Latest / Project Candor: Ordinary People. Unexpected Stories / Every Port a Purpose with Kameelah Howard | Ship's Log #22

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Every Port a Purpose with Kameelah Howard | Ship's Log #22 · Project Candor: Ordinary People. Unexpected Stories

0:02
Jeanne: Welcome to Project Candor.
0:04
Jeanne: Today we welcome Kameelah Howard.
0:07
Jeanne: Kameelah has lived a life rooted in service and connection.
0:10
Jeanne: She earned her BA in psychology and began her career as a child protective specialist in Brooklyn, supporting vulnerable families.
0:18
Jeanne: From there, she spent over seven years traveling the world as an international flight attendant before finding her calling as a licensed massage therapist, a role she held for more than a decade, including work supporting clients facing serious illnesses.
0:33
Jeanne: Currently, Kameelah is pursuing her master's in social work, continuing her commitment to helping others navigate life's challenges with care and compassion.
0:41
Jeanne: She describes herself as someone who values meaningful relationships and authentic connection.
0:47
Jeanne: And she believes deeply that we're not meant to do life alone.
0:51
Jeanne: Kameelah, welcome.
0:53
Jeanne: I'm so happy to see you again.
0:56
Kameelah Howard: Oh, likewise, likewise.
0:58
Kameelah Howard: It's been a long time coming with scheduling and all the things or whatever, but I'm very excited to be here.
1:04
Kameelah Howard: Thank you for having me.
1:05
Kameelah Howard: Oh, I'm so glad you're here.
1:07
Jeanne: So, what we're gonna do is we're gonna start with some questions and uh then we'll go into our fun game, uh, and then we'll uh talk about how people can get in touch with you.
1:17
Jeanne: So, are you ready to start with the questions?
1:19
Jeanne: Absolutely.
1:20
Jeanne: Great.
1:21
Jeanne: Okay, so I'm gonna get started with a biggie.
1:24
Jeanne: When you look back at your career path, child protective services, flight attendant, massage therapy, and now social work, what thread connects all of those for you?
1:35
Kameelah Howard: Every single capacity that I think of my lifelong career as working, because I've literally been working since I'm about 14 years old.
1:43
Kameelah Howard: It's always been uh meaning of service and enhancing other people's lives, and how can I be of service in order to do that?
1:51
Kameelah Howard: So there's been different ways in order to facilitate these services, like with child protective services, understanding the law, knowing how to be able to affect be an effective change agent in people's lives, tutoring, ensuring that all the children in New York were safe.
2:09
Kameelah Howard: So even if the allegations were valid or invalid, it was our duty to ensure that these people were protected and that the parents were doing right by their children within means of uh discipline.
2:23
Kameelah Howard: So uh if there's parenting groups that need to be facilitated, if they need to be removed from the situation temporarily and in placement, all those things had to be done with care and effectiveness.
2:36
Kameelah Howard: But what I think is one of the most stratifying points is is how they were able to impact me in order for me to be a better person, mentally, spiritually, emotionally, and knowing how to be able to communicate effectively.
2:48
Kameelah Howard: I took on that job when I was about 21 years old, so that was like my first real big girl job.
2:55
Kameelah Howard: And it taught me so much.
2:58
Kameelah Howard: And what I would also say was like mainly how to be able to communicate effectively and uh speak with respect and and being able to pace because whenever you're talking about when you talk about people's uh parents and and their children, people are very, very I don't want to say defensive, but it's a very serious subject matter.
3:20
Kameelah Howard: So knowing how to be able to navigate that and de-escalate uh high tension was uh one of the main things that that I've taken away from that, and moving on to being a flight attendant, again, knowing how to de-escalate, knowing how to read people, knowing how to be of service, but also standing firm on what the FAA requirements were.
3:40
Kameelah Howard: A lot of people get into the air and they feel as if they're lawless, like but but no, you still have to sit down, like you still need to follow the rules and regulations, but knowing knowing how to be able to say professionally has been a meaningful benefit that I have received with being a flight attendant.
3:59
Kameelah Howard: And also learning about people culturally, because uh like the majority of my time that I was with Continental Airlines, it was on an international level, so I can only name you the places that I haven't been compared to the places that I have been.
4:13
Kameelah Howard: So I'm very, very grateful for that experience.
4:17
Kameelah Howard: And when it comes to massage therapy, I'm a natural healer.
4:21
Kameelah Howard: And uh so whenever you're dealing with people with chronic illnesses, and knowing that uh that the mind and body is so interconnected, like I could be working on somewhere in your in your shoulders and your scapula area, and you're gonna feel uh a release like in your brain, and you can feel like a tingless sensation in your fingers, and knowing how to be able to do that.
4:45
Kameelah Howard: I'm not gonna lie, it's kind of a boost to the ego, but it's also something that that I value very deeply.
4:52
Kameelah Howard: Um, having the honor to be able to work on my parents.
4:55
Kameelah Howard: I've worked on my dad when he was alive, and that was one thing that that led me to moving into being a massage therapist whenever he was dying of cancer.
5:04
Kameelah Howard: I was the only one that he had allowed to massage his feet and his legs, get him turned over.
