Tiana R. - Non Participant

All right, thank you for joining me today. Could you state your name, please?

Yes, my name is Tiana Robinson.

All right, thank you, Tiana, for joining me today. Could you share a little bit about yourself? Did you grow up in Milwaukee?

I've been here since I originally moved here in 1982.

Okay.

Then I moved back to California in 1990 and relocated again to Milwaukee in 95. So outside of that five year period, I feel like I'm part of the wallpaper on the fabric of Milwaukee.

What was the back and forth about coming from California to Milwaukee? Like, how did you even hear about Milwaukee?

Right. Well, it's a long story, but to make it short, I was sent here when I was 15 years old, and then when I was 21, I wanted to get away from the snow and the cold.

That makes sense.

I went back to California, and then I got married, had my second son, and we. The family decided to relocate back here because of the economy back then was better here in Milwaukee than it was in southern California. So. Yeah. And I've just been here ever since.

What side of town did you kind of grow up?

Harambe neighborhood. Harambe, yes. Fourth and Keith.

How was that?

It was rough.

It was rough.

It was rough. Yeah. I got into a little trouble. Not a lot of trouble, because, you know, I was basically a good kid, but considering the fact that I was pretty much on my own and homeless at 15. Yeah, like I said, it's a long story. We're not gonna. Not gonna dwell on that. But it was.

It was. It was rough.

It was tough.

Yeah, yeah.

I got you. I got you. So, in talking about today, how do you typically spend your day?

I am an entrepreneur, a serial entrepreneur. Okay. What you got going on? Oh, my goodness. What don't I have going on? That's what I say. So I actually. I have a non profit organization called Believers beyond the stars, and we originated in 2008 on fourth and Keef. So I feel like God brought me full circle from where I was here as a child and causing a little chaos to coming back and giving back to the community. So the neighborhood that I was causing chaos, and so it's a good place to start.

It's a good place to start, you know, and so I have that nonprofit agency, and today we had to downscale over the years, but we are on the rise. Coming back, working with at risk youth and mostly survivors of domestic abuse. I have hosted many community events, women empowerment events in the city of Milwaukee, motivational speaker, am an author, published author, and those are just some of the things you know, I'm also, I'm getting ready right now for the mommy and me expo that's gonna be coming up in May for Mother's Day at the Wisconsin Country Club.

Okay.

And that is where I will be presenting as independent Jaffra consultant, hosting many Manny and petty spa service for the day for moms and their kids. You know, that's nice. So, yeah, so that's just a few of the things. And I'm also working with, I just joined fit investment group, and we are in the process of building the Bronzeville Arts and Tech hub on 6th and North Avenue. So you got a lot going on. Yes, I am a part of that. And the community outreach lead for that organization and what we're bringing to Milwaukee into the Bronzeville neighborhood to complement all the other exciting things that are going on in Bronzeville right now. So, yeah, so that's how I spend my day.

You got a lot going on, and that is great. Do you have any notable, like, routines? You talked a lot about what you do, but is there like a structured way in which you do things and talk about, like, you being like, physically active? Like, what does that look like for you?

Actually, I am reinventing my physical routine due to a number of heart attacks I've had over the last couple years, and the most recent was in September of last year. And so I am, I'm still recovering, still getting my health together and developing a routine. But generally I like to wake early in the morning, like 630. I'm also a travel agent, so we have motivational meetings at 07:00 a.m. in the morning. So I try to attend that just to get motivated and inspired to greet the day and do what needs to be done. I like to do my prayer and meditation and spend my quiet time with the Lord. And then I have my day laid out.

So whatever's on my to do list. And mostly Monday through Thursday, I work for the company with the Bronzeville project. And then til 03:00 and then after that, what I'm trying to do is then get into the gym or something where I can do some sort of a workout of some sort. But I have to take it easy because I do have diagnosed with heart failure. So. Yeah. And then I work my businesses for the rest of the day and on Fridays and Saturdays, so that's pretty much my routine.

Cool, cool.

And I love the fact that I can work from home now, so when I'm not feeling well, I can, I can just work around that.

Yeah, right. The luxury.

