And so, you know, I know it's a longer story, but I wanted to give you the context of that's what happened.

And I've and I had other hospitalizations post that, but it was due to the Crohn's.

And those I was critical and things like that.

And I've bounced back by the grace of God.

SPEAKER_01: That doctor, she was right.

God wasn't done with you yet.

And uh that it is incredible.

It is absolutely incredible.

Talk to me about your two friends that we're gonna hear their stories.

And I I feel this is such a powerful part, and I know it's a tough part, but but I would love to hear about these friends of yours.

SPEAKER_03: I definitely am honored to tell you about my friends.

I had two very close friends who passed away, and I have to explain why they're so pivotal and so important to my life.

Let me start with their names.

Their names were Shoderi and Nakeisha.

I have been longtime friends with both ladies that met both of them through my church, actually.

We sang on the praise team together at some point, but ironically, Sha Dari and Nakeisha weren't friends with each other because they sang at different times on the praise team.

Shoderi was um, I can't remember the exact age gap now, but I think she may have been four or five years younger than I.

Nakeisha was three years older than I was.

But Shoderi was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer in 2015.

She ended up transitioning or passing away from it June of 2017.

The reason why her death was so important to me, and yes, she had an incredible life, but Kevin, the reason I focus on her death is the last three months of her life, I was able to spend one-on-one quality time with her because ironically, I had been on short-term disability from work for a couple of months due to a Crohn's flair.

Sha Dari was unable to work at the time, and her husband was at work, and he allowed me to come over and sit with her and things of that nature.

But the reason she was so special to me was because she told me at the time, and my nickname is Lily, and she told me, she said, Lily, you do so much for everybody else.

She said, but I want you to start taking care of you and doing things for you.

In other words, Kevin, she saw areas of weakness or flaws in me.

And I'm careful using the word flaw.

I guess what I'm trying to say is she knew back then that I didn't I didn't see and accept my entire full worth.

She saw it in me.

And she made me promise that I would work on me.

It's not like I was a terrible person or anything.

And I wasn't necessarily a people pleaser, but I accepted certain things in my life that were not serving me, that did me no good.

That I allowed myself to be put on strings by certain men who were in my life at the time.

I wasn't, you know, sleeping around or anything like that, but just accepting crumbs as opposed to accepting the full meals.

And then I was overextending myself for people.

I was kind of all over the place, although I was constantly achieving things and outwardly appearing like this strong, confident, courageous woman.

I had so many insecurities from the, you know, sicknesses.

I didn't really embrace who I was.

And Shideri died in front of me.

I was there when she took her last breath.

And she waited until I got to her house to transition.

And I thought that was the best gift she could have ever given me because after she died, very shortly afterwards, I was hospitalized again within a week for a very severe Crohn's flare after her funeral.

I helped to plan her funeral, and the stress of it sent me right back into the hospital.

And that's when my doctor at the time transferred me over to Georgetown because it was so serious.

And that time I was in the hospital, Kevin, it was very, very serious.

It was touch and go.

And I had such a spiritual reawakening in that hospital bed where I had visitors in and out, where the worship team came and sang to me.

In the quiet times, I really felt the presence of God moving.

But I was in that hospital bed and I said, no, my life isn't over.

It's only beginning.

And Shideri's death led me to not only getting grief counseling, but I got personal counseling that I needed for myself.

And I always attribute her passing to being the person I am today.

Nakeisha was like another sister.

And she ended up getting pancreatic cancer in June of 2019, and she was dead in October of 2019.

My parents considered Keisha their third daughter.

She was such a, you call me a ray of sunshine.

Keisha, oh, you would have loved her, Kevin.

She was the most bubbly, full of life, energetic, joy-filled people.

And I saw Keisha, me, and my sister growing old together as sisters.

And her death knocked the total wind out of me.

But the gift was I got to spend it with her also in her last moments and hours.

But um, her death really took a toll on me.