5:11
Kameelah Howard: And that spoke to me spiritually, and that's whenever I knew it's like, okay, well, now I need to do another career change.
5:17
Jeanne: Wow.
5:17
Jeanne: Well, I want to poke at that a little bit because all of these things are just amazing.
5:22
Jeanne: But I see them as just a personal relationship with people that you have, and this is what I love because I love this podcast being because we get personal with people, but child protective services.
5:34
Jeanne: I'm starting there because I adopted children, and I know you were 21, you said.
5:40
Jeanne: Yes.
5:41
Jeanne: And I know a lot of times when I would take my kids to therapy or just even to talk to the social workers, um, they would be really young ones.
5:49
Jeanne: So you didn't have any children at that point, right?
5:52
Kameelah Howard: No, I did not.
5:53
Kameelah Howard: And and that was also a barrier that I felt that was challenging because one of the first questions I would get from parents was, but do you have children?
6:03
Jeanne: Yes.
6:03
Jeanne: I can agree that that would be a question because I ask it many times.
6:08
Jeanne: It's like, how can you tell me what I'm supposed to do?
6:12
Jeanne: Because I'm saying these children are waking up with tremendous nightmares.
6:16
Jeanne: Oh, just do this.
6:18
Jeanne: I'm like, we already tried that.
6:20
Jeanne: We already tried that, we already tried that.
6:22
Jeanne: And they would tell me.
6:22
Jeanne: And so I go, Do you have children?
6:24
Jeanne: I'm sorry, go ahead with that.
6:26
Kameelah Howard: No, well, I empathize with that and I understand where where it's coming from because uh most people would have the ideology of, you know, well, you can't really tell me how to navigate this particular situation without having your own interaction and your own personal experience.
6:42
Kameelah Howard: Where I will say I am the ultimate auntie.
6:46
Kameelah Howard: I have been an auntie for a very long time.
6:48
Kameelah Howard: I'm very instrumental in not only my my nieces and nephews' lives, but also in the lives of other people and their children.
6:56
Kameelah Howard: And then also it's about the education.
6:59
Kameelah Howard: Not everyone is going to be privy to certain parenting skills or certain things that uh that may or may not benefit.
7:06
Kameelah Howard: But what I think was most important is having that transparency and honesty and saying, okay, well, no, I do not have children.
7:13
Kameelah Howard: I understand and I respect your position on that.
7:16
Kameelah Howard: However, can I offer one, two, three, or ABC in order to alleviate whatever is going on within the household?
7:24
Kameelah Howard: I may not have all the answers, and that's where you call in your supervisors, you call in your managers, you call in other experts in order to better educate myself in order to be a vehicle of change for whatever is going on within that control.
7:38
Kameelah Howard: Yeah.
7:39
Jeanne: Yeah, because it's a it it makes me, I mean, I feel bad when when children get taken away from their actual biological parents.
7:45
Jeanne: But um, I was so amazed at the kids that we had in foster and then adopted that um didn't get fed, didn't get clean clothes, that didn't have a bed to sleep on.
7:57
Jeanne: So that has to be a very deep and committed job for you because not everybody can handle that.
8:05
Jeanne: So I give you hats off and kudos for that.
8:08
Jeanne: The next one, flight attendant.
8:11
Jeanne: Yeah, you're right.
8:12
Jeanne: People get up in the air.
8:13
Jeanne: I was just getting at the hairdresser, I was just listening to somebody talking about flying for free.
8:19
Jeanne: They got free points or something.
8:21
Jeanne: Um, and then they they decided they when they flew free, they didn't get their seats together.
8:28
Jeanne: So a couple people said, Oh, let's change seats so you can all sit together.
8:34
Jeanne: And that just made the airlines so mad with those people that they didn't feed them the whole flight from like Australia back to US.
8:43
Jeanne: And I was like, oh my gosh, I see all these videos of flight things that happened.
8:49
Jeanne: It must have been hairy, hair raising for you to be an attendant.
8:53
Kameelah Howard: That sounds so uh crazy.
8:57
Kameelah Howard: Inhumane, because think about from the US to Australia, that's at least 20 plus hours, I would say, depending on what part of the US that you're coming from.
9:09
Kameelah Howard: But either way, let's say on average, that's 24 hours without having any food or water.
9:15
Kameelah Howard: I would have definitely reported that particular crew, because that just doesn't make any sense.
9:20
Kameelah Howard: I mean, and people do have the right to be able to do seat changes.
9:25
Kameelah Howard: I don't see what the problem is with that.
9:27
Jeanne: Um You don't know, but I mean it is just crazy because that had to, you had to have so much patience to just do that because it is a mayhem up in the air sometimes when you're trying to fly, especially international.
9:41
Kameelah Howard: Well, I'll I'll say my very first flight when I was a flight attendant, I was going from New York to Orlando and Orlando, Florida, and um people were were rushing to get on the plane.
9:54
Kameelah Howard: You see, rush, rush, rush, and they start fighting over overhead bend space.
9:59
Kameelah Howard: And so it was just like, you can't put your bag next to my back, black.
