The Marissa Mitchell Show: July 27, 2026

Vaughn has some great and affordable options and help the man in your life take his fashion to the next level. The owners of DC's first and only men's vintage suit store will show you how it's done. Tucker, you ready for some tips? Wait, is the emergency like there's nothing in the refrigerator for dinner or is it like a meteor hits the earth? We're gonna have to wait and find out. You'll have to tune in. Different levels of readiness for me. Hey, have a great day. Sound good and so good once again, Makia, to have you back. You all are in for loads of fun and a few treats coming up now on the Marissa Mitchell show. It's 11 o'clock. You know, that means it's time for the Marissa Mitchell show. Thank you for choosing us for what will be an incredible hour of inspiration and fun. I also hope that you enjoyed your weekend and that this is the boost you need to make it a good and a productive week. So let's go from a popular motivational speaker to an upcoming celebration in northern Virginia. We have a little something something for everybody from your podcast playlist to your bookshelf. Let's start with that pastorless Kimberly Jones, A. K. A. Real talk him. She's gonna join us live to talk all about her new book. She's known for going in and giving you a word all while keeping it 100. She's gone viral for her messages of loving people back to life. She's gonna do that today. You know what to do. M squad scan the QR code on the screen to send a sensation, a question or a comment. She's gonna respond to those a little later in the show. Also later, your student is going to turn the hallway into a runway. We're gonna serve up the biggest back to school trends with a fashion show. The best part, the looks won't break the bank. Speaking of money, keeping it in your wallet. Enjoy music, history and fun all for free. If you know me, you know, I love free 99. Find out when and where you can tap into the 33rd annual Manassas African American Heritage Festival. So before we get to all of that, I sell the high seas without even leaving downtown D. C. Over the weekend. Super stoked for this. I got a chance to meet and dine with star of Bravo's below deck. Captain carry. We're alive out at Valos in Northwest. Captain Kerry and Captain Sandy from the hit show. They were actually both in town for city cruises live the next day. That was saturday. So out and about and it was super fun to meet him and he's just as great as in person as he is in the show. So I hope he enjoyed his time here in the nation's capital. So now we're back week and maybe you're feeling stuck or you just need some guidance in general. Well, our first guest, she can help her viral and powerful words of wisdom have attracted more than a million followers and that's just on instagram. I know what it's like to have a marriage where we're always fighting each other for 18 years. I know what it's like to be single and starting over at 46. I know what it's like to not be able to buy cheese with my credit and then I know what it's like to get healed. I know what it's like to be able to love the heck out of this man. Even when he buddy, I'm over there making some green tea, getting some honey, some honey, some jams. What's that? I wanted to say you name it. That's pastor Kimberly jones. A. K. A. Real talk Kim. She just released a new book called shut up and heal. We have a sneak peek from the pastor herself joining us now. Live is pastor Kimberly jones. Real talk Kim. What's up marissa? It is so good to see you. I got a quick story to share but first I want to remind our viewers to scan the key R code not now but right now the QR code to send her your question or comment. She's going to read those in just about 15 minutes. Kim, I have followed you for a better part of 20 years. I've gone to conferences where you've been speaking and when we set out on this show, you were on my list, my short list of people I wanted on. So finally we made it happen. I am so honored. Listen, we're gonna have fun today. We are gonna have a ball. We need a word. This book, I want to start with the title shut up and heal. You could have just said shut up. You could have said heal. Why those two things together? You know, it was so funny marissa. I was raised in a in a pastor's home and everything when you're in a pastor's home is cookie cutter, right? And I remember about 67 months ago when I was really in the depths of writing this book, I was like, I gotta, I gotta say it like I feel it shut up and heal girl. When I was walking through all the hell that I created for myself, I wasn't gonna get up if somebody just said, oh, come on little Kimmy, get up. Let's, let's, let's, let's, I needed somebody to be in my face and be like, girl, shut up and heal. And so that's why I named it this book. I think when you're in the depths of fighting for your life, the last thing you need is somebody to enable you and patty cake with you. You need somebody's gonna tell you, get your butt up. Ain't nobody coming to get you up. You got it. Can't wait for somebody to save you. And on this journey of healing though, it requires honesty. And what I find is that's the hardest part being real about what's going on in your life. Yeah. Yeah. You know, for me, I think it was, I didn't necessarily want to be a victim in my own story, but I