And I remember telling her right before she died, maybe a couple of weeks prior to it, I said, How am I going to live my life without you?

And I meant it.

I said, How?

Because we had all these plans as, you know, sisters to do things together and go places.

And she was very stern with me and said, Lily, you got to keep living your life.

You better not give up.

And it was almost an admonishment that you better keep going.

And the reason I go into debt with these and why this is so profound, I have other friends.

They know that I love them.

But Kevin, I'm telling you, when two of your best friends, and actually currently my third, like very, very best friend, she's actually going through stage four liver cancer right now.

And she's still living and hopefully she'll be healed.

But it becomes a different world when the closest people in your inner circle are no longer here.

And I really was grateful for the friends who were still around and knew their place, knew I still loved them, but understood the difference Shideri and Nakeisha made in my life.

And I'm glad I can talk about it now and not feel so hurt.

But it is still to this day in 2024 a very different world navigating life without them.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah.

I mean, I I can only imagine.

That I mean, I just have to acknowledge the fact of how brutal life can be sometimes.

The fact of your two best friends to lose them within just a couple of years of one another.

SPEAKER_03: And Kevin, if I can say this too, the irony was that they were the ones by my sickbed.

They were the ones by my sickbed.

They were the ones looking after me.

And so when the script was flipped, that really was a mind blowing thing.

SPEAKER_01: And actually, that actually brings me to one point that I wanted to bring up.

And you're gonna have to fill in the gaps for me.

Is one of your friends actually, while she was sick herself, was came to the hospital to celebrate your birthday.

SPEAKER_03: Yes.

Oh my gosh.

Thank you for bringing that up.

Thank you, Kevin.

Yes.

So, oh my gosh, that's some, okay, because of the stress of everything, blah, blah, blah.

August of 2019, I had another Crohn's flare.

And I think, and what my doctors think was that the stress of what Nakeisha was experiencing really manifested in my body.

And so in August of 2019, I had another serious Crohn's flare.

And that was my last hospitalizations until this day, and prayerfully, I won't have any more hospitalizations until God lets me have a baby or something like that.

But that was my last hospitalization that was in 2019, August.

And I had to spend my birthday in the hospital.

That was my 38th birthday in the hospital.

And my sister, Dina, my um blood sister, she took it upon herself to throw a party for me in my hospital room.

And so certain loved ones came in and all this stuff.

And keep in mind, y'all, this was pre-pandemic, so people could just come in and out, right?

And Georgetown has a 24-hour visitors policy.

And so I was having guests come a lot.

So anyway, as we're partying, next thing you know, I see Keisha walking into the hospital room with her walker, and her son and her husband are behind her.

And the reason why this was shocking is because all of her treatments.

They knew there was nothing more they could do for her.

She was supposed to only go to her doctor's appointments.

The last place she needed to be was in a hospital.

And she comes through that door, and I'm just like, ah.

Now I talk to her anyway, every day, but to actually physically see her, and that was maybe the last time I saw her, like very, very vibrant and peppy.

And I have video as well as a picture of her like dancing, us hugging.

And that was one of the best moments as I'm is that I'm in my sick bed, and here Keisha had stage four pancreatic cancer throughout her body, spread throughout her body, and she's in such pain, and yet she came and celebrated with me, knowing that her body was shutting down.

And she passed in October.

And then this was August 27th, 2019, and she passed in October.

SPEAKER_01: What a what a beautiful representation of friendship.

SPEAKER_03: Yeah.

Yeah.

She was the best.

Her and Darry were the best.

They always had a joke.

They always made you smile.

They were just the absolute best.

And Darry's mom, the one who died in 2017, I kept in touch with her every week after Sha Dairy passed.

And unfortunately, her mother passed due to complications from the pandemic.

SPEAKER_01: Wow.

Wow.

How was it for you moving on with life after the loss of both of them?

SPEAKER_03: Therapy helped.

Therapy helped, no doubt.

That helped a lot.

