13: "I Don't Do What I Do For Recognition" Interview with Public School Educator and Curriculum Writer Melissa Nikohl

Tune in to our second interview on the podcast with Public School Educator and Curriculum Writer, Melissa Nikohl. 

Melissa Nikohl has been an educator for 10 years. She currently teaches in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. On her blog, www.melissanikohl.com, she writes about education by sharing tips and resources for educators. 

In this episode, we talk about…

• Overcoming mental barriers while pursuing new career opportunities
• Self-care practices to use after leaving a toxic workplace
• Building healthy relationships with students and parents
• Discussing diversity and inclusion with kids

Website: melissanikohl.com

Instagram: @melissanikohl

YouTube: Melissa Nikohl

Pinterest: Melissa Nikohl

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Transcript

TaReon Jael: 0:08

Welcome to the Wellness for Black Girls Podcast, a monthly podcast designed to help Black Women bloom while moving through the dimensions of wellness. I'm your host, TaReon Jael, a Certified Health Educator and Clinical Lab Scientist. For more information, please visit wellnessforblackgirls.com. While I hope you enjoy listening to and learning from the podcast, please remember that it is not intended to be a substitute for a relationship with the licensed healthcare provider. Now let's get into this episode. Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode. I hope you, your family and friends are safe, healthy, and at peace. I'm excited to be sharing with you our second interview on the podcast. I interviewed one of my good friends, Melissa Nikohl, who I affectionately call Emmy or Em for short. We met our freshman year at Tennessee State University in Nashville. We share many fond memories of hanging out in the girls, freshmen dorm listening and dancing to our favorite hip hop and R&B music. When we would walk around campus together, everyone thought we were sisters because we looked so much alike. We even had one professor who swore that we had to be related in some way. After freshman year, Melissa transferred to another university in Missouri, but we've managed to stay in touch all of these years. Our friendship is one of those friendships where we cannot physically talk for months. But as soon as we reconnect, we pick up right where we left off. She's one of my sister friends, and one of my sources of inspiration for the podcast. I've been so inspired by the creative work she's sharing through her self-titled platform, Melissa Nikohl. Melissa is a public school educator and a curriculum writer who currently teaches in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. She's been an educator for 10 years and on her blog, she writes about education by sharing tips and resources for educators. And just because I want to brag on my friend for a moment. She recently received the Teacher of the Month Award from her school AND the school district, which you'll hear more about during the interview. We talked about her career journey as a teacher, self-care practices that she uses, how she builds healthy relationships with her students and their parents, and her most recent creative project, The Ultimate List of Diverse Picture Books. I'm excited for you to listen in on this conversation. So let's jump right in. Thank you so much for being on the podcast today, Melissa.

Melissa Nikohl: 3:23

You're welcome. Thank you for inviting me.

TaReon Jael: 3:26

I've already shared your bio with the audience, but I was wondering if you could just share more about yourself and your career journey up to this point.

Melissa Nikohl: 3:39

All right. I just fell into teaching. It really wasn't a plan of mine. My undergrad is in Speech Language Pathology, and I really just picked something so I could graduate. But I wasn't passionate about it. After graduation, I moved from Missouri to Texas in Dallas and, I started working as a permanent sub at a school. And they liked me so much, they encouraged me to get my certification and I got certified and that's how it started. I've been teaching since 2010. I've taught in Chicago, but mostly in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

TaReon Jael: 4:19

Awesome. All right. You have your platform, Melissa Nikohl, and, I've been really inspired by your journey and the creation of Melissa Nikohl, so I was wondering if you could share with us what your inspiration was for creating that platform.

Melissa Nikohl: 4:38

When I started teaching. I was like, I'm doing 10 years and I'm done. I know, like I'm going to be bored. I need to move on. And so I found myself in my ninth year and I'm like, okay, what are you doing to even get out of education? And so I'm like, I've always had secret blogs. I'd written and never shared with anybody. And I'm like, okay, it's time, put yourself out there and start sharing your ideas and thoughts. And that's how I really started. Just me wanting to write more about what I was passionate about and just hoping that it would lead me to my next journey, my next step. I knew I had to start doing something different in order to make that transition out of the classroom. Because me going back to school is not really something I want to do. I'm like, okay, maybe with me writing and me, sharing what I love about education that will put me on that path to whatever's next for me.

