Ugly Healing: Tamela J. Gordon on Hood Wellness, Starting Over, and Success Without the Polish

Get "Liberate Your Business" by Becky Mollenkamp at https://liberateyourbusiness.com/ FIND OUR PAST CONVERSATIONS AT https://yesandotherwise.com/ Author Tamela J. Gordon (Hood Wellness) joins Becky and Faith to talk about “ugly healing,” the kind that is not linear, not soft-focus, and not a bubble bath. We start with what everyone is reading, then get into starting over in your forties, unlearning the polished wellness ideal, and why shame loves silence. We also talk about the strange loneliness that shows up after your dream comes true. Timestamps 00:29 Icebreaker: what we’re reading right now 06:22 The story that keeps following us: starting over 13:20 Scarcity, hope, and the freedom of “I just got fired” 17:42 Ugly healing vs. the soft-aura version of wellness 22:08 The unhooking: restaurant work, Anthony Bourdain, and internalized misogyny 27:53 Aging, the male gaze, and a beauty standard no one can meet 33:30 The loneliness of deconstructing an old story 35:11 Community care, visibility, and why shame loves silence 42:46 What ugly healing looks like for Tamela right now 45:45 What are you saying yes to today? 46:43 Where to find Tamela and her work Resources mentioned • Tamela’s Substack, Broke Woman Writer for Hire: https://substack.com/@shewritestolive • Tamela on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shewritestolive/ • Tamela on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@shewritestolive • "Hood Wellness" by Tamela J. Gordon: https://link.amazon/B08MoE0dN • "American Scoundrel" by Kai Bird: https://link.amazon/B01V7492b • "Fear and Fury" by Heather Ann Thompson: https://link.amazon/B0bWQf0qs • "The Power Broker" by Robert Caro: https://link.amazon/B02HRwYGi • "The Book of Unknown Americans" by Cristina Henríquez: https://link.amazon/B0b2YByGK • "Watch Us Rise" by Renée Watson and Ellen Hagan: https://link.amazon/B0fAbaZ9n • "The Island of Sea Women" by Lisa See: https://link.amazon/B0geGZJuN • "Carrying" by Samantha Josephs: https://link.amazon/B0gUWlE2U • "If You Can’t Take the Heat" by Geraldine DeRuiter: https://link.amazon/B04IrYYFR • "Kitchen Confidential" by Anthony Bourdain: https://link.amazon/B0ayHqqRe • "Adult Braces" by Lindy West: https://link.amazon/B06dOFR78 • Geraldine DeRuiter on Yes, and Otherwise: https://yesandotherwise.com/geraldine-deruiter/ 🎤 JOIN US IN THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE: https://feministpodcastcollective.com/