And I opted for a therapist who also specialized in Christian counseling because she was able to use scripture to help me through it.

And the grief program that I went through, grief share, is hands down.

I would recommend that to anybody.

It's a national program, amazing.

But how did I get through life?

I guess the simplest answer, Kevin, would be one day at a time.

And I think, I think my other people in my support system were really carrying me through.

I had a full circle moment in August of 2021 when I turned 40 and the world was just opening back up.

And my sister planned a surprise birthday party for me at a winery.

And I don't drink, but it was such a beautiful scenic place.

It was outside.

And the way that my sister organized this, I have no idea, Kevin, how she knew the right people to invite.

But I think that the beauty of that was you have to think, this was August of 2021.

We were going through as a country, a pandemic, getting out of the brunt of it.

But there were about 10 of my closest sister friends who came to that party.

And I knew them at different stages of my life.

And they were the kind of ladies where I didn't have to talk to them every day, but they were just perfect in my world and still are.

But I think that the beauty of that, I think that's where, oh, and I don't want to get emotional, but I feel some tears well enough.

That surprise party made me realize how well I navigated through it because here were other women in my life, Kevin, who knew the extreme losses that I had.

Yet they were secure enough in themselves and knowing that they didn't feel slighted by me, that they still knew I loved them, but they knew the importance Sha Dari and Keisha played in my life.

And even at my party, somebody said in a tribute, because they all came around and did tributes to me, one of my friends said, We know that you would have loved to have Dairy and Keisha here with you.

But to know that we have your back too, and that we're, and like, oh my God, that was a game changer for me to know that these women thought so much of me to love me enough to say, we're still here to help carry you, although it's hard.

And it's been tough.

Like, I'm not gonna act like I don't think about them often.

I don't necessarily think about them every single day, but every week they still cross my mind.

I miss them.

I mean, it's no getting around it.

And they are forever young in my mind.

Darry was 32 when she passed.

Keisha was 40.

And they they kind of stay stuck in time as you grow older.

And I dealt with survivor's guilt for a while because I was the one expected to die, expected not to live.

And that could play its game on me.

So I've just learned to just utilize what I've learned in therapy, ask God to guide me through it, and to be surrounded and supported by love.

And that's what's really helped.

SPEAKER_01: Wow.

So emotional.

But again, just such a powerful story of love, of relationships, of friendship.

So amazingly beautiful.

So maybe kind of shifting gears a little bit.

Where in the world does podcasting enter this whole story of yours?

SPEAKER_03: Oh my goodness.

Let me tell you about this.

So, podcasting is kind of a funny story.

Uh, I launched the Power Transformation Podcast back in December of 2022.

So this was when I was still working a full-time nine to five and everything like that.

I had a 20-year career as a public school educator.

And um, I had roles from classroom teaching to leadership roles in schools, and I re retired early last July at the age of 41 and ended my career in HR.

But when I started my podcast, it was in December of 2022.

I was still teaching, but one of my mentors and a dear friend of mine for many years, his name is John Narrell.

John told me in early 2022, Kevin, now get this.

Early 2022, John says, I think you should start a podcast.

Kevin, I didn't even listen to a podcast.

So how in the world am I gonna start one?

I was like, I don't even listen to.

And the hilarious part is that John has a very successful podcast about workplace, careers, jobs, et cetera.

So as much as I love John, I didn't even listen to his podcast.

So how in the world am I gonna listen to my own?

So John said, well, the reason I think that you should is he noticed that my social media posts had some really good content, topics, things like that.

And he said, I just think you should start a podcast.

So I said, uh, I don't know.

Look, Kevin, don't judge me.

But I sat on that idea for probably almost a year.

I just sat on it.

Like, I ain't gonna do no podcast, right?

And so I was like, I ain't gonna, no, I ain't gonna do no podcast.

So John said, start listening to maybe five that resonated with you.

I said, John, I don't even know where to begin.

Like, so John is the best.

