Meet Alexis Cullen

We recently connected with Alexis Cullen and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Alexis, so excited to talk about all sorts of important topics with you today. The first one we want to jump into is about being the only one in the room – for some that’s being the only person of color or the only non-native English speaker or the only non-MBA, etc Can you talk to us about how you have managed to be successful even when you were the only one in the room that looked like you?

For a long time, I entered spaces where no one looked like me, sounded like me, shared my truth, or understood the layers of who I was—a Black Muslim woman, a mother, a survivor, and a storyteller who writes about the parts of life most people try to hide. At first, being the only one in the room felt isolating. It felt like constantly having to defend my softness, my story, my voice, and my existence.

But over time, I realized something powerful: when you are the only one in the room, you’re not missing representation—you are the representation.

I learned to become effective by embracing that my journey was not meant to blend in. My books were born from experiences people dismissed, minimized, or called “too much.” Instead of shrinking, I wrote louder. Instead of waiting for people to make space, I created space. Instead of wanting acceptance, I chose alignment—with myself, my values, and my purpose.

Being the only one also taught me to trust my lived experience. When you are different, people often try to rewrite your narrative for you. Writing allowed me to reclaim it. Healing allowed me to own it. Publishing allowed me to share it.

Success, for me, did not come from belonging to the room—it came from building rooms where others finally felt they belonged. Women who were silenced. Mothers who survived. People who thought their story disqualified them.

So, I learned to be effective by refusing to dilute myself to be understood.

And I learned to be successful by turning my truth into something other people could rise from.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I write stories that are rooted in truth, identity, healing, and the parts of life most people hide from. My brand—both as an author and creator—centers around storytelling that liberates. I turn life experiences into literature that helps others see themselves more clearly. What excites me most is that my work lives at the intersection of raw truth and emotional resilience. Whether it’s memoir-style books, fiction infused with psychological depth, powerful storytimes, or guided workbooks, I create spaces where people can face their truth without shame.

My flagship brand is Unboxed™—a collection of books, journals, interactive products and experiences designed to help people break out of identities, relationships, beliefs, and narratives that kept them small. The theme is simple: you are allowed to rewrite your life mid-chapter.

As a formerly silenced woman, my writing is a reclamation.
As a mother raising children watching me rebuild, it is legacy.
As a Black Muslim woman, it is representation.
And as an artist, it is truth unfiltered.

What’s most special about my work is that readers see themselves in the pages—even when the story isn’t literally theirs. College students, mothers, women leaving difficult relationships, men working through identity wounds, young adults discovering themselves—so many people connect with the transparency in my storytelling.

Professionally, I am focused on expanding my brand through:

Book Tours & Festival Appearances (2026–2027)
Across Baltimore, Atlanta, New York, Boston, North Carolina,Texas and more.

Product & Merch Expansion
Unboxed journals, affirmation cards, guided workbooks, and subscription boxes.

Storytelling Series & Digital Content
Showcasing how storytelling heals, reveals, and rebuilds identity.

Workshops & Events
Helping women and young adults rewrite their narratives and find clarity.

The excitement is that everything I create—whether it’s a novel, a psychological story, or a healing-based workbook—is anchored in transformation. Readers don’t just consume my work—they evolve in it.

I’m not writing stories for entertainment. I’m writing stories that shift the way people see themselves, their relationships, and their sense of worth.

That is the heart of my brand.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

The three qualities that shaped my journey most were emotional literacy, courage to self-redefine, and unshakeable self-trust—even when the world did not validate me.

1. Emotional Literacy
I had to learn how to name my experiences accurately—hurt, disappointment, betrayal, grief, resilience, longing—and not confuse them with anger or silence. Emotional literacy allowed me to stop repeating patterns disguised as survival.
For anyone early in their journey:
Develop the language for your truth.
Journal. Go to therapy if you can. Read work that expands your vocabulary for your feelings. You cannot heal what you’re unwilling to articulate.

2. Courage to Self-Redefine
I had to unlearn identities that were handed to me and choose identities I could grow inside of. Being a mother, being a partner, being a daughter, being “strong”—those labels almost became cages.
What helped me evolve was giving myself permission to change—even when people preferred who I used to be.
Advice:
Don’t cling to versions of yourself that no longer emotionally fit.
Growth comes with shedding. And sometimes shedding looks like loss. But losing what dims you is the first step toward becoming more.

3. Self-Trust When Evidence Isn’t Visible
My life did not validate me in the beginning. I was rebuilding, writing through heartbreak, raising children, trying to start over, and hoping that choosing myself would eventually make sense.
Success didn’t show up immediately—but belief did.
And belief sustained me longer than results.

For those just starting:
Learn to trust your becoming before anyone else believes it.
Your early seasons are silent and unseen. There’s no applause for showing up consistently, no guarantee of return, and no proof that it will work.
But what you stay committed to long enough eventually becomes undeniable.

My best advice is this:
Invest in your inner world before you try to build anything external.
Because talent means nothing without emotional clarity.
Ambition means nothing without discipline.
And branding means nothing if you are disconnected from who you truly are.

Trust who you are becoming, even when no one else sees the vision yet.

As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?

A book that played the most important role in my development was actually my own—Unboxed: That Black Muslim Girl. I didn’t write it from a healed place; I wrote it while trying to understand myself, my history, my patterns, and my pain. That book forced me to look at chapters of my life I had survived but had never processed. It was less a project and more an emotional excavation.

The most valuable wisdom that came out of writing it was this:
Sometimes you become your own evidence that healing is possible.

Unboxed taught me that visibility is vulnerable—but necessary. I had spent years shrinking to make other people comfortable, minimizing my experiences so others didn’t feel confronted by their choices. Writing this book was the first time I didn’t edit myself to be digestible.

A few truths I gained in the process:

Your story doesn’t have to be pretty to be powerful.
Women need permission to tell the messy truths, not just the polished ones.

Identity is not inherited—it’s chosen.
Being Black, being Muslim, being a mother, and being a woman did not have to mean erasing myself for others.

Healing is not a declaration—it’s a practice.
Writing revealed my wounds, publishing forced accountability, and sharing made me responsible for my evolution.

There is strength in the story you were once ashamed to tell.
When readers message me saying they see themselves in my pages, I realize none of the pain was wasted.

Unboxed is not just a book; it is a mirror.
It is a reclamation.
It is a love letter to the parts of women who were overlooked, mishandled, misunderstood, or asked to be small.

Writing it changed me.
Releasing it freed me.
Seeing others find themselves in it affirmed that sometimes the book that helps you grow is the one you were brave enough to write.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ALEXISTHEAUTHOR.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexistheauthor
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlexisTheAuthor
• Other: https://linktr.ee/alexistheauthor