10:03
Kameelah Howard: And then they just these two people, called people, just started cursing each other out and fussing and fighting.
10:10
Kameelah Howard: And the first thing I said to them was just like, well, either way, you're gonna have to work this out.
10:16
Kameelah Howard: No one owns the particular space over the overhead bin.
10:19
Kameelah Howard: However, if you're not able to sit down and put your seatbelts on, then we're gonna have to remove the both of you from the plane.
10:27
Kameelah Howard: And then like you're cursing and fighting in front of the children, you're cursing and fighting in front of grandma and grandpa.
10:31
Kameelah Howard: Like, I don't know what else is going on, but either you're gonna have to work it out, sit down, keep your mouth, and put your seatbelt on, or you could just go ahead and take those bags from the overhead then and be excellent off.
10:45
Jeanne: Yeah.
10:45
Jeanne: There's a million stories you could go into.
10:48
Jeanne: I just know it.
10:48
Jeanne: We could have a whole podcast on like flight, yeah, things that happen in the airplane.
10:57
Kameelah Howard: But do you know how fast they sat down and and got themselves together?
11:00
Kameelah Howard: Because it's it's it's because it's really not that serious.
11:03
Kameelah Howard: I mean, their bad sort of overhead band.
11:06
Jeanne: Yeah, exactly.
11:07
Jeanne: Well, then you went into massage therapy, which is very cool because that is another personal connection with people.
11:12
Jeanne: So you you really have um really moved yourself through like a definite impact on other people's lives.
11:20
Jeanne: So I just think that's wonderful.
11:23
Jeanne: So I have another question.
11:25
Jeanne: Uh, you spent much of your life in roles that care for others.
11:29
Jeanne: Where do you think you got that instinct from?
11:33
Kameelah Howard: I would say being the youngest of my family, it has always been an honor to be able to look up to my big sisters.
11:41
Kameelah Howard: They've paved the way in so many different ways.
11:44
Kameelah Howard: And there's at least like a 10 plus year gap between us.
11:48
Kameelah Howard: Uh while my sisters, uh, she was working at Roy Rogers.
11:52
Kameelah Howard: I'm dating myself.
11:53
Kameelah Howard: So Roy Rogers is like an Arby's like thing, right?
11:58
Kameelah Howard: The fast food chicken joint in in New York.
12:01
Kameelah Howard: And she was really exhausted.
12:03
Kameelah Howard: She was in high school and she was just like, Oh, D, you know, just um, I'm gonna lay on the floor and I just want you to walk up and down my back.
12:12
Kameelah Howard: That's it.
12:14
Kameelah Howard: I was like, okay, well, at the time I'm a little girl, so I'm the perfect size to walk up and down.
12:23
Kameelah Howard: And of course, at that time, I wasn't sure whatever I was doing, but I knew what I was doing was helping my big sister in a way that she trusted me in order to do that.
12:33
Kameelah Howard: And I think that that was one of the seeds that's been planted in my core, one of my core memories is uh of knowing how to be able to navigate life, knowing how to positively impact people's lives, and what does it take in order for me to be a better vessel in order to do those things?
12:50
Kameelah Howard: So I was probably like four, four years old.
12:54
Jeanne: Nice.
12:54
Jeanne: Yeah.
12:54
Jeanne: So and the Roy Rogers thing came in because she was standing a lot, I'm guessing, so she hurt a lot.
13:00
Jeanne: So yeah, I can see how that could impact you and think that boy, this is a good thing to do for people.
13:06
Jeanne: Yeah, absolutely.
13:08
Jeanne: So working with people in vulnerable moments just like that one changes you.
13:13
Jeanne: So how has it shaped how you see people?
13:16
Kameelah Howard: I would say being able to be accepting of however people come in.
13:22
Kameelah Howard: Some people come in extremely anxious, angry, depressed.
13:27
Kameelah Howard: A lot of different emotions, especially in in today's climate, you have so many different variables that's going to affect how people interact with each other.
13:37
Kameelah Howard: So I feel like one of my main superpowers is knowing how to transmute that or understand how I can work around all those things in order for me to be able to get my point across with being able to assist them.
13:54
Kameelah Howard: Sometimes it can be challenged more challenging than others, but I will say for for the most part, I do have uh a good ability a good ability to be able to read people's energy and um and just being more accepting.
14:10
Kameelah Howard: Because sometimes, you know, people have very valid reasons for, you know, for their anger or for their depression, and just being able to acknowledge that and affirm it, but then also give them tools to be able to to combat what does all that look like and how can I be able whenever I have a conversation with any of my really good girlfriends and they're venting around something, they call me and they're upset.
14:33
Kameelah Howard: And it's just like one of my first questions is always meant to be, are you calling to vent or are you calling for feedback?
14:39
Jeanne: Oh, that's a good way to uh that's a good way to start a conversation.
14:42
Jeanne: I should try that.
14:44
Kameelah Howard: Yeah, it it definitely helps because some because some people, you know, they really don't want you to have the answers.
14:49
Kameelah Howard: They just want me to get it off their chest.
