We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Hazel Jay a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hazel, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?
Our Mission: Healing Legacies. Restoring Light. Creating Safe Futures.
At the heart of everything I do—whether through GLOBAL Healing Creative Arts Therapy Studio, iEsteeMe Publishing, or Rest in Peace Family Planning Services—is a mission rooted in one truth: We are not what we’ve been through—we are what we choose to become after it.
This mission is deeply personal. I didn’t just study trauma, grief, and legacy—I lived it. I’ve walked through the fires of abandonment, injustice, loss, and silence. I’ve been a single parent, an only child, a survivor, a Black woman navigating systems that weren’t built for me or the communities I serve. I’ve lost people to violence, to the prison system, and to generational pain that was never healed. And through all of that—I chose to glow in the dark.
That’s what drives me. I’ve made it my life’s mission to illuminate pathways for others—to help people, especially single parents, children of trauma, folks with disabilities, and the often-forgotten, reclaim their power, plan for peace, and leave behind a legacy that speaks of healing, not hurt.
Whether I’m helping a family plan their estate through Rest in Peace so their children aren’t left in chaos, or walking someone through their grief in art therapy at GLOBAL Healing, or empowering a writer to tell their story through iEsteeMe Publishing—it’s all about turning pain into power and giving people permission to heal.
My mission is meaningful because it’s more than business—it’s ministry, it’s justice, and it’s legacy work. This is about creating systems that support healing, dignity, and forward movement for people who’ve been told they don’t matter.
I do this for every child who had to grow up too fast. For every parent who’s navigating alone. For every soul who never got a safe space to grieve or breathe. For the community I was born into—and the world I’m building.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’m Dr. Hazel V. Jay—grief transformation lifestyle coach, educator, therapist, creative, and multi-hyphenate CEO. I help people glow through what they go through. I’m not just in the business of healing—I embody it. Every service I offer comes from my own lived experience of surviving deep loss, parenting through trauma, navigating systems that weren’t built for me, and choosing to build legacy over pain.
I got into this work because I needed it. I needed therapy that honored my culture. I needed support that saw the whole me—Black, woman, mother, leader, survivor, creator. And when I couldn’t find it, I became it. I built what I wish had existed when I was in the dark.
Through my flagship organization, GLOBAL Healing Creative Arts Therapy Studio, I offer a full suite of culturally relevant healing services. We combine expressive arts, faith-based frameworks, mental wellness, and clinical strategies to help people break intergenerational cycles of trauma and reclaim their power.
My clients come to me when traditional therapy isn’t enough. When they want deep transformation. When they’re ready to rewrite the story. I offer:
💫 Signature Services
From GLOBAL Healing Creative Arts Therapy Studio:
Grief Counseling (including homicide-specific loss)
Couples Counseling & Family Therapy
Group Counseling & Peer Healing Circles
Inner Child Healing & Womb Work
Past Life Regression
Clinical Hypnotherapy
Guided Imagery Therapy
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Somatic & Expressive Arts Therapy
The GLOWology™ Framework (my proprietary process to break cycles of intergenerational trauma and build legacy through guided growth, love, ownership, and wellness)
Healing-Centered Retreats, Workshops & Trainings
Faith, Ritual & Ancestral Healing Practices
From Rest in Peace Family Planning Services:
Life Insurance & End-of-Life Education
Estate & Financial Legacy Planning
Home-Going/Funeral Preparation
Disability-Inclusive Planning
Guardianship & Support for Special Needs Families
Homicide Grief Navigation
Healing Planning for Single Parents, Divorced Families & Childless Adults
From iEsteeMe Publishing + Academics Co.:
Book Coaching & Ghostwriting for Healers, Educators, and Survivors
Culturally-Rooted Curriculum Development
Independent Publishing & Digital Product Creation
Literacy Development for Black & Brown Learners
From iGLOW Consulting:
Trauma-Informed Training for Schools & Organizations
Professional Development for Educators & Clinicians
Culturally-Responsive Leadership Coaching
Organizational Healing & Equity Audits
Visioning Retreats for Heart-Centered Teams
What sets me apart is that my work is holistic, strategic, and spiritual. I don’t just hand out worksheets—I walk with people into their shadow, teach them to embrace it, and help them birth a new reality. Whether you’re an educator, an entrepreneur, a parent, or someone grieving—this is sacred work, and I honor it as such.
I’m most proud of helping people do what they never thought they could: forgive, speak up, heal, rest, and rise. My clients often say, “I didn’t know this kind of healing existed.” That’s how I know I’m walking in purpose.
So if you’re looking for someone who can hold your grief and your greatness at the same time—welcome. I built all of this for you.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Resilience isn’t just a word to me—it’s the very fabric of my life.
There was a time when everything fell apart. As a mother of four, I suffered a stroke from an allergic reaction to medication given to stop six months of internal bleeding. This left me unable to walk, talk, or care for myself. I lost my job. My younger sons had to live with their father, and my adult children were of no support and became a burden. I was on the verge of losing my home, my independence, and my hope.
