Some of my absolute BEST memories of being at McMurry include the STUNNINGLY BEAUTIFUL Lae-Triana Brown (aka My Lae-Lae Face)!!! I can PROMISE you that I would not have survived the 2nd semester without her, but probably wouldn't have survived the 1st semester either. If we weren't taking over Irene's bed after forcing her to sit in her computer chair and then spending hours watching funny and ridiculously inappropriate videos, then we were in Irene's bed asleep...while making her sit in her computer chair!! LOL!! I swear we weren't bullies...that's just how it randomly worked with the 3 of us!! On Tuesday's and Thursday's of the 2nd semester, I could ALWAYS expect both of them to jump into my door at lunch time to wake me up so we could all walk to lunch together after they put their bags down. Lae-Triana gave the BEST hugs, was always willing to sit and listen and was such a great friend. Over the years our lives have taken different paths, but we have always been there to support one another via social media. Watching Lae-Triana's journey has been so inspiring. She has embodied what it means to be a BOSS in every way!! I am incredibly proud to know her and super thankful that she has agreed to be featured!! I KNOW that she is going to continue doing AMAZING things, and I can't wait to see!!!
I introduce you to the STUNNINGLY BEAUTIFUL Lae-Triana Brown
*Generally speaking, what was your childhood like?
My childhood was loving but a lot. So, I never met my
biological dad, but I also never really noticed. It sounds weird, because I
knew he wasn’t there, but my mom and grandmother did such a good job taking
care of me that it almost didn’t really bother me as a child. I honestly think
it bothers me more now, because i can see the affects it has on me in my
relationships with men. At one point I did think my brother’s dad was my dad,
but he made it clear one year I think I was 9 or 10 that, that wasn’t the case.
My stepdad came into my life when I was about 11 and he has been the closest
thing to a dad to me. He is the grandfather to my 2 boys and although things
haven’t always been peachy, I can say I’m very thankful for him. I went back
and forth between my grandmother and my mom until I was in the 5th grade, when
my grandmother (my meme) that’s my girl lol got diagnosed with cancer for the
first time. It was the worst; she was in the hospital for 52 days and it seemed
like foreverrrr. But Thanks be to God, He gave us a little more time with her. “Cancer
sucks” It came back for a 2nd time and she ended up getting pneumonia during
treatment and she just couldn’t fight it. Unfortunately, she passed away my
freshman year of high school. It was the
hardest thing losing her, and it still sucks till today, but I know she is with
the Lord, and that’s honestly the best place she could be. After that, my mom
married my stepdad and we moved out to the Mansfield area where i graduated
from Timberview high school, and then soon after went to McMurry University (where
I met my Beka face lol) and graduated in 2009.
*What have you learned over your lifetime that you’d like to share
with the younger generation?
Over my 34 years I’ve been on this Earth I’ve really learned
that God is in control and to trust Him in all that you do. Life can be roughhhhh
like tough and rough and you are not going to understand alot of things that
happen to you or around you. That’s when being able to trust and lean on God is
going to keep you from completely drowning and instead learning and moving
forward.
*What has the journey/process been like for you to get to where
you are today?
You know it’s been hard; I’m not going to lie. I’m still
learning and I’m still growing and I’m still realizing a lot about myself, even
at 34. I can honestly say even with the mistakes that I’ve made, especially the
ones I put myself in and the things that have happened to me. I can say NOW that there is/was a reason and it’s going to
work out for my good in the end.
*What sacrifices have you had to endure to get to where you are
today?
I think the biggest sacrifice has been myself and my time.
It’s takes a lot to own and operate a business yourself. Alot of times I am running
myself ragged to make sure everything still gets done, and my family is still
taken care of like they need to be. So that just doesn’t leave much time for
myself...which is why I promote self-care like I do and go so hard about it
because it’s soo important. We can’t take care of anything or anybody if we don’t
first take care of ourselves.
*What do you do for a living?
Most importantly I am a full-time Mommy lol, but how I make
my coins is, I own and operate a mobile massage therapy business called Divine
Healing Massage Therapy.
*What motivates you the most?
My God given purpose and gift. And my kids are my
motivation.
*You are a complete BOSS…as a woman, why do you feel like creating
this path for yourself was/is necessary?
Well Thank you, so are you! I feel like it’s so vital for
every woman to find their purpose and walk in it. We as women go through so
much, yet we make it through over and over again. We are strong, resilient, and
the heart of the family. I simply feel like it’s important because we were
created to be bosses. Period.
*What was it like where you grew up?
I was originally born in Las Angeles, California and then we
moved when I was still little to Texas. Like I was saying earlier I was going back
and forth from my mom to my grandmother, so I moved a lot. I went to 4
different elementary schools; two in Irving, one in Corpus Christi and one in
Washington State. I lived in Virginia for a little bit as well. I think Middle
School is the only time that I stayed at one school for three years and that
was in Irving. It’s sad, but from what I can really remember Irving was the
place I was in the most and remember the most. I still have a few really good
friends from elementary and middle school that I talk to today. My mom was just
dating my stepdad at the time and they weren’t living together, so she was
still working pretty much all the time. It was a lot of just me and my brother
at home or us with our friend’s family. Irving wasn’t the best area, but it
wasn’t a bad area either. I love it just because of the people I’ve met there
and are still close with today.
*Describe your most important friendship(s).