really felt sorry for myself. You know, the last thing that I wanted was to embarrass my family. I was the first one that walked through a divorce. Uh, I didn't want to embarrass people. I didn't put on a wedding dress and walk down the aisle towards my husband, my son's father, and be like, I want to wear this wedding dress again because it's so beautiful. And so I think for me, it was getting over the shame, you know, it was getting over learning to forgive myself, learning that my mess is my message that God can turn your pain into your pulpit. And it was getting ahold of that, that really transformed my life. And so that's what I'm doing. I'm trying to pull all the people out of their victim mentality, their stories, and let them realize that God can turn those scars into stars. And you can literally have a bestseller out of what you're walking through right now. You've done that time and time again, online via books, speaking engagements. But as we, I guess, acknowledge the pain in our lives and or whatever we're working to overcome, you also say, be careful not to give your past the microphone. How do you balance the two and being real but not giving it too much credit where it's taking over the present? You know, I remember Marissa laying in my bed and I was one of those people that I took to scriptures. You know, I was raised in, in, in, in church, but I didn't really experience God for myself. I only experienced the God that my parents taught me about. And so for me, it was almost like I expected God to heal me without me helping God. And so I would walk through life, given my pain more of a, uh, almost like I liked the attention being broken, got me because I didn't think I was worthy enough to just have a great life. I needed to blame it on somebody. And so I think when I started laying hands on myself and I'll be like, God, I want to forgive, but I don't know how, like, I want to be free. And I began to turn the prayer on myself and realize that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives on the inside of me. And if I want it bad enough, I can get it. And so I turned that pain. I, I, I prayed over myself. I, I was very intentional about man. Every time I see this person, I want to knock them in the neck. I want to, and that means I healed. And so I'd pray. I'd be like, God, help me. Forgive Lord. Don't kill him. Just hurt him. You know, I would go from kill him with a train to God. Don't kill him. Just hurt him. Until I finally allowed myself to get healed. And I started using that mess. I turned it back on hell. And I was like, man, I'm gonna pull as many people out of hell as I can in their pain. And they realized that they really were on the devil's hit list because of how powerful they are. So I think when we stopped being so angry at what's happened and realized, man, we made it that we can turn our pain and make it work for other people and not just live in the, in the grief and the pain of all. Yeah. And when you just talked about two being real about how you feel, even if you're still upset with that individual, it reminded me of something my friend said the other day, she was like, I'm Oprah with Tupac vibes and tendencies all depending on a situation. Cause we all have that edge, you know, when you go through so how you want them to feel what you're feeling, Marie. Yes. And I think too, for you, that's why so many people enjoy you and your videos, even if they're not Christians, because you come from a very real place. So as we wrap up this portion of our interview, because we do want you to interact, interact with our viewership here. What are some practical ways that all people can begin to shut up and heal? What, what does that look like from the onset? You know, for me, I had to literally unfollow people in real life. Like I was petty, I was petty Crocker. And so I realized that, you know what, seeing you come up in my newsfeed, like, I know you don't like me. I know that you talked about how my back, I started like blocking them. I would like put them in the balcony. I ain't as strong as some of these other Christians out here that just can see you in my newsfeed every day when I know that I healed jet. And so I think it's okay for you to mute people, to, to put some people in the balcony, to, to get real with yourself, because the Bible says in Proverbs, it says to guard your heart because out of it flows the issues of life. That means if I healed and I keep seeing stuff that I'm still petty about, I need to get it out of my presence so that I can heal what's going on inside of me. And then I can maybe entertain you, not necessarily let you back at my table to eat. Okay. But I can give you, I think that's one two is to be intentional about man, get a journal right in that journal. Stop venting on social media. Stop, stop, stop allowing yourself to follow certain accounts that feed that, that jealousy or feed that. Yeah, I'm ninja and I can feel the way I feel. Stop, stop co-signing on things that make you okay to be petty with it. Third thing is to every single day of your life, take inventory of yourself and say, how's my heart today? When you see somebody in public that's hurt you and you feel that at that moment, stop everything and say, I forgive you and yourself. You ain't got to walk up to them and say anything. Just say, I know I feel