Writing It Your Way: Looking Back and Looking Ahead

As Black women, we all have a story to tell, whether reflecting on our past or dreaming about our future. We invite you to start (or continue) writing your story in the comfort of sisterhood. This virtual writing workshop, hosted by THRIVVE (Transforming Hurt and Racial Inequities into Vision, Value & Empowerment), will be facilitated by two accomplished Black women who are both published writers and educators. Annis Cassells and B. Sharise Moore will share their expertise, model good descriptive writing, and guide participants to write their own stories. Participants will:

• learn the key elements of descriptive writing, including the importance of character development and figurative language;
• learn how to overcome writer’s block; and
• Practice tapping into their creativity to tell their story

You will be fully supported with writing prompts, 1:1 coaching from the authors (optional), and the encouragement of the THRIVVE community. Join us for this FREE 90-minute workshop.

Who are we?

Asila Calhoun is a certified coach whose coaching business, Calhoun Coaching & Consulting, focuses on partnering with new leaders through executives from a variety of professional backgrounds who are ready for change. Asila facilitates this change during one-on-one and group coaching sessions with her clients and through her consulting services of delivering leadership training, team facilitation, and diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging coaching, consulting and training.

Asila has a direct yet supportive style that facilitates self-discovery and growth in her clients. Asila is recognized as a coach and facilitator who deeply listens to what her clients say - and do not say, inquiring about what she’s sensing while offering a different perspective.

Asila earned her Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from UC Berkeley, and she holds PHR and SHRM-CP HR certifications. She is an Associate Certified Coach (ACC), and a Certified Inclusion Coach (CIC). Asila is also a certified meditation teacher.

Joelle LaGuerre is a certified HR professional - a consultant and coach with a passion for positive psychology. A trainer and facilitator by trade, she is a dynamic presenter with an evident enthusiasm for both individual and organizational growth.

Through her company PRO-YOU, Joelle works with coaching clients to focus on self-awareness and exploration as the foundation for meaningful career and leadership development. An equally passionate consultant, she seeks to help organizations develop strategies that promote optimal individual and team performance.

Joelle earned her Bachelor’s degree in organizational psychology from Oakwood University as well as a graduate certificate in leadership development from George Washington University. She is a certified professional in talent development (CPTD) and will soon be an Associate Certified Coach (ACC).

Annis Cassells is a writer, poet, and teacher who is passionate about the legacy of family stories and the power of story to transform and heal. Annis teaches memoir classes and personal writing workshops and works with individuals as a writing coach.

In 2019 Annis published her first poetry collection, You Can’t Have It All: Poems. She is a contributor in the social justice anthology, Enough, Say Their Names: Messages from Ground Zero to the WORLD, which features photography and artwork from the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. Annis’ work has been published in both print and online journals, and in Chicken Soup For the Soul. She is currently composing poems for her next collection, Five & Dime Memories, and writing motorcycling stories for her own memoir. Her website is www.connectionsandconversations.com.

B. Sharise Moore is an award-winning writer whose poems and short stories have appeared in Chosen Realities: Summer 2020, These Bewitching Bonds, Mermaids Monthly, Starline, and Fantasy Magazine. Her short poem, “Black Beak” was nominated for a 2022 Dwarf Star Award.

At present, she is an author/educator, curriculum designer, and the Poetry Editor for FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction and Conjuring Worlds: An Afrofuturist Textbook for Middle and High School Students. Fangs, Feathers, and Folklore, her middle grade field guide of African mythological creatures, is forthcoming from Algonquin Young Readers in 2023 and Fatimah’s Fantastic City, her social justice picture book, is forthcoming from HarperCollins in 2025. B. Sharise is represented by Laurie McLean, partner agent at Fuse Literary Agency. She lives in Baltimore, MD with her husband and young son. You can find her online at bsharisemoore.com, tweeting @sharise_b, or on TikTok and IG: @b.sharise