Today we’d like to introduce you to Moriya Rose.
Moriya, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. I grew up in a single-parent household in North County, the oldest of six children (I have a sister born from my father’s second marriage). My mother worked two jobs to take care of us. There were some really rough times that I experienced as a child. I witnessed physical and verbal abuse. My mother worked really hard to make sure we had what we needed but I saw her exhaustion and some of the other effects of her struggle as a mother. While I have a great relationship with my father now, he wasn’t around much during my formative years. This particular void had a profound effect on me. There was great deal of damage that I had to overcome due to his absence in my life.
I attended Jennings Sr. High, where I played basketball, volleyball, and ran track. I was a bit of a nerd, not really one of the popular kids and I didn’t have a lot of friends. The extracurricular activities were an outlet for me. Once I graduated, I attended the University of Northern Iowa for my undergraduate studies. I became a single mother in my sophomore year there but I didn’t allow that to stop me from reaching one of my goals. I was determined to complete my studies and after taking a semester off in order to adjust to motherhood, I graduated from UNI in 2001 with a B.A. in Political Science.
I went back home to St. Louis, after graduation, for about a year and a half, where I worked a couple of odd jobs that weren’t paying the bills. I began to see parallels between the life of struggle I had growing up and the life of struggle I was living as a single mother. I’d gotten complacent and I didn’t like it. I wanted better for my son and I knew I had to do something different if I wanted to see change. So, I enlisted in the army and was sent to Ft. Richardson, Alaska after the completion of basic training and my advanced individual training in 2003. Over the course of my time in the military, I gave my life to Christ, completed my MBA, got married, and had two more children. I was honorably discharged in 2007.
I’ve always had a love for reading books and writing. It’s something that has grown exponentially with me over time. I’ve always kept a journal and felt that I express myself better through the written word. I didn’t recognize how powerful that love would become until 2009 when I went through a rather painful divorce and subsequent relocation from the state of Washington to Texas. I started writing poetry during that time. My first book, Solid Broken Wall, was published in 2016. It was then that I recognized my God-given gift of expression and I was overwhelmed with a newfound sense of identity and purpose.
Writing has been my lifeline through tragedy, heartache, and pain. Words have literally been oxygen for me; my inspiration, therapy, and release. They’re everything and they always will be because of how they’ve helped me to overcome and heal. God has a way of birthing the most beautiful things out of the adversity we experience in life and I remain eternally grateful that He’s allowed me to exercise this gift for the greater good.
I’ve not always been as vocal as I am these days but I wasn’t always quiet either. I didn’t know what to do with all the energy I had. I happen to love to talk and I talk a lot. I have thoughts and opinions on a ton of subjects. So, the next natural step for me was to create an environment that would facilitate the use of my love for conversation and passion for words on a larger scale.
My show, Thinking Out Loud, was birthed in 2019 as a way to outwardly express thoughts about the day to day issues and topics that people feel they can’t talk about for fear of judgement or because they may be ashamed. It’s also a platform used to bring attention to the positive aspects of life when we already see so much negativity in the world today. I want to use my gift as a tool to bring about a productive discussion and I’m excited about what we’re doing and where the show is going in 2020.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It hasn’t been a year yet but the show is going strong. I see incremental growth with my following every day and I’m so very grateful. However, the journey hasn’t been an easy one by any stretch of the imagination. I’ve lost friendships. I’ve walked away from relationships. People have walked away from me. There have been some not so good business dealings with people and as I learn the ropes, I’m learning who I can trust and who I can’t trust.
From a personal perspective, I’ve grappled with whether or not I really have a voice that matters and whether or not people will listen to what I have to say. This is a big deal to me and so I sometimes worry about the direction in which things are going as well as whether or not I’m making the right decisions. I’m not perfect. There’s no such thing as a perfect person. By the same token, I don’t want to make careless mistakes. I can’t afford to drop the ball where Thinking Out Loud or any of my other projects are concerned. There’s too much at stake.
I do know that no matter where things end up, my God is constant as well as consistent. I trust the process because this vision is much bigger than me.
Thinking Out Loud – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Thinking Out Loud started as a weekend podcast and we’ve been working to grow into a full-blown radio show. We’ve talked about everything from being a Christian and dating to domestic violence awareness and entrepreneurship. We celebrate the good that’s happening in the world. We like to point out the fact that we address the elephant in the room and we talk about things that others don’t think they’re allowed to speak on in an open forum. We’re best known for our openness, honesty, and our transparency when it comes to the various topics we discuss.
I’m most proud of the integrity the show holds as well as our ability to relate to the community in number of different ways. We don’t boast about perfection. Instead, we own our imperfections and we embrace the need to let others know that they’re not alone in the day to day life situations they encounter. We’re real and genuine and that will never change.
We’re not doing what we do for any kind of special notoriety or accolades. This is not a bid for 15 seconds of fame. We’re here to stay. That’s what sets us apart from a majority of the other shows out there. We’re not seeking attention in a traditional sense. We have the actions that come behind the words we speak. We want to empower others and we desire to have a positive impact on a global scale. We really want to be a part of and see change taking place.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success to me is fulfilling one’s purpose in life. It is doing the thing/things you were placed on this planet to do. I firmly believe that we all have gifts and talents that we were born to share. We all have a purpose. I can’t say that there’s a specific criteria or markers to look out for, except a willingness to be open and a willingness to be a vessel for use.
What I can say is that I don’t want to leave this earth without having emptied myself of all the gifts and talents that God has given me, without having been a vessel that has impacted the lives of others in a positive and meaningful way. As far as I’m concerned, I’m still on the road to success and I have a long way to go.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thinkingoutloudmovement.com
- Email: info@thinkingoutloudmovement.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/outloudmovement
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/outloudmovement
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/outloudmovement
Image Credit:
Gabe Brown Photography
Marcus Dudley Photography
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