something still here. That's not, not good. I got to forgive this person. Be intentional about forgiveness. It's not saying what the correct, but you forgive because it's, but it's for you. Listen to that heart posture is everything. And I've definitely had a few health things of petty spaghetti, so I do get it, but you got to stay on that path. I can't thank you for coming. Hold on. Stay with us because we want to remind you all to scan the QR code to send the motivational sensation, a question or a comment. We're going to answer those in about 12 minutes. All right, coming up, are you missing that special somebody where your ex could return next month? That's according to a viral dating theory. Media personality, Leah Henry, beauty and lifestyle editor, Corrine Carter. They're both here for the hot sheet. We're gonna break down why exes are about to spin the block in august. And are we here for that anyway? We'll see. Speaking of august is peak back to school season. Your student will be top of their class when it comes to their style. We have a live fashion show with looks for less. Also, I cannot wait to introduce you to a local mother who is using social media to break stereotypes around autism. She and her four year old daughter will join us in a bit. Stay with us with the hot sheet on this monday morning. I got media personality, lemonade owner, creator Leah Henry there and beauty and lifestyle editor Corrine Carter who's making her debut on the hot sheet. Thank you for having me. You did a great job on a good day. Thank you. I love the fashion, the style. Thank you. I love coming here. Your energy here at this station is incredible. So I'm always grateful to be here with you guys. She'll be back special. There you go. So I know we were at the assuring chris brown concert a couple of weeks ago and Corrine what I said when I returned back to work, I was feeling away. I was in my feelings. You know why? Why? Because I did not get called on stage. I didn't get to eat cherries. Chris brown didn't dance on me and none of that upset. But there's a woman now who is going viral for how she acted. She actually got called on stage TMZ sharing this footage showing the moment in Nashville. Things were getting steamy hot when usher stopped his act though had to and he actually had his team usher the woman off stage. Yes, I did put that real hard on that usher her off stage because she was looking like she wanted no part. She didn't look excited to be there. He actually said I don't think she want to be on stage. So folks did what they always do online. They started roasting her said why go up there in the first place if you're not going to participate. But she clapped back in several posts and one she said she looked good and wasn't going to give up the chance for thousands of people to see her. So it was clout. TMZ also shared a post where they called out some of the bullies. So here's my thing going agreeing to go up on that stage and not really participate in the act hot or not. I'm going to give it a not. But she did say she wanted Chris. So she did get on social media and say she probably would have, you know, acted a fool for Chris. That's like choosing between a Lamborghini and a Bentley. You know, either or with a word. Exactly. I'm gonna say not because she came back and said that number one, she wanted a chance for people to see her. So if that's your moment that you need to go ahead and show out and show off like that's how I look at it. But also like realistically, like Marissa, you just said you wanted to be calm. Yes. You saw how them girls was giving it up. Were you giving it? Marissa Mitchell. We was getting a show like that. Exactly. That's my smile. She even smile. It was like because there's a way to do it in your own classy way. You know, I mean, you don't have to do what somebody else is doing, but she still should have showed up in whatever way. Yeah, that's how she should have showed up. She gave nothing. Yeah, she did. And she also said, you know, I looked good. You know, Usher didn't look as good in person. He was sweaty. I wanted Chris Brown. It's like, girl, come on. You got on stage. You didn't look good. She's a pretty girl. She's gorgeous. And listen, if pretty privilege is ever gonna work for you at a time, sister, shine. But you know what? If she wanted to go viral, she did that. We're all just in her world. Oh my God. Because she's beautiful. Like, the DMs are nonstop. Well, she should have used a better way to capitalize off of it. Do better next time. She probably was just looking for her next baller. And if so, goal accomplished. Congratulations. I want to get your thoughts on this heated debate. I saw it online centered on the bathroom. The jasmine brand. Our friends over there this year at this post now apparent explained that their child asked if the neighborhood kid could come inside and use their restroom. Parents said no and explained. And I do quote, teach kids not to go into strangers houses. But here's the context. The neighborhood friend lives just a mile away, actually less than a mile away. And the person who refused to let them inside doesn't know their parents. So the parent was like, I don't know who this child belongs to. No, you cannot come in doing that hot or not. It's not for me. I'm too community for that. Why would you let a