TaReon Jael: 5:36

I like that. I like that you had the wisdom to say I have to start taking steps towards this next step, whatever that may be. I gotta start taking some steps because I think a lot of times when we hear people talk about, Oh, find your passion, find what you want to do. There tends to be this, thought that we can just sit on our computer and research. but it's not until we actually start taking those steps and actually putting ourselves in that position and really test it out. Just really get in there and test it out that we can actually see okay this kind of sticks.

Melissa Nikohl: 6:20

Yeah.

TaReon Jael: 6:21

I liked that you also said that you were secretly blogging. I wonder what the process was like for you when you had your blog, Secretly that you never shared with anybody. And now to get to the point where you have this platform that you are sharing with people. Were there any roadblocks or any kind of just feelings that came up once you said, okay, I'm not going to do this in secret. I'm going to put this out there. What were you thinking during that process?

Melissa Nikohl: 6:50

It just got down to it where I need to jump all in. What will happen if it doesn't work out? Like what? Nothing bad is going to happen. It's just realizing okay if I don't do it, then I will never move forward. Some of the roadblocks were thinking I wouldn't be successful and all of that. And I'm now two or three years in. And I'm just now seeing some reward from all of this work. So it's going in having that mindset where you know you don't want to be, what is it? a one hit wonder, right? One that where you have like that one hot, song, and then you never hear from them again. People like Beyonce. They worked hard when people didn't know what they were doing to see success, it didn't just happen overnight. So just believing in yourself, rooting for yourself when no one else is paying attention and you'll find yourself alone a lot, especially if you don't have people around you doing similar things. I will say, I wouldn't say I've lost friends, but I've lost pieces of friendships, because of this new path I'm going on. But the good thing is through all this, I've made new friends with people who are doing similar things as me. So also knowing it's going to be lonely at times because this work is not a group project, it's you.

TaReon Jael: 8:15

Yeah. Yeah. I like that. I like that you say that. Cause I've recently started the podcast and so there's times where I'm like, Oh, what am I doing? Why am I doing this? Am I even having an impact? But then I get feedback from people Saying this episode helped me or, things like that. So I like that you said, sometimes it is lonely, but you have to just keep at it.

Melissa Nikohl: 8:40

And it's going to be that day that you're like, you're, it was a day I was just like, I'm just...oh, I'm exhausted with this. and you have to, the one thing is you have to be whatever you're doing, be passionate about it, because if you're not, then it's going to be easy to just give up on it. So it's going to be one of a day when you are just, not really feeling it, that's when you're going to get that email, that's when you're going to get, that, just that encouragement to keep going. So definitely, keep at it. you're doing great stuff.

TaReon Jael: 9:15

Thank you. Okay. So you have mentioned on your website and also on your social media platforms, how you've been in some tough work situations and on the podcast, we've talked about occupational wellness and experiences with toxic work culture and being micromanaged and things like that. And I know you've been in those kind of school environments. I was wondering if you can talk about what the process was like when you realized, I need to get outta here, so what the process was like for, just realizing that and then taking steps to pivot out of those work situations and in that process, like those in between stages, what self-care practices did you tap into? How did you take care of yourself while you had those transition periods?

Melissa Nikohl: 10:13

I realized it was time for me to get out of that situation when that environment was changing me. And not for the better.

TaReon Jael: 10:25

Okay.

Melissa Nikohl: 10:26

It was a point where I was ready to fight.

TaReon Jael: 10:28

Wow. Okay.

Melissa Nikohl: 10:30

When I was ready to throw some hands, I was like, it's time for me to go. Because that's not who I am at all. I'm outspoken and I'll stand up for myself, but I'm not someone who will go there. So when I realized I was ready to go there, I was like, okay. Yeah. It's time for you to walk away from this. And so one of the first things I did, I called HR and I'm like, I need medical leave. I need to leave. This is a stressful environment. I'm not okay with this. And so I took two weeks off. I went to California with a friend. I actually found a job in that time, because I was able to get away from that energy to really find something else, because you don't realize how much it follows you or it's on you, when you are in a bad work environment, bad situation, how you take that home to your relationships, all you're doing is talking about that bad situation at work and your partner or whoever they don't want to hear that all the time that. It affects so many different parts of your life. And it was just like, I got tired of it. It was turning some really good relationships bad on the outside of the school.

TaReon Jael: 11:46

Oh, okay.

