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

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

Kevin Lowe: Overflowing with hope, with love, with excitement, and of transformation.

Kevin Lowe: 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.

Kevin Lowe: That there's always a rainbow after the rain. When you hear Aletheia speak for the very first time, you're going to realize that she's like a ball of sunlight.

Kevin Lowe: She's amazing. And yet, my friend, she's just like all of us, like you.

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

Kevin Lowe: 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.

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

Kevin Lowe: Now, remember, today's episode, today's interview, it's going to be powerful.

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

Kevin Lowe: Please share it with them. That would mean the world to me, and I know it would mean the world to today's guest, Alethea.

Kevin Lowe: And with that, my friend, I'm going to turn it over. It's episode 324. Let's go.

Theme: Yo, are you ready to flip the script on life? Because those bad days, they're just doors to better days.

Theme: And that's exactly what we do here at Grit, Grace, and Inspiration.

Theme: Your host, Kevin Lowe, he's been flipping the script on his own life, turning over 20 years of being completely blind into straight-up inspiration, motivation, and encouragement just for you.

Theme: So, kick back, relax, and let me introduce you to your host, Kevin Lowe.

Kevin Lowe: Well, Miss Alethea, welcome to the podcast. It is such a pleasure to have you.

Alethea Felton: Hey, Kevin. I am so excited to be here with you today, my friend.

Kevin Lowe: Oh my goodness, absolutely. Well, I have been looking forward to this so much because you know what?

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

Alethea Felton: Oh, well, look, all that I'm going to say is, you know it. And if I am the sun, then you are the moon.

Alethea Felton: And both of us are reflecting and doing some awesome solar light things in this universe.

Kevin Lowe: I love it. You can tell we think a lot of ourselves.

Alethea Felton: Oh, my goodness.

Kevin Lowe: Oh, my goodness. Well, I want to start off our conversation today.

Kevin Lowe: And I'm going to throw it at you because I want you to tell me, how would you describe who Alethea Felton is right now in your life?

Alethea Felton: Who Alethea 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.

Alethea Felton: I'm still learning more and more about me daily. I am a woman who is grateful for every single day that I get.

Alethea Felton: I am also someone that absolutely loves the oceans, ocean life, mermaids. I don't care what anybody says.

Alethea Felton: Mermaids are real and I will take that to the bank. So I love mermaids.

Alethea Felton: 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.

Alethea Felton: Proper, still have property up there and I still go up there once a month.

Alethea Felton: 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.

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

Alethea Felton: My cup runneth over so as to speak with my life. And that's who I am for sighted people.

Alethea Felton: 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.

Alethea Felton: So people will see me with my colors.

Alethea Felton: 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.

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

Kevin Lowe: Oh, my goodness. Well, I think that is an adequate description.

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

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

Kevin Lowe: What's led to this story?

Kevin Lowe: Point in your life? Have you always been this just glowing ray of sunlight?

Kevin Lowe: 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.

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

Alethea Felton: Certainly, I will. So in terms of my life, I have definitely had my share of hardships and people are probably like, why is she laughing if she's had hardships?

Alethea Felton: 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.

Alethea Felton: But sometimes I said maybe God took a nap on the day that he made me.

Alethea Felton: But uh.

Alethea Felton: 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.

Alethea Felton: Now, jaundice is common in a lot of babies, but with mine, it was lingering.

Alethea Felton: And I was quite sickly as a baby, as a kid growing up.

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

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

Alethea Felton: I'm tall now. I'm 5'9". So I had a major growth spurt when I was about 13.

Alethea Felton: 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.

Alethea Felton: And my dad, frankly, at the time thought that my mom was just over exaggerating, but mom knew something wasn't right.

Alethea Felton: So I grew up in the 80s and 90s. I'll be 43 August 27th. the 7th.

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

Alethea Felton: They just made sure you were breathing.

Alethea Felton: 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.

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

Alethea Felton: And kind of fast forward to my late 20s, I was 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 sclerosing cholangitis, 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.

Alethea Felton: And obviously, Kevin, you are not speaking to a spirit or a ghost. So I am still living.

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

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

Alethea Felton: So that's the nuts and bolts of it.

Kevin Lowe: 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?

Alethea Felton: No, not at all.

Alethea Felton: And pardon me for saying I was taking a drink of water, but no, it didn't. And I'll tell you why. Because.

Alethea Felton: My parents could not get an official diagnosis. A lot of it was the home treatment care of things.