child possibly have an accident on themselves when you get like, and I get it because people are weird, you know, letting people in your home, there's accusations, you don't know their intentions. But as a parent monitor them and I know it's a little weird, but you know, make sure they get to the bathroom, wait outside and say, okay, everybody come outside. They're good enough to play with your kid. They can come in and use the restroom real quick. That's what I that's what I saw. So I'm gonna have to go with hot for the reason that I'm traditional. Like my grandmother told us we're not going in anyone's house and for the for the reason of safety. Like I said, I understand that the parent, you know, knows a child, but they don't know the parent of the child. So in order to be safe and in this day and age with no accusations and anything I get with the wet yourself, not wet yourself. You don't want to tear it down. It's too much of that going around. So I understood. I have a witness. Make sure it's quick. Like, my parents didn't encourage me just to go up in anybody's right plan. You got to go. You got to go. That is crazy. Crazy. You're coming in with a different, I like this. Media has a new dating trend. It's called the august theory. The idea is that it's summer winds down and cuffing season kicks in. People start reassessing their relationships with their summer flings flings and maybe they're going back to that old thing. They want the old thing back. An old flame spinning the block essentially as we head into fall and cozier seasons. Is that hot or not? Um, I'm indifferent. Like one thing about it, like lukewarm. Yeah, I'm a little lukewarm. But I will say this, you know, cuffing season, the colder seasons are a big girl's time to shine. You know, this is my season. Tucker's telling us a super high, you know, I get it. My body weight might not be ideal for this season. But when it comes to cuffing season, it's my time to shine. So I could see a man, but I need to come to the front. I'm saying they're sneaking back in by august. So that's why I'm lukewarm on it because it is a big girl's time to shine during cuffing season. Hot or not? Um, it's a not for me. I don't want to look back and turn it to salt by doing that. You know, in the verse, in our verses in our good book, um, how to talk about in a good book. And I know if you didn't do right and if you're not looking for marriage for me personally, I'm not looking back. Let's bring in Tucker as we look forward. 15 seconds. Yes. Come on in. Okay. What's not too hot is the weather today. So we'll be in the eighties later this afternoon. All right. All right. Maybe a storm and then more storms tomorrow. Okay, we're gonna spend the block on the weather with storms again. Ladies, thank you so much. We'll be right back with much more on the Marissa Mitchell show, including a celebration in northern Virginia to share with you as we jump into another week. Plus scan the QR code. It's not too late to send real talk him your questions and your comments. She's standing by Fox five. Welcome back to the show. We have pastor Kimberly jones, a. K. A. Real talk him on the line, and I guess we're also live your social as well. Good to have you since we got so many questions, comments coming in. So we're gonna jump right in with our M squad here. Leslie from D. C. She has a question. Who do you hope to help most with your content, man? I hope that I can. I can help the whole world. You know, I think that every single one of us are in different places in our lives, and I think that I will be able to, I guess something's gonna help everybody. And that's why you're on. We have Sean Reed Baker watching from Waldorf. I was happy to see real talk cam or the Marissa Mitchell show. Thanks for that. I follow her on Tiktok in her daily lives. She is inspirational. Thank you. Let's get some more. There's so many flooding in. We're trying to pick as many as we can to get this up for you like this one from Miss Henderson. I have a question. How can I walk away from negative energy from friends and family and others? That's a big one. You know what? For me walking away from negative energy, I'm real good at. I will. I will tell people that I love a lot that I don't want to hurt their feelings like family, whatever. I'll say I'm walking through a season where I'm working on myself and for the next 30 days, I'm just I'm deep. I'm coming down and I'm gonna work on my heart. Don't take it personal. I'll see you after 30 days. Then it kind of gives people that leniency to understand that you're working on you and you're walking away. Love it. Here's from Maya Sioux Falls, your support and you support and motivate others. But who do you go to for your own motivation? What a great question. That is a great question. I if y'all don't know, I am married to the and he listen, he is my, he is my support. He's my cheerleader. He's my escape, not my duty. I go to him. I got some great friends, podcast preachers that pour into me. I'm constantly getting built up. All right. And I love your love story and how that all worked out for you. Kim to have been following your journey. Thank you for joining us. You all go support her. Also purchase shut up and heal. We'll be right back with a really cool fashion show to get all the kitties ready for back to school. Well, back to