Meet Mrs. Inyang (n-yon) Telfair

We were lucky to catch up with Mrs. Inyang (n-yon) Telfair recently and have shared our conversation below.

Mrs. Inyang (N-Yon), we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?

As a young Nigerian American born and raised in the heart of Detroit, MI, I lacked self-esteem which repelled confidence. My dark skin, kinky hair, short stature, and plump physique made me a target for other children to tease me daily in elementary school to the point of tears. Coming from a single-parent home where my mom worked two jobs at a time, raised as an only child since my sister and brother were almost twenty years older than I was, left me to fend for myself often. After having suicidal thoughts and then attempting at age nine, my mom sent me to live in Houston, TX with my sister and finish my elementary year there. I learned life skills, lost weight, and grew four inches. I returned home for middle school and that’s when I went through the “fed up fighting” phase. My first encounter with confidence came when I lost weight and grew taller. With this type of confidence, I made a name for myself from middle school through my third year in high school. It wasn’t until junior year in high school that I discovered, the “confidence” I thought I had was a defense mechanism and a false sense of self-esteem. At the age of seventeen, I became serious about my faith walk. Although I accepted my Lord and Savior Yeshua, Jesus, at seven, my prayer life and faith walk became more prevalent in high school. The more I prayed, the more God showed me myself through Him and His eyes. The stronger my faith became, the stronger my love for God became, and my self-esteem developed and gave birth to the confidence I lacked. God showed me my worth through His word and through the man He sent to be my husband. As my confidence grew, God sent my husband to water it further. As I continue to grow in my faith walk and in my relationship with my Abba Father, my self-esteem stays strong and confidence high.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

A Lexington wife, mother, ministry leader, and small business owner. I penned my first book, White Girl, Black Soul.

In White Girl, Black Soul I explore the fictional journey of the Jenkins Family who resides in Detroit, Michigan.

The title itself is a play on words describing how a person’s outside doesn’t always reflect what is inside. The book also explores the dynamics of interracial and intergenerational relationships.

The idea of White Girl, Black Soul came from a long-time discussion between me and my husband about fostering children. In our conversations, we have often considered if the ethnicity of the child should matter.

Geared toward teens and a young adult audience, I hope my readers glean significant lessons from my book, such as what you see on the outside doesn’t always reflect what’s on the inside.

I also include small group discussion questions for a deeper look into the themes portrayed throughout the book including grief, abuse, mental health, addiction, discrimination, and pregnancy. From these questions ignited the M.I.N.D. Your Soul journey. Moving with purpose, Improving daily habits, Nourishing mind, body and spirit, and then Denying what doesn’t fit.

White Girl, Black Soul is available for sale as an e-book on Amazon and as a paperback on both Amazon and Barnes & Noble. It is my first independently published book. You can visit my social media pages for upcoming book signings, by visiting https://www.mindyoursoul.me/contact.

Amazon Paperback cover price: $16.99; Barnes and Noble Paperback cover price: $15.99 Amazon E-book: $9.99

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

The three qualities that were and still are most impactful on my journey is faith, drive, and accountability. Faith is the most important attribute to have. Faith in the Abba Father helped me to believe in myself. You must believe in yourself, if you don’t, how can you expect others to believe in you? The next important attribute is drive. Being driven is so important on your journey. Without drive, determination, and ambition, you will be stagnant, stuck in the same place, not going backward, but not moving forward. Surrounding yourself with people who will encourage you, pour positivity into you, help you when you fall, or call you out when you are wrong, will give you the drive you need to go to the next level on your journey. Having people in your life to hold you accountable is a key ingredient to success. Accountability is my third important attribute for a successful journey. It doesn’t matter if you utilize, a planner, alarm clock, or the reminders on your cell phone, or if you are relying on trusted friends, family, or a mentor, just find a way to hold yourself accountable. With faith, drive, and accountability, you can accomplish anything. Nothing and no one would be able to stop you, but you.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

I am looking for other creators to collaborate with. I would love to collaborate with a director, producer, or screenwriter to turn my novel into a movie or series. I am also looking for people with experience in producing stage plays. If you are a director, producer, stage director or producer, you can contact me via email at [email protected] or [email protected] , via phone at (502) 487-2221. I look forward to bringing more of my characters to life on stage and on screen.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Personal Photo: Hope Telfair

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