Melissa Nikohl: 11:48

Because I was just in such an awful mood. Yeah, that medical leave was it. And then once I took a break, it was only maybe four or five weeks left of school. I was able to ride out the rest of the school year. Cause I'm like, I knew I had another job coming up. I had to take a break because I didn't like who I was becoming in that environment. I had to apologize to my students, and I told them, this is not who I am. I'm sorry you didn't get the Ms. Allen I wanted to be for you, but this is just not working for me. It's not the environment for me.

TaReon Jael: 12:21

I like that you went to HR, you used one of your resources. Because I think a lot of times when we're in work situations, sometimes we take all these things on ourselves and we're like, okay, what do I need to do? What do I need to change about myself? and sometimes it, it involves looking at your resources and going, okay, I need to take a break. I need to ask for that medical leave. That's a resource that's available to me. And I also liked that you shared that you did share with your students that you weren't able to show up as the Ms. Allen that you wanted to show up for them as. And I like that about you as a teacher. You're thinking of your students and being honest with them. I'm curious, how did your students respond to you sharing that?

Melissa Nikohl: 13:17

Let me tell you the school was so messy. The kids already knew. They were sixth graders, so they could obviously see, feel the tension, they could tell. And so they knew I cared about them. So I still had good relationships with them. Just where I fell short was actually giving them the education more so that they needed. I couldn't go all in my lesson plans because I'm drained from fighting with the other teachers and the principal all day. But we had a great relationship. I actually still talk to a few of the students and the parents to this day, and that was five years ago. They would be like, Oh, here go your friend. I would be like y'all stop. That's not good. It was so messy and toxic that the kids knew, it wasn't good, but You've got to move on and it took me a while to get over that and, then I had to own my part in it. It wasn't all somebody else. There's things I could have done to maybe not escalate things and so owning that too. How could I have done it differently? No, I can't control what she did and what they were doing, but I could have controlled my reactions better.

TaReon Jael: 14:34

Okay and it's interesting that you said that students already knew.

Melissa Nikohl: 14:39

Oh yeah.

TaReon Jael: 14:40

So when you took that time off and you found a job, were there any other practices or anything else that you did to feel like yourself again?

Melissa Nikohl: 14:50

I think it really just worked out. My friend, she was like, hey, me and my husband and his sister we're going to California. You want to come? And I was like, yeah. And just getting out when I left town. So I left the whole state being somewhere else where I was able to forget everything that was going on, being around people who loved me. So it was really surrounding myself with my family and getting out of that environment, like literally getting out that environment and just taking a break from it. That's really what I did. Now when I'm stressed out I write. And at that time I don't think I was writing it out. It was just more, just had to get away. But now if I to have a stressful week, Oh, I'm writing about it.

TaReon Jael: 15:36

So journaling, journaling about it. And it sounds spending time with your friends. And just like you said, being around people who love you. That's just really powerful.

Melissa Nikohl: 15:48

Cause when you hear that you're not a good person. If you're hearing that all the time, you might not think at first it'll bother you, but eventually it does. You can only ignore it for so long and then it messes with your self-esteem and it messes with who you are.

TaReon Jael: 16:05

Yeah. So you are now at a school that you, it seems to me, you really enjoy. I'm wondering what was your process for finding a school that you thought, okay, this may be a good fit. This may be a place where I can grow as a teacher. Where I will be able to have some creative license while staying within the curriculum, but also, being able to do these different creative things with my students. How did you go about finding the school that you enjoy right now?

Melissa Nikohl: 16:40

So this is my second school since that school, my school of terror I'll call it. So that first school, it was just get out, like I just had to get out. So I wasn't strategic or anything about finding a job. I just needed a job. Once I was there. I'm like, okay. Yeah, this is not the best school for me. It's not horrible, but if I can find something else I will. And so I was in a position where I didn't have to leave, so that gave me some power or, encouragement, and the other thing was so I know my worth, I know my value. And I'm only applying to places that would be a good fit for me. Before I had always just applied everywhere and whatever stuck, but I was very strategic. I made a list about what I wanted, what I wanted from a campus, what I wanted from a district, what I wanted pay wise. These are all things that were important to me. And I only applied to schools that met that criteria. And that worked out, I'm at wonderful campus. It's not perfect, but it is the best place for me. I've had just really great opportunities just come up just from being there. So I think just knowing your worth and knowing what you want. And I think knowing what I want came from having all those bad experiences. Had I not had those bad experiences, there's no way I would have been able to find that school. I really found it by knowing, okay, I know I don't like this. I know I don't want to go through this. And so that's how I found the school. Even though that was one of the worst experiences that I had, but without that experience I probably wouldn't have MelissaNikohl.com. I wouldn't be at the school I was at right now, because through those experiences, it gave me the experience I needed to write about, more about education. It gave me more of what I wanted to talk about. As crazy as it sounds, it was an awful experience, but it was a blessing.

TaReon Jael: 18:45

I love the way you articulated that. That gave me goosebumps, Em, because you know that saying, grow through what you go through. It's interesting that you say that if it had not been for that toxic environment, That you were pushed to say okay, this I don't like. Now I know these things. This is a non-negotiable for me on the next job. Now I know what to look out for just by getting through that experience. And also it gave you things to write about. it can give you more ideas for how you can go about helping teachers. I feel that's very powerful.

Melissa Nikohl: 19:27

Yeah. I wouldn't go so far as to thanking this principal, but it definitely gave me the experiences I need to talk about. Hey, how to get out of a toxic school. I can now speak on that. I can now help other teachers with that, because of my experience, I'm not just talking like, Oh these are some things you can do. I'm talking from experience. I can relate to someone who is going through the same thing or similar things.

TaReon Jael: 19:52

Yes, and that's powerful. I want to pivot a little bit and ask you about your experience with growing what people call"impossible" kids. Because for me and some of my audience probably are not familiar with what people mean when they say kids are considered impossible." So I was wondering if you could talk about what that means and your experience with working with those kids.

Melissa Nikohl: 20:21

So for me, it means the kids that people had just given up on. It's not that they're not teaching them. They're just teaching them at a level that they think they don't need to be pushed further. They'll stay right where they are and not really nurturing them and giving them what they need. And usually to be quite honest, it's usually the Black and Brown babies or those students in povert y. In education there's a thing called the achievement gap, and a lot of teachers get comfortable with that being normal and feel that they're just supposed to perform at this level. And so that's what I mean by that. They're some of the brightest kids.

TaReon Jael: 21:07

Okay.

Melissa Nikohl: 21:08

I've ever had have been in those schools and they just haven't had the right encouragement, like just modeling what they should do, how they should behave in certain situations. Because a lot of teaching is building relationships. Having strong relationship with the parents, the students, if you don't have all of that it's hard to reach them. It's hard to get parents on your side. It just makes your job so much harder. But a lot of working with students, especially at schools that are underfunded, is a lot of building those relationships, establishing trust so that you can grow them. Grow them as much as you can, because it's possible.

TaReon Jael: 21:56

I like that you said a huge part of teaching is relationship building. And that's key. And I think there is something very valuable about having teachers who are willing to take the time to try to build those relationships and to not give up on, to not give up on these kids. There's definitely value in having teachers like you, who see that and are willing to take the time to help these kids.

Melissa Nikohl: 22:32

It's something I've learned over time. The biggest thing for me is understanding biases, understanding cultural biases. Like even when I was in Chicago, and I'm around all these black students, we still have differences culturally. I didn't grow up the same way they are growing up. So there's still things I need to learn. What are their cultural norms? How can I be respectful of that? And learning how to let go of what my expectations are. And listening and learning more about theirs. So I try to tell teachers like you wouldn't go into someone else's house and tell them how to do things. We can't do that. When we go into these neighborhoods in these schools and try to tell them how to do everything, like you can't tell them that's not right. And that's a norm for them. Most teachers don't live where they work. So you're entering someone else's space, we need to be respectful of that. And that has allowed me to grow students more just because I can understand them. Or they can see I'm being respectful of them and they appreciate that. So then it's easier to teach them.

TaReon Jael: 23:42

I like the way you express that it's not this huge, Oh, you have to do all of these steps, it's just a matter of understanding where they are coming from. Understanding, like you said, their cultural norms, their experiences, their neighborhood, their family structures.

Melissa Nikohl: 24:03

And just to give examples, here we have a lot of Latino population and they'll call teachers,"Miss." And Spanish translated is Senorita. So there's teachers who are like,"I'm not miss. Don't call me miss." They'll bite their head off and I'm like, okay, let's break this down. This is what they're calling you. They're not saying it to be disrespectful. And some teachers never even think about it like that. It's a sign of respect. So think about how damaging that is when all this child is trying to do is be respectful to you.

