About the Author

Living my life healthy mind, body, and spirit. These are vibrant words of author, motivational speaker, life coast, and entrepreneur T.J. Callahan. A single mother of three wonderful children, she has always prided herself on being a fun, down-to-earth and hardworking woman who takes care of her business as a mom and businesswoman. T. J. Callahan obtained her Bachelor of Arts in public relations and marketing at Ashford University. Currently, she is a harm reduction specialist working in the community with individuals currently dealing with home-lessness, AIDS, HIV, mental health issues, and substance use. While attending Morning Star Full Gospel Assembly in the Bronx, New York, T. J. Callahan discovered her gift in motivating people, especially youth and women, to be more than what society limited them to be. She was instrumental in cofounding a mentoring program for youth ages seven to eighteen called Sister to Sister and Bond with Your Brother. She facilitated conflict resolution and esteem enhancement workshops as well as recreational activities. This motivated T. J. Callahan to begin several rites-of-passage classes for young ladies called Daughters of Destiny and to become a prominent leader in women's ministry. In addition to being a motivational speaker, T. J. Callahan is co-owner and managing senior partner of Eighteen50 Apparel, an empowerment apparel company consisting of two partners who provide knowledge and pow-er by teaching black history through fashion. Her main responsibilities are overseeing the marketing, operational, and creative direction and budgets for all the products that are sold. Recently, T. J. Callahan has become an author of the book The Real Life of a Church Girl: The Untold Story. It is a biography about her life growing up as a church girl and all the lessons she learned and the trials she overcame.