Yes, the luxury.

So just taking a step back, we're kind of going back and forth a little bit here. But looking back, what are some life experiences you think have shaped you the most, would you say?

I would say not having parents that were really there during my true molding from teenage into young adulthood and on having been there on my own, I would say having women over the years, women of various nationalities, not just african american women, but being able to see something in these women who entered my life that I wanted to implement, that I looked up to, that I admired, and knowing that there's a growing process, like, from the time that we're born, we're called infants. Then we're going to be babies, then toddlers and then kids, and then now we're tweens. And then, you know, back when I was growing up, it was a preteen, but now we're tweens and then teens. So there's a process to life and being able to identify that I was missing something and no one there to really guide me to figure things out. I really. I'm in awe how God brought women into my life that I could say, wow, I like that. I want to be like her. And, you know, so.

And it wasn't where I had to look at tv or, you know, to find a celebrity or someone. These are women that actually entered my life and sold into me, and that's part of why I do what I do and giving back and sewing into others.

That's great. I love that. So I know you said that you've had a number of heart attacks.

Yes.

How do you manage your health and wellness as you age in general?

Oh, that's a good one. I I had a really good insurance plan. I would say it was a really good insurance plan, and it allowed me to be able to seek treatment when I knew something wasn't right. It allowed me to connect with a wonderful clinic that I attend, you know, for my healthcare. And they've expanded and grown, and now they offer all these other services where they, for women my age, they're doing, like, menopause classes and other pilates and yoga. So I try to listen to my body, and I tried to be proactive. So I stopped eating fried foods years and years ago, you know, and then my son, my youngest son gave me an air fryer a couple of years back, and so now everything goes in the air fryer, and I love it. I love it.

I don't eat as much beef as I used to. You know, I'm really leaning towards going meatless. But I still love my chicken. We got a problem with that one right there, you know, so fish be good. Fish be good. Now, trust me, I love you some fish, but it's the chicken for you. The chicken, okay. Having a hard time giving up that chicken, you know, but.

Excuse me. Yeah, so, I mean, trying to take care of my health at my age, I know that I have to be more proactive, not waiting for things to happen but trying to take care of me, you know, and a lot of that for me prior to the pandemic by me being a jaffra, an independent Jafra consultant. I'm all about pampering. I'm all about self care. Since the pandemic, it's like we're all on this self care kick and that's great, you know? But I've always believed that self care was very important. Especially over the last 1718 years. I found self care to be a centering for me, you know? And like I said, I like to get up and do my prayer and meditation early in the morning when it's quiet and that's my time to commune. That's a part of my self care.

That's a part of my health program. That's a part of my healing, you know? So, yeah, I try to drink more water, you know, and I just try to eat right. And, you know, that's, that's about. Yeah.

Okay. Other than kind of the heart situation.

Yeah.

Are there other health challenges that kind of limit you in your day to day activities?

Yes. So I do have asthma. Okay. I've been diagnosed with asthma and so I have to do breathing treatment and carry my inhaler with me. And like I said, I just went through a whole bunch of dental issues and over the last six weeks they pulled two teeth.

Two.

And. Oh, my goodness. And I still feel the sensitivity because the last one was pulled last week. But other than that I'm pretty, I think I'm pretty healthy once I got my mind right because that mental health is so important as well. And for years people have, our people have looked down on getting help for your mental health.

When you say our people, who do you mean?

African american. African Americans. So for me, I've been in therapy for many years and it has helped me so much. And today when I see people getting treated for their mental health the same as they would if they came down with the flu or they came down with a cold or, you know, had a diagnosis come positive or something they go and they go get help for it. Well, we need to continue to do that for our mental health. And, you know, while some people are just now getting on the bandwagon, I'm proud to say I've been advocating for mental health for a long time because it's so very important and it should be considered as a part of anyone's health program.

And I think that kind of goes along with what you were saying with regards to, like, self care.

Exactly. Exactly.

Okay. So we talked about diet, we talked about exercise, and we just talked about mental health. What personal strategies do you find most effective for staying healthy in those three realms?

Repeat that question once again.