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

Alethea Felton: And so on times that I had to be home from school sick, oftentimes I would be with my grandma. mom.

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

Alethea Felton: I was very active in school.

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

Alethea Felton: 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.

Alethea Felton: So although I always felt a certain kind of way and I never felt my best.

Alethea Felton: 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.

Alethea Felton: I still was active in school.

Alethea Felton: 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.

Alethea Felton: 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.

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

Alethea Felton: I would say yes. And I'll give you an example.

Alethea Felton: Due to the liver conditions, some of my toenails are...

Alethea Felton: Meaning that when I was born, some were like brown and black, which would freak out other people.

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

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

Alethea Felton: And Kevin, I thought God painted my toenails.

Alethea Felton: I literally thought that. Oh my God, this is so cool. Like, wow, this is cool. God painted my toenails.

Alethea Felton: 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.

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

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

Alethea Felton: Even with rain, I absolutely love rain.

Alethea Felton: A lot of people 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.

Alethea Felton: Yes, I said a screen door.

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

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

Alethea Felton: 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.

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

Alethea Felton: So he always told me without rain, we couldn't have grass. We couldn't have flowers.

Alethea Felton: We couldn't have all of the beautiful verdant greenery.

Alethea Felton: And so that was instilled in me as a young kid.

Alethea Felton: And I always lived by it. Does it mean though, Kevin, that I didn't slump into moments of depression, sadness, and sorrow?

Alethea Felton: Oh gosh, absolutely not. I definitely did. but overall, I've always had a more optimistic viewpoint.

Kevin Lowe: Yeah, absolutely. I love it. And oh my gosh, I love that story about your dad with the rain.

Kevin Lowe: I think that is so powerful, so amazing.

Kevin Lowe: Talk to me a little bit about your faith journey. How has that played out in your life?

Alethea Felton: My faith journey, yeah. Well, I grew up in a Christian household.

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

Alethea Felton: My father is a former psychiatric counselor as well as a former pastor.

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

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

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

Alethea Felton: 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.

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

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

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

Alethea Felton: 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.

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

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

Alethea Felton: And so that also gave me a piece about death where I don't fear death itself but also it taught me that.

Alethea Felton: Throughout my life, I just always believed that God was within me.

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

Alethea Felton: 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.

Alethea Felton: 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.

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

Alethea Felton: And that's what my spiritual journey faith walk has been like. It is firm. It is solid.

Alethea Felton: 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.

Kevin Lowe: Wow. So, so amazing. Amazing power.

Kevin Lowe: So amazing. And such an amazing testimony.

Kevin Lowe: Yeah, that's absolutely beautiful. Now, you just mentioned the loss of two of your best friends.

Kevin Lowe: 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.

Kevin Lowe: 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?

Alethea Felton: Yeah, sure. I certainly will. Back in 2012, May of 2012.

Alethea Felton: So this is what, 12 years ago now. Now, May of 2012, I was still diagnosed with the autoimmune hepatitis type 1.

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

Alethea Felton: It's not the type that you catch. It's not hep A, B, C, or anything like that.

Alethea Felton: But it's literally where the liver fights itself with autoimmune hep.

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

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

Alethea Felton: I had had different ultrasounds. I had a fibro scan.

Alethea Felton: I had MRIs, everything confirming this end-stage cirrhosis.

Alethea Felton: But I didn't qualify for a transplant. It's a very complicated scale to even qualify for a transplant.

Alethea Felton: That's a whole other episode. So, 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.

Alethea Felton: And I'm going to tell you how.

Alethea Felton: Breaking it in a good way. when she had to come to me with the news that there was nothing more she could do.

Alethea Felton: 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.

Alethea Felton: 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.

Kevin Lowe: Oh, wow.

Alethea Felton: She said that she said God is not through with you yet. She said, scientifically, there's not much more I can do.

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

Alethea Felton: 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.

Alethea Felton: But I need you to keep trusting God. And we had never really talked about faith or anything like that.

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

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

Alethea Felton: So I remember calling everybody from my pastor, the people in my family, to my close friends, pretty much telling them.

Alethea Felton: Hey, I need to prepare for hospice. This is what's happening.

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

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

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

Alethea Felton: 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.

Alethea Felton: 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.

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

Alethea Felton: And I begged God. I begged God to take away the pain.

Alethea Felton: 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, I can actually sleep.

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

Alethea Felton: 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.

Alethea Felton: So I come home that same evening. I don't hear anything from my doctor.