He was like, well, first you can subscribe to my podcast.

So I did that.

I was like, okay, okay.

So I did that.

Then I started to see, gosh, this world of podcasting is pretty huge.

Let me find topics I like.

So I went into the deep end where I was subscribing left and right to this one and that one.

I said, wait a minute, I'm not gonna have time to do anything else.

So I scaled back and then I started to really pray about it.

And I said, God, show me the way to go with this podcast idea.

Give me creativity, insight, and ideas.

So John actually coached me through how to launch a podcast, how to create one.

And I'm the type of a person, if you give me good, solid, grounded while Counsel, I will implement it if I see that it's going to be of best, not just to me, but to the people that I serve.

I was already a certified holistic health coach and really focusing on that at the time, as well as with my career.

I had already had many other experiences in my life.

So I was like, okay, and the tr and the key with the name is that John said, try to find a name nobody has.

So at the time when I created this podcast, nobody had this name.

I think someone since then has created one similar, but I have the original name of it.

So anyway, so I found the name of the podcast wasn't taken.

And I said, okay, I want this show to be about things, maybe holistic health principles people can implement into their lives based on the power they have within themselves.

So, for example, maybe they want to be more mindful in their daily life.

Maybe they want this and that.

So I started it off as that.

I started with five episodes, launched December 7th, 2022.

That date was important because that was the date of my late godmother's birthday.

And she had died not long prior to me launching.

She passed sadly of complications due to the pandemic.

And so I was very close to my godmother.

She was an incredible woman.

And if she were living, Kevin, she would have been a perfect guest to have on your show.

She was the epitome of that.

And so, in honor to her, with her grit and her grace inspiration, I decided to say, I'm gonna launch the Power Transformation podcast on Sandra's birthday.

So I launched it, and then John taught me the art of being consistent.

However, what it's formed into now, Kevin, is what I noticed were yes, I would do some solo episodes, but I noticed that with the guests I started interviewing, every single guest, Kevin, had a story where they had a challenge, some type of adversity or an obstacle that they overcame or could even currently still go through.

Yet they haven't used that as a place to wallow or feel sorry for themselves, but they've used that as a catalyst for change to make their lives and the lives around others better.

And so that then became the essence of the Power Transformation podcast, where it started as this one idea, but now it's crafted into this entirely different idea that fits its name.

And it ranks currently in the top 5% of podcasts globally.

It's audio only for right now.

But in September, I'm actually going to start putting episodes on YouTube as well.

SPEAKER_01: Well, fantastic.

No, I mean, that's amazing.

And I mean, I love the story of how you started the podcast, the fact of not even knowing what the heck a podcast was.

And uh and now you uh Miss Power Transformation Podcast, superstar, you're amazing.

SPEAKER_03: Uh oh, thank you.

And on LinkedIn, I I got one of those um those badges for top podcasting voice badge.

So I'm pretty excited about that, you know, for me city thing.

But I have a lot of guests, like I literally have a wait list right now for guests because I'm still doing this on my own.

After a while, I may hire other people.

After a while, but you know, I'm still doing all of the editing on my own.

But when I say, and I think you and I kind of talked about this, I have approximately, this is no, no exaggeration.

I have approximately 200 people who have requests to want to be on my show as guests.

And I'm not exaggerating about that, so I'm sifting through that.

So that is really, really a blessing that wow, so that people are learning more about what I'm doing and getting it out there because I'm so courageous and bold and believe in dreams where I say I'm gonna be a top 1% podcaster, one of these days.

I don't care how long it takes, but I will absolutely, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01: I love it so much.

Now, talking a little bit about your podcast and it leading into something that you also have have done of some public speaking, I want you to tell me the story about one of your doctors while you were, I think, prepping for surgery, who actually helped you with your podcast.

And uh and it's Oh, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03: Thank you.

Yeah, so okay, so this is the greatest story ever.

And I'm gonna give him a public shout out because he's been so amazing.

Dr.

