In the Spirit of Loving Accountability: Where it began

A few weeks ago, I had a moment.

The kind of moment that reveals itself unexpectedly. The kind that asks you to pull over, sit still, and feel it all the way through...And, I did. I legit cried in the car and then went on to record a 9 minute and 46 second voice note.

What I initially thought was about my business, was actually about the significance of this time of year. And in the spirit of keeping a record— I want to go back.

In 2020, I created Liberated Love Notes. At the time, it was a personal practice.

Affirmations and questions I needed to sit with for myself,  particularly as a Black woman existing in a white supremacist, capitalist system, engaged in my own intrapersonal reckoning.

A system that, for years, I had learned to navigate and even benefit from by aligning with ways of being, thinking, and leading that required me to undermine and dehumanize myself…And, if I wasn’t careful, project that harm onto those with whom I was in community. Liberated Love Notes was my interruption. A way to return to myself. To love me and to love us…better.

A little over a year later, something shifted. (In hindsight, this is what doing and being the work will produce: shifts.)

At the time, I was working within an organization that, by all accounts, was a destination. The place I would retire from. The place many believed I would one day lead. A thriving and powerful Black-led organization that I had poured my time, energy, and talent into— and that shaped me in meaningful ways.

And still…I felt a clear, spiritual urge to leave.

At the same time, both of my grandfathers— first my maternal, then my paternal—transitioned into ancestorship. So I was navigating grief, transition, and trying to be in right relationship with what I knew was being asked of me.

So, I gave two months’ notice.

I was leading a critical body of work, managing a team, and I wanted to transition with care. But on Good Friday, I received an email (this was over a month before my intended departure), telling me there was no need for me to return. That I should consider taking the mutually beneficial severance package.

If I’m honest, my feelings were hurt. I still held deep regard for the organization, the leader, and what that place represented in my professional lineage. And then there were the terms of the severance which felt misaligned: onerous, restrictive, disconnected and out of integrity with what one might expect from a justice-centered organization. So I declined it.

I responded via email, naming my concerns, the misalignment and my disappointment, and I signed it:

“In the spirit of loving accountability.”

People later told me that email was powerful. Clear. Grounded. But inside, I felt vulnerable and powerless in many ways. I was a mother. Someone who had known a certain level of financial stability—and now that felt uncertain.

And still…I knew this needed to happen.

In that season, I was not alone. Black women held me, saw me. Black women made a way. Women like Tiffany, who believed in my work so much that she brought me in to support her Black ERGs. A reminder that the work that was emerging through me still mattered. Women like Nakeia, here in Baltimore, who pulled me into projects, believed in me, and exposed me to work that not only felt aligned but made it possible for me to pay my bills. A reminder of the power in grounding my practice here in Baltimore. Women like Michael, who—even while navigating her own challenges as a Black woman business owner— still made space for me.

Fast forward to April 2026. In Loving Accountability Coaching & Consulting is more established now. I’ve experienced a different kind of freedom. Aligned client work. Space to imagine, to create, to build my practice here in Baltimore.

And recently, I found myself in a room with other Black social entrepreneurs, sitting with my mission statement. Clear. Strong. And yet, something wasn’t landing.

It hit me. While driving. Right before I recorded that 9:46 voice note.

The reason it didn’t feel like enough is because I don’t just want to build a consulting practice. I want to build what carried me.

Because the truth is: None of this matters: the frameworks, the facilitation, the strategy—if Black women are still navigating workplaces that don’t honor their humanity. If hundreds of thousands of us are still being pushed out, burned out, or left without support. If even our own organizations struggle to build cultures that reflect who we are— and not the workplaces we’ve been harmed by. 

So yes…at In Loving Accountability Coaching & Consulting, we are developing leaders to embody their values and build workplace cultures grounded in care, trust, and accountability.

And…We are doing that so that Black women—especially those in HR, people, and equity roles— can access opportunity, ownership, and freedom beyond traditional workplace roles.

We will accomplish this by:

• Partnering with Black women HR & equity practitioners in transition supporting them in reimagining how they show up in this work.

• And supporting Black-led social enterprises in building people and culture systems that disrupt traditional HR models and reflect our cultural ways of being.

So that we can scale— not only our operations— but our culture with integrity and without losing our soul.

I’m writing this nearly four years to the day after signing that email:

In the spirit of loving accountability.

And all I can say is…God and the ancestors are mindful.

So very mindful.

Looking Ahead

Over the next few months, I’ll be sharing more in the spirit of loving accountability. Content created especially for leaders who feel the gap between what their organization stands for and what their people actually experience, and for Black HR and equity practitioners who are ready to reimagine how they do this work—beyond the constraints of traditional workplaces.

I’ll also be hosting a series of upcoming spaces:

• For CEOs and operations leaders working to build cultures that reflect their values

• And for Black HR and equity practitioners interested in partnering to do this work differently

  
  

If either of these resonate with you, I’d love to be in conversation. Stay tuned for upcoming sessions or feel free to hit reply.

Leadership as a L.O.V.E. Practice

Tell the Truth About the Gap

Where is there a difference between:

• What your organization says it values a

  nd what your people actually experience?

• And... What you say you stand for vs. 

  what you are being asked to uphold, tolerate, or carry

  
  

Don’t rush to fix it. Name it.

Write it down, speak it aloud, then consider...

Is this a gap I am resourced and empowered to close...or one I am being asked to live with?

Loving accountability begins with truth.

Liberated Love Note

I give myself permission to choose alignment, even when it disrupts what felt secure.

I trust what my spirit is asking of me.

I affirm: I am not meant to do it alone.