Have you been wondering where the theme of the 2023 Career Mastered Diversity Summit and Women’s Leadership Awards came from? Please know that it’s not a ‘where,’ she’s a ‘who.’ One momentous and divinely-inspired 2022 encounter in an airport between Dr. Lisa J. Lindsay Wicker and Teisha J. Lott-Brown would ultimately lead to the headline, IMPACT:
I’m Still Standing
Growing up in the church did not guarantee Teisha Lott-Brown immunity from life’s bruises, wounds, slips, and falls. In fact, her testimony is that good standing came from years of kneeling. Career Mastered Magazine (CMM) sat with Teisha to glean from her some golden nuggets of favor and good footing through her recent seasons of long-suffering, severed ties, and newfound freedom as a solo artist.
A multi-talented powerhouse and advocate for women, Teisha, is here to continue to take the world and entertainment industry by storm. There is no stopping her momentum, whether she’s performing on stage, writing, singing, producing, or directing behind the scenes. Teisha acknowledges that she is a blessed force to be reckoned with. All too familiar with life’s aches and pain, she is learning to settle her accounts, fall gracefully, utilize her gifts, and pull herself up every time by the strength she finds in her Spirit-led heart.
Teisha expressed thanks to Dr. Lisa Wicker, saying —
“because Lisa didn’t know [when meeting in the airport] that I would feel broken and have to reapply my faith, reapply my prayer life, and reapply my God relationship and come to the summit to say to all of the women that I’m Still Standing.”
She told CMM , “In recent years, I have continued utilizing my gifts and expanding upon them through directing and producing several stage productions. One of those being my very own sold-out black box show entitled I’m Still Standing which premiered in Detroit, Michigan, in July 2016. The production of I’m Still Standing (ISS) did not leave one dry eye in the place as each actress gave a riveting performance. God strategically birthed anointed monologues that were centered around domestic violence abuse, single motherhood, low self[1]esteem, substance abuse, sexual abuse, breast cancer survivor, and depression.”
Her mantra given from God, even before she wrote ISS, is —
“I am on a mission to heal women…heal the broken, the divorcee, the one who feels that she never got a chance.”
When happiness is truly an inside job, and I believe that Teisha will agree, you will stand when you don’t feel like it, you will do life – afraid if you must, you will speak up for truth when others choose to be silent, you will accept that you can do tough things and that you can do great things in small ways, you will reinvent yourself, refresh your thoughts, renew your commitments, and revamp your decisions.
Teisha shared childhood experiences of her mother, Missionary Lue B. Lott, speaking over her life and always covering her, along with “the old church mothers” praying with and for her on their knees. She smiled as she confirmed being born and raised in the Grand Ol’ Church of God In Christ (COGIC).
According to Teisha, she has been an essential asset to the Church, from being a Choir Director to a Praise and Worship Leader, and active Women’s Ministry leader in recent years. Following in the footsteps of her mother, in 2019 Teisha was appointed as the Young Women’s Christian Council (YWCC) President at her church, where she served for two years.
While Teisha took CMM on a stroll down Memory Lane on a trail blazed by her mother, the importance of standing and walking became increasingly clear. When a parent teaches a baby to stand, the teaching stretches beyond celebrating that new physical milestone. According to Bellamys Organic, an infant formula and baby food producer, “standing stimulates the brain by providing a change to their environment. By seeing things from a different level, they are encouraged to learn. “ It seems clear, that from her mother, Teisha learned to uphold and stand on the WORD of God.
Understanding that Teisha grew up with a ‘warrior’ for a mother, CMM asked Teisha about the figurative weapons and protection that she uses to keep herself upright at all times. Teisha sang her response:
“Take the Lord along with you everywhere you go.”
Speaking with authority from lived experiences, Teisha said —
“stand firm and reaffirm [that] there is absolutely nothing too hard for God. Remind yourself of the Word. Remind God of what He said in His Word. Your weapon is your praise. I tell him, God I thank you because I feel the favor and see the favor of you on my life. There is nothing that can defeat me. On the days when it feels too hard, get in that Word. Say it, see it, speak it, and it comes to pass.”
She didn’t let a moment pass before sharing a bit of the encouragement passed on to her from her parents. Teisha spoke about her father losing every single one of his siblings, and rather than lying in sorrow, getting himself up every morning, making a way for Teisha’s son and daughter to get to/from school. She spoke tenderly about her mother transitioning from a “pretty brown mahogany light” complexion to almost white skin because of vitiligo, how that didn’t stop her from teaching for 35+ years in school, and that she never gave up her faith because of an affliction.
Inspired by her family legacy, and cousin of the late B.B. King, Teisha J. Lott-Brown is a well-known theatre actress, singer, model, and director. She is the former third member of Michael Jackson’s Grammy-nominated R&B group Brownstone where she was a vital and intricate voice for nearly 15 years.