Mark Matar at Georgetown University Hospital.

He is the head of the gastroenterology fellows at Georgetown.

Hands down, just an incredible doctor, but more so one of the most compassionate human beings that you will ever meet.

He has an awesome wife, also.

I met her recently.

But what happened was it was last year at my annual colonoscopy.

Now keep in mind, ever since I was 28 years old, I've had to get annual colonoscopies.

No fun at all.

Yuck, hate that time of my life, but have had to get them every year because I live with Crohn's.

So what happened was I was literally prepping for my annual and went in the back and um I was all prepped up, and it's a room that has the anesthesiologist, the anesthesiology assistant, nurses, doctors, et cetera.

So Dr.

Matar comes in prior to him getting in his scrubs just to say hi, and he and he remembered that I had been telling him since 2022 about my podcast.

So prior to my procedure, he literally says, wait a minute, stop.

Before we put you under, tell me the name again of your podcast.

I say it's called the Power Transformation Podcast.

It's on all platforms.

So he takes out his phone, tells everybody in the room, take out your cell phones.

If you're an Apple user, go to Apple.

If you're Android, go to, you know, Spotify, iHeart, anywhere.

And he subscribes to my podcast then and there, but makes everybody else do the same prior to me going under for my procedure.

SPEAKER_01: That is classic.

SPEAKER_03: So that was pretty fun.

It was classic.

It was classic.

And on top of that, I also pay homage to him because he invited me in um June.

Well, in June, I had a major speaking engagement that really helped to catapult me to a desire I have been having for a while.

Is while I am a transformational coach, what I also have been yearning to do is getting to more of the public and professional speaking world.

And several months ago, Dr.

Matar contacted me and said that for the gastroenterology fellows' graduation, he he asked me if I could be their key note speaker.

So in early June of this year, I had the esteemed honor of speaking at the Congressional Country Club in Maryland to speak with the gastroenterology fellows as well as numerous other doctors at Georgetown.

And it was a keynote speech about caring, about showing compassion, care, and never forgetting your why when it comes to you working in healthcare.

And that was absolutely tremendous because my target audience of people that I coach, as well as who I'm targeting in terms of speech, it's really two groups is that I coach educators, and I use that word to say teachers, principals, instructional specialists, anyone who works in that school setting directly with students, educators, I coach them, and I also coach people living with invisible illness.

And so those are my two aspects, and specifically the targets is how to help them get unstuck in order to reach that next personal or professional goal in their life.

I know what it feels like to be underappreciated, overwhelmed, undervalued, burnt out, exhausted.

And I know the strategies of how to be resilient despite the obstacles, either self-imposed or external obstacles that can tend to hinder you.

I know through a system I've created as well as what I've used in my own life on how to bounce back from them in order to still be highly successful.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I love it.

Well, Alethea, before I ask my final question today, will you please share with us for anybody interested in your coaching, in maybe hiring you as a speaker or just even finding the podcast, where can we send everybody?

SPEAKER_03: Thank you.

Yes.

So my website is being updated as we speak, but it but it is still live.

So my website is www.aletheafelton.com.

That's A-L-E-T-H-E-A-F-E-L-T-O-N.

People often try to default and say Alethea and skip over that first E, but it's Alethea.

It's a Greek name, means truth.

That's one way.

Also, you can email me directly at coach at aletheafelton.com.

That's coach C O A C H at aletheafelton.com.

I'm on LinkedIn.

If you're on LinkedIn, that's a great place to connect with me.

And that is my name up there, Alethea Felton.

I'm also on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok.

I'm up there, but I don't have a huge presence on TikTok, but definitely Instagram, Facebook.

In terms of the podcast, the Power Transformation Podcast, you can find that on all podcast platforms, Apple, iHeart, like everywhere, Spotify.

And in September, it will be on YouTube as well.

But for now, it's on every platform.

And subscribe, follow.

If you're an Apple user, please write a review so it can build traction and just get the word out.