I remember sitting in silence, tears streaming down my face, crying out to God: “God, this can’t be my story. I’ve suffered trauma, hurt, and pain since I was five. It can’t end like this.”
And God whispered back: “Do what you’ve always done—create.”
I picked up a paintbrush and began pouring my pain onto canvas. I painted 53 canvases while relearning how to speak and walk. Each stroke became a prayer, a breath, a declaration of life. That act of obedience—returning to the gift inside of me—accelerated my recovery and reminded me that even when everything else is stripped away, purpose cannot be stolen.
Though I still battled aphasia, speech delays, and executive functioning challenges, I kept going. I was accepted into Clark Atlanta University and tried to attend in person, but it didn’t work. Then I was accepted into UC Davis, but had to turn down the offer due to my health. Yet, I asked God for one thing: that my father would live long enough to see me become Dr. Jay before he turned 80. And God made it so. I earned my doctorate in Grief Counseling just days before my father passed.
Then I asked God for financial restoration to open a brick-and-mortar business. He told me, “Be a good steward.” I got serious. I organized my finances, stayed faithful, and took small steps forward. Within a year, I became a homeowner, drove the luxury car I once dreamed of, doubled my income, launched multiple businesses, and lost over 130 pounds—not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually as well.
But that wasn’t the first time I had to rebuild. Before the stroke, I had hit rock bottom—no gas, no food, my children asleep in the backseat of my car while I cried. In that season, I understood suicide. I understood retaliation. I internalized- so much that I broke out in hives, almost lost my mind, my hair fell out, I broke into boils, and gained 100 pounds all while being in a very abusive marriage and working through grief and postpartum depression. But then one day, I cried out, and God told me to be courageous, strong, and steadfast.
I wrote my first book called Courageous Strong and Steadfast, hosted vision board parties, and designed shirts. I became what I needed but couldn’t afford—and now, I get to be that for others. I didn’t have resources—I had resilience. From that fire, I birthed iGLOW Consulting, GLOBAL Healing Creative Arts Therapy Studio, and Rest in Peace Family Planning Services.
This is where my belief in the “Whoa to GLOW” comes from. Life’s deepest wounds often lead us to our most profound breakthroughs. God chose me to experience the “Whoa” so that my GLOW could flow—because of Him. The struggles, the pain, the heartache were never meant to break me; they were meant to transform me into the person I am today. Every setback was a setup for a greater comeback.
Everything I’ve built was forged in real-life fire. From Rest in Peace Family Planning Services to iEsteem Publishing + Academics Co., every offering was created because I needed it first. Now, I walk others through their darkest valleys using the same tools that saved me: creativity, counseling, sacred space, and faith.
I don’t just talk about resilience—I embody it. My story is living proof that you can design a new life while you’re still walking through the storm. My pain didn’t just transform me—it prepared me to be a guide for others.
I didn’t bounce back. I broke through.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
A lesson I had to unlearn was the belief that I had to keep moving nonstop, checking off boxes, and only doing what I was good at. I spent so much time pushing myself to be “the one” who could help transform others, that I neglected to honor my own journey and healing. I wasn’t allowing myself the space to breathe, to rest, or to process. I had internalized the idea that to be successful, I had to keep going—never stop, never pause, and always strive for perfection.
But life taught me that constant motion without self-awareness leads to burnout and disillusionment. I was operating from a place of functional depression, where I appeared to be thriving but was internally worn out. I was caught up in a cycle of doing without being present, and in the process, I wasn’t giving myself grace.
I realized that while I was busy trying to be a transformer of transformation, my mindset was limited and short-sighted. My subconscious, fueled by past trauma, pain, and hurt, was leading me. I didn’t know that the foundation of my work and my perception of success was built on distorted beliefs, rooted in the idea that I had to prove something to the world.
I lost touch with myself in the process, and in trying to become “better,” I unknowingly led myself to a place of emptiness. My approach was one of pushing through without honoring my own needs and without taking the time to heal. It was a painful realization, but it was necessary for me to unlearn that if I wanted to live authentically and lead others effectively, I had to slow down, take a moment to exhale, and appreciate the journey.
Now, I move with intention and purpose, knowing that I don’t have to be perfect or always performing at my best. I give myself the grace to pause, to heal, and to process. This shift has been transformative because it has allowed me to truly be present for myself and others in a way that goes beyond just checking off the boxes.
As for the lesson I unlearned, it was understanding that success is not about constant motion and achievement—it’s about alignment, balance, and self-compassion.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.hazeljay.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/iglowcomsulting
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hazelvjay
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glowologist/
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@drhazeljay
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/global-healing-creative-arts-therapy-studio-riverdale
- Other: https://www.calendly.com/transformationlifestylecoach