TaReon Jael: 24:42

Yeah.

Melissa Nikohl: 24:42

There's things I've had to stop saying, like the who do you think you're talking to? Because with American Blacks you understand culturally what that means, you don't respond to that.

TaReon Jael: 24:52

Right.

Melissa Nikohl: 24:53

And I had this student from Dubai and I asked him that one time. He said,"You." So you getting smart? And he was really confused."You asked me who am I talking to." And he was just answering my question. That's something I have to stop saying, because culturally, that's a difference. He's answering my question and I'm thinking he's supposed to know that you're not supposed to respond to that. When he said it, all the kids were like,"OOOHHHH." And he's looking around,"What? She asked who did I think I was talking to. And I said you."

TaReon Jael: 25:37

He answered you.

Melissa Nikohl: 25:40

So those are those cultural norms and biases. And just understanding that once you understand some of that stuff it makes it easier to build those relationships and it not be so many misunderstandings that can damage relationships.

TaReon Jael: 25:58

This is a perfect topic to lead us into our next question. We know there's so much going on in the U.S. and in the world especially as it relates to race. So it's really important that we talk to the kids in our lives about race/ethnicity. And we start conversations about diversity and inclusion with them, as early as possible. And one thing that I really love about your blog and things that you share on your social media, as well, is reading. I love your different book lists, where you have all of the different books categorized by topics like women in politics, women in science, and African-American inventors and things like that. And one thing I want to highlight is that you have your Ultimate List of Diverse Picture Books that you offer now for teachers, for parents and others, who we have kids in our lives, who we like to read to and to give books as gifts So I was wondering if you could just talk to us about your book lists, especially your Ultimate List and talk us through the process of how you created that and what your inspiration was for making it.

Melissa Nikohl: 27:30

I just remember as a kid. So this is why I read so many different books to my students. I remember as a kid it being really hard seeing faces, Black faces, in books talking about, discrimination, slavery. I just remember as a kid in school, those were the only books we read about that had Black people in them. And one of the things I want to share with my students is that there are more stories than that. And then I just wanted them to see different cultures, learn about different cultures. And honestly, a lot of the books it's because I'm like, I want to learn more. There are so many people and things that I'm learning about as a teacher that I've never heard of as a kid. I'm like, wow, I've never heard of this person. There's no excuse as a teacher, not to expose your students to a diverse group of people because the resources are there. I want my kids, my students to know more. I always tell them, I want you all to be more knowledgeable than I was when I was a kid. I want you all to be smarter than me. I want you all to know all of these things. And so that's one of the reasons why I read, all of these different texts to them. And how[The Ultimate List of Diverse Picture Books] actually came about is that I started writing down the books for myself. So I would have a reference list to go back to the following school years. And as I was posting books online, I would always get the question. How do you find these books? So people were wanting the same things. They just didn't know how to find them. So I thought what if I make the list for everyone? And so that's really how it happened people were literally asking for it.

TaReon Jael: 29:18

When you read the different books to your students, how do they respond? What are the sorts of things that they say? How do they receive all of the different types of books that you read?

Melissa Nikohl: 29:31

So it's been challenging this school year, of course, because, while I'm virtual, for the most part. But they'll tell me later, we'll have conversations about the book that they like. We, I had a book about needing space and it's called"I Need Space" and I made them tell me, okay, what do you do when you need space? And I had one of my students, like she was over her mom working from home, and she needed space from her mom. And so that to me is important. Okay. What connection can you make to the book? How can we apply what we learned in our lives? And so she's okay, I need space. And this is what I'll do when I don't want to hear my mom talking on the phone. It's more so like them making connections and giving them real history lessons. Last year, my students, we read a lot about, Christopher Columbus, like the real history of it, and they were so mad. They felt that their past teachers had lied to them. They weren't given the truth. So sometimes it's conversations where they're upset about things. With my fifth graders, we had so many discussions about race and racism. It was just a regular conversation and it wasn't like this taboo topic. We could just openly talk about things and how it made us feel So if you are talking about these things with your kids, On a regular basis it's not this touchy topic. It's not a hard topic to talk about. They get it and that's the cool thing. I would say. They get it.

TaReon Jael: 31:03

I like that you say that it's a conversation that you're always having with them. So when things happen in the news, they're able to come to the classroom and you all can have a discussion about things that are going on and. I think that's very powerful to have a teacher that you can come to school and you can talk to your teacher. Like this thing happened in the news and it made me think this, and it made me feel this.

