Meet Latrice Bennett

We recently connected with Latrice Bennett and have shared our conversation below.

Latrice, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

I believe that finding your purpose requires growth in your experiences, is developed as well as can change with your Journey. My purpose I believe involved multiple experiences that has shaped and molded me into the young women I am today. When I was younger I had to overcome many challenges such as, sexual abuse, low self worth and longing for validation, because of not knowing who I was. As I grew older those same challenges would follow me into my adult life, until one day I told my story.
Often times when people go through something they question God, as a child, or an adult, you think you are the reason you may have caused something to happen to you, or in your life, when that was never the case. My sexual abuse was not my fault, nor my responsibility, but my healing journey was. My purpose was to tell my story, so that other women would and could understand they are not alone. Life I believe is a journey, and a part of healing involves forgiving. I was a grown woman, age of 29, when I shared my story about being sexually abused from ages nine to eleven. The scariest part was not sharing the story but carrying the fear of the trauma. I overcame the challenge of sharing my testimony, not knowing there would be many more challenges ahead. These challenges would involve working through thoughts of believing I was not worthy of love, losing my husband to cancer, and did I love him well, through his challenges as well as being able to parent my children in a healed way. God showed me that I was worthy of love and although life can be challenging he is with you wherever you go. I believe my testimony and my purpose was and is for others. I stated in the beginning that your purpose requires growth in your experiences. That growth for myself involved having a personal relationship with a loving father and creator of my life, God. In order for me to live, through my trauma and the passing of my husband I had to surrender, thoughts that were out of my control. Was I good parent, was I loved, was I good wife, was I too hard on my children, who am I, and could I do good things to earn love. All of these questions involve the validation part I was speaking of also. I no longer have these questions because, it took experience and trust in God to validate who I was. In Psalm 139:14 says, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; I know who I am, whose I am and whom I belong. Life is a continuous journey and I am here because my purpose is continuous, involving learning new ways of loving, better ways of communicating, reaching communities and walking in faith.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I am Latrice, often times my family call me Chingy. I am a praise dance & gospel choir teacher for a local school. I am also a homeschooling mother, speaker, author, write poetry, occasionally paint and do photography. My business is called Same Face Different Emotion. I am able to help others through their journey of the many challenges we all face in life, through open lines of communication in families and individuals. With the most recent loss of my husband, I have now grown a love for finding beauty in nature, so photography, I believe is my first love now. Nevertheless, I love singing, and speaking as well. I recently went to a gospel open mic event, that was so amazing. I was able to do some of my poetry as well. I also have a podcast on Spotify with my poetry as well as, a portion of my grief with the loss of my husband called Ching’s world. My poetry and working with children is a passion of mines. I love being able to have teachable moments and get those words out my head onto paper. I often explore creativity with my business through my artistic side, by doing Poem and Paint, where I do poetry and you paint what you hear in the poem. Its a lot of fun, it allows me to see the creativity in others as well as perspectives from a visual standpoint. I recently finished my magazine called Journey His Transition 2023 and currently working on the 2024 issue called After his Death, Our Faith Walk.

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

Looking back the qualities that were most impactful were, trust, honesty and faith. The advice I would give someone early on in their journey would be to trust the process, although we have very little control over some things we may experience, all experiences serve a purpose. The second I would say is be honest with you. Often times experiences can cause us to not know who we are in Christ, and or think of yourself differently than what you are purposed to do and be in the world. Show up for you, even when it hurts, when you have to cry, when you have to learn, and even when you fail, continue to show up. Last I would say to continue trust that God has your best interest in mind, and to walk in your faith. Talk and hold God close to your heart when its painful and when it allows you to smile. Everything we go through in life will shape and mold us into a greater version of who we use to be and I have learned that Gods love is a great place to be.

How would you spend the next decade if you somehow knew that it was your last?

My number one challenge I am currently facing is losing my husband. Grief shows up and many ways in a person’s life and navigating it is very challenging. Although I don’t have to face the challenge alone because, I know I am not the only widow in the world. I do believe I was not supposed to get over losing him, but to carry his love with me everyday. Some days are harder than others but everyday, I must love the people that are still here, reminding me, I am loved and that I am not alone.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Credit image Nikki Hence in photo on grief talks flyer
Credit Illustrator of book Natalia Scabuso
Credit Marilyne Simmonds for photo on Same face Different Emotion flyer

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