I am a native Carolinian with a flair for life and progressive movement. Married to the love of my life for more than a decade, I know a thing or two about the wisdom it takes to manage a home and family while building an empire. Along with my best friend and husband, Brian, I contribute to the future generation through our son, Shawn. Creating a space my husband and son are proud to call home is the backdrop of my foundation as a Closet Consultant. I enjoy living a lifestyle many believe to be out of reach for someone who comes from where I come from. However, I am not above sitting with the next woman to teach her how I got here. But first, I had to do my own work.
I’ve combined my professional expertise as a licensed Real Estate Agent with my love of fashion and my purpose to create a one of a kind program, Chaos in My Closet. As the master facilitator of Chaos in My Closet, I guide participants as they confront, clean, and find the calling that lays beneath the chaos. I’m a girl’s girl at heart. I love shopping, playing in makeup, and looking fierce enough to stop traffic, but at my core, I simply want to live the life of my dreams in a fabulous house while teaching others how to do the same.
For many years I hated my gap….
Growing up with a gap was kind of tough. Kids at school would say you have a store named after you… “The Gap” or they would take their hands and pretend they were pulling their own teeth apart. Even now a days kids still walk up to me and say “you’re missing a tooth” so sometimes I would secretly go into the bathroom and ball up a piece of tissue and stick it in my gap, stand back from the mirror so it would blend, just to see what I would look like if I didn’t have it. And to be honest I looked super plain. After going to several dentists and them all declining to close it I decided to live with it. Plus after further research I learned, in many parts of Africa a woman with a gap in the middle of her teeth is considered a beautiful being. Women wish she had her smile, men love to see her smile. It is said that such a woman possesses some sort of sexual appeal and beauty. Ok ok ok now!!! I’m so good with that!
I totally thought saying “hard word” was a thing…
When I was younger my granddad used to help me with my reading log, (You remember the log you had to get signed every night that said you read 30mins?) but everytime he got to a word he didn’t know, he would say “hard word.” So, of course when it was my turn to read he would tell me every time you get to a word you don’t know you just say “hard word.” So I legit thought saying hard word was a thing until one day when I totally embarrassed my best friend as we were asked to have story time with some other students; I began to read out loud and when I got to the word I didn’t know, all I knew to say was….”hard word.” The look on her face was total disappointment. To this day, she will never let me live that down. Sorry sis! Lol!
Sometimes I wish we could go back to living off the land….
I am totally obsessed with the TV show Naked & Afraid. I was kind of embarrassed to tell people that I watch that show but I sometimes wish we didn’t have so many distractions in our lives. No cell phone, no computers or no TV. I love the idea (and notice I said idea) of waking up every day and just having to worry about how I can make sure my shelter is waterproof from the rain or my task for the day would be just to go out hunting or searching for food. No managers or bosses to answer to, no aggravating clients, no morning traffic, no meeting or deadlines… just me and nature. Now y’all know that sounds good!
I totally have something in common with Kanye….
The College Dropout was a defining album for Kanye. My private dropout moment wasn’t publicized or met with huge awards, but it shaped me nonetheless. The truth is I was never an “A” student, I barely made it through high school. I had really big dreams of being a singer, dancer, theater actor, or something in arts and entertainment. My mother would always tell me, “I just see you on a stage with a microphone in your hand.” So when I was younger, I devoted my childhood to that. I knew I was going to make it big someday, so eventually school took a backseat. I finished high school at a local community college, then enrolled as a college student. An unexpected family emergency pulled me away from my studies and I have yet to re-enroll. My success is all God-given talent, ambition, drive, fashion, and confidence in Patrice!
I’m a church girl to the core!…….
I love everything CHURCH! Yes, I know this may sound strange, but I do. In the words of Tamar Braxton, “ I like to go to church to hear the word, I like to go speak in tongues, I like to shout, I like to hear the word of the week, and to be encouraged to fight off all these demons, and liars and witchcraft out here!” And there’s nothing like some good old shouting music. Give me an organ, a drummer, and my tambourine and I’m all good!