So we just hit on all of those things literally, like, unintentionally, and this.

Question came up on them.

Which strategies do you find most effective for staying healthy regarding those three rooms? So what do you do?

No, I get it. I'm just trying to find the right way to say it. You know, I can be very blunt, and I'm trying to just be, you know. You know, so take it away. Okay. First and foremost for me, took me 17 years to get to where I am, and where I am right now is I'm at peace. I have peace in my life, and I protect that at all costs. That means I don't care who you are.

If you're bringing toxicity in my direction, trust me, you go do a u turn. Cause we are not playing that over here, especially at my age. Yeah. New. No, that's priceless.

Yeah.

Peace of mind is priceless. So I attribute that my awareness of how long it took me to get to where I am and the fact that I know I have more years behind me than I do in front of me. I don't have time to play games. I'm trying to achieve some things in life before, you know, some more things. I have a bucket list. I'm crossing stuff off, you know, so. And I would say being okay with not being okay at times, you know, life is going to be life, you know, but what I had to learn over the years is that God is going to be God if we let him. So life can show up all it wants to.

I got a God that is so big, so great, so powerful that I know I don't have to go through it alone. So, again, that comes from. I feel that that comes from many years of, first of all, people pleasing, wanting everybody to be happy with me. It didn't matter if I was happy with me or not. And it comes from me actually sitting down and writing out, what do I want in life? Who do I want to be in life. I still have journals today that I go back and I look at and I'm like, wow, that's the state of mind I was in back then. It's tough, you know what I'm saying? And it's like, I have come a long way. So I applaud myself.

But I don't knock myself for the mistakes that I've made over the years. I allow myself to grow from those mistakes so that, like I said, I can look back now to then and say, God, you brought me a long way. That, that too.

So even with like, your health, your physical health, like your mental health, you know what I'm saying? You're giving yourself grace. You're thinking about where you came from, and that's giving you information on how to move forward.

Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. So, and it's also helped me with that mindset. It helps me to be a little more understanding of others because I know some people who in their eighties, seventies and eighties, and they're still not where I am mentally. You know that mental health is very important.

The other person that was just here, she was saying the same thing.

Yeah.

Yeah. With the amount of information that's available, how do you stay informed about just the world around you? Like, how do you stay informed?

To be honest, I stopped watching the news years ago too. It was just too depressing.

Actually, I stopped watching the news as well. I don't know, it's just, it was.

Just too depressing, you know? But I see things on social media because I do have a presence on social media, just about all the channels. And so, you know, that I follow, what is it? Channel twelve news. I can watch that on demand, you know. Right. And staying connected, you know, networking and, you know, I'm connected with a lot of people who share information that I feel I want to know, you know, connected with, you know, several politicians and that. So it keeps me in, in the loop of what's going on in my community, in my neighborhood, you know, in my city, you know?

Yeah, yeah.

Networking events. Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah.

Cool, cool. How important is it for you to keep up with current events and why?

Well, I think it's very important to keep up with current events. Like I was saying, especially in my city, because I want, I am a part of my city, you know? And so I think you're an active member.

I mean, it sounds like you're very active in terms of.

Yes, I am, I am. And so it's very important for me to know what's going on. Who's doing what and how I can help, how I can contribute. So it's. And as far as the world around me, you know, I think that that's important, too. But my first obligation is to my city outside of my family. My family first, and then my city, you know? And, you know, one of the other ways that I stay connected is through my church, I was gonna say through my church. And so finding out what's going on, and I think it's a healthy part of the mental health again, you know, because you're not living in this little bubble, wherever you can become narcissistic, you know, me, me, you know, when we stay connected with what's going on around us, and we have an open mind of, you know, how can I help somebody else? How can I help solve this problem? How can I help? You know, we would have a better society.

We would have a better community, a stronger community. And that's pretty much how I started out my nonprofit agency, working with the youth in Harambe, because it was. And I had nothing at the time I started this, you know, but I saw a need for these kids to have some sort of guidance and leadership, and I had just relocated back to that neighborhood at that time, in 2007. In 2008, I formed the nonprofit agency to help them, because it was, how can I help these kids? How can I, you know, how can I sew back into a neighborhood where I was taken from, you know, being a little booger? So. So, yeah, I. Yeah, okay.