14:51
Kameelah Howard: And though and those are valid reasons, but also being able to be of better assistance, I'm working on my ability to be a better listener.
15:00
Kameelah Howard: I don't retain information as well as I would like to.
15:03
Kameelah Howard: So I'm working on myself in order to to still up my skills when it comes to interacting with people.
15:10
Jeanne: Well, that's a good answer.
15:11
Jeanne: Thank you for that.
15:12
Jeanne: And another question.
15:14
Jeanne: Yeah.
15:15
Jeanne: Uh you've done massage work with people facing serious illness.
15:19
Jeanne: What has that taught you about presence and compassion?
15:24
Kameelah Howard: One of the main things that it's taught me is to always be in gratitude and understand that it's a true honor and gift to be able to assist those people at that moment at the very time.
15:36
Kameelah Howard: I believe in divine timing.
15:38
Kameelah Howard: And I had a friend, his name was Ron Booker, and he was um a really big, strong, strapping guy.
15:46
Kameelah Howard: He used to play bass in my church, and he worked out all the time.
15:49
Kameelah Howard: He was a vegetarian, he used to, you know, he used to preach to me all the time about, you know, eating healthy and doing all things.
15:55
Kameelah Howard: And unfortunately, he had um he had gotten cancer real bad.
16:00
Kameelah Howard: And so he shut his doors, he wasn't allowing anyone to come in and see about him.
16:06
Kameelah Howard: One of the other parishioners, uh, Khadijah, Khadijah called him and said, Listen, why are we coming over there and we're gonna take care of you?
16:13
Kameelah Howard: And she was just very like, I'm not taking no for an answer.
16:17
Kameelah Howard: So once Khadijah opened the door, he allowed herself and myself to come and visit him and to see how the disease had just taken him all the way down.
16:29
Kameelah Howard: Like he was, you know, really thin and he was frail.
16:32
Kameelah Howard: And um, you know, I was talking about his levels of pain, and and he was telling me like where it hurts the most.
16:39
Kameelah Howard: And he was saying it was his lower back and it was in his glute area.
16:43
Kameelah Howard: Whenever he allowed me the honor to be able to not only turn him over, but to work on his glutes and to work on his lower back and to, you know, and and give him exactly what it was he needed, that memory will always stay with me when knowing how important it is to always stay in gratitude whenever a person is vulnerable with you.
17:05
Kameelah Howard: Because they don't have to be.
17:07
Kameelah Howard: And that also shows that level of trust that uh you're going to do the best of your ability to take care of them in that moment and move them forward.
17:15
Kameelah Howard: So I'm not sure if that was an answer to the question, but Yes, it did.
17:20
Jeanne: It did.
17:20
Jeanne: I it that got really interpersonal.
17:22
Jeanne: I could tell you were struggling with how to explain what was going on with your friend because you must have cared about him quite deeply.
17:29
Jeanne: Absolutely.
17:30
Jeanne: But um it reminds me of I know you have faith in um God, and that's the washing of feet is kind of like that, a very humbling experience.
17:39
Jeanne: I always couldn't get that one.
17:41
Jeanne: I'm still struggling with that one because I don't really like feet that much.
17:44
Jeanne: So if somebody came in and said, Oh, this would be your humbling experience, uh, wash this person's feet, I I might not be able to do it.
17:54
Jeanne: So I have to give you a lot of credit for because you see people when they're at their worst.
17:59
Jeanne: I mean, you know, their body may be emaciated or it may have sores or it may just have things that you know you have to overlook.
18:08
Jeanne: So, you know, you're quite phenomenal here.
18:11
Jeanne: I'm I'm learning a lot from you.
18:14
Jeanne: So you are funny too.
18:18
Jeanne: Um, you say you don't like small talk.
18:22
Jeanne: That you are into meaningful relationships and they're vital to you, and that you want a meaningful connection with people.
18:31
Jeanne: Can you talk about that a little bit?
18:33
Kameelah Howard: I I realize that small talk is whenever you're in the elevator and you're going up a couple of floors, and oh, well, how's the weather and how's the center?
18:43
Kameelah Howard: Okay, that's appropriate.
18:45
Kameelah Howard: But if we're coming into each other's lives for a purpose and a reason, I want to be able to get to okay, well, what is it that I can learn from this person and what are some of the things it is that they're seeking from me?
18:58
Kameelah Howard: And that takes time and that takes effort, that takes just being able to know yourself enough to know that I'm willing to put forth what it takes in order for that to happen.
19:10
Kameelah Howard: I understand that uh seasons happen.
19:13
Kameelah Howard: Some people are gonna be in your life for 2.2 seconds, and then some are gonna be here for for 20, 30, 40 years plus if you're blessed enough to have that.
19:22
Kameelah Howard: And I just feel like, okay, well, meaningful conversations is gonna go so much further than being able to say, Oh, well, you have a cute dog.
19:31
Kameelah Howard: I don't have a cute dog, thank you.
19:34
Kameelah Howard: But like, but where are we going here?
19:38
Kameelah Howard: Like, I feel like life is just so much bigger, and we have so much to share and so much to give.
19:44
Kameelah Howard: Why not give it?