school time is almost here. It almost doesn't feel right, right? But besides the pencils, the notebooks, the book bags, we cannot forget about the fashion. So here with some tips to make sure our kids will look and feel their best is Keisha Miss K. P. Pool, founder and CEO of Luxury Guilt Children's Boutique. Miss K. P. I see you can't miss you. I saw you in the about bedazzled back to school as well. Yeah, your business out in pentagon city. Yes. So we're at pentagon city on the second level on the Macy's wing. Um, so yeah, so we've been in business for 8.5 years and we love the kids. The kids, this is their safe space when they come there. So they enjoy the boutique pretty much. I even love the kid mannequins that you have here. We do have actual kids who are going to come out and model in just a bit for the parents and guardians who are watching and they're already flustered about, well, what am I going to get? Or maybe a kid had a huge growth spurt over the summer. What do you want them to know most about back to school shopping? I think that the key thing is that it's about having pieces. Um, you don't have to go crazy. They also can use some of the summer things that they wore to transition in. We do have key trends that are happening right now for back to school. Of course, the denim embellished denim is a huge, huge, huge trend. It's having a moment. It's having a moment. It's not going anywhere. Just varsity. The same things that were in and I would say that was in style last year is still making a big comeback this year. Also, just updating a little bit. Miss KP, I have to tell you, jellies are back. I was in Macy's. There was another department store. I mean, the slides, every fashion, even like heels. Yes, even in kids where he'll do. Yes, yes, yes. And then any embellishment on sneakers also is a big thing to see. Madden did a great job with that this season as well. The embellished denim, anything, varsity patches, um, prep with a twist. So not just your average prep. You know, we do have some looks there also that we kind of we're gonna walk through too. But like anything that is like with a twist, it doesn't have to be that basic product that we used to wear in the past. You just want to twist it up and make it a little more. And also doesn't have to be all new either to look and feel different. You know, one thing when I was back to school, which is just like last week or something like that in those days, I think yesterday that's even better for both of us. My mom would start with and not just for clothing and shoes, but even in back to school supplies. Let's see what we already have that can be used. You know what? You do your inventory first, say what can they still wear? And another thing to you want to do different pals, right? What are you gonna pass down to the other Children? What are you going to donate and what you're going to take to consignment. So you still want to make sure that you're recouping the money you spent last year. That's right. You know, what can you donate if they wear uniforms? How can you jazz up a uniform? It's not just about having them go with their uniform. We have cardigans, we have socks that are really cute that they can jazz up their uniforms as well. But another thing to the schools also need for kids in need. You also can take the uniforms from last year and have your kids that, um, when they all grow it, take it to the school and let them, you know, pass it on to another family as well. Bring their individuality to the scene as well. So let's start our fashion show. These kids are so cute. I cannot wait for you all to see them. Let's begin with this young fella here. So we have here is rocking a really cute carding. I'm a sweatshirt sweatsuit from Molo. So Molo is one of our top brands. Um, he's this all over print here. This is all about the luxury leisure trend. So that's a trend that's not going on there. Um, I gotta get, let's do that again. When I love that was and what? Okay, Liam, let them see your hat also. And this is actually we are, we do have a sale going on right now for back to school. And so every look that the kids are wearing is actually on our sale. The prices do go back up on august 2nd. So look, look at you. He is giving every bit of a model. He knows how to pose. Thank you so much, Liam. Okay. All right, let's bring out our next model. Come on through. So this is Miss Eden. Eden is actually rocking. Uh, this is like your first day of school outfit, right? And then also it's something where the child can wear that for their birthday. If they have this, if it's their birthday. But you see how we actually, we actually put it down, like not dress it up, kind of like dress it down with the shoes and the laces. I see Matt. And yes, I mean, this is the look of the season. And then also the feathers on the, on the little eldest. And with that book bag, she's going to really stick out from the rest. Yeah. So this backpack actually by Barry Lynn, that's a new brand that we're going to be carrying. Um, you see how it has that self expression on the actual backpack as well. So this is a super cute look by Lola and the boys. So we love that. Did you teach them how to pose too? Or are they just doing their own thing? Oh my God. Thank you. Very impressed. Come on out. All right. So this is Mr Landon. Landon actually is a internet sensation with his Michael Jackson moves. I'm sure you guys have seen him. Can you show me some? I haven't seen the Michael Jackson. What's your name again? Landon, can you do a little MJ for me real quick? Can you moonwalk? Do I need to hold your, I'll hold your stuff so that we don't want anything real quick. We can moonwalk on our runway here. Yes. Oh my gosh. He should have been in the biopic. He should have played the kid Michael. Yes. So Landon actually is rocking Molo. Um, that whole varsity, that mashup of the whole sport where varsity, um, kind of all together on that crew neck. It's really a big thing. And then the denim, you guys, the denim does not have to be the skinny jeans anymore. So the kids are now wearing more of a wide leg denim. And so that actually, those jeans are by, um, our soda, this brand called So. And then the jacket that he was wearing was by Aquaman. And then this cool backpack that he is rocking is by Molo with the whole World Cup thing going on. He has that amazing backpack by Molo. I love that. Landon, thank you so much. And thank you for dancing for me. He's not shy at all. Super talented on the spot. Last but certainly not least. This is the denim that we were talking about. This is the bling. So this is Azure. Azure is Miss, Miss Marilyn. Yes. So she just was crowned. So we love, um, we love, um, Azure. So she's rocking a luxury guilt, um, denim shirt that has a whole lot of bling going on with the ruffles. So it does have a little prep going on, but at the same time you have that denim with that embellished trend and then also her jeans are by Lola and the boys with the whole hearts and cute little bling going on. So this is all about self expression as well as the denim trend. All right, let's bring out all of our students here. You all did a fantastic job. Many of you and a plus an extra credit. Does that work? You want to dance to see? He's dancing. Yes, all of them are obsessed with Michael Jackson, too. By the way, we have a good time at the store. I love to how all the younger generations are discovering what we grew up with because I'm a huge Michael Jackson fan, too. I saw the movie three times in theaters. I'm obsessed. It's the whole thing. Yes, I'm glad you liked it, too. They need to come back and help me. Comos. They're ready to talk and dance. Tell us about the fashion show that you're doing your business and where people can come out and get some of these fashions. Yes. So we have a big fashion show for back to school happening in the mall on the northern wing on the first floor on Saturday. This Saturday, it's free to the it's free to the public. And then also we'll have three shoot shows. So we have one at one o'clock, one at 1 30 and one at two p.m. And that will be amazing time for you guys. And we'll have this stuff on sale as well. Miss K. P. Thank you so much. Thank you. You did a fantastic job. I'm proud of you. That's right. Well, from these cute little ones, big kids. Y'all aren't little kids. You're big kids to another one. A mother daughter duo. You're welcome. They're tackling stereotypes after the break. How these two harness the power of social media for their big mission on autism awareness. Also, music, history and fun all for free. In just a few minutes, I have a sneak peek at the 33rd annual Manassas African American Heritage Festival. All right, a local mother turns to social media to spread awareness about raising a child with autism. It's a platform she started after her daughter, Sailor Rose, was diagnosed with autism. And now this mom is a strong advocate for early intervention, inclusion, breaking stereotypes and so much more. Jennifer, we've been working on this for weeks. I'm finally glad to have you here live in studio with your four year old daughter, Sailor. Hi, Sailor. Hi. Thank you for coming. Listen for squeezing me into your schedule. I appreciate it. Thank you. You're welcome. Jennifer, take me back to the story with Sailor when you made the discovery. Absolutely. Yeah. So Sailor's four years old right now. And so around around maybe a little after one, about a year and a half, I started her name. Sailor is not necessarily. Sailor, Sailor, come here. She's enjoying this interview. She wasn't responding her name. And so I kind of knew that, like, hey, something's going on here. So I quickly put her into the Maryland Infants and Toddlers program. And from there, she worked with an SLP or speech-language pathologist. And she kind of gave me that recommendation, like, hey, you know what? You might want to go ahead and get this evaluation for autism. So Sailor was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder at the age of two, just right after her birthday. And from there, I immediately said, hey, we got to get her in all of these strong support systems. And so that's where she had the speech therapy and everything, which is clearly working for Sailor here. Yes, yes, yes. Thank you. So how are you feeling today, Sailor? I feel much better. She feels much better. Well, I'm much better after seeing you. You mentioned, too, that you were picking up on the signs. I want to talk to the parents now. What are some of the other signs, and why should they trust their better judgment that, hey, maybe we should look into this issue? Absolutely. I want to say the first sign is your gut. You notice when something is off or something is different. She wasn't talking. A lot of children talk, they babble. Sailor wasn't doing any of that. She wasn't having any eye, you know, looking at how you and I are doing that. She couldn't say mom, she couldn't say dad. She didn't react to anything. I remember one time, I had her in the bath, and the bath water was cool, and she didn't even react to that. So I would say definitely when you know something, you feel something, go ahead and most definitely trust your gut. Sailor was in a lot of intense therapy, such as speech, occupational therapy, and applied behavior analysis. So we're looking at pictures here from, I guess, birthday parties and other events. I saw her out in nature as well. Some family pictures. What has that journey since the diagnosis been like? How has she progressed? What has been most helpful? She's progressed so much. The journey was tough, right? So in the beginning when I had the diagnosis, it's a heavy diagnosis, right? I cried, but I knew that I had to get out of my child's way. And so that journey was starting with sign language. She was nonverbal. Then we moved to a device where she could talk on the device. And then after that, we most definitely just started entering her into the world. A lot of the times when you get the diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder, you know it has to do with a lot of the social piece and the communication. And I knew I had to challenge her. And so getting her out into society was big. And listening to her therapist, that was huge. And I'm sure too, as a mother, you worry about what life would be like for her, especially on times and at times when you're not there. So how did you battle those internal feelings and struggles? Yeah, most definitely that was probably the first and foremost thing that I was worried about because I thought, what if I'm not here? But I knew that if I could continue to show her that she can be in this world and know that she can make it on her own and having a strong support system, it's not necessarily gone the fear, but I do now have a lot of hope knowing that she will be just fine. Just fine and have a village. She does, yeah. You made all of those revelations yourself and you're still growing with her in it. I'm curious to know, why did you decide to share it publicly? Because you could have done all of this without posting, without the books, the events. Why do it that way? You're so right. I think because I was curious too, when I first was starting out, I went online looking to find someone that looked like Saylor, a two-year-old with autism. I didn't really see that. I also know when I started talking to other people, there was that shame and that stigma. I thought, I don't want that. What can I do to break that stigma? I have to have the acceptance and create the awareness. Hopefully, what that will do is have a world where people, when they say I have autism, they don't feel embarrassed by that. I want this to be where people hear autism and they say, how can I support you? Not, oh, you have autism. Is there something wrong with you? Because there's nothing wrong with Saylor. She's different, not less. Definitely, she sees the world differently. She thinks differently, but she's still a kid. She still likes to have fun. We were in the little kiddie pool yesterday and she said, mommy, I love you. This is so much fun. She's very aware of everything that's going on. That's why it was so important to me too, to have her here. I believe in one of our first interactions, like I want you both because even in television and this platform, we need to see the sailors of the world. We do. We need to see the sailors of the world. Today, this is a little bit outside of her element, but she's playing with mommy's hair. Kids play with mommy's hair. She sings. She loves that. She just recently graduated from applied behavior analysis. Oh, that's great. Or ABA therapy. What does she like to sing? Saylor, weren't you singing this little light of mine? You want to sing that for the light of mine? I'm going to let it shine. And it is shining. It's shining. For people who are watching and they love Saylor already, you as well, and all that you've done, how can they stay connected with you to follow the journey and get this inspiration that we're sharing today? Absolutely. And that's what I do. I share on my Instagram page at Saylor Rose, S-A-I-Y-L-O-R underscore Rose. And I just want to show that we're a typical family. We have challenges, we have wins, we cook, we eat, we play, we sing. And I really hope that by sharing our story, that we break the stigma. You're doing that already. Saylor, thank you for coming. I enjoyed you so much. Thank you, Ms. Marissa. Oh, she put a miss on it. Thank you. And thank you as well, Jennifer. Appreciate you both. Hugs and kisses. So from one great chat to another, I'm going to head to the other side of the studio here because there's this huge celebration that's coming up in Northern Virginia. I'm excited to learn more about it. I understand that it's been kind of off because of the pandemic. And so you all are making a comeback. And I'm so glad to talk about the Manassas African-American Festival, highlighting the rich African-American history in Prince William County. And today, I have Mr. Curtis Porter, studio vice chairperson of it. I want to give you a hug as well. Oh, fantastic. Thank you. Thank you. I am too. And we're family in here. Yes, we are. So tell me about it. I hear some 150 vendors. It's going to be huge. We are excited. This is our 33rd annual Manassas African-American Heritage Festival. And you're right. We're going to have about 150 vendors there, all kinds of merchandise, needless to say, good food. You can't come to an African-American festival without getting good food. Oh, you better have good food. We got good food. And plenty of it. That's right. And along with that, we've got good music. We have a full day of events going on. On stage, you're going to have gospel. We're going to do some R&B. We got True Soul Band that will be coming in as well as Quiet Fire Soul will be with us again this year. So good things going on. We're looking at some throwback video. It looks like an all-out party, also a good family event. There's something for everybody. What do you enjoy most about the festival and why is it so important for the Manassas community? Well, you know, I think the thing I enjoy the most and the reason it's most important is that we get people together to celebrate the rich history in our community, the African-American community. As a matter of fact, there are people I see really only once a year at the festival, and it's just a great time there. A lot of events, health fairs, we do give away school supplies free while they're there. The festival is free. A lot of people love to come in and look at the beautiful cars that will be there. Top Flight Corvette Club, which is one of the top Corvette clubs in the DMV, will be there showing off their cars. So we're excited. Sounds like everybody's going to be there. We just need to be there. That's exactly right. And this all dates back to, I understand, a local newspaper in 1991. That's correct. The inception. That's correct. It was a local newspaper called The Voice, and there was a void in our community to celebrate the African-American heritage and history, and Voice newspaper kicked it off, and a number of us were a part of that at that time, and we've continued to move on with the festival. So is it all day? What time does it start? Sure. It starts at 11 a.m. Okay. And it will go until 6 p.m., so we look forward to having people come out and enjoy themselves. August 1st, you all make sure you are out there. You're in the place, especially for free 99. That's what got my attention. Oh, yeah. Because the way the economy is, anything that you can get for free, especially when it's that good. And I also peep the Divine 9 as well. I'm a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated. Well, my wife, my mother, my wife, and my daughter's AKs. Oh, okay. Well, we truly are family, man, my sorority sister. Yeah, we're family, and I'm a Sigma. Okay, I love Sigma. Yeah, and speaking of that, the Sigmas will have some of the old-fashioned games, sack races and stuff like that. They'll be hosting that during the day. Okay, it's going to give field day vibes as well. That's exactly right. Get the kids off the phone and get out and do some exercise. Have fun. Curtis, thank you so much for coming. Thank you. It sounds like it's going to be fantastic. Great, Marissa, thank you. Yeah, absolutely. We'll be right back with more. This was really a burst of joy. We'll have more bursts of joy on the other side of the break. In today's burst of joy, a celebration, a very special one for a local legend and one who just made a big appearance on this show. One, the only Sugar Bear from EU at Bethesda Theater. I told him last week when he came on our show here that I would come out and help him celebrate that bash, and I kept my word. He had not one but two big shows there over the weekend. I got a chance to chat with him before he hit the stage, and also I enjoyed meeting so many of you, our viewers. We had a time. So I wish I had included some of those pictures, but I always enjoy meeting all of you. Well, speaking of local legends, two women making the DMV proud on the basketball court. Dallas Wings guard and Arlington native AZ Fudd won the WNBA All-Star Three-Point Shooting Contest. All of this was on Friday night. She is the first rookie to capture the title in league history. Then Giselle G.G. Banks competed with Team Washington in the first Shooting Stars competition. She won that challenge along with WNBA Hall of Famer Alina Deledon and Mystics forward Shakira Austin Banks attending the St. James Academy in Northern Virginia. And more on her, she's actually considered to be one of the top high school prospects in the country. So to put it shortly here, the DMV showed up and showed out, and we love to see it. So we had to include two bursts of joy just to spread the wealth. We'll be right back with your end note and a peek ahead to tomorrow's show. Stay with us. Thanks for joining us here on the show. I really enjoyed all of our guests. Still getting questions and comments for Real Talk Kim. We got to have her back at some point because she gave us so much inspiration as we all work to shut up and heal. It gets to the heart of the matter. Well, tomorrow on the Marissa Mitchell Show, go-go legend James Funk will be live in studio. He's going to talk all about his career in his upcoming 70th birthday bash. Plus,