I believe my 1st and most important friendship I have
(outside my Heavenly Father) is with my mom. Now that I’m older we have a really
good friendship which I really appreciate. My mom is the type of person who I
can call on and just get that support that I need, like it literally doesn’t
matter what it is, that I’m doing she is overly excited and because I’m a very
analytical person, and over think a lot, she like hypes it up x 10 for me and I
need that sometimes. My 2nd is with my two God sisters I’ve literally known one
since I was 12 or 13 and the other since I was 15 and they have been the
sisters that I never had. We have watched each other grow up since we were young kids and we still have a close Bond, nothing ever
changes with us. They are definitely my truth people; they support me like no
other and are super non-judgmental. The next most important friendships I have
are my two best friends. I’ve known one since high school and the other since college and I mean
they’re honestly just like family also. They are at all my family events and we
literally talk every day or every other day. We have businesses together and
are just super like-minded. I can count on them for anything; we have partied
together, gotten drunk together, cried together, prayed together, gotten into
it, made up. We have been through it all, and are still Rocking strong, I
wouldn’t know what to do without them.
*What did you want to be when you grew up?
So, I’ve always really been like into fashion, and I wanted
to be like a fashion designer or stylist. Even today, when I see random people,
I make them over in my head lol its sounds bad, but I mean it in the best way.
Lol!!
*Were there any moments you recall as true breakthroughs in any
area of your life?
Yes, so my Jr year of college I was raped by two guys, and
it was literally the most degrading, hurtful, scary, and I don’t even know how
to describe it in words moment of my life. You know for one I never talked
about it; I literally went years without telling anyone. I blamed myself, I was
ashamed because I had been drinking, and I literally thought I just wasn’t
being smart, or I should have been more aware. I was thinking of every negative
thing I could possibly think about it on my part that I could have done differently
or better. It made me very bitter and nasty. I was treating people like crap
that didn’t deserve it. I honestly just didn’t like myself at all. And It wasn’t until I had a bad break up
after I graduated college, that I had to look at myself, like what are you
doing? One day I felt like the Lord was telling me, “didn’t give them the right”
like that’s all I could get “it didn’t give them the right.” After that, I
started making small steps to try to get myself under control and stop putting
myself at the blame. It was and has been tough, I don’t blame myself anymore,
but I definitely still have some triggers from time to time. Leaning on God
during the process and I think talking about it with other people that have
went through the same has helped me a lot. One thing I know for sure is keeping
it in is not the way to go; it literally eats you up from the inside. I just
pray that the same way others have helped me, I can help another too.
*Have your dreams and goals changed through your life?
Yes, I definitely think so. Even though I really love
fashion and may have thought I was going to be a stylist growing up, I
gravitated more toward learning about the body. It’s extremely interesting to
me. So, in College I was actually planning on going the physical therapy route.
I wanted to work for some professional basketball or football team and travel
all over. But my senior year of college they changed physical therapy from a masters
degree to a doctorate, and I was like, “oh great more school.” Lol! So even
though I planned to still go to grad school after I graduated, I also decided
to take a break, I was going to take like a year off. But that break was short-lived because soon after I graduated, I was
talking to my mom one day and she was like why don’t you try massage therapy, you
have really strong hands, and L was like okay. Lol. I literally googled massage
therapy and applied to the first school that popped up and started school that
September. And to my surprise I ended up loving massage therapy. The fun thing
is I had never even had a massage before I started school. But I’ve been doing
it ever since, going on 11 years now.
*How do you define a “good life” or a “successful life?”
How I describe a good life or successful life is really just
fulfilling my God-given purpose. If I leave this Earth knowing I filled my God-given
purpose, like the reason why I was created in the first place, I don’t see anything
better than that.
*Do you think a person needs to first overcome serious setbacks or
challenges to be truly successful?
I don’t necessarily think you need to, but I do just think
you’re going to. You know when you are trying to reach your goals and make a difference
whether, it’s in your life, your family’s or someone else’s, the enemy is
always going to be there to try to attack you. The blessing about that is,
adversity brings nothing but endurance. And to fulfill your purpose, dreams,
goals etc. you need that endurance to get you through.
*What would you like your children and grandchildren to remember
about you?
I would want my children and grandchildren to remember me as
someone God fear, loving, strong, someone they can be inspired by and look up
to. I want to and plan to leave a legacy for my family to carry on from one
generation to the next.
*Who was the most influential person to you as a child?
The most influential person to me as a child was my
grandmother. She was such a lady, like the most loving, God- fearing, graceful woman
ever. She didn’t meet a stranger, and everyone loved her. You would never know
when she was ill because she still had a smile on her face. Always doing and helping others. She was
selfless. And absolutely beautiful inside and out.
*What is your greatest hope?
My greatest hope is to make sure I fulfill my purpose, I
want and believe I’m supposed to make a difference in this world, and I fully believe
I will. I am an act of service person; my gift is massage and healing. And I want
nothing more than to help others heal from the inside out. Divine Healing Massage Therapy is just the start of what is
to come. My vision is to have a full wellness or wholeness center. I want people
to come in where they are but over time come out healed, whole, and restored.
Mentally, physically, and spiritually.
Thank you again sooooo much to my Beautiful Lae-Lae Face for participating!! I hope you all enjoyed learning more about her, and were definitely able to take away inspiration for her incredible story. Please go follow all of her socials for Divine Healing Massage Therapy listed below, and definitely check her out!!!
Lots of Love 💙
Rebekah
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