19:46
Kameelah Howard: Why not share it?
19:47
Kameelah Howard: Right.
19:48
Jeanne: I I still get that.
19:50
Jeanne: I mean, that's why I love doing this podcast because it's you know, what people don't know about you and me as that you have a sister that I know, and then I think she's a fantastic person.
20:01
Jeanne: And then you you and I have talked before and we've texted, and you know, but we just met.
20:07
Jeanne: So virtually, uh, you know, I've learned so much about you, and and now I know that I could call you a friend.
20:14
Jeanne: But if I didn't know these things about you, it would have just been passing the night, okay, you're her sister, yeah, nice to meet you, whatever.
20:23
Jeanne: But no, I mean, I want a relationship with you now.
20:26
Jeanne: And I think that you are hitting on something that people miss because on this show, people have done things that are amazing.
20:37
Jeanne: And they're not gonna walk a red carpet because you are gifted and massaging cancer patients, but you should.
20:45
Jeanne: And I and I I think the flight attendant thing, I mean, you might get some awards for that.
20:52
Jeanne: But the the social worker, the you know, child protective services, what a phenomenal thing that you have been doing.
21:00
Jeanne: And you, you know, you deserve, you know, to walk on the red carpet for that.
21:04
Jeanne: And and I'm so thankful that I've gotten to meet you through Beverly.
21:08
Kameelah Howard: Likewise, thank you.
21:09
Kameelah Howard: I mean, no, I I am truly honored whenever Beverly had presented this whole opportunity to me.
21:17
Kameelah Howard: I was just like, okay, well, well, what is this about and all kinds of stuff?
21:20
Kameelah Howard: But then I really started illuminating on, you know, how this could uh help change people's lives.
21:26
Kameelah Howard: I would hope for the better and for the possible, but I also am illuminating on what my legacy is going to be when I'm no longer here.
21:35
Kameelah Howard: Great.
21:36
Jeanne: Great.
21:39
Kameelah Howard: You know, facilitate where I personally spiritually would like to go.
21:44
Kameelah Howard: Because there's so many other like I I still feel as if I'm a baby.
21:48
Kameelah Howard: Even though I'm gonna turn around, I'm gonna bat my eyes, and I'm gonna be fifty.
21:52
Kameelah Howard: I still feel like you're the baby of the bunch, though.
21:56
Jeanne: You are.
21:57
Kameelah Howard: Yeah.
21:58
Kameelah Howard: So um I still feel like I'm a toddler in so many things it is that I that I would like to accomplish before I transcend.
22:07
Kameelah Howard: So I I would thank you.
22:09
Kameelah Howard: I thank you in advance for this opportunity.
22:11
Kameelah Howard: And hopefully, again, people will be edified by this interaction.
22:16
Jeanne: I think so.
22:17
Jeanne: And, you know, I I used to think that like when I was growing up, I had no idea what I wanted to do.
22:23
Jeanne: I really just didn't.
22:24
Jeanne: And I'm like a cat that lands on their feet, you know, because I had a whole bunch of loss in my younger years and I really didn't know what to do.
22:32
Jeanne: But I knew that a job would work.
22:34
Jeanne: I needed one of those.
22:36
Jeanne: And so I just grabbed what I thought I could do.
22:39
Jeanne: And first it was being in the military, and then after that, project management.
22:44
Jeanne: But I think people need to hear stories from people that experience things just like you because they might be struggling with what do I want to do with myself?
22:53
Jeanne: And you presenting here that you have this intensive connection to people where you want to help them, and you can see it through your career so far.
23:03
Jeanne: And now you're going after your social work degree.
23:06
Jeanne: So what made you want to do that after all of your other accomplishments?
23:12
Kameelah Howard: Well, so there goes another story.
23:15
Kameelah Howard: Okay.
23:15
Kameelah Howard: But I think you'll be able to figure out when you get to the question of the two truths and a lie.
23:20
Kameelah Howard: So don't give anything away.
23:24
Kameelah Howard: Oh, I can't give it a well, not yet.
23:27
Kameelah Howard: We'll get over there in a minute.
23:29
Kameelah Howard: Okay, so then I'll say that I was in I was at an event and it was a life-changing event, and I had a message that I received.
23:43
Jeanne: And when I received that message during the event, voila That's what sent you into this social work realm.
23:49
Jeanne: That's a hard degree.
23:50
Jeanne: A master's is hard to get.
23:52
Jeanne: It's a big discipline.
23:53
Kameelah Howard: Oh God, yes, yes.
23:55
Kameelah Howard: And I and I'm doing it online.
23:57
Kameelah Howard: So just meaning to have the discipline of putting everything in my phone to ensure that I'm doing all of the assignments, being on top of my my student advisor if I have any questions, because I'm always having some type of question or some kind of challenge.
24:14
Kameelah Howard: But it is rewarding because it is it is keeping me grounded.
24:18
Kameelah Howard: I'm quite busy.
24:19
Kameelah Howard: However, by the end of 2027 is whenever I'll whenever the program will be finished.