Alethea Felton: But then the next day, I remember it had been some time.

Alethea Felton: So I was able to shower and whatnot.

Alethea Felton: And I had to be very careful because of the bandage over the spot of the liver.

Alethea Felton: And it was very, very tender and painful. And Kevin, this was about seven o'clock in the evening on a Wednesday.

Alethea Felton: And I remember coming out of the bathroom and looking down at my cell phone.

Alethea Felton: And I saw that it was my doctor's office calling. Now, this was the evening, evening hours. I said, this is strange.

Alethea Felton: So I answer the phone and it's my doctor on the phone.

Alethea Felton: And she asked me how I'm feeling. I said, I'm feeling okay, you know, blah, blah, blah.

Alethea Felton: 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?

Alethea Felton: 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.

Alethea Felton: 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 one.

Kevin Lowe: Amen. Amen.

Alethea Felton: Yeah. And it stumped everybody.

Alethea Felton: 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. town.

Alethea Felton: And so I have my doctors now out of there.

Alethea Felton: 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.

Alethea Felton: I do have the bile duct thing, but they can't find the autoimmune hep.

Alethea Felton: And I used to have it. And the reason why I bring this up, Kevin, it is because it's not curable.

Kevin Lowe: Wow.

Alethea Felton: It's not curable. And so they are really baffled. Like, how did you have it?

Alethea Felton: And this prior doctor is like, like excellent.

Alethea Felton: And I saw the evidence of me having it. I saw the past scans.

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

Alethea Felton: And I, and I had other Other hospitalizations post that, but it was due to the Crohn's and those I was critical and things like that.

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

Kevin Lowe: That doctor, she was right. God wasn't done with you yet.

Kevin Lowe: And yeah, it is incredible. It is absolutely incredible.

Kevin Lowe: Talk to me about your two friends that we're going to hear their stories.

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

Alethea Felton: I definitely am honored to tell you about my friends. I had two very close friends who passed away.

Alethea Felton: And I have to explain why they're so pivotal and so important to my life.

Alethea Felton: Let me start with their names. Their names were Shadary and Nakisha.

Alethea Felton: I have been longtime friends with both ladies and met both of them through my church, actually.

Alethea Felton: We sang on the praise team together at some point, but ironically, Shadary and Nikesha weren't friends with each other because they sang at different times on the praise team.

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

Alethea Felton: Nikesha was three years older than I was. But Shadary was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer in 2015.

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

Alethea Felton: The reason why her death was so important to me, and yes, she had an incredible life.

Alethea Felton: 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 flare.

Alethea Felton: Shadary 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.

Alethea Felton: But the reason she was so special to me was because she told me at the time, And my nickname is Lili.

Alethea Felton: And she told me, she said, Lili, you do so much for everybody else.

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

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

Alethea Felton: And I'm careful using the word flaw.

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

Alethea Felton: She saw it in me. And she made me promise that I would work on me.

Alethea Felton: 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.

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

Alethea Felton: And then I was overextending myself for people.

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

Alethea Felton: I had so many insecurities from the, you know, sicknesses. I didn't really embrace who I was.

Alethea Felton: And Shadary died in front of me. I was there when she took her last breath.

Alethea Felton: And she waited until I got to her house to transition.

Alethea Felton: And I thought that was the best gift she could have ever given me.

Alethea Felton: 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.

Alethea Felton: And the stress of it sent me right back into the hospital.

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

Alethea Felton: And that time I was in the hospital, Kevin, it was very, very serious. It was touch and go.

Alethea Felton: And I had such a spiritual reawakening in that hospital bed.

Alethea Felton: Where I had visitors in and out, where the worship team came and sang to me in the quiet times.

Alethea Felton: 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.

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

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

Alethea Felton: Nakisha was like another sister and she ended up getting pancreatic cancer in June of 2019.

Alethea Felton: And she was dead in October of 2019.

Alethea Felton: My parents considered Keisha, their third daughter.

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

Alethea Felton: Keisha, oh, you would have loved her, Kevin. She was the most bubbly, full of life, energetic, joy-filled people.

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

Alethea Felton: Characters and her death knocked the total wind out of me.

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

Alethea Felton: But her death really took a toll on me.

Alethea Felton: 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?

Alethea Felton: Because we had all these She's plans as, you know, sisters to do things together and go places.

Alethea Felton: And she was very stern with me and said, Lili, you got to keep living your life. You better not give up.

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

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

Alethea Felton: 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.

Alethea Felton: But it's 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 Shadari and Nakisha made in my life and I'm glad 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.

Kevin Lowe: Yeah, I mean, I can only imagine that.

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

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

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

Alethea Felton: They were the ones by my sickbed. They were the ones looking after me.

Alethea Felton: And so when the script was flipped.

Alethea Felton: That really was a mind blowing thing.

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

Kevin Lowe: And you're going to 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.

Alethea Felton: Yes. Oh, my gosh. Thank you for bringing that up.

Alethea Felton: Thank you, Kevin. Yes. So, oh my gosh, that's something. Okay.

Alethea Felton: Because of the stress of everything, blah, blah, blah.

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

Alethea Felton: And I think, and what my doctors think was that the stress of what Nakisha was experiencing really manifested in my body. And so in August of 2019, I had another serious Crohn's flare.

Alethea Felton: And that was my last hospitalizations until this day.

Alethea Felton: And prayerfully, I won't have any more hospitalizations until God lets me have a baby or something like that.

Alethea Felton: But that was my last hospitalization. That was in 2019, August.

Alethea Felton: August and I had to spend my birthday in the hospital.

Alethea Felton: That was my 38th birthday in the hospital.

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

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

Alethea Felton: And keep in mind, y'all. This was pre-pandemic, so people could just come in and out, right?

Alethea Felton: And Georgetown has a 24-hour visitor's policy.

Alethea Felton: And so I was having guests come a lot. So anyway, as we're partying.

Alethea Felton: Next thing you know, I see Keisha walking into the hospital room with her walker and her son and her husband are behind her.

Alethea Felton: And the reason why this was shocking is because Nakesha had stopped all of her treatments.

Alethea Felton: They knew there was nothing more they could do for her. She was supposed to only go to her doctor's appointments.

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

Alethea Felton: And she comes through that door and I'm just like, okay.

Alethea Felton: Now I talk to her anyway, every day, but to actually physically see her.

Alethea Felton: And that was maybe the last time I saw her like very, very vibrant and peppy.

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

Alethea Felton: And that was one of the best moments is that I'm in my sick bed.

Alethea Felton: And here Keisha had stage four pancreatic cancer spread throughout her body. And she's in such pain.

Alethea Felton: And yet she came and celebrated with me, knowing that her body was shutting down. And she passed in October.

Alethea Felton: And this was August 27th, 2019.

Alethea Felton: And she passed in October.

Kevin Lowe: What a beautiful representation of friendship. Yeah.

Alethea Felton: Yeah. She was the best. Her and Derry were the best.

Alethea Felton: They always had a joke. They always made you smile. They were just the absolute best.

Alethea Felton: And Derry's mom, the one who died in 2017, I kept in touch with her every week after she, Derry passed.

Alethea Felton: And unfortunately, her mother passed due to complications from the pandemic. Damn it.

Kevin Lowe: Wow. Wow. How how was it for you moving on with life after the loss of both of them?

Alethea Felton: Therapy helped. Therapy helped, no doubt.

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

Alethea Felton: And the grief program that I went through, Grief Share, is hands down, I would recommend that to anybody.

Alethea Felton: It's a national program. Amazing.

Alethea Felton: But how did I get through life? I guess the simplest answer, Kevin, would be one day at a time.

Alethea Felton: And I think my other people in my support system were really carrying me through.

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

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

Alethea Felton: And I don't drink, but it was such a like a beautiful scenic place. It was outside.

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

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

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

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

Alethea Felton: And I knew them at different stages of my life.

Alethea Felton: 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.

Alethea Felton: 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 welling up.

Alethea Felton: 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.

Alethea Felton: 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 Shadary and Keisha played in my life.

Alethea Felton: 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 Derry and Keisha here with you.

Alethea Felton: But to know that we have your back too. And like.

Alethea Felton: 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.

Alethea Felton: Auto is hard. And it's been tough. Like I'm not going to act like I don't think about them often.

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

Alethea Felton: I mean, it's no getting around it. And they are forever young in my mind.

Alethea Felton: Derry was 32 when she passed. Keisha was 40.

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

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

Alethea Felton: And that could play its game on me.

Alethea Felton: 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.

Alethea Felton: And that's what's really helped me.

Kevin Lowe: Wow. So emotional. But again, just such a powerful story of love, of relationships, of friendship.

Kevin Lowe: So amazingly beautiful.

Kevin Lowe: So maybe kind of shifting gears a little bit, Where in the world does podcasting enter this whole story of yours?