I interview everybody.

I have interviewed everyone from CEOs of companies to New York Times best selling authors, all the way to people that are on permanent disability in their life.

I don't discriminate against who I interview.

It's literally about people who have really had some amazing stories.

And also, Kevin, on top of that, in terms of the public speaking event, I had, I also want to acknowledge that I went to that event with my partner, significant other boyfriend, Brandon, who's been very supportive of me, along with my, you know, family and friends and things of that nature.

But you he stays behind the scenes a lot.

But he, my parents, my sister, my immediate family, as well as some friends, have very have been so supportive on my journey.

And I'm very, very grateful for that.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I love that.

I mean, it's no doubt.

I mean, it takes a village.

And uh, you know, we life is tough enough, much less to try to do it all on your own.

Um and so I love that.

And I will be sure that all of the information you mentioned, all those links, everything is in the show notes for today's episode for easy access.

SPEAKER_03: Oh, wait a minute, wait a minute, though.

Also, y'all, Kevin is such a very humble person, so you might not know this too, but I want you to please go to the Power Transformation podcast because Kevin is a past guest on my show.

So listen to his episode.

Good mention.

SPEAKER_01: I'll be sure that's linked in the show notes also.

SPEAKER_03: Amazing.

Yes.

You had a phenomenal interview.

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: Oh, well, I think you're absolutely phenomenal yourself.

And my last question, honestly, is is looking back at this conversation today, I mean, we've gone through the the health struggles, the loss you've experienced, but also the gain that you've you've gone through.

The idea of this cup of yours is just overflowing.

What, though, is the one thing that you hope the person listening today comes away with?

What is that one message that you hope that they remember about hearing your story?

SPEAKER_03: The one thing that I hope that people remember about my story is that regardless of what life brings your way, regardless of the obstacles set in your path to thwart where you're supposed to go, is to just keep moving forward, to keep going, to know and believe that you are worth every and anything, to embrace your self-worth, to trust in your creativity and your ideas, but also know that you are here not by accident, but you are here for a reason, and that sometimes it may be difficult understanding or seeing what

that reason is.

But regardless of your age, your socioeconomic status, your upbringing, your past does not necessarily determine your future.

And so as long as you have breath in your lungs, you're able to still breathe, you're able to still communicate in some form, whatever form that is, realize that your being here is not by chance, but that you too have a story to share and can make an incredible difference.

Avoid getting caught up in the comparison trap of thinking that your story isn't big enough or great enough.

That's not the point.

But the point is knowing that there is hope no matter what you go through.

Walk away knowing who you are and walk away knowing that your life matters and you sincerely can make a difference.

I know what it's like being at rock bottom.

And while I didn't talk about a lot of the emotional turmoil I experienced, I get it.

I know what it's like where you don't even want to wake up on the next day, but you know that you have to.

I know what it's like being on bed rest and not being able to go anywhere.

I know what it's like having people having to come and change you and bathe you and just not being able to do anything on your own.

And I just know what it's like to feel that you're so alone in the world, but then knowing that despite the rain that pours in your life, always remember that the sun is still shining brightly even behind the clouds.

SPEAKER_01: Wow.

Alethea, thank you for just simply being you.

You are one of the most amazing, beautiful, shining people I've ever met.

And it has been just the utmost pleasure to have you here today.

So thank you.

SPEAKER_03: Thank you, Kevin, for having me.

And you are definitely a gift in my life.

And I am so glad that our paths crossed, and we'll we'll definitely keep in touch.

SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.

And for you, my friend listening, hopefully you're smiling just as big as I am, because we just had a little bit of Alethea in our life, and that makes it a better day.

So if you loved it, if you liked it, and you're thinking to yourself, man, I know somebody who really needs to hear this, well, then be a good friend and share it with them.

Because you know, sharing is fair.

Anyways, you enjoyed the day.

Have a great one, and this is Kevin with Brent Race and Inspirate.