Melissa Nikohl: 31:31

Yeah. it's fun.

TaReon Jael: 31:33

You mentioned how this year you're virtual teaching. I was wondering if you could share, what that's been like with everything going on. Going from being able to be in classroom and then virtual and then some virtual, some in class. How has that been?

Melissa Nikohl: 31:53

It's been challenging. If you're a teacher you're always used to every school year being challenging, but this is definitely a different kind of challenge that none of us signed up or nobody in whatever situation you're in. This is not how you expected your year to be. I would say it's been easier to get to know my students. And I would say that because we started off the first six weeks completely online and they're at home. And so they were, I think, comfortable being themselves. And so I saw a lot of their personality. I think more than I would have seen than if they were in the classroom. They would have been slowly opening up. They're all live and wide awake, bouncing off the walls at eight o'clock in the morning. I would say that would be the benefit of what's going on. I've been able to learn more about my students. But as far as the workload, it's a little bit more, but it's just learning to shut it off. I think like with any job you can work for hours and there could still be more, it's a different kind of teaching. That I'm learning how to do. And Hey, I'm just rolling with it, loading up that resume.

TaReon Jael: 33:11

Yes.

Melissa Nikohl: 33:13

For right now, I can't change anything that's going on. So I'm not one of those people where I'm going to grouch and complain about it. Do I like it? Is it ideal? No. Would I much rather have all of my kids be back in the classroom? Absolutely. But that's not really possible right now. Just rolling with it and doing the best that I can literally day by day.

TaReon Jael: 33:38

Yeah. Yeah. Aren't we all? Day by day. So you recently received an award. Tell me about your award.

Melissa Nikohl: 33:52

So I got teacher of the month for my district.

TaReon Jael: 33:55

Nice.

Melissa Nikohl: 33:56

And how I found. Okay. So this is how I found out about the award. I'm on a live zoom with my students and my assistant principal texts me, Hey, you need to come out to the office immediately. I'm like, Oh, my God, Melissa, what did you do? I'm thinking with us recording all the time. I'm like, dang, did I hurt someone's feelings? So I'm thinking that's it. So I go down to the office, there's like a bunch of people in suits and I'm like, Oh my God. Today is my last day of work. I need to go pack up my things and that's not what happened. They were from HR and they were presenting me with an award. My assistant principal was the one who sent in this beautiful letter of recognition. And it felt really good to get that. I think it's motivated me more. I think it gave me that little push. It just feels good to be recognized. I don't do what I do for recognition. I do all of my hard work and all of this because it's something I enjoy doing but who doesn't like being recognized. It felt really good.

TaReon Jael: 34:59

Yeah. Congratulations

Melissa Nikohl: 35:01

Thank you. And I got Teacher of the Month at my school. So now they all say like,"all right, Teacher of the Month, you can do anything." Nah, hold on.

TaReon Jael: 35:10

Nice. I love that. We're going to wrap up the interview, but before we go, I want you to go ahead and share all of your social media handles, your website and just let people know how they can get in touch with you.

Melissa Nikohl: 35:29

All right. You can find me on Instagram@melissanikohl. MelissaNikohl.com is my website and I'm on YouTube, same name, Pinterest, same name. I'm always on Instagram, always on my stories.

TaReon Jael: 35:46

All right. Of course I will leave links to all of your social media platforms, your website. I will leave all that in the show notes. Thank you so much for being on the podcast. This has been a pleasure. Thank you so much, Melissa.

Melissa Nikohl: 36:04

Thank you. I love you.

TaReon Jael: 36:06

I love you too. I hope you enjoyed this interview with Melissa, as much as I enjoyed reconnecting with her. Be sure to check out her blog at melissanikohl.com. That's M E L I S S a N I K O H l.com and check her out on Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest@melissanikohl. Show her some love and follow subscribe, like, comment and share her content, which I'm sure you'll be inspired to do because she consistently provides value with everything she creates. And of course be sure to head to wellnessforblackgirls.com and click on episode 13 for show notes with the links to Melissa's website and social media platforms, and to sign up for your free copy of the journal prompts inspired by the episode. If you want to keep up with the podcast on social media, you can follow on Instagram@wellness4blackgirls. And you can follow my personal IG page@tareonjael, and together we'll continue to bloom while moving through the dimensions of wellness.