Alethea Felton: Oh, my goodness. Let me tell you about this. So podcasting is kind of a funny story.

Alethea Felton: I launched the Power Transformation podcast back in December of 2022.

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

Alethea Felton: I had a 20-year career as a public school educator, and I had roles from classroom teaching to leadership roles in schools, and I retired early last July at the age of 41 and ended my career in HR.

Alethea Felton: But when I started my podcast, it was in December of 2022. Okay.

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

Alethea Felton: John told me in early 2022, Kevin, now get this, early 2022, John says, I think you should start a podcast.

Alethea Felton: Kevin, I ain't even listened to a podcast. So how in the world am I supposed to start one?

Alethea Felton: I was like, I don't even listen. And the hilarious part is that John has a very successful podcast about workplace, careers, jobs, et cetera.

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

Alethea Felton: So how in the world am I going to listen to my own?

Alethea Felton: 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.

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

Alethea Felton: So I said, I don't know.

Alethea Felton: Look, Kevin, don't judge me, but I sat on that idea for probably almost a year.

Alethea Felton: I just sat on it like I ain't gonna do no podcast. Right.

Alethea Felton: And so I was like, no, I ain't going to do a podcast.

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

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

Alethea Felton: Like, so John is the best. He was like, well, first you can subscribe to my podcast. So I was like, what?

Alethea Felton: So I did that. I was like, okay, okay. So I did that.

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

Alethea Felton: Let me find topics I like. So I went into the deep end where I was subscribing left and right, this one and that one.

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

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

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

Alethea Felton: Give me creativity, insight, and ideas.

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

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

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

Alethea Felton: I had already had many other experiences in my life. So I was like, okay.

Alethea Felton: And the key with the name is that John said, try to find a name nobody has.

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

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

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

Alethea Felton: 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.

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

Alethea Felton: Maybe they want this and that.

Alethea Felton: So I started it off as that. I started with five episodes, launched December 7th, 2022.

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

Alethea Felton: And she had died not long prior to me launching. She passed, sadly, of complications due to the pandemic.

Alethea Felton: And so I was very close to my godmother.

Alethea Felton: She was an incredible woman. And if she were living, Kevin, she would have been a perfect guest to have on your show.

Alethea Felton: She was the epitome of that.

Alethea Felton: And so in honor to her, with her grit and her grace, inspiration, I decided to say, I'm going to launch the Power Transformation Podcast on Sandra's birthday.

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

Alethea Felton: However, what it's formed into now, Now, Kevin, is what I noticed were, yes, I would do some solo episodes, but I noticed that with the guests I started interviewing.

Alethea Felton: 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.

Alethea Felton: 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.

Alethea Felton: 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.

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

Alethea Felton: It's audio only for right now, but in September, I'm actually going to start putting episodes on YouTube as well.

Kevin Lowe: Well, fantastic. No, I mean, that's amazing.

Kevin Lowe: And I mean, I love the story of how you started the podcast.

Kevin Lowe: The fact of not even knowing what the heck a podcast was.

Kevin Lowe: And now you, Miss Power Transformation Podcast Superstar, you're amazing.

Alethea Felton: Oh, thank you. And on LinkedIn, I got one of those, um, those.

Alethea Felton: Badges for top podcasting voice badge.

Alethea Felton: So I'm pretty excited about that, you know, the measly thing, but I have a lot of this, like, I literally have a wait list right now for guests because I'm still doing this on my own.

Alethea Felton: 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.

Alethea Felton: But when I say, and I think you and I I kind of talked about this.

Alethea Felton: I have approximately, this is no, no exaggeration.

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

Alethea Felton: And I'm not exaggerating about that. So I'm sifting through that.

Alethea Felton: 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 going to be a top 1% podcaster one of these days. I don't care how long it takes.

Kevin Lowe: But I will be. Absolutely. Absolutely. I love it so much.

Kevin Lowe: Now, talking a little bit about your podcast and it leading into something that you also have done of some public speaking.

Kevin Lowe: 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 it's Oh yeah,

Alethea Felton: I can't tell you that. Thank you. Yeah, so okay, so this is the greatest story ever and I'm going to give him a public shout out because he's been so amazing. Dr. Mark Mattar.

Alethea Felton: At Georgetown University Hospital. He is the head of the gastroenterology fellows at Georgetown.

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

Alethea Felton: He has an awesome wife. Also, I met her recently.