24:26
Kameelah Howard: And I'm just so looking forward to what life is gonna hold for me and how I'm going to continue to be able to, you know, be the best version of myself and what all that looks like.
24:38
Jeanne: So is there a focus in the masters that you're looking at at like a special area?
24:44
Kameelah Howard: Well, I wouldn't say that there's a focus at this point because now I'm I'm going into my my third quarter.
24:52
Kameelah Howard: So we're gonna be doing field placement very soon.
24:56
Kameelah Howard: And I'm looking to get into medical social work.
25:00
Kameelah Howard: I have a couple of connections with uh with some higher-ups in uh Texas Health Hospital, and I'm looking forward to being able to utilize these connections so that I'll be able to be an intern there.
25:14
Kameelah Howard: I'm looking forward again to to be of service and learning everything it is that that that I needed to learn in order for me to just continuously progress and and what does all that look like?
25:25
Jeanne: You haven't always been from Texas, right?
25:27
Jeanne: Oh God, no.
25:28
Jeanne: Yeah, you have no Texas accent.
25:30
Jeanne: I've waited for you're not drawling drawling out at all.
25:35
Kameelah Howard: No, a month after I was born, I was born in Arkansas and uh and my parents moved to to Staten Island, New York.
25:42
Kameelah Howard: So they moved in August of 77, and so I spent the majority of my years in in New York.
25:49
Kameelah Howard: And uh I moved to Dallas in um August of 2020, so so it'll make six years.
25:58
Kameelah Howard: I moved during the pandemic, which was wild and crazy.
26:01
Kameelah Howard: Everyone thought it was crazy, and I was just like, well, yeah, you should be used to that.
26:07
Jeanne: Well, this has been fun.
26:08
Jeanne: So now uh we're gonna transition to uh two truths and a lie.
26:12
Jeanne: You ready to go?
26:13
Jeanne: Absolutely.
26:15
Jeanne: All right, so for those who are new to the podcast, my guest has provided me with three headlines, and they are unexpected stories from her life.
26:26
Jeanne: So I'm gonna read them out and then I'm gonna guess which one is the lie.
26:30
Jeanne: So she's not gonna let on which one is the lie, but then at the end after she explains all these stories, then I'll see if I got it right.
26:38
Jeanne: This episode is sponsored by Rebel 180, the home of brave pivots and fresh starts.
26:46
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26:56
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27:45
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27:47
Jeanne: All right, so story number one is God spoke to Camila in the middle of a Beyoncé concert.
27:58
Jeanne: This one is gonna be fun.
28:01
Jeanne: And he kind of alluded to it earlier.
28:04
Jeanne: Number two, a Mickey Mouse super fan is a toddler.
28:08
Jeanne: Camila grabbed his tail at Disney on ice and asked, Are you the real Mickey Mouse?
28:14
Jeanne: I can see you doing that.
28:15
Jeanne: Most people will say, Are you the real Santa?
28:18
Jeanne: Uh number three, Camila was born 7777, and she is her mother's seventh child born at 7 a.m.
28:31
Jeanne: Oh man.
28:33
Jeanne: That's at least it wasn't 6, 6, 6.
28:35
Jeanne: Everybody gets all freaked out over 66.
28:40
Jeanne: Okay.
28:43
Jeanne: So I'm gonna guess that number two that you didn't grab a skating Mickey Mouse's tail.
28:53
Jeanne: I'm just gonna say that.
28:54
Jeanne: I think that's a lie, but I don't know.
28:56
Jeanne: So I'm gonna turn it over to you now to go over your story.
28:59
Jeanne: So start with number one.
29:01
Kameelah Howard: Well, yeah, so one of my sisters had gifted me the gift of Beyoncé.
29:06
Kameelah Howard: She went to a couple of her concerts and she was telling me how awesome it was.
29:10
Kameelah Howard: And so, like two days later, she emailed me a ticket to see her in Houston.
29:15
Kameelah Howard: So I, yeah, I was like, say less.
29:20
Kameelah Howard: I booked my hotel and I get my outfit and everything together.
29:24
Kameelah Howard: And there was a part of the show where she her dress just started changing and morphing.
29:30
Kameelah Howard: You know how you have those uh those neon signs that'll do like different elaborate things.
29:36
Kameelah Howard: So her dress was doing all of this all at one time, and she was singing opera, like she was literally singing opera, and her dress just changing and morphing.
29:44
Kameelah Howard: It was like Cinderella style, and my mouth is on the floor, and in that moment, God said, You're gonna go back to school.
29:53
Kameelah Howard: And I said, Okay, and so and maybe like a month or so later, I start doing all my investigative work and uh and landed the opportunity to to attend Walden University, and that's then that's my story.
30:11
Kameelah Howard: Uh like whenever people say people have life-changing moments at a Beyonce concert, I believe them because it absolutely changed my life.
30:18
Kameelah Howard: I if you would have asked me two years ago whether I'd be in grad school right now, I'd tell you, oh God, no.
30:24
Kameelah Howard: But here we are.
30:26
Jeanne: I wonder what that was all about.
30:28
Jeanne: I don't know.
30:29
Jeanne: It's she her her lights and her opera got you there, I guess.