Okay. How do you feel about using technology to access news and information? Like, are you pretty tech savvy, would you say?

For my age? I'm good. All right. Okay. I actually have. I have others my age, and I'm 58. I don't have. I have no shame in saying it. I'm 58 and fabulous.

Okay, so. But I have, you know, others my age, and they ask, you know, you need to teach a class. We need to. I want to learn how to do this, this and that, you know? So, yeah, I think it's important to keep up, and I don't do too bad. When I have questions, I ask, you know?

But you feel pretty confident in your ability to use technology and things like that?

Girl, I'm on canva. Postermodel.

Okay, canva.

Okay. Like I said, I'm on all the social media sites. What? I don't know. I'll ask, you know, and because of, you know, me being an entrepreneur, I use different platforms for different businesses or different venues for getting my message out there. And so. But you know? Yeah. So. And the guy that I work for with fit investment group, Michael, he was an engineer by trade, and so he's very smart, so he's helped me to learn a lot, too.

Yeah. But I think it's important for people my age to be knowledgeable. At least don't shut down fearing technology, because that's where we are, and that's where we're going to continue to go. And if you don't allow yourself to grow with the changes, you will be left behind. And I think that that's. I'm sorry, this may be a little off topic, but I think that that's a sad state because we talk about no child being left behind. I would like to see more emphasis on no seniors left behind because they're afraid of technology. They're afraid to.

I don't know, that facebooker and, you know, and it's like, it's not as hard as you think. It's the fear of change that won't allow you to come over and venture, you know, so. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

No senior left behind. Have you ever participated in any structured programs or classes that focus on health and wellness?

Oh, yes. Oh, yes. Many. And I think that's why I have the mindset that I do, because I allow people to lead me when I know where they're taking me to. You can't just lead me anywhere, but when I know where you're taking me. And so I've been on this journey of attending these classes and workshops and things of that nature related to health, related to self care related. Like I said before, women post menopause, and, you know, things of that nature. So, yes, I think that's important.

And another way to get information that you don't necessarily have.

Tell me about the most impactful one that you've participated in.

Well, I can honestly say outreach medical clinic on east Capitol. They have. They just finished their addition to the facility there last year, and so what they did, and I think this is so awesome, they built, like, community rooms, and so they're hosting these different events for the community to come in their free events. And so the last one that I attended was yoga, and I had never done yoga before. And like I said, you know, I'm trying to get this weight off to get healthier and, you know, my heart and everything. And so I was like, I'm gonna go try this yoga. Didn't know I was gonna be able to. Cause I'm like, I don't know if I'm be able to do this.

My bones, my joints, everything, just don't want, you know. But I did it. I made it through the whole class, and that was really powerful. Another thing that I've been going to, another place, I should say that I've been going to, is food for health, which is north, south of here on Martin Luther King Drive. And they're fabulous, too. And it's a beautiful facility. It has. They do free cooking classes, demonstrations, and you get to go, you know, during the lunchtime, and you get to go and have this lunch with the chef who's preparing everything and talking about the healthy foods.

And I just attended. That last one was two weeks ago, and it was called a three course meal for two. A healthy three course meal for two. And, oh, my goodness, it was fabulous. I mean, we even had banana ice cream.

Oh, yes, that's different.

Made out of bananas.

I've never heard of it.

It was so delicious. I said, okay, I will never see, I will never eat ice cream the same again. It was just wonderful. But that's another, you know, another. That was another opportunity for me to learn to. And be in that setting of how to eat different, how to, you know, how to eat more healthy foods, and, you know, things of that nature. So. So, yeah, I try to stay plugged, and they also have some workout sessions there.

Oh, really?

And they're free. These are all free to the community. And so, you know, free is good for me. So I'm a little frugal. So, you know, free is good, but it's also a great time to network. And so what I do, and again, this is. I feel like Harambe is my neighborhood no matter where I live. I live in Washington park now, but I always consider Horumbay home, you know.