Alethea Felton: But what happened was, it was last year at my annual colonoscopy.

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

Alethea Felton: No fun at all.

Alethea Felton: Yuck. Hate that time of my life. But I've had to get them every year because I live with Crohn's.

Alethea Felton: 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.

Alethea Felton: So Dr. Mattar comes in prior to him getting into scrubs just to say hi.

Alethea Felton: And he, And he remembered that I had been telling him since 2022 about my podcast.

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

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

Alethea Felton: I say it's called The Power Transformation Podcast. It's on all platforms.

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

Alethea Felton: If you're an Apple user, go to Apple. If you're Android, go to, you know, Spotify, iHeart, anywhere.

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

Kevin Lowe: That is classic.

Alethea Felton: So that was pretty fun. It was classic.

Alethea Felton: It was classic. And on top of that, I also pay homage to him because he invited me in June.

Alethea Felton: 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 now.

Alethea Felton: 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.

Alethea Felton: And several months ago, Dr. Mattar contacted me and said that for the gastroenterology fellows graduation, he asked me if I could be their key keynote speaker.

Alethea Felton: So in early June of this year, I had the esteemed honor of speaking at the.

Alethea Felton: Congressional Country Club in Maryland to speak with the gastroenterology fellows, as well as numerous other doctors at Georgetown.

Alethea Felton: 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.

Alethea Felton: 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.

Alethea Felton: I coach them and I also coach people living with invisible illness.

Alethea Felton: 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...

Alethea Felton: Underappreciated, overwhelmed, undervalued, burnt out, exhausted.

Alethea Felton: 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.

Alethea Felton: 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.

Kevin Lowe: Yeah, 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? everybody.

Alethea Felton: Thank you. Yes. So my website is being updated as we speak, but it is still live.

Alethea Felton: So my website is www.alethiafelton.com.

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

Alethea Felton: People often try to default and say Althea and skip over that first E, but it's Aletheia. It's a Greek name, means truth.

Alethea Felton: That's one way. Also, you can email me directly at coach at aletheafelton.com.

Alethea Felton: That's coach, C-O-A-C-H at aletheafelton.com.

Alethea Felton: I'm on LinkedIn. If you're on LinkedIn, that's a great place to connect with me.

Alethea Felton: And that is my name up there, Alethea Felton.

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

Alethea Felton: In terms of the podcast, the Power Transformation Podcast, you can find that on all podcast platforms.

Alethea Felton: Apple, iHeart, like everywhere, Spotify. And in September, it will be on YouTube as well.

Alethea Felton: But for now it's on every platform and subscribe, follow.

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

Alethea Felton: I have interviewed everyone We went from CEOs of companies to New York Times bestselling authors, all the way to people that are on permanent disability in their life.

Alethea Felton: I don't discriminate against who I interview.

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

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

Alethea Felton: But he stays behind the scenes a lot.

Alethea Felton: But he, my parents, my sister, my immediate family, as well as some friends have been so supportive on my journey. And I'm very, very grateful for that.

Kevin Lowe: Yeah, I love that. I mean, it's no doubt. I mean, it takes a village.

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

Kevin Lowe: 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.

Alethea Felton: Oh, wait a minute. Wait a minute, though. No, 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.

Alethea Felton: So listen to his episode.

Kevin Lowe: Good mention. I'll be sure that's linked in the show notes also. Amazing.

Alethea Felton: Yes. You had a phenomenal interview. Yeah.

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

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

Kevin Lowe: The idea of this cup of yours is just overflowing.

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

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

Alethea Felton: The one thing that I hope that people remember about my story is that regardless of what life brings your way, regardless of the obstacle set in your path to 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.

Alethea Felton: Us, 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.

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

Alethea Felton: 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.

Alethea Felton: 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.

Alethea Felton: But the point is knowing that there is hope.

Alethea Felton: 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.

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

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

Alethea Felton: 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.

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

Alethea Felton: And I just know what it's like to feel that you're so alone in the world.

Alethea Felton: 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. Wow.

Kevin Lowe: Alethea, thank you for just simply being you.

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

Kevin Lowe: And it's been just the utmost pleasure to have you here today. So thank you.

Alethea Felton: Thank you, Kevin, for having me. And you are definitely a gift in my life.

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

Kevin Lowe: 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 Aletheia in our life and that makes it a better day.

Kevin Lowe: 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 caring anyways you enjoyed the day have a great one and this is kevin with grit grace and inspiration <v Music>