Teisha has always had a passion for all music; however, she is most passionate about Gospel, R&B, and the Blues. Classically trained at a very young age through Eleanor Roosevelt Middle School and Oak Park High School, Teisha performed in various competitions from the age of 11 until graduating high school. Her tenacity garnered Teisha more than 50 medals and certificates, never ranking less than 2nd place. Here’s a little-known fact shared by Teisha. She traveled throughout Metro Detroit, and even some southern states, playing alto saxophone through the Oak Park School District. During her senior year of high school, she performed “Mo Better Blues,” with Wynton Marsalis, an American trumpeter, and was featured on the front page of The Detroit Free Press.
More good news came when Teisha’s Assistant Pastor spoke these words to her, “your ministry is going to be outside of the four walls of the church… because He [God] can trust you.” In 2000, Teisha took to the stage honing in on another extension of her God-given gifts and talents. She entered the world of Black Theatre, affectionately known as “The Chitlin Circuit.”
In 2001, she landed a contract with Angela Barrow-Dunlap and Faith Entertainment that would catapult her acting career and that is still ongoing. Teisha has successfully mastered a career in acting. She has starred in and toured with numerous hit stage plays and been featured in a national television commercial. Her directorial debut came in a performance entitled “Hell Is Real”, which was written by Sherri Henderson. Her reach also extended to coverage in mainstream magazine features.
As an accomplished professional singer, Teisha has been afforded the opportunity to lend her soulful voice in many musical areas, though, most heavily in the Gospel sector because of her godly roots. Teisha has rendered backgrounds for the late great Dr. Mattie Moss-Clark, The Clark Sisters, Lexi, Vanessa Bell-Armstong, Rance Allen, Alicia Meyers, Karen Clark-Sheard, Kierra “KiKi Sheard-Kelly, Dorinda Clark-Cole, Hezekiah Walker, Tony Terry, Uncle Sam, and Vickie Winans. She recalled an exceptionally memorable moment on tour with the production entitled “My Sweet Potato Pie”, where she performed her own electrifying rendition of the Yolanda Adams song ‘I Open up My Heart.’ In 2019, alongside her now former Brownstone group members, Teisha took the stage by storm at the 25th Anniversary of the Essence Music Fest.
In remembering the years spent with the group Brownstone, Teisha stated that she is no longer a part of it, but has no more fear, adding, “I’ve taken the back seat for everyone and have put some of my dreams on the back burner to push other people.”
In occupying physical space with Teisha it became apparent that she is a woman of caliber who exudes the spirit of ‘never let your standards die.’ In our exchange, I found her to be a woman, even when seated, who was standing erect and who was not going to lose her spine. Her casual and humble conversation offered these unspoken words to me: I am no longer available or open to people, places, and things that are not for me. Any ounce of defeat, misfortune, or time wasted seemed to be past tense.
Considering the tension and insur[1]mountable obstacles of life as a single, working mother, with an active entertainment career outside of a 9-5, Teisha spoke of taking flight when she said—
“God will give you strength to mount up on wings as eagles and soar”.
Next, consider this, life, much like gymnastics, is a sport that requires balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication, grace, poise, and endurance. As a gymnastics mom, Teisha, and many of the readers, can relate to the following. Think about the techniques required to master a performance on the balance beam. If you fall off of the balance beam, points are deducted, but you can remount. Securing your foothold this time, you can do your handstand, quarter turn, skillfully incorporate a difficult twist, dismount from the balance beam of life, having your spine straight to keep your neck stable and prevent yourself from falling forward so that you can stick that landing. Hooray, you’ve won at life…if it were only that simple, right? Understanding that life has a way of knocking you down repeatedly, Teisha’s conversation lent itself to this reminder:
Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. -Ephesians 6:11 (NLT)
That home training by her mother, father, and church community is evident in her feminine demeanor, the warmth in her hug when she greets you, and in the words that you hear as she speaks about what’s next for her. She is reminiscent of the Proverbs 31 woman.
Proverbs 31— 17
She equips herself with strength [spiritual, mental, and physical fitness for her God-given task] And makes her arms strong.
Strength and dignity are her clothing and her position is strong and secure; And, she smiles at the future [knowing that she and her family are prepared].
Teisha Lott-Brown is beyond excited to speak at the 2023 Career Mastered Diversity Summit & Women’s Leadership Awards. Those in attendance will witness a piece from the monologue of the 2016 #ISSImStillStanding stage play about depression, suicidal thoughts, and mental health. She described this piece as “deep and intimate and that at the end you’ll be able to say, I’m Still Standing, and you’ll be able to minister to someone else and say…But, you’re Still Standing [too]. This piece will resonate throughout the room because there is always hope. “Hey girl, you can make it and you’re going to make it.”
According to Teisha, when we’re going through a drought season, we don’t understand why it’s happening. Birthed out of something that she’d been praying to be in her life is Teisha’s solo project, an album expected to be released in the summer of 2023.
Stand strong. Take it from Teisha Lott[1]Brown, this is the “Year of Finally.”
Tisha Hammond has had the pleasure of serving as Sr. Copy Editor of Career Mastered Magazine since 2021 and Contributing Writer since 2018. She is appreciative of the Career Mastered Women’s Leadership Network and the years of friendship and mentoring exchanged in this supportive community.