So I really try to support and be in this area where I can support the businesses that are coming and revitalizing the neighborhood. And, you know, you being here and this, it's just wonderful, you know. So that's why I wanted to get a picture. I'm gonna make sure, hey, check this out, you guys over here, you know, because, I mean, we need that in our community. We need that. So. But they have exercise classes that are free. And so you get a calendar every year.

You can sign up on their website, and you get a calendar every year, every month, of the activities that are going to take place. And you just register for those classes and just go. That's what's up, you know? And like I said, I just had a. The last event was two weeks ago, and I actually had a business meeting there. I was like, you guys meet me down here, you know, so I'm sharing, I'm getting the word out and, you know, take care of business, right? That's what I do.

I love it. I love it. So evidence based programs, right? They can offer structured ways to improve health and wellness over an eight week period.

Yeah.

Okay. What are your initial thoughts on joining such a program? Like, would you be interested or not interested in participating for like, you know, extended period of time? Does that kind of scare you off a little bit?

No, I'd be very interested as long as it's something that can, that won't disrupt my regular agenda. I do try to get involved in those types of programs, and that's part of great example, the food for health program. You know, this is something that they do on a monthly basis, offering these free classes. It's evident based that if you eat healthy, you have a better health outcome, you know, so being able to be a part of that and then getting the word out to others, I mean, why not, you know, and the benefit of me being able to make my own hours and work from home, I could take off and say, I'm going to lunch now, and just come on up here and do the free class and go on back, you know, life is good for me right now. Life is good for me right now.

That's great. I love that for you. Understanding that these programs require a weekly commitment, what potential barriers could make participation difficult for you?

I would honestly say my health, for me personally, you know, because I do have times that I'm not feeling my best, you know, but I'm working on that because I don't want to be. I don't want nothing holding me back. Like I said, I got things I'm trying to check off my bucket list. But other than that, I've learned to just get up and go by myself, where in the past I had a problem with being out in crowds, so I didn't go too many places by myself. And it really caused me, I can't remember what that illness is, but it really caused me to lose out on some things because I could commit to do something with someone or for someone, but then that phobia would kick in and I couldn't leave my home. I couldn't go, you know, any place. And so. And I guess that's why today, like I said, I've come a long way, and so I'm not letting anyone take me backwards or take my joy, you know, but learning how to be okay.

With me, I can get up and go places now by myself and, you know. Cause I'm going for me, I'm not afraid anymore. I'm not fearful. I'm just. I'm just me, you know? And so I don't. I don't. Other than that, nothing that's gonna hold me back.

Yeah.

You know, for a long time, it was. A lot of things held me back from things, but not today.

Good. Good. I love that. I love that. My last question here is, what incentives or support would make you more likely to join and stay committed to evidence based program if you felt like you needed an incentive for anything like that?

Well, depending on what the program is, it could be a number of different things. For the food for health program, I get to eat free for. And it's good. That's fair, you know, and it's good. You know, the food is delicious. We've done a lot of different. Like, the first class I went to in October, I think it was. We talked about squashes and different ways you can prepare different squashes.

So it gave me a chance to try new things, try new foods, you know, because I don't. Food was squashed too much, so, you know, stepped outside my comfort zone. And so that and the ability to be able to meet other people who are able to get away during the day, that's what keeps me going back there. You know what I'm saying? But with the things that are going on at my clinic, we have. The program for the women is called step up divas. Okay. And so, again, the incentive for me to go there is to be able to connect with other women my age and during the day, because a lot of times, a lot of people are working during the day. I have that luxurious life now, you know, so.

So I want to see who else is out there, you know? So that's an incentive for me. And I'm getting a workout, you know, and there's. There's no strings attached, you know, but then there are some programs wherever I. You know, like we were saying before, it could be an extended program, eight weeks, six weeks, or something, depending on what I'm looking for and what I'm looking to get out of what's being offered.

That's the incentive.

That could be the incentive.

Gotcha.

Yeah. Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah.

I appreciate you coming to talk to me. That is all that I have for you.

All right.

So that will conclude our interview.

Well, thank you so much for having me. Thank you.

All right.

I.