30:34
Kameelah Howard: Absolutely.
30:34
Kameelah Howard: And and I also feel it's it's her artistry, her her dedication to being an artist and putting on such a phenomenal show.
30:42
Kameelah Howard: I think that she is one of the hardest women, hardest working women that I've ever, you know, witnessed with my own eyes.
30:50
Kameelah Howard: And so definitely an inspiration on a multitude of levels, you know, to do your due diligence, to work hard at being great with what it is you do in life.
31:01
Kameelah Howard: So yeah.
31:02
Jeanne: So maybe it could have been that you were standing there thinking how phenomenal that was, and then just thinking, what is my Beyoncé colored outfit with the opera, the beautiful opera?
31:14
Jeanne: And then you heard gonna go back to school.
31:16
Jeanne: I don't know.
31:18
Jeanne: I'm just guessing.
31:22
Kameelah Howard: Yes.
31:22
Kameelah Howard: Okay, I know we're going off script, but a couple of years ago, I wanted to do a paint and sip for my birthday, and this was like years ago, but this was Beyonce, the divine sanctions.
31:37
Kameelah Howard: I said, That's wild.
31:40
Kameelah Howard: Yeah, I was like, yeah.
31:42
Jeanne: She looks very white though.
31:44
Kameelah Howard: I can't know she's very much brown.
31:47
Kameelah Howard: Oh, even the light.
31:51
Jeanne: Yeah, it's it's a beautiful picture, though.
31:53
Jeanne: Oh, but that's cool.
31:54
Jeanne: You did that, huh?
31:58
Kameelah Howard: Yeah, I painted that.
32:00
Jeanne: Nice.
32:00
Jeanne: Well, thanks for sharing that.
32:02
Jeanne: All right, so go to the next one.
32:03
Jeanne: Now don't tell us about two or three, just go ahead and explain them.
32:07
Jeanne: Make your mouth.
32:08
Kameelah Howard: Okay, so coming up in Staten Island, New York, we had the opportunity of um uh Disney on ice.
32:16
Kameelah Howard: They they came to town and you know, it was absolutely packed.
32:21
Kameelah Howard: I remember I was probably what I don't know if anyone can remember when they were like three years old, but life-changing moments they do happen, and and it's just like the excitement.
32:32
Kameelah Howard: I love, I used to love Mickey and Minnie Mouse.
32:35
Kameelah Howard: I thought they were fun environment.
32:37
Kameelah Howard: Oh, and Sesame Street.
32:38
Kameelah Howard: So so I've I've learned so much in those formative years.
32:43
Kameelah Howard: And they just kept, you know, skating around, skating around, doing their little tricks and everything.
32:49
Kameelah Howard: And then I noticed that they just kept getting closer and closer to where we were.
32:54
Kameelah Howard: And I was just like, oh, I have this burning question.
32:58
Kameelah Howard: Like, I need to know, like I absolutely need to know whether or not this is the real Mickey Mouse because you've seen so many different kinds.
33:06
Kameelah Howard: Like I knew that there were some in Florida and and ones in California.
33:11
Kameelah Howard: Now I didn't know where the all I knew was that those are two different places, they were not the same place.
33:16
Kameelah Howard: But I just know dream graphics because I'm a kid, but I just knew they weren't the same place.
33:19
Kameelah Howard: And my thing was I want to know, are you the real one?
33:25
Kameelah Howard: Which one are you?
33:26
Kameelah Howard: Are you just you know, are you playing around or are you the real one?
33:29
Kameelah Howard: So I bent over and I grabbed at the tail and I stopped him and I and I asked those this is a very important question for a child.
33:37
Jeanne: Very important.
33:38
Jeanne: You didn't trip him up though, you didn't fall on his face or anything like that.
33:42
Kameelah Howard: No, no, no, no.
33:43
Kameelah Howard: You he stopped and you know, and I asked the question, and then you know, they everybody went on about their way.
33:50
Kameelah Howard: I mean, they had to get me off the railing.
33:52
Kameelah Howard: So, what was his answer?
33:55
Jeanne: He said yes.
33:57
Jeanne: Oh, very nice.
33:58
Jeanne: So you actually saw the reel making out nice for you.
34:04
Jeanne: Wow.
34:04
Jeanne: I bet you were like dreaming about that the rest of the night and the weeks to come.
34:11
Kameelah Howard: Well, who's who's this bold little girl just grabbing it?
34:17
Jeanne: That one's nice.
34:18
Jeanne: All right, so go on to number three.
34:20
Jeanne: Were you the seventh child born with all those sevens and everything?
34:25
Kameelah Howard: Yes.
34:25
Kameelah Howard: So my birthday is July 7th of 77.
34:29
Kameelah Howard: I am the child, I'm uh I'm the last child of my mother.
34:33
Kameelah Howard: My mother had given birth to seven children, and I was born at 7 a.m.
34:38
Kameelah Howard: So whenever I decided it was ready for me to be incarnated, I told God, I want to be special.
34:44
Kameelah Howard: How can I be special?
34:46
Kameelah Howard: And then just gave me all these sevens to be special.
34:51
Jeanne: Yeah.
34:51
Jeanne: That's nice.
34:52
Jeanne: That's nice.
34:53
Jeanne: All right.
34:54
Jeanne: Well, that's a lot of sevens for sure.
34:57
Jeanne: So uh out of two and three, I thought two was wrong because I didn't think your mom would let you jump over or lean over a rail and grab a tail anyway.
35:07
Jeanne: Did I get it right or am I wrong?
35:10
Kameelah Howard: Well, you're wrong.
35:11
Kameelah Howard: Oh which one's the lie?
35:14
Kameelah Howard: The lie is that I was born at 7 a.m.
35:18
Kameelah Howard: I am, I have been born, I was born 7777.
35:22
Kameelah Howard: I am my mother's seventh child, but I was not born at 7 a.m.
35:26
Kameelah Howard: Oh.
35:27
Kameelah Howard: Do you know when?
35:28
Jeanne: What time?
35:29
Jeanne: Oh, 4 52 a.m.
35:32
Jeanne: Oh, okay.
35:33
Jeanne: All right, well, that's off of seven, but that's interesting.
35:36
Jeanne: You do have a lot of sevens.
35:38
Jeanne: That's fun.
35:39
Jeanne: Oh, that's fun.
35:41
Jeanne: You have been such a great guest.
35:43
Jeanne: I'm so happy you came on.
35:44
Jeanne: And, you know, I know people, I know you don't really have a formal business right now, but I know people will want to get in touch with you.
35:51
Jeanne: So I want to provide a way that they can do that.
35:53
Jeanne: And also, also, you have this fantastic quote that you feel means something to you.
36:00
Jeanne: And I really loved it when I read it.
36:03
Jeanne: I don't think I've ever heard that.
36:04
Jeanne: So can you talk about your quote here from Muhammad Ali?
36:08
Kameelah Howard: Yes, from from the greatest boxer that's ever lived, in my opinion, Muhammad Ali.
36:13
Kameelah Howard: One of his many quotes was service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.
36:20
Kameelah Howard: And I wholeheartedly commit and believe in that.
36:24
Kameelah Howard: Everything doesn't have to be a financial currency.
36:27
Kameelah Howard: Uh I I think our lives are far more impactful whenever there's a spiritual connection, there is a meaningful connection.
36:34
Kameelah Howard: Uh, you you can do so many things, you know, for people other than throwing money at it.
36:39
Kameelah Howard: So to being of service is again an honor and privilege in in my book.
36:46
Kameelah Howard: And then and doing things with with a full heart and gratitude is what's for foremost important to me.
36:53
Jeanne: That's beautiful.
36:54
Jeanne: I love it.
36:54
Jeanne: I really do love that.
36:56
Jeanne: Um, and you also said that you um really if anybody wanted to reach out to you, because we can see things are gonna unfold from you as you go forward with your degree and whatever you decide to focus on.
37:08
Jeanne: And I know you had talked about writing a book when we talked earlier.
37:12
Jeanne: So I I just wait for good things to more good things to come from you.
37:16
Jeanne: But right now, if anybody wants to get in touch with Camila, they can look at her on LinkedIn.
37:21
Jeanne: She'd be more than happy to respond to you if you message her.
37:25
Jeanne: And then you ask for a call to action instead of something for yourself, you ask people to prioritize their mental health.
37:32
Jeanne: Do you got anything you want to add to that?
37:35
Kameelah Howard: Well, what I think is most important is realizing and recognizing that we are incapable of controlling other people.
37:43
Kameelah Howard: The only individuals that we have the ability to affect change for the most part is ourselves.
37:49
Kameelah Howard: So taking care of your mental health is just so paramount.
37:54
Kameelah Howard: And knowing how to be able to navigate life whenever you know that that there is something that is going on that is negatively affecting you, just being okay with recognizing that and getting the help it is that you need.
38:07
Kameelah Howard: And there's no, there should be no shame, there shouldn't be any ill or negative uh feelings towards that, because I think it's a sign of strength and resilience and being able to take care of yourself as as most effectively as you can.
38:21
Kameelah Howard: So checking in with yourself and getting the professional help and tool it is that you need in order for you to be able to have a productive, cohesive, balanced, healthy life.
38:33
Jeanne: That's fantastic.
38:34
Jeanne: So you have been such a wonderful guest.
38:36
Jeanne: Thank you so much for being on.
38:38
Jeanne: And to the people listening, this is from your Admiral of the Unexpected.
38:43
Jeanne: I hope you join us next episode.
38:45
Jeanne: And until then, smooth sailing.
38:48
Jeanne: Bye.
38:49
Jeanne: Bye.
38:50
Jeanne: Thank you.
38:51
Jeanne: Thanks for joining me on Project Candor, where the doors are open, the stories are unexpected, and the treasure is always real.
38:58
Jeanne: If today's episode made you laugh or think, follow the show and share it with your crew.
39:04
Jeanne: Otherwise, I might just make you swab the deck.
39:07
Jeanne: I'm Jeanne Andersen, your Admiral of the Unexpected.
39:10
Jeanne: See you on the next Voyage.