“In my opinion, there's no such thing as failure. Everything is a blessing. And everything is a learning experience. And if you look at everything in that lens, then whatever blessing and lesson that you can take from that experience, you can utilize it as additional fuel in order to move in the correct path.” - Topeka K. Sam


Welcome to Stay a While with Tommi Vincent! Imposter syndrome. Anxiety. Fear of growth. We have all faced opposition, within ourselves, at some point in our lives. Second-guessing yourself is the hallmark of an identity crisis. So how do you overcome self-doubt, and breakthrough to putting it all on the line to bet on yourself? Today's guest, Topeka K. Sam, takes her seat at the table to help us to tap into the queen within all of us.

Topeka K. Sam is the Founder and Executive Director of The Ladies of Hope Ministries
– The LOHM – whose mission is to help disenfranchised and marginalized women and
girls transition back into society through resources and access to high-quality
education, entrepreneurship, spiritual empowerment, advocacy and housing. She is
also the co-founder of Hope House NYC - a safe housing space for women and
girls. Topeka serves on the board of directors for Grassroots Leadership and is now
the first formerly incarcerated person on the board of The Marshall Project.

She is a Beyond the Bars 2015 Fellow and a 2016 Justice-In-Education Scholar both from
Columbia University, a 2017 Soros Justice Advocacy Fellow working on Probation and
Parole Accountability, a 2018 Unlocked Futures Inaugural Cohort Member, 2018
Opportunity Agenda Communications Institute Fellow, Director of #Dignity Campaign
for #cut50, Host of “The Topeka K. Sam Show” on SiriusXM UrbanView Channel 126
Sundays 9am est., and has recently signed a development deal as Executive
Producer for a scripted and unscripted series inspired by her fight to change the
many problems that plague female incarceration with 44 Blue Productions.

Topeka has been featured in Vogue, SalonTV, Vice, New York Times. She has been
featured in Glamour Magazine and Black Enterprise for being “The Black Woman
behind the video that led to the Trump Clemency of Alice Johnson.” She has spoken
at the 2018 United States of the Woman Conference, 2018 Women in the World
Conference, 2018 White House Prison Reform Summit and is a TedxMidAtlantic
Superheros Presenter.

She has worked and continues to work selflessly and relentlessly in her fight for the
dignity, decriminalization and decarceration of women and girls. Topeka has
accomplished this and more since her release from Federal Prison May 2015.




In this episode we cover

[00:01 - 04:15] Serving Up Self Care and Mental Wellness
[04:16 - 12:08] Getting to Know Topeka K. Sam
[12:09 - 25:31] Step Out of Fear and Reject World Worthiness
[25:32 - 42:14] Break Away from the Prison of Our Own Minds
[42:15 - 49:15] Closing Segment


Key Quotes


“When we're little girls who haven't gone through that healing process, we become grown women who are still living in that. And it just hurts, like it breaks my heart.” - Topeka K. Sam

“There are times that we just don't know, because we're not exposed. But I also know because we are creatures of God, the Divine, the Creator, that there is something inevitable in our spirit that will tell us what feels good and what does not feel good, what feels right and what feels wrong. And that's when you smoke about fear. It's to decide whether or not you want to continually live in that mess.” - Topeka K. Sam

“But if you know leaving with nothing will be better than staying with whatever you have been, that is your strength and you use your point, those obstacles as stepping stones and not barriers.”- Topeka K. Sam


Connect with Topeka K. Sam
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/topekaksam
Website: https://thelohm.org/


Connect with Me!
You can reach Tommi on Instagram @cheftommiv
Visit https://vincentcountry.com and get connected with us on Vincent Country’s Instagram @vincentcountry

This episode was Produced By: Tommi Vincent, Tanner Vincent, and Skai Blue Media

Music By: Stichiz - Big T. Music /Roj&TwinkiE

LEAVE A REVIEW + and SHARE this episode with someone who wants food for the soul, and the key ingredients to embracing their true, authentic self. Listen to previous episodes